Team USA got a taste of real competition against Australia last night at the Rio Olympics.

Despite winning the game, the Americans seemed affected by the Boomers’ physicality and excellent team play. The Australians controlled most of the game until their disadvantage in firepower got the better of them.

It took a couple of fourth quarter explosions from Kyrie Irving and Carmelo Anthony, both well-known for their one-on-one skills, to break their opponents’ hearts. But did they really dampen the morale of the men from down under?

According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, Olympic basketball legend and Aussie great Andrew Gaze offered a very interesting observation on his countrymen’s play.

This basketball competition is a very short one and teams are put in a predicament as to whether they should hold their cards close to them or go all out from the get go. Australia has been very impressive thus far, but is there something more to them than meets the eye?

These two teams could very well see each other again in the medal rounds, and when that happens, regardless if the Australians do have something more to show, expect the intensity and pride to still go way up.