Australia upset about 'ridiculous' fouls in bronze medal game loss to Spain
RIO DE JANEIRO — The Australians were hopping mad about their Olympic bronze medal game loss to Spain on Sunday.
And who could blame them? Having looked like a contender for gold early, they fell short in their quest to medal for the first time while finishing fourth for the fourth time in Olympic history (1988, 1996, 2000).
After nearly 40 minutes of action-packed play, two late calls against the Aussies had everything to do with their 89-88 defeat. With 28 seconds left and Australia up 86-85, big man Aron Baynes (Detroit Pistons) was whistled for a push foul as he tried to defend Pau Gasol (San Antonio Spurs) in the key. Gasol, the 36-year-old who finished with 31 points and 11 rebounds, hit both free throws.
Then with five seconds left, after a Baynes hook shot over Gasol on the prior possession bounced in for a one-point Australia lead, point guard Patty Mills (30 points) was called for a foul on Sergio Rodriguez as he drove to the rim. Despite the fact that it appeared Mills had backed out of Rodriguez’s way and avoided contact, the Spanish point guard was at the line for two free throws (both makes). The Australians had one last chance to win it, but a play for Mills was broken and the Spaniards fell to the floor in celebration as the buzzer sounded.
“They got some tough calls towards the end,” said Australian center Andrew Bogut, who played just 14 minutes because of foul trouble. “Patty’s call towards the end comes three seconds after the ball hits the rim, so (the officials) are obviously thinking about something.
“It’s disappointing that it has to go that way, and disappointing that the play before, Aron Baynes gets an armbar foul (while guarding Gasol) in a one-point game with 20 seconds left. It’s absolutely ridiculous. They controlled the tempo of the game, and it wasn’t in our favor.”
Bogut, who fouled out early in the third quarter and played just 13 minutes, wasn’t done just yet. When asked if he knew he had four fouls before Ricky Rubio drew his fifth, Bogut said, “Yeah, I think Spain did too. That’s why (Rubio) dove into me and fell over. The referees did a great job of calling the foul, as they did the whole game. You try to play a physical game out there, and play by the rules, but (the officials) put the flop warning in probably for these guys. It didn’t really work today.”
Others were a bit more diplomatic, but clearly frustrated nonetheless.
“I don’t really want to make it a story about the officials, but there (were) a lot of whistles that I thought could have gone either way, and we seemed to cop it a fair bit tonight during the last stretch,” Australia assistant coach Luc Longley said. “But your destiny is always in your own hands, you know? We just didn’t quite get there tonight.”
Added Mills, the San Antonio Spurs sixth man who hit 11 of 23 shots: “Things go your way sometimes, and things don’t go your way sometimes. I think the biggest thing is just understanding how much pride and passion each and every one of these boys had to be able to put on the green and gold, because this is what it’s all about: being able to step out on the floor and leave everything on the floor for your country. We just hope that everyone back home was able to feel like they were on the journey with us, because it was one hell of a journey.”
The Australians opened Olympics play with a surprising rout of France (87-66), then downed eventual gold-medal game participant, Serbia, in the second game of pool play (95-80). Their third game was as impressive a loss as there was in these Games, as they fell 98-88 to Team USA. Their semifinal loss to Serbia (87-61) was puzzling, to say the least, and one that Bogut and the rest of them won’t forget anytime soon.
“It’s disappointing,” said Bogut, the Dallas Mavericks center who had just four points and one rebound in the semifinal. “The last two games, from a team standpoint, to lose were tough. From an individual standpoint, my two worst games of the tournament were my last two games. That’s going to eat at me for the next couple of days. It’s something to deal with.”
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