Although Australia had already qualified for the knockout rounds prior to Sunday’s game with Venezuela, their final group matchup was far from a dead rubber contest.
Hoping to avoid playing team USA again until a potential gold medal match down the line, the Boomers were determined to wrap up second place in Group A with a win over their South American opponents.
Without star player and former Buck Greivis Vasquez‘s presence at the Games, the Venezuelans have looked pretty lackluster in Rio. As such, the expectation was that the Boomers could cruise to victory without even coming close to emptying the tank.