LILLE (France) - There were questions about what comes next after Patty Mills and Joe Ingles say goodbye to the national team. Turns out, Josh Giddey has all the answers.
The 21-year-old did a little bit of everything in the first basketball game of the Olympics, leading Australia to an 92-80 win over Spain in Group A. Canada and Greece are the other two teams in this pool.
Turning point
Coach Sergio Scariolo takes a lot of pride in his team's defense, and the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 winners threw everything they had at the Boomers. We're talking man-to-man half court, man-to-man full court, the trademark 3-2 zone with Rudy at the top, even box-and-one with Xabi Lopez-Arostegui as the key defender.
Meanwhile, all Australia had to do was give the ball to Josh Giddey and keep moving around. The point forward was easily the best player of the first half, getting 15 points, knocking down two deep three-pointers just as Spain went to that 3-2 zone, opening up a 14-point lead.
Spain being Spain, they cut the gap to 49-42 at the break, and went on another run to start the third, taking a brief 56-54 lead at the 6:00 mark when Santi Aldama got to his 18th point of the day.
With Giddey sitting, Australia turned to Patty Mills and Jack McVeigh to get the lead back, hurting Spain by crashing the offensive glass, creating a 15-3 run over the next five minutes, enjoying the fact that the French fans sided with them for this one.
Of course, that's all part of a longstanding neighborhood rivalry with the hosts of the Olympics and Spain.
Spain could not make a comeback in the fourth, even though they were within four points at one point. But Australia were never going to let them retake the lead, hitting them with another set of threes and offensive rebounds to get a double digit lead heading into the last three minutes.
Game hero
We warned you about Josh Giddey. Multiple times.
The newest member of the Chicago Bulls was the floor general for Australia, running the offense with the ball in his hands, making life easier for everybody else in yellow on the court. Also, making it a nightmare for Spain's guards who tried chasing him.
Giddey finished with 17 points, 8 assists and 8 rebounds, making all the right decisions when the game was at it's tipping point.
The last player who had 15+ points, 7+ rebounds and 7+ assists in his very first game at the Olympics? The late great Drazen Petrovic, collecting 21 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists for Yugoslavia against Germany in 1984.
Honorable mention goes out to Jock Landale. The center had 20 points and 9 rebounds, but the most impressive part in his stat line was the fact that Australia were +30 in his 28 minutes of action.
"It's easy playing with a guy like that. He makes the game easier for me, he's in great spots, sets great screens, finishes really well, does it both sides of the ball. Very fun to play with, it sucked we couldn't play the (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023) together, but I'm really glad he's on our team now, he's a big piece of what we're doing," Giddey praised his big guy.
Stats don't lie
It was easy to predict the game plans here. Spain wanted to make it a slower, half court game, while the Boomers wanted to run. Australia prevailed, speeding to a 15-5 advantage in fast break points, way too much for a close, competitive game like this.
They were also +12 in points in the paint, paving the way to a comfy win in the end.
Bottom line
Both teams can enjoy the positive sides of having the longest rest possible before they get back on the floor for their second matchups. Spain face Greece on Tuesday, hoping they can get somebody else to join Santi Aldama in the 20s in scoring.
The forward finished with 27 on the day, with Sergio Llull next to him on 17 points, but shooting 5-of-15 from the three-point range.
Coach Brian Goorjian managed to keep his team calm in a tense game with a lot of trash talking between the players and the benches. He had five men in double digits in this one, getting everybody involved ahead of the game against Canada on Tuesday.
They said
"Just trying to stay cool, next-play mentality, obviously making some bad plays because I was so energized, so ready to go, so excited to play. I just calmed down as the game goes along as still found ways to help the team with that energy." - Jack McVeigh after scoring 13 points off the bench for Australia
The epitome of Australian basketball - Josh Giddey
"Today was kinda the epitome of Australian basketball, just a full team effort. We had contributors all across the board, that's what it's gonna take to win a game like this and in a tournament like this. It's never going to be up to one guy, you gotta have effort from everybody and we had that today." - Josh Giddey, Australia
"They made two heavy runs at us, they took the lead, but I thought we were fearless and courageous. We had great guard play, and Jock Landale was tremendous down the stretch, but I'll make a point about a guy like Josh Green. He's a +17 and he doesn't score a point. We had a similar situation against France, where Nick Guy doesn't score a point and is +19, just getting contribution from everybody. We need to get better, but we're moving forward." - Brian Goorjian, Australia head coach
"You base your game plan on percentages, on skills, on habits, on what the players normally do. Those threes were a little bit unexpected. These are great players, you cannot disrespect them, naturally, we didn't. But they were really good making them, especially in the first half, when we managed to stop their paint touches and penetrations, they made the threes. This is not exactly their best game, but sometimes shots go in even when they are taken by not the best shooters. This is a part of the game." - Spain head coach Sergio Scariolo talking about Giddey and Dyson Daniels going 5-of-8 combined from three-point range
Quick notes
Australia grabbed 46 rebounds, their second-best total in a game at the Olympics over the last 40 years (51 vs China in 2012)
Jock Landale is the first Australian with 20+ points, 5+ rebounds and 5+ assists at the Olympics since Eddie Palubinskas in 1976 (30pts, 8reb, 6ast vs Japan)
Santi Aldama scored 27 points, more than in his six games at the 2020 Olympics combined (11pts)
Aldama's six three-pointers are the most by a Spanish player at the Olympics
FIBA