Chris Pike’s Boomers Olympics Preview: Game 2

Posted on July 30, 2024July 30, 2024 | Posted by TABtouch

Game 2 v Canada (7.30pm WST Saturday 30th July)

The Australian Boomers started Paris 2024 impressively but they will face a significantly bigger challenge from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Canada on Tuesday night.

The Boomers did deliver an impressive performance to open the Olympic Games back on Saturday night with the 92-80 win over arch-nemesis Spain but in what has been dubbed the group of death, the challenges keep on coming.

Next up for the Australian men’s team is a match up with a Canada team also coming off a terrific start to their Olympic campaign overcoming 34 points from Giannis Antetokounmpo to beat Greece 86-79.

It’s now Canada who come into Tuesday night’s match as the warm favourites at $1.38* but Australia does appear a better chance than the odds suggest so jumping on at $2.90* wouldn’t be the worst option.

The winner of the match up will be in prime position to advance to the next round as well after those first up wins so there’s plenty that goes on the line in a contest featuring a whole lot of NBA talent.

Clearly the biggest job for the Boomers is to attempt to limit the influence of Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who is coming off an NBA season where he was runner-up in MVP voting.

He was good in Saturday’s win against Greece too with 21 points, seven assists and five rebounds, but the Boomers don’t have a great match up for him and that’s where the lack of selection of Matisse Thybulle is truly going to be tested.

Dyson Daniels will be given that job to start with and is the best match up for him in a physical sense and it’s going to be a real test of his defensive capabilities.

As a result, Gilgeous-Alexander has the chance for a big game so him scoring over 24.5 points at $1.85* looks a good option.

Daniels, though, will be playing big minutes and after 13 points and seven rebounds against Spain, get on him for over 8.5 points at $1.70*.

What Australia do need to do is make sure that nobody else on Canada catches fire, but it’s a team with a lot of weapons including RJ Barrett from the Toronto Raptors who had 23 points against Greece along with Kelly Olynyk, Jamal Murray and Dillon Brooks.

While the Boomers go in as underdogs, there was a lot to like in the win against Spain and it was point guard Josh Giddey and centre Jock Landale at the forefront of it all.

That’s going to continue to be the case so the best bets look to be jumping on Josh Giddey for over 7.5 assists at $2.10* and Jock Landale for over 6.5 rebounds at $1.75*.

Despite a wide margin in the head-to-head betting, this does look like a flip of the coin Olympic match up with the winner to firm their hopes of being part of the medal round. So for the Boomers, it’s a real chance to make a significant statement.

Verdict: Australia to win at $2.90*

*Odds correct as at 9am 30th July 2024.

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