The Australian Boomers have maintained their strong form over the weekend, winning three straight games against China and Japan as they continue their efforts to qualify for the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Hosting these games at Melbourne's John Cain Arena, the Boomers went undefeated over the four days of play, beating China, Japan, and then China again, the latter of which involved one of the most brilliant displays from the team in memory.
Australia absolutely blew this game open in the fourth.
— Michael Houben (@michaelhoub) July 3, 2022
26-3 final term. https://t.co/39h1KsIoYn
Australia were pushed in their first game against China, winning by 10 points - 79-69 - thanks in most part to the always solid play of Boomers veteran Matthew Dellavedova.
Delly led Australia in scoring, rebounds, and assists in the first game, with a respectable 16, seven, and four, while China's Zhou Qi dropped a monster 16-point, 17-rebound double-double.
Against Japan, the Boomers looked more like the dominant team that we expected to see, downing their opponents by 46 points in an absolute bloodbath, led by some of the fresher faces in the green and gold such as Will McDowell-White and Sam McDaniel, who had 14 apiece.
Thon's mailbox is the wrong mailbox 🙅♂️📭
— The NBL (@NBL) July 1, 2022
via @FIBAWC pic.twitter.com/aYhLOAjxKd
But it wasn't just McDowell-White and McDaniel who got in on the action, with every single Boomer on the roster scoring at least one basket; Australia finished with a team field-goal percentage of 54.3%.
For Japan, Keisei Tominaga was the lone bright spot on offence, scoring 18 points, but he was the only player who made it to double digits.
Following a day of rest, the Boomers then faced a rematch against China. There would be two roster changes for this match, with youngsters Alex Ducas and Tyrese Proctor coming in to replace the injured Jack McVeigh and Clint Steindl, who both appeared to suffer shoulder injuries against Japan.
After coming so close and falling just short, China was hungry to avenge their loss, and outplayed the Boomers for much of the first three quarters, entering the fourth all tied up.
From there, however, they would only make one more basket before the final buzzer sounded, Brian Goorjian's signature defence kicking into overdrive as the Boomers outscored China 26-3 in the fourth quarter.
This game was a Duke fan's delight, with former Blue Devil Jack White having easily his best game of the Qualifiers with a monster 16-point 14-rebound double-double, while future Blue Devil Tyrese Proctor saw his first court time of the weekend.
Jack White x Tyrese Proctor 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/4HGMATzwiS
— Blue Devils (@BlueDevils) July 3, 2022
These three wins were huge for Australia, who were expected to be at least tested by both teams during the Qualifiers, and they will hopefully maintain this momentum heading into the FIBA Asia Cup in mid-July, where they are slated to face off against Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia.
If successful, their focus will then shift to the 2023 FIBA World Cup, where the Boomers will no doubt look to improve upon their fourth-place finish at the 2019 FIBA World Cup, and hopefully do one better than the Bronze medal won at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
