This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Rio de Janeiro • Andrew Bogut's Olympics ended early in the third quarter Sunday, when he fouled out of the bronze medal game against Spain.
And after Australia's hopes for the country's first medal in men's basketball went away during a scramble for a loose ball as the buzzer sounded, Joe Ingles trudged through the interview area with a towel covering his face and knocked over a metal pole on his way to the locker room.
The Aussies' once-promising run in Rio ended badly, with their comeback nullified by two tough calls that went against them in the last 30 seconds and a final possession that failed to produce a shot attempt. Sergio Rodriguez's two free throws with 5.4 seconds remaining gave Spain an 89-88 victory.
"There's no real positive you can take out of this for us," said Bogut, a former University of Utah star. "For a lot of people, yeah, top four was great. But we're disappointed, obviously, not being able to make history for our country."
Australia coach Andrej Lemanis said his players "deserved to be rewarded with a medal."
But there would be no bronze medal to commend Bogut's injury rehabilitation to make it to Rio or for the "Twingles" to remember their father's 8,000-mile trip away from them during the first month of their lives. Ingles left Australia soon after his wife, Renae, delivered a twin son and daughter July 25. She fully supported the Jazz player's Olympic effort, because of the Boomers' genuine medal hopes. "My wife's been a trooper," Ingles said earlier in the tournament.
The Aussies had their chances Sunday, after starting slowly in what became a terrific battle for the bronze. Australia scored the last 10 points of the first half to cut Spain's lead to 40-38, and the second half was tight and tense throughout. Bogut exited just after the eight-minute mark of the third quarter with his fifth foul; he later described his team as "outnumbered," code for officiating bias.
Patty Mills kept the Boomers going with his 30-point game. Brock Motum, who was cut by the Jazz in their 2014 training camp, filled in nicely for Bogut with 12 points and six rebounds in 16 minutes.
Spain's Pau Gasol thrived in Bogut's absence inside, though, scoring 31 points. Gasol's two free throws with 28.8 seconds left put Spain ahead 87-86, before Aron Baynes' hook shot with 9.7 seconds remaining gave Australia the lead.
Rodriguez then drove into Mills in the lane and launched a wild shot that missed. The whistle came after a pause, sending Rodriguez to the line for the tying and winning points. After a timeout, Ingles in-bounded the ball to David Andersen, but Mills never got the designed handoff after that, with the ball being knocked away and rolling toward midcourt as the game ended.
Lemanis questioned "what you choose to call, what you choose to let go in a situation like that," after two fouls and a no-call favored Spain in the last half-minute.
Australia had become one of the tournament's most impressive teams before being blitzed by Serbia in the semifinals. The Boomers started poorly again Sunday before playing some inspired basketball to end what Mills labeled "one hell of a journey."
As the first team to threaten the USA in preliminary play, the Boomers "proved we can hang with the big boys," Mills said. Their first Olympic medal won't come for at least another four years, though.
Twitter: @tribkurt —
Storylines
R Spain makes four free throws in the last 30 seconds and edges Australia 89-88 for the Olympic men's basketball bronze medal.
• Australia finishes fourth again, after losing bronze medal games in 1988, 1996 and 2000.
• Joe Ingles scores four points for Australia and Andrew Bogut fouls out in 14 minutes of play, having totaled six points in the last two games.