Boomers Bounced by Argentina

West Australian Shawn Redhage and the Australian men’s basketball team have slumped to a second successive defeat after reigning Olympic champions Argentina secured an 85-68 win in Beijing.

The Boomers made an ordinary start and allowed their South American opponents to dictate play and more importantly the scoring. At quarter time the Argentine’s lead 23-11, however it could have been worse after Australia at one point trailed by as much as 18 points.

With five NBA players on their list, Argentina proved difficult to break with Ginobli and Scola both impressive on the night.

Big name NBA star Andrew Bogut again failed to stamp his authority on the contest with Patrick Mills and David Andersen instead left to step up Australia’s efforts. Mills fast action play yielded 22 points but was still short of the effort needed to topple the top quality opposition.

With three games remaining Australia must win a minimum of two matches against Iran, Russia and Lithuania, a difficult task considering the Boomers first two performances.