Opals have things to fix before focusing on Quarter-Finals, warns Taylor

RIO DE JANEIRO (Rio 2016 Olympic Games) - Penny Taylor believes Australia have to be fully prepared for the Final Phase of the competition if they are to claim a medal in Rio.

The Opals avoided what could have been one of the biggest upsets at the Rio Olympics on Thursday by coming back from the ashes to beat Japan 92-86.

Brendan Joyce's team had previously been put to the test on a number of occasions but remain undefeated in four games.

They have been impressively resilient but allowing Japan to lead by as many as 16 points is something that should not be repeated, warned Taylor, the team's second-leading scorer behind Liz Cambage.

The Opals take on Belarus on Saturday looking to maintain their perfect record. 

Taylor talked about the Opals' current run and state of mind with FIBA.com.

FIBA.com: Looking at the Opals' recent games, it looks like you've been quite resilient in turning games around. You went to the locker room trailing on three occasions - against Brazil, Turkey and Japan. Why does that happen?
Taylor: I don't know [but] we have to fix that. We figure things out as we go. I think it's a good thing that we find a way to get it done but you don't want to be down by 16, especially against Japan.

FIBA.com: Japan did test you, even though you came up with a 92-86 win.
Taylor: Yes they gave us some hard times. They came out just running, just pushing the ball, shooting threes. It's hard to guard them, but we found a way. We went to a zone defense and we halted their running game.

Australia have won four straight Group A games to advance to the Quarter-Finals

FIBA.com: Did you expect that kind of competition from the Asian champions?
Taylor: We know the style they play because we played them quite a bit last year, but they were amazing. Credit to them.

FIBA.com: What went through your mind when you were down 16? Did you think "well that's it we are done"?
Taylor: No, not really. There was a little concern that we couldn’t defend them more than anything. Scoring has never our problem. The change to the zone really worked for us.

FIBA.com: Now that you are in the Quarter-Finals, the goal of winning a medal is getting closer.
Taylor: Which really means nothing at the end of the day, we still have to go and win our Quarter-Finals, which we don’t know who they will be. But it will be a tough team whoever it is because the other group top 4 are really competitive teams. I am looking forward to finding out, first, who we'll play. 

FIBA