South Sudan vs Puerto Rico
After a short hop across the channel, we arrived in Lille at the Pierre Mauroy stadium for an exciting matchup between South Sudan and Puerto Rico. It was a first ever appearance in the Olympics for the Sudanese team, who had lost to the Americans by just one-point the week prior in London. On the other hand, the Puerto Rican’s are competing at their ninth games and bolster a squad centred around New Orleans Pelicans’ guard Jose Alvarado. As the game tipped off the Puerto Ricans struck first jumping out to a quick 10-2 lead, mainly thanks to back-to-back three-point efforts from former Celtics’ guard Tremont Waters. The glaringly obvious advantage for the Sudanese was their size and it soon started to show, but Alvarado and Waters’ shot creation gave the Puerto Ricans an 8-point lead at the end of the first quarter. Alvarado’s hot form continued, and he increased his tally to 19 points, which was enough to maintain a slim lead at the half. The second half was an entirely different story, the Sudanese defence really picked up and held the Puerto Ricans to just 15 third quarter points. That carried on through the fourth as Puerto Rico’s offensive slowly ground to a holt and Sudan’s Carlik Jones kickstarted their offense, he finished with 19 points and 6 rebounds. The other deciding factor was Sudan’s dominance on the glass, they outrebounded their opponents 55-37 (including 8 more offensive rebounds) which was in the end the defining factor as South Sudan claimed their first ever Olympic win.
Greece vs Spain
We returned to the Lille for an action-packed morning that started with Greece – led by Giannis Antetokounmpo – versus Spain. Giannis was still looking for his first ever Olympic win and faced an Olympic powerhouse in Spain, who have an exciting roster including Grizzlies wing Santi Aldama. Antetokounmpo got to work early, and he dominated Aldama in the post in the opening period to give the Greeks a deserving 22-21 lead. The Spaniards changed their game plan in the second quarter and started to double team Giannis. It was incredibly successful as his supporting cast failed to knock down their open shots. Spain, led by Aldama and Sergio Llull connected on their open shots from outside, for which they were rewarded with a 14-point half time lead. Giannis began the second half in the same fashion he started the game with, as he single-handedly dragged Greece back into the game, reducing Spain’s lead to just 6. His hard work would go unrewarded as Aldama and Willy Hernangomez put the finishing touches on a 7-point victory for Spain. Antetokounmpo’s search for an Olympic victory goes on despite his superb 27-point outing.
Australia vs Canada
Following on from the earlier game Australia met Canada in what looked to be an exciting matchup, both sides had won their opening fixture and knew another victory would pretty much guarantee qualification for the quarter final. Canada are led by the runner up for this year’s MVP – Shai Gilgeous Alexander – and have a side featuring multiple recognised NBA stars. The Australians defeated Spain in their opening game thanks 20 points from Rockets’ center Jock Landale, as well as a 17-point, 8-assist outing from Bulls’ guard Josh Giddey. Giddey started the game superbly driving Australia into a 2-point lead in the first quarter after Gilgeous Alexander got into early foul trouble. So, the challenge of keeping Canada in the first half fell to Dillon Brooks and RJ Barrett. They managed to do just that, although the Aussies took a narrow 4-point lead into the second half. This was where Barrett really took over the game, he executed the offense perfectly finishing with 24 points and five assists to take team Canada to a perfect 2-0 record in the 2024 Olympic group stage.
Serbia vs Puerto Rico
Wednesday evening saw Serbia face a Puerto Rico side who had showed some promise in their opening fixture against South Sudan. On the flip side Serbia had been routed by the reigning Olympic gold medallists (USA) and were looking for a first win of this year’s games. Nikola Jokic – this year’s NBA MVP – was available for his national side and was well supported by the Miami Heat’s Nikola Jovic and the Atlanta Hawks’ Bogdan Bogdanovic and that was the story of this one. Serbia took control of the game from the opening tip and by half time they had a substantial 17-point lead. Jokic overwhelmed the Puerto Rican defence with his size and when the double team came, he did what he does best and found his teammates for open shots. There would be no second half rally for Puerto Rico and Serbia eventually claimed a commanding 107-66 win putting them back in contention to advance to the knockout stages.
Canada vs Spain
My final trip to the Pierre Mauroy Stadium was to see a group deciding clash between Canada and Spain. The Canadians had a perfect record after wins against Greece and Australia and were looking for that to continue. Alternatively, Spain had split their opening two games and needed a win to guarantee qualification to the quarter finals. The game was fascinatingly poised after the first quarter, but Shai Gilgeous Alexander had found his grove offensively. He and Andrew Nembhard helped to grow a comfortable lead heading into half time, but the Spaniards were not quite done yet. They battled all the way back to tie the game with just moments to play, mainly down to the excellent guard play of Barcelona’s Dario Brizuela. Gilgeous Alexander was fouled with 2.4 seconds to play, and he hit both of his free throws, meaning Spain would have a chance to send the game to overtime with a three. Unfortunately, Sergio Llull missed and subsequently the Spaniards had crashed out of the Olympics in the group stage.
It was an amazing experience to actually be at the Olympic games watching the best of the best compete for Olympic triumph and something I will truly relish for years to come.
By Will C
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