Going into the second half of the U.S. and Australia game on Wednesday, the Boomers had a 5 point lead. Coach Andrej Lemanis wanted to limit playing time for the starters, as well as only use half of his playbook, and even to hold back according to ESPN's Marc Stein.
How confident is Australia that it has a real shot at a medal here? According to the pregame rumbles in circulation in the media tribune, Australia showed up with some loose plans to hold back some against Team USA … in the hope that it'll have a second shot to play the United States with a medal on the line next week.
One team source went as far as telling ESPN.com that Australia coach Andrej Lemanis was prepared to limit his starters' minutes in the second half — while using only half of his playbook — so as not to give away too much in this group-play encounter.
Even with this strategy, the Australians still lost the game 98-88.
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