With the quarter-final round of the men’s basketball tournament in the Paris Olympics just around the corner, Draymond Green weighed in with his predictions. His verdict on the key matchup between Serbia and Australia consequently became a particular area of interest amongst fans.
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On The Draymond Green Show, the 34-year-old sided with Serbia as his predicted winner for the game. Following this, Green explained how an aging Australian roster under the leadership of Patty Mills could fall short of the European giants.
In doing so, however, the 4x All-Star paid tribute to the Australian veteran, stating,
“I think I’m going with Serbia in this one… This is Patty Mills’ fourth or fifth Olympics. And Patty Mills, by the way, is one of the greatest Olympians… I wouldn’t even say Olympian, just in FIBA, Patty Mills is incredible…But, I just think they are on the wrong side as far as their older guys are going and I don’t think the younger guys are quite there, like talented enough to then carry those older guys”.
Green‘s words deservingly respected Mills’ impressive 15-year professional career. However, they also indicated that the basketball icon’s average of 13.3 points per game in this tournament might not be enough to lead them to victory.
Their recent defeats against Canada and Greece point to the same thing; Mills’ FIBA experience may not be enough to pull the team through.
Like Green said, age might become the Aussie’s undoing. Of their 12-man roster, 8 players, including Mills, are 28 or older. Meanwhile, the younger core of Dyson Daniels, Josh Giddey, and Josh Green still has a long way to go before taking over from the veterans.
This further stacks the odds against Australia as they prepare for the crucial matchup against a more balanced Serbian roster.
That being said, the team remains capable of pulling off surprises. After all, they showed this during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by securing a bronze medal. This time, they need to rise to the challenges again by defeating Green’s favored winners one by one and shattering the heavily favored Team USA’s hopes of winning a fifth consecutive gold medal.
