Italy and Australia will square off this Wednesday in a battle of undefeated in Group B play of the men’s basketball tournament in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Who will secure the solo spot atop the group with a victory in this matchup? Check out our preview of this game below.
Italy is off to a good start in the Olympics, as it defeated Germany, 92-82. The Italians used a sizzling shooting performance from long distance, knocking down 15 of 31 attempts from deep. Simone Fontecchio was smoking in that game, scoring 20 points on 5/5 shooting from behind the arc, while Danilo Gallinari and Stefano Tonut had 18 points apiece and were 4/10 on 3-point shots together. Italy can definitely shoot the ball from the perimeter and that will be a terrific weapon for it to loosen up Australia’s defense. Gallinari and Nicolo Melli are sweet-shooting stretch bigs who should keep Australia’s frontcourt on its toes. Speaking of defense, Italy seems it can also get the job done on that end of the court by recording 11 steals against Germany.
The Boomers have their mean faces on. Australia got things going for it in the Olympics by crushing Nigeria, 84-67. The Australians really turned it on in the second half, where they outscored Nigeria by 14 points compared to just three in the first two periods. Patty Mills recorded 25 points to go with six assists, while Matisse Thybulle had seven points and five steals. Thybulle can be the anchor of Australia’s defense against the hot-shooting Italians. Known for his ability to lock down opponents, Thybulle, along with Joe Ingles and Dante Exum will be looking to make life hard for Italy’s shooters just as the Australians did against Nigeria. The Nigerians went just 17/24 from behind the arc and 39.3 percent from the field overall. Australia’s bench also seems to be deeper than Italy’s so expect the Boomers to take advantage of that when the starters sit.
