Australian basketball legend Luc Longley has warned the Boomers against complacency heading into their quarter-final matchup against Serbia, despite an impressive win in a warm-up game a fortnight ago.

Patty Mills’ 28 points led the Boomers to an 84-73 win over Nikola Jokic and the Serbian team on July 17, but Longley says Australia must learn from mistakes of years’ past.

“Those Euro teams, especially ones like Serbia, are notorious for laying in the weeds during warm-up games,” he told NBL Media. 

“They never play any of their cards in friendlies or even pool games, and they do it so well.”

Longley is speaking from prior experience. He was the assistant coach of the Boomers during their heartbreaking tournament at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

While a lot of painful memories arise from the bronze medal controversy, the Boomers had entered the semi-finals with all eyes on gold.

It was during their second pool game of the tournament where the Aussies put Serbia to the sword. It was a dominant 15-point victory, led by 26 points from Patty Mills and 12 rebounds from Andrew Bogut.

Next, the Boomers defeated Lithuania by 26 in the quarter-finals. Their reward, a re-match against the Serbians. A win, and they were on their way to the gold medal game.

Of course, they went in full of confidence.

“We smacked them (Serbia) in the round games. We felt very confident entering that semi-final with our game plan,” Longley added. 

“Then when the game started, it was a completely different Serbia than we played the week before. It was a different style … all their rotations were different, and they ultimately beat us in the game that mattered.”

It wasn’t just a loss either. It was a thrashing.

Serbia advanced to the gold medal game with a convincing 26-point win, blowing the Boomers away with a 35-14 first half.

“They just smacked us in the mouth so hard from the opening tip in that game,” Longley continued.

“… that’s their MO and always has been. They’ll come out super aggressive and it’ll be a different level of physicality that the Boomers haven’t seen yet.

“That’s why you can’t read anything into that game from two weeks ago. If you do that and they get us on the back foot early, then they’re at an advantage straight away and we’re trying to catch up.”

Australia takes on Serbia for a place in the semi-finals on Tuesday night at 10.30pm AEST, Australian time.

Live coverage will be available via the Nine Network and Stan Sport.

Australian Boomers v Serbia
Bercy Arena
Tuesday, August 6 – Tip-off from 10.30pm AEST
Watch: Live via Nine Network & Stan Sport
Scores & stats: Click here

Highlights, scores & game reports available via the NBL’s social media channels.