Close call a blessing in disguise for Boomers
BOOMERS star Chris Goulding says the hard-fought victory over gold medal rivals New Zealand on Saturday night was a timely “reality check” for Australia.
The Shea Ili-led Tall Blacks were in front at quarter-time, halftime and three quartertime at the Cairns Convention Centre in what doubled as a full-scale dress rehearsal for the gold medal match on the Gold Coast next Sunday.
The trans-Tasman rivals were locked together at 71-71 with three minutes left in the Pool A game but the standout heroics of power forward Nick Kay and some key plays from Goulding allowed the Boomers to grab a 79-73 win.
The Boomers will play Nigeria tonight and former Gold Coast Blaze star Goulding said the close shave with the Kiwis could be the best thing.
“It was a reality check for us,’’ Goulding said. ‘‘It showed this Commonwealth Games isn’t going to be a cakewalk.
“New Zealand is a basketball nation that needs to be taken seriously. They played a great game and they are playing a different style to what we’ve seen in previous years and it’s exciting basketball.
“They hit the three-ball really well and they’ve got stalwarts like Mika Vukona and Tom Abercrombie crashing the glass so they are a tough team to beat.
“To get a win after being down for most of the game is a confidence boost for us but at the same time it was important to get that tough test to remind us that we have to be really good if we want to walk away with a gold medal.’’