History!
Utah Jazz 3-point leader Joe Ingles and the Australian men’s national team got their first ever medal in the Olympic games with a bronze finish against Luka Doncic and the Slovenain squad. This was Joe’s fourth Olympic games.
The Boomers are on the podium!!
“We’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. I don’t know whether to laugh, cry, smile, it’s a lot of emotions.”- Patty Mills.
“It’s time to bring the Olympic medal home.”
The drought has officially been broken!#Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/aQPj4miG2Z
— Basketball Australia (@BasketballAus) August 7, 2021
Joe was pivotal in the win, scoring 16 points and hitting four 3-pointers—the second leading scorer for the Boomers behind veteran guard Patty Mills’ remarkable 42-point outing. Ingles added four assists and nine rebounds in his 35 minutes on the floor. Three of his triples came in the third quarter.
The Aussies took an eight-point lead into halftime, ballooning their lead to 14-points early in the fourth quarter before Slovenia made a run back to eventually bring it within a single possession. But hustle plays by the Boomers took the game out of reach of a comeback with just minutes to go and the celebrations on the sidelines commenced.
Ingles was finally able to get his team over the 4th place finish hump in the Olympic Games after finishing just outside of podium in men’s basketball four separate times in the teams’ history, most recently in the 2016 games. A medal had long been on the list of important accomplishments for the NBA veteran who has been playing professional basketball since he was teenager.
HISTORY MADE
The Boomers have done it- Australia have secured their first ever men’s basketball Olympic medal!
The bronze is coming home! #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/ngxiYRwHdk
— Basketball Australia (@BasketballAus) August 7, 2021
Ingles becomes the sixth Jazzman to medal in the Olympics after John Stockton, Karl Malone, Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams and teammate Rudy Gobert finished with the silver medal against Team USA in these games.
Joe and Rudy will get to share the podium at the medal ceremony.
Legends.#GoBoomers pic.twitter.com/Yxl5XvQqK4
— The NBL (@NBL) August 7, 2021
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