The much-anticipated commencement of the 2023 FIBA World Cup took place, and in what was expected to be a thrilling initial match, Australia transformed it into a largely one-sided contest by decisively defeating Finland with a commanding score of 98-72. This dominant performance unfolded on the competition’s opening day in Okinawa.
“I just thought we started poorly and just thought we stayed with it. What we talked about leaning in was the importance of defense, I just thought we were tremendous defensively. It started at the end of the second quarter, and went right through the second half, and settled down offensively,” said Brian Goorjian, Head Coach, Australia.
“We turned the ball over and I think that was nerves, so we settled down and played off our defense and rebounded. I was pleased we got contributions from everybody, and then the man sitting next to me, we talked about his first game as a Boomer in a competition like this. The ball was in his hands. We just didn’t have that level of player there in Tokyo and it makes a big difference.”
