Australia’s basketball men have sealed their place at next year’s Olympics after New Zealand let a 15-point lead slip during their tournament-ending defeat to Greece in the World Cup.
Brian Goorjian’s Boomers, who had already made the second group stage at the global tournament, knew they also would also bank qualification for next year’s Paris showpiece as the top Oceanian team should their trans-Tasman rivals succumb in their final Group C match in Manila on Wednesday.
But for long spells in their eventual 83-74 defeat, it looked as if the Paris qualification battle would continue as New Zealand appeared on course to earn their own place in the second group stage.
They surprisingly dominated the first half of the contest against a Greek side featuring Thanasis Antetokounmpo, brother of NBA superstar Giannis.
New Zealand, with no NBA players in their line-up in the absence of Steven Adams, began in inspired fashion, racing into a 43-28 lead which was only pegged back to 43-32 by halftime.
The Greeks, inspired by Ioannis Papapetrou and Giannoulis Larentzakis, forced their way back into the contest but a late flurry in the third quarter still enabled the Kiwis to go into the final quarter four points ahead at 54-50.
GIANNOULIS LARENTZAKIS#FIBAWC x #WinForAll pic.twitter.com/kAjiRYNpfH
— FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 🏆 (@FIBAWC) August 30, 2023
The New Zealanders’ fate, though, was effectively sealed at the start of the final stretch as the Greeks reeled off the first nine points, leaving them to have to play catch-up for the rest of the contest, with the favourites eventually forging away to a relatively straightforward nine-point victory.
Greek head coach Dimitris Itoudis said his team’s defence fuels their offence in a real team playstyle.
“We’re not a team that’s going to have a lot of isolations, we need to dig deep into the shot clock, running that ball, and we have seen in the friendly games that we can play team ball, that we can share the ball, we have had 23 assists, 19 assists…This is who we are. And our identity on the defensive end, it gives us a lot. You get a boost from a good defensive stop,” he said after the game.
The victory, which featured 27 points from Papapetrou, ensured Greece made it into the next stage and avoided their worse ever finish, having now made the final 16 on nine consecutive occasions.
Attention now moves to Lithuania and Montenegro for the Greeks, who must win at least one, perhaps both games, to make the quarter finals for the first time since 2006.
Source: AAP and FIBA
