Broekhoff praises emerging Boomers in Japan win

After suffering defeat against Germany in their second group clash in the World Cup, the Boomers have coasted past Japan to lock away their spot in the next stage of the competition.

After sluggish starts plagued Australia’s first two performances the Boomers came out firing against Japan, and did not need a repeat of Patty Mills’ efforts against Germany to drag them back into the game.

Reigning NBL MVP Xavier Cooks and Dallas Maverick Josh Green played chief destroyers for Australia, and former Boomer Ryan Broekhoff is excited at how the offence functioned without Mills at his best.

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“Patty didn’t have his best shooting night, but he wasn’t needed with how well Giddey and others were getting into the paint, how well we rebounded offensively and were able to get easy baskets,” Broekhoff said on NBL Today: World Cup Edition.

“We didn’t need him to save the day for us.

“It was refreshing to see him play a little bit freely, play a little bit off the ball and we know Patty is going to be there when crunch time hits. He’s going to be the one taking the big shots, he’s going to be making the big shots.

“It was amazing to see them move the ball [and] attack the rim. Whenever they got an outside jump shot, I was like ‘just go in the paint, you’re getting anything you want’, but it was a much better performance from the Boomers.”

The bedrock of the dominant Australia performance was built from the foundation of stingy first half defence from the Boomers.

Japan scored just 35 points in the opening half of the game, and while they exploded to score that many points once more in the third quarter along the damage had already been done.

Broekhoff has earmarked Green’s injection into the starting five as the catalyst for the improved defensive performance.

Green finished the game with four steals.

“It made an immediate impact. He had that energy,” Broekhoff said.

“He probably had more steals that just didn’t get picked up with the deflections and his energy and effort.

“Leading from our defence into our offence getting easy breaks, easy dunks, highlight plays, getting the momentum on our side it was fun to watch.

“That first half was so much fun to watch and it showed ow good we can be and how well we can play when we pull it all together.”

Australia’s next opponents will be whoever tops Group F following tonight’s fixtures. Luka Doncic’s Slovenia currently lead the group and will play Cape Verde tonight at 9:30pm AEST.