Australian basketball champion Andrew Bogut says the Boomers must find a way to limit the impact of Giannis Antetokounmpo in their final pool game at the Olympics.
The ‘Greek Freak’ has averaged 30 points and 8 rebounds across his two appearances in Paris, drawing 18 fouls from the opposition.
While Greece has lost both games so far, a victory against Australia by ten points or more could still see them qualify for the Quarter-Finals.
It’s all on the line come Friday night, Australian time, and Bogut says Antetokounmpo could be the difference.
“The poison’s going to be we’ve got to put bodies around Giannis,” Bogut said on The Gold Standard.
“The teams that are successful in the NBA … you’ve got to get to elbows and blocks and then be flying out to three-point shooters.
“You don’t want to give him space … if you give Giannis a slither of a gap or opening on the floor, he’s just so dangerous, he’s so strong.
“When I was in the NBA, I didn’t realise how strong he was. He hit me a few times in the chest and I was like ‘man this guy’s super-strong’.
“He’s so good at going 110 miles an hour and then just Euro-stepping you, and then he’s got enough strength to finish.”
“I think Nick Kay probably gets to start on him just to be a solid, high IQ defender, but it’s going to be other guys … it’s going to be your Patty (Mills) or your Josh (Green) on the elbows, and maybe digging in, getting a hand on a deflection as he’s driving, but being good enough to get back to the three-point shooters, because they’re going to get their three-point shooters around him.
“Greece moved the ball pretty well (against Spain), but they had times offensively where they couldn’t score buckets.
“(Georgios) Papagiannis too, the big guy, he shoots the ball quite well so he could be another problem for us,” Newley added.
“You might see a bit more of (Will) Magnay potentially to help Jock (Landale) out to keep him out of foul trouble.
“He’s not really a knockdown shooter so much, so I’d like to see whoever’s guarding him be off on that elbow digging in.”
The Boomers will be sweating on the result of the earlier game, with Spain and Canada facing off, currently on one and two wins respectively.
Currently, Australia can finish from anywhere from first to fourth in their group, with only the two top teams guaranteed qualification to the next stage.