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Grading every Boomers’ performance across a frustrating Olympic campaign

Grading every Boomers’ performance across a frustrating Olympic campaign

A frustrating campaign for the Boomers came to an end overnight, blowing a 24-point lead to lose to Nikola Jokic and Serbia in overtime.

It was an Olympics that got off on the wrong foot with the call to leave Matisse Thybulle out of the squad, and one that ended with three straight losses.

It felt clear that this Australian side was not a medal threat this time around, with the U.S, France, Germany, Canada and Serbia all, simply, too good.

With Paris in the books and the Boomers now going into hibernation until 2027, it appears to be the end of an era of Australian basketball.

Here’s how we graded every player on the roster’s performance in the 2024 Olympics.

Brian Goorjian

Grade: D-

…But let’s start with the coach.

I think we can all objectively suggest now the decision to select Joe Ingles over Matisse Thybulle or Xavier Cooks or Chris Goulding was a mistake.

Ingles played barely two minutes across the entire tournament, while the other three all could have been utilised in at minimum niche roles in crucial spots.

Goorjian was far too loyal to veterans Kay and Dellavedova, desperate to give them minutes and muddling rotations. Even against Serbia, they made constant substitutions as they moved through 11 men.

He will always be the man who led the Boomers to their first ever medal and he should be remembered for that – even if the two tournaments that followed were quite polarising.

Patty Mills

Grade: B+

What a way for Mills to bow out as a Boomer. 26 points (20 in a half) and the buzzer beater shot over Jokić to send the game into overtime.

At 35, it was unrealistic to expect Patty to dominate every game as he did in his prime, but his starring efforts in two of the four games were vintage.

He dropped 19 in the win over Spain and averaged 16.5 points per game.

Mills was a liability at times on defence and probably should have been taken out a bit more against Canada and Greece where he was struggling offensively and being hunted on D.

But given this was his swansong as a Boomer and his unreal performance against Serbia, he undoubtedly finished on a high.

Josh Giddey

Grade: B+

In his first Olympic games, it was clear the team revolved around Giddey. He set the table and the Boomers lived and died by his playmaking.

At his best, Giddey attacked the paint and used his size to get to the rim, while also finding open teammates.

On the flip side, there were too many turnovers. He averaged five per game and ultimately finished in the +/- negatives in three of the four games as a result.

Still, Giddey will be the head of the snake for the Boomers for a decade and this was a strong Olympic debut.

Dyson Daniels

Grade: B

Daniels, like Giddey, made a big leap in his role in this tournament. He started all four games and was used as the primary defender on the opposition’s star guard.

He scored double digits in the first three games and shot nearly 40% from three, which gets a big tick.

Daniels will only get better from here and will be a big factor in 2028.

Jock Landale

Grade: A

The Boomers couldn’t have asked for much more from Landale, who might have emerged as the most important player on the roster.

He anchored the centre position and scored 16, 17 and 20 points in the first three games, before foul trouble and having to deal with the best player on the planet limited him to five points against Serbia.

Landale and Giddey developed great chemistry very quickly and their connection will be vital going forward.

Nick Kay

Grade: D+

Goorjian started Kay in all four games and played over 20 minutes in the first three games.

While Kay may have strong defensive instincts and provides some size at the four, the Boomers have moved past him – and Goorjian only realised this after three matches (Kay only played eight minutes against Serbia).

Asking him to guard Giannis was putting him in a position to fail, particularly when everyone watching could see the need to move to a two-centre line-up.

Credit where it’s due, Kay hit eight of his 14 threes in the tournament.

Dante Exum

Grade: B+

Dante Exum had every right to pull out of the tournament after dislocating his finger in the warmups. He’s only just reinvigorated his NBA career and would have been well within his rights to not take the risk.

But he pushed through, played the final three games and reaffirmed his status as a key cog offensively and defensively.

Exum scored 15 against Canada and 12 against Serbia, with his minutes increasing as the tournament went on.

He deserves all the credit in the world for playing through the injury and performing as well as he did.

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Jack McVeigh

Grade: B

Even if he tweets like a bit of a self-help madman, Jack McVeigh proved he belongs on this stage.

The ball seemed to find the JackJumper in crucial moments and he rose to the occasion more often than not.

McVeigh shot 52.6% from three and earned the trust of the coaches, playing 30 minutes in the final game.

Will Magnay

Grade: C+

Playing ahead of Duop Reath as the backup centre, Will Magnay was solid.

While he only scored seven points in the tournament, he battled hard against the likes of Giannis and Jokic all tournament.

Magnay was a somewhat controversial selection in the squad initially, but dispelled those concerns and proved a handy depth rotation.

Josh Green

Grade: F
In the postmortem, the Boomers will wonder what on Earth happened here with Josh Green.

Coming into the tournament, he was clearly viewed as a starter and one of the most important parts of the rotation.

But he played 39 minutes across the first two games, failing to score. Even if he was holding up fine defensively, Goorjian clearly felt he couldn’t continue with Green given his lack of offensive output.

He barely took the court in the final two games. Green would be frustrated, but he remains crucial to the plans for 2028, surely.

Matthew Dellavedova

Grade: C

Dellavedova clearly hustled his way into the squad, practicing hard and impressing the coaching staff at scrimmages.

And he was fine. He had his trademark defensive energy in short bursts, caused a few turnovers and was ignored offensively.

Goorjian left him out there for too long against Serbia and the offence stuttered somewhat.

This roster spot really should have been Thybulle’s.

Duop Reath

Grade: C+

Reath barely featured in the first three matches, despite coming off a breakout season for Portland in the NBA.

Being benched for Will Magnay and Nick Kay was an … intriguing call. Reath had a couple of good possessions against Giannis and Greece, but was quickly benched again, only playing six minutes.

He finally got his shot against Serbia, playing 22 minutes, and the two-big line-up worked well.

We should have seen more Reath and less Kay in this tournament.

Joe Ingles_

Grade: N/A

Ingles took the court for two minutes against Spain … and then wasn’t seen again for the rest of the tournament.

He was clearly brought along for chemistry purposes and bench energy.

Which feels like the coaches not having the guts to cut one of the country’s all-time greats.

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