Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the 2024 Olympics basketball match.
Serbia
Serbia quickly recovered from their big loss to Team USA in the first round and built their team identity around Nikola Jokic and Bogdan Bogdanovic. This duo easily beat Puerto Rico (107:66) and South Sudan (98:85). Bogdanovic was the main shooter in the last World Cup and led the team to the final. In Paris, playing with Jokic, it's much easier for him to get good positions. In the last round, Bogdanovic scored 30 points with 71% efficiency.
Australia
In the group of death Australians were struggling. They started well, beating Spain (80:92) but then they had two unsuccessful games, where they didn’t have many chances: against Canada (83:89) and Greece (71:77). Before the playoffs, the main concern is their turnovers (16,7 per game), only Brazil has more. The Serbian are excellent at converting turnovers into easy points (19,7)
Serbia - Australia Prediction
In the playoffs of a high-level tournament like the Olympics, it's hard to expect much when your most effective offensive player is Jock Landale. The Serbians will win - and they'll do it convincingly.
