Basketball On The Internet.

LET'S get something straight here. Losing to Angola tonight did not in any way guarantee the Boomers a third-place finish at the FIBA World Cup.

So any inference they "threw the game" are erroneous.

All it meant was in the early hours of our Friday morning, the loss gave Lithuania something to play for when it faced Slovenia - first place in Group D.

If the Boomers had won, many suspect Lithuania may simply have mailed in the game against Slovenia to finish third.

In case you haven't been paying attention, the teams finishing first and third in Group D avoid the USA until the semi finals because the Americans will win Group C.

A fourth-place finish in Group D - no longer of any relevance to us - meant meeting the USA in the round-of-16.

A second-placed finish means potentially meeting them in the quarter-finals.

So second and fourth were less desirable than first and third.

Having lost to Slovenia (by 10) but beaten Lithuania (by 7), Australia was pretty well locked into second.

Because for Lithuania to take top spot and send Slovenia into #2, it not only had to win, it had to win by nine or more.

On points spread, Australia was -10 from the loss to Slovenia but +7 over Lithuania for -3 overall if the three teams all tied.

Slovenia started its game against Lithuania at +10, the Lithos at -7. Hence a nine-point Lithuanian win would have taken them to +2 and Slovenia to +1.

That is, of course, presuming Australia also won tonight and the three teams then all finished on 4-1 records.

Clearly the Lithuanians really did not have a lot of motivation to win and on form, would not be expected to anyway.

But by Australia suddenly losing to Angola, it finishes on 3-2. That means all Lithuania needs to claim top spot and the best draw going forward, is to beat Slovenia.

And it only has to do that by one because the Boomers are out of that head-to-head equation.

But here's the thing anyway. Who says Lithuania will win?

Now it does have incentive though but if it loses, the status quo remains at Slovenia 1, Australia 2, Lithuania 3.

So losing tonight did not "guarantee" anything for the Aussies. It just gave Lithuania a good reason to go all out which it otherwise may not have.

In the post-match press conference, Slovenian journos took to Andrej Lemanis, one even challenging him if he believed in "fair play"?

That question coming from anyone in Europe or South America is a joke in itself. But there was some sense of righteous indignation from the Slovenians.

"Nobody likes losing," Lemanis said.

"That doesn't guarantee us third spot.

"We have no control over that (Slovenia-Lithuania) game.

"We always, as Australian, compete the right way."

Could not agree more.

Resting Jingles and Baynesy from the tip-off and barely using Delly and Ando, plus limiting Broeks and Newls was just smart.

There is a secondary stage to this tournament that is what it's all about. So keeping your main rotation guys healthy is paramount.

After all, all Slovenia has to do is beat Lithuania to stay top.

That result keeps the Boomers second.

The finishing order in Group C behind the USA still is up for grabs with only Finland out of the equation.

New Zealand, Ukraine, Turkey, Dominican Republic all were in the mix at bedtime.

Let's hope it's a dream come true in the morning.

News Corp match report: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/basketball/angola-upsets-boomers-in-world-cup-which-could-benefit-the-aussies-medal-chase/story-fnii09gt-1227048327778