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Rollers captain Tristan Knowles has vowed his side is “ready to go to absolute war” with Great Britain in their almost certain quarter final match-up after the Australians dished up a strong performance against world No.1 the United States at Bercy Arena.
Australia went down 76-69 to the reigning Paralympic and world champion Americans in their third group stage game of the Paris Paralympics wheelchair basketball tournament. But they looked a very different team to the one that had earlier lost ugly to the Netherlands and Spain.
USA held a 22-21 lead at quarter time and 45-39 at half time, largely due to star guard Jake Williams’ 24 first half points. The difference grew to 11 points at the final break before the Australians scored 12 points to eight in the last quarter.
“We were a lot better today. It’s good for confidence, good for momentum,” coach Brad Ness said.
“I truly believe we’re not being outplayed. In the first two games we were hesitant. You could see guys doing stuff that was a little bit uncharacteristic. Today you didn’t see anyone second-guess a pass or a shot, they just did it.”
Ness declared the Rollers were “back in the tournament”.
“If you’d spoken to me 24 hours ago, I would have been going ‘Look, we’re behind the eight-ball’ in terms of the other teams had come ready to go. But after today we’re back and we’ve built the momentum to give us a good shot in the quarters.”
The cross-over with Group A is almost certain to line up the Rollers with Great Britain, who have had big wins over Canada and Germany in what many consider a weaker group than Group B.
Captain Knowles, who scored 13 points including five from eight from the field, admitted the team “saw a different script for us here in Paris”. But he suggested the team took its opportunity to find form against the US.
“Lots of positives to take out of today’s game,” he said.
“We’ve got momentum now that we didn’t have after the first two games. We are ready to go to absolute war with GB in our quarter final.”
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By: David Sygall, Paralympics Australia
Published: 1 September 2024
