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IT was disgraceful, appalling, the worst Olympic end-game officiating since USSR was whistled to gold over the USA in Munich in 1972 . But it must not be allowed to dim the Boomers’ Rio campaign.

They went with the stated goal of bringing home gold but, in truth, most of us would have been beside ourselves with joy if they’d scored a historic first medal of any hue.

They came home empty-handed but were robbed in the most gross manner imaginable, Spain twice gifted to the free throw line in the final half-minute to take the lead twice, the last time for good.

Devastated at the cruel nature of their 88-89 loss, the Boomers had every reason to feel betrayed and outraged – much as a nation at home did – by the orchestration of their bronze medal demise.

The alleged foul against Aron Baynes, which put Pau Gasol to the line, was such a furphy - similar plays repeated at both ends so often throughout the contest that to even contemplate calling it reeked of bias.

Baynes erased the lead Gasol gave the Spaniards and with 9.7 seconds left, Australia’s fingers were tingling, so close to the medal.

SO CLOSE: But Patty Mills and his Dreamtime Team were cruelly denied in Rio.

The very late foul call then assessed against Patty Mills as Sergio Rodriguez threw himself to the floor after his desperation drive to the hoop, left the team, the fans, the nation nonplussed, shattered in abject disbelief.

It was a travesty, and FIBA’s feeble attempt to later explain the call only makes me wonder if conspiracy theorists have it right and this was, in fact, how the game’s governing body paid back Australia for its allegedly false blemish against Angola at the 2014 World Cup.

In truth though, that controversy helped Australia stuff itself up in Spain two years ago, leading Turkey 64-59 in their Round of 16 KO match with 62 seconds remaining.

The last minute belonged to Turkey's Emir Preldzic when he first buried an unbelievable 3-pointer with 48 seconds left. The Boomers then committed a shot-clock violation and Preldzic hit the shot of the tournament, a contested three with five seconds left for a 65-64 lead.

Five seconds left. Sound familiar?

Australia went to Joe Ingles for the final possession but he lost control of the ball as time expired.

Fast-forward two years to Rio and with 5.4 seconds left, once again Australia turns over its final possession and, once again, doesn’t even get a shot up to pinch the game back.

HELL YEAH: Aron Baynes takes off. Picture courtesy FIBA

Yes, when a guy pulls two life-altering shots out of his butt to beat you, that’s something that will sting, but you can learn to accept and live with it.

When a referee deliberately decides the outcome of a game you have virtually in the bag, there’s reason to feel inconsolable.

It stank. It wreaked. Spain’s flying flop brigade was rewarded all night. The flop has been perfected in Europe – it long ago invaded our game from its soccer origins - and we saw plenty of it in the intrapool match against Serbia too.

The single criticism I would level at this Boomers team – our greatest by a mile – is in consecutive major tournaments, it could not get a shot off on its final possession after having a timeout to set it up.

That said and on the record, this Boomers team was magnificent, restoring the faith and confidence of even the most grizzled and cynical former follower, delighting the diehards and entrancing a whole new generation of fans.

They opened the Games with a comprehensive win over France, their first opening night win since Australia’s 1996 campaign in Atlanta.

They staved off Serbia to create their own piece of history as the first Olympic Boomers to win back-to-back matches. (But the 15-point margin was deceptive, given it was four the difference with 1:46 left.)

They took the game right up to the USA before ultimately being broken by Carmelo Anthony’s wicked shooting. (But the 10-point margin was deceptive, this one more a 3-to-4 point game before Australia had to foul to stop the clock.)

Andrew Bogut’s honest post-game assessment that the result was a loss and not something to be thrilled about, reinforced to us all these Boomers had a focus and were not interested in pyrrhic victories.

Taking out China and Venezuela meant Australia finished second to the USA with a 4-1 intrapool record and nemesis Lithuania to face in the KO quarter-finals.

The Lithos kept Australia from bronze in Atlanta and Sydney but all the pain was forgotten in a thoroughly emphatic and mesmerising 90-64 rout.

Unlike our bronze medal playoff teams of the past though, arrival into the semi finals was not greeted with the glee and relief of those past campaigns but more with the resolve that yes, the team was where it expected to be.

Those mythical basketball gods though let the Boomers down when Serbia escaped Croatia 86-83 in a rival quarter final. Croatia would have been a second past nemesis the Boomers, I believe, would comfortably have negotiated, burying another ghost of the past.

Instead though it was Serbia again and this time the Serbs had done their homework and came out playing as men possessed, men on a mission.

The excellent rotating defence and slick moving offence which had proven so entertaining and successful for the Boomers, came apart at the seams as Milos Teodosic carved up Australian defenders continually caught chasing him around screens.

Andrej Lemanis did an exceptional job coaching the Boomers in Rio but never was his coaching better, ironically, than in this game. As crazy as that may appear, Australia beaten by 26, Lemanis tried every player, a bunch of different combinations and strategