Rampant Opals thrash Greece 93-54

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This was published 13 years ago

Rampant Opals thrash Greece 93-54

By James Dampney

The Opals jumped aboard the L-Train at the basketball world championship on Monday, with Lauren Jackson and Liz Cambage steering Australia to an outstanding 93-54 rout of Greece.

In Australia's opening match of the second round in the Czech Republic, Jackson came to life after a quiet start to the tournament, tallying 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting and grabbing 12 boards in an ominous performance.

The 204cm Cambage also had her best game against the diminutive Greeks, matching Jackson's 20 points at a terrific 78 per cent clip (7-of-9) and adding six rebounds.

Both players only spent a little over 18 minutes on court and are starting to work well in tandem after some teething problems in the first round.

"Like anything it takes time. I think they're getting a sense of each other," coach Carrie Graf said.

"Liz is learning about how to play against smaller opponents. It's a challenge for her.

"As much as it appears easy, when she puts an arm on a smaller opponent she gets called for a foul.

"So she's adjusting and there were some good combinations with those two and the more they play together the more they'll get those combinations going."

They will again be vital in Australia's next match against a taller and more physical French side on Tuesday (0200 Wednesday AEST) before the Opals meet the imposing Americans in a possible gold medal preview the following day.

A 14-0 run early in the first quarter against Greece helped Australia to a 25-5 lead after just seven minutes as they produced their best basketball to date.

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Their 93 points were the most in their four games so far, beating the 91 they scored against China, while they also achieved their goal of keeping the Greeks under 60 points.

Captain Evanthia Maltsi, who came into the game averaging a tournament-high 23.3 points per game, was held to just nine points, while the Australians dominated a lopsided rebound count 58-22.

"I can only say one thing - they're on a different level," Greek coach Kostas Missas said of the Opals.

"I expected more fighting from my players, it's very important to fight for 40 minutes.

"But they're at a different level." Next up for Australia are a French outfit that overcame Belarus 58-48 on Monday and also impressed in an 81-60 loss to the United States.

"They're a really good team. They're young, they're exciting, they're athletic and they have experience in their point guards," Opal Penny Taylor said.

"It's a challenge for us and we really need to go away tonight and do the same sort of research (we did against Greece) and make sure we come out ready for them tomorrow.

"I watched them play the US and they really stuck with them for three quarters."

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