Ryan Broekhoff and Australia Olympic Basketball

[Kyle321n]

70-43 Boomers going into the fourth. Looks like the worst case scenario is they play for bronze, best case scenario, US gets beat by Spain and it's Spain-Aussie for the gold.

And now in the 4th with Rowdy getting a lot of run they mention how well he's been playing. That leads to the discussion that he was one of the few Aussies to not go to college on the west coast, coming to Valparaiso (pronounced correctly!) and the British announcer said "They must have a good coach". The other announcer said "Yes they are a good program, after college he played in Turkey and is now starring for Lokomotiv, kind of the Indiana of Europe."

[justducky]

Almost 20 minutes of play with 7 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 block and 1 turnover. Another solid performance.

[talksalot]

On to the final four...where only the top 3 get anything.

[vu84v2]

Big game late this afternoon against Serbia. Serbia was up and down the entire game against Croatia, but probably was Australia's toughest opponent in the preliminary round other than the US. Australia has continued to play with a great combination of beautiful teamwork and determination. While I don't have the stats handy, their Assists to Field Goals and Assists to Turnovers ratios must be incredible.

Has a Valparaiso alum ever won an Olympic medal? 

[vu72]

Big game late this afternoon against Serbia. Serbia was up and down the entire game against Croatia, but probably was Australia's toughest opponent in the preliminary round other than the US. Australia has continued to play with a great combination of beautiful teamwork and determination. While I don't have the stats handy, their Assists to Field Goals and Assists to Turnovers ratios must be incredible.

Has a Valparaiso alum ever won an Olympic medal? 

[/b]

Yes.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/athletics/hofmembers/2005-06/2820/patty-cisneros/#.V7dJ3pgrLNM

[nkvu]

Boomers off to about the worst possible start. Need Ryan to hit a three. And he does!

[nkvu]

And the awfulness continues to the end of the first half. About as bad a half as they could possibly play. 14 points in the first half?  Who would have thought that was possible?

[justducky]

Halftime adjustments are a must. Rowdy with 5 points. I think.

[justducky]

Wow! An ugly team performance! On a scale of 1 to 10 I would say Ryan rated no better than a 4 or 5. Most of his teammates and the coaching staff came in at only 3's or 2's.

Do they have any Pepe's Restaurants in Rio? If so did they have their team diner, breakfast or lunch there?      

[vu72]

Not sure I agree with your evaluation of Ryan. Other than missing a few shots (something his teammates were very good at, he played his role very well.  His role?  Hang around waiting for his (tonight) selfish teammates to pass him the ball.  He had numerous very good assists,  His team stunk tonight.  Not so much for Ryan.

[atkins]

Ryan played ok.  Wish we could have seen him on the court a bit more.  His teammates were playing terribly while he rode the pine.  This would have been a perfect opportunity for him to drill shots and stand out as the lone strong performer. 

The Aussie coach was blatantly outcoached in this game by his Serbian peer.  Sticking with cold players too long, failing to substitute wisely, failing to adjust to matchup issues, etc.  Serbia was the better team, and it was not even debatable, but the coaching disparity is what struck me. 

[swiftmutiny]

Australia will be taking on Spain in the bronze medal match in just a few minutes. Here is the link for those who'd like to watch: http://stream.nbcolympics.com/mens-basketball-bronze-medal

Go Aussies!

[nkvu]

After another slow start the boomers trail by only two at the half. Ryan getting playing time but rarely touching the ball on offense. Made some good passes. Would like to see him get a couple of three point attempts but doesn't seem like the guards are looking to dish to him when they penetrate.

[vu84v2]

Australia cut a 12 point lead to 2 at the half. Playing better than they did against Serbia, but not defending the three point arc very well and still not getting the movement on offense that they had in previous games. Ryan 2-2 from the floor for 5 points. He played about 9 minutes. Need a strong second half effort.

Thankfully, Marv Albert and Doug Collins are not doing the game. Fran Fraschilla and whomever does play-by-play are very good. Best Fraschilla comment so far, "we've been watching Olympic basketball now for 2 weeks and we still have no idea what a foul is." Fraschilla is also complimentary of Ryan and knows how to pronounce his name and Valparaiso.

[vu84v2]

After another slow start the boomers trail by only two. Ryan getting playing time but rarely touching the ball on offense. Made some good passes. Would like to see him get a couple of three point attempts but doesn't seem like the guards are looking to dish to him when they penetrate.

