Australia untroubled in 40 point victory
To Kazakhstan's credit, they managed 91 points and only lost the second half by seven points, in a very fast paced game with a combined 192 non-foul field goal attempts, and 38 free throw attempts. But the 22,567 in attendance at The Kennel were treated to an outstanding offensive display from the Australian team to open our campaign. 131 points at 55.9 FG%, with seven members of the squad scoring in the double digits. At one point it looked like the final score could've been even higher, with the first quarter alone yielding a 40-24 score-line in Australia's favour.
McMillan top scored with 22, whilst Scully's official NT debut was a great one for him, shooting 7-8 to finish with 14 points and 12 rebounds. It was a disappointing night for Ryder and Cicvaric however, especially considering the players they were back-ups for, Catic and McMillan, had played well at the SF and SG spots respectively. Another statistic of note in the box score was Scully registering no blocks despite being a shot blocking specialist, whilst Anderson managed three.
The next three games on the tournament schedule look set to be more of the same, as the Australian team has time to bank enthusiasm before the tougher games against Malaysia and Japan later on. However, those tougher games are unlikely to have much bearing on the outcome of the tournament either, as the top four all advance to round two, at which point the results in this round won't matter any more.
3 points: Ryan McMillan (22 points, 9-14 FG, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, opponent starting SG 2-12 FG)
1 point (three way tie): Kerehi Scully (14 points, 7-8 FG, 12 rebounds)
1 point: Poluta'u Brar (20 points, 9-15 FG, 6 assists, opposing starting PG 2-8 FG)
1 point: Keith Anderson (16 points, 6-8 FG, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks)
Is everyone okay with me changing the 3-2-1 to a different model totalling 6 points when I feel there's more than 3 players worthy of points?