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Goorjian's Boomers to face Serbia in quarter-final

04 Aug
2 mins read

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NBL.com.au

The Boomers, coached by Sydney's Brian Goorjian, managed to finish second in their group despite only winning one of three games.

The Boomers, coached by Sydney Kings' Brian Goorjian, have been thrust into an Olympic men's basketball quarter-final against Nikola Jokic's Serbia while the United States would likely be next in a Paris semi-final.

The bracket was set for Tuesday's quarter-final stage at Paris's Bercy Arena after defending NBA MVP Jokic helped Serbia past South Sudan 96-85 to complete the pool stage in Lille.

Serbia finished second in their group behind the United States while South Sudan, featuring a host of current and former NBL players, were pipped for the final quarter-final spot by Greece on points differential.

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Thanks to a superior points differential and Canada's 3-0 record, the Boomers, who also have Kings' David Hillard as their physio, managed to finish second in their group despite only winning one of three games.

Australia impressed in a first-up defeat of Spain and played well in a loss to the stacked Canada, before a first half described by coach Brian Goorjian as "diabolical" in a loss to Greece almost saw them bundled out.

It's a favourable match-up on recent form though, Tokyo bronze medallists Australia beat Serbia by 11 points in an Olympic warm-up clash in Abu Dhabi on their way to France last month.

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Jokic, a silver medallist in 2016, will be a different beast with a spot in the final four on the line and the task only gets steeper against a stacked US team led by LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant.

Sixteen-time gold medallists the US will play Brazil in their quarter-final on Tuesday, while Greece drew world champions Germany and the red-hot Canada will face hosts France in another mouth-watering clash.

Tuesday, August 6

Australian Boomers v Serbia
Pierre Mauroy Stadium
Tip-off from 10.30pm AEST
Watch: Live via Nine Network & Stan Sport
Scores and stats: Click here

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