Australia has ended its FIBA World Cup campaign on a positive note, dominating Georgia to record a 100-84 win on Sunday night.
After struggling with their outside shooting all tournament, the Boomers found success from downtown against Georgia as Patty Mills led the scorers for Australia with 19 points.
Josh Giddey, meanwhile, capped off an impressive tournament from the 20-year-old as he scored 15 points to go with four assists and two rebounds.
According to ESPN commentator John Casey, Giddey became the youngest-ever player to lead the scoring for his country at the World Cup after finishing with 97 in total.
Dante Exum was another shining light to emerge for the Australians and had his best showing of the World Cup as he scored 18 points while Duop Reath (16 points) was 3-of-3 from deep.
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The Boomers jumped out to a 23-17 after a sloppy first quarter which saw both teams turn the ball over six times.
Giddey led the way for Australia early, putting up six points to go with one assist as he used his size to get to the rim and score the Boomers’ first two field goals of the game.
Giddey was making an impact as a passer too, brilliantly finding Mills on a backdoor cut as Australia went ahead 6-4.
Georgia was largely able to keep it close in the opening quarter, with Australia’s 3-point shooting the difference as Joe Ingles, Reath, Nick Kay and Josh Green all made shots from deep.
Georgia, on the other hand, made just 20 per cent of its 3-point attempts in the first quarter.
The Boomers quickly extended their lead early in the second too, with Exum making an immediate impact as he scored Australia’s first six points of the period.
“That’s one positive you can take away,” five-time NBL championship coach Trevor Gleeson said of Exum.
“Dante’s performance has been first-class in every game, especially when its under pressure, Dante has been coming good.
“He’s been under the post there making some efforts, defensively he can pick it up full-court. Very impressed with his World Cup.”
Matisse Thybulle, meanwhile, was causing problems for Georgia with his length on the defensive end and as Australia pushed its lead out to double figures at 34-23.
Turnovers were all that was really keeping it close as both Ingles and Mills coughed up possession in the space of 30 seconds, with Georgia going up the court and capitalising on both occasions.
Mills though quickly made up for his error by launching from deep and draining a 3-pointer, extending Australia’s lead to 42-31 before making another 3-pointer soon after.
The 3-pointers just kept falling, something Brian Goorjian would have loved to see given Australia’s struggles with outside shooting throughout the tournament.
The Boomers finished the half with 10 3-pointers in the first half, seeing Australia take a 54-37 buffer off the back of 16 points from Mills who went 3-of-6 from downtown but did also have five turnovers.
Interestingly, both Dyson Daniels and Chris Goulding saw zero minutes in the opening half despite Sunday’s game presenting the Boomers with a chance to look towards Paris and the future by experimenting with different line-ups.
One of the biggest positives to come out of a disappointing tournament for Australia is the way Giddey has evolved his game, using his size and physicality to assert himself on defenders.
That trend continued in the third quarter as Giddey was heavily involved early with four points and assist and a rebound.
Reath also made an impact on both ends with a block and his third 3-pointer of the night as Australia maintained a comfortable lead, up 63-46.
The Boomers also cleaned up the turnovers, recording just two in the quarter and took a 79-67 advantage into the final quarter of the game after more efficient 3-point shooting.
Georgia never looked any hope of getting in touching distance, with Australia running away 100-84 winners as Luka Liklikadze was ejected in the fourth quarter for his second technical foul.
While the Boomers ended the tournament on a positive note, it was strange to see both Daniels and Goulding play limited minutes in Sunday night’s game.
Daniels in particular shapes as a crucial part of Australia’s plans at Paris and into the future and would have benefited from extending playing time after not getting a look-in all tournament.
Gleeson said at halftime he was hoping to see Daniels and Goulding get early minutes in the second half.
Daniels had an early highlight when he was brought into the game with three minutes left, getting into the paint and linking with Kay for the finish.
The New Orleans Pelicans guard only played three minutes though while Goulding was given only four minutes himself despite the result seemingly being wrapped up much earlier.
“Daniels is really important going forward and if you can put some experience into him on the floor in pressure situations it’s going to be a bonus,” Gleeson said.
“That’s his job, is to be a shooter and it’s hard to be a shooter on the bench,” he added of Goulding.
