Boomers Eliminated from World Cup with Loss to Slovenia

The Boomers have been embarrassingly eliminated from FIBA World Cup contention in round two with a 91-80 loss to Slovenia.

The Boomers entered the FIBA World Cup with high expectations as defending Olympic bronze medalists and the number three ranked team in the world. They fell woefully short of these expectations with yesterday’s loss to Slovenia preventing them from even advancing to the quarterfinals. 

Match Recap Against Slovenia

Australia came into their second-round matchup with Slovenia in need of a victory to keep their hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals alive. Most betting sites had the Boomers as favourites, but Slovenia was always a dangerous matchup. 

Luka Doncic has fearlessly led his country into international competitions each chance that he has had. This includes winning EuroBasket 2017 along with coming in fourth at the Tokyo Olympics. 

It was the Boomers who defeated Slovenia in the Olympic bronze medal game two years ago as they successfully held Doncic in check. 

They were looking to do so again yesterday in need of a win for survival. However, the Boomers did not play with the sense of urgency that they needed to. 

Rather, they let the Slovenians put them on their heels early by way of a 28-18 first quarter. The Boomers looked rattled and were struggling to get their offense going while also failing to find stops at the other end. 

Then, in the second quarter, the Boomers had a golden opportunity to take control of the game as Doncic was forced to take a seat for five minutes thanks to foul trouble. Although the Aussies won the quarter 22-21, they didn’t make Doncic pay as they should have. 

The third quarter was better for the Boomers as they began to find a rhythm defensively, but they desperately needed shots to start falling to complete the comeback. Heading into the final frame, Slovenia led 66-62. 

Unfortunately for the Boomers, the final quarter looked more like the first than the third as they couldn’t get shots to fall and failed to get stops at key moments. Slovenia won the quarter and in turn the game 91-80.

Surprisingly, Luka Doncic played quite unspectacularly with 19 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and six turnovers. Mike Tobey was the biggest thorn in the side of the Boomers as the big man scored 18 to go along with 12 rebounds and five assists. 

Josh Giddey was Australia’s lone bright spot with 25 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. Patty Mills scored 17 points but shot just 5/13 from the field. 

With the loss, the Boomers result at this World Cup will be their worst at an international competition since 2014.

Former Players and Media Pundits Voice Concerns

Following their loss and subsequent elimination, many were quick to voice their point of views on the Boomers World Cup failures. 

Sporting News’ Jed Wells took to Twitter to voice his displeasure of the team selections and Coach Goorjian’s use of those who did make the team

Boomer great and NBA Champion Andrew Bogut also used Twitter as his outlet of choice amongst other things stating “Something just didn’t fit with this team. Nothing looked easy for the Boomers.”

Although reactions are always harsh immediately after a disappointment, certainly something must be done differently if the Boomers want to achieve success at the Olympics. 

All Aussie Eyes now on Paris 2024

As mentioned, the Boomers are the reigning Olympic Bronze medalists. With New Zealand falling in the first group stage of the World Cup Australia officially qualified for Paris 2024 where they will look to defend and potentially improve upon their third-place finish. 

Less than a year away, the turnaround will be quick and the Boomers will have to shake off the disappointment of this result as they are likely to head to Paris with a largely similar squad.

Australia won’t be getting the result they hoped for coming into the FIBA World Cup as they have flamed out in round two thanks to a loss to Slovenia. The Boomers now must look ahead to the Olympics in a year’s time where they will look to defend their bronze medal from Tokyo.