Ryan does not move that much on offense - he tends to camp in the corner or out high. The guards tend to find Ingles, Mills, or Andersen more off their drives (especially Andersen since the defending 4 goes low on the drive). Ryan also tends to setup on the weak side and the ball seldom reverses to the weak side (though other than Serbia, Australia's offense has been outstanding).

[vu84v2]

Australia loses, but a fantastic game. 89-88 and no one had more than a two point lead in the last 4 or 5 minutes. Ryan 5-5 from the floor for 13 points. Pretty amazing that Australia hung tough since Bogut fouled out 3 minutes into the 3rd quarter.

I would definitely have played Ryan down the stretch rather than Ingles.

[nkvu]

Two very questionable fouls called on the boomers at the end. The 4 free throws gave Spain the game. Tough loss but an exciting game none the less. Really good game for Rowdy. They had enough confidence in him to put him in for the final seconds with the game on the line.

Great to be able to watch Rowdy play again. Hope he gets a shot at the NBA. Would make me start watching again just to see him play.

[justducky]

Gasol was the difference. Australia could not contain him.

I would definitely have played Ryan down the stretch rather than Ingles.

Ryan looked tired when he came out at about 4:30 to go. He was a major player in the last quarter run. He also subbed in defense for offense and was on the floor for the final offensive possession.

Rowdy's Olympic play may not have been jaw dropping but it was reliably solid and should attract some additional NBA interest. Seems like he should fit somewhere as a versatile role player.

[wh]

Didn't see the game, but Ryan being camped out on the weak side sounds like they were running a pro style offense with a lot of isolation and 2-man game. If so, there is a lot of standing around by the 2 or 3 non-featured players. Obviously, it's used for a reason and I'm sure it's effective, but personally I'm a motion fan.

[vu84v2]

Actually, Australia ran a tremendous amount of motion offense (which Serbia really cracked down on). It was just that they would run four guys and camp either Ingles or Broekhoff in the corner. Their assists to field goal ratio in the preliminary round games supports that (typical game: 28 assists out of 34 FGs with little fast breaking).

The calls were bad (especially the last one on Mills that gave up the two winning free throws). Bogut fouling out 3 minutes into the 3rd quarter gave Gasol a ton of room.

I do not agree that Ryan looked tired. He never looked or played tired in the tournament.

[justducky]

I do not agree that Ryan looked tired.

If he wasn't he should have or would have been. As I recall he came in towards then end of the 3'rd quarter and played very hard during that important stretch. As well as he played in those minutes I was anticipating that he would come out briefly so that he could be reinserted. This is exactly what happened so I am unprepared to critisize the coaches for making the change even if he clearly had the hot hand.

[vu84v2]

Ryan came out around 4:30, but only came back in as a defensive replacement for the last minute and for the last shot. I agree that he should have sat him for a few minutes and brought him in, but he played Ingles mostly down the stretch. Ryan had a much better game going than Ingles.

[valpopal]

I have to agree with what others have said. Two calls at the end of the game were more than questionable, and it was a shame for Rowdy, who played really well, and his team, especially since they played most of the game without Bogut. Mills was given a technical for complaining about a call no more than others had done throughout the game and continued to do so in the final minutes. Then the officials call a phantom foul with less than a minute to play while they had allowed obvious and strenuous pushing, shoving, or hacking during the rest of the game. Those two fouls gave Spain three points and were the difference. Both teams played an exciting and energetic game. The outcome should have been left to the players and not have been decided by the poor call of an official. Even the announcers disagreed with the officials and saw no reason for the calls. On the bright side, after years of wondering, we may have found officials worse than those in the Horizon League! 

[nkvu]

Looking to see Rowdy at the closing ceremonies. Haven't spotted him yet. Hope he is there and enjoying the experience. Wouldn't it be great if he and other b ball alumni would post here occasionally and share with us some of their post grad experiences, particularly when they compete in the olympics.  Would love to hear from him.

And I would love to hear from koala about her Rio experience as well.

[valpotx]

I hope that Rowdy gets some NBA workouts in the coming weeks!  He really only had 1 'bad' game, but everyone on Australia was bad against Serbia.  Since Delly and Mills were taking the bulk of the Aussie's shots, I think that Ryan did well with what he was given.  I would love to see both Ryan and Peters in the NBA at the same time, only to be joined a few years later by Smits, and our two 4 star recruits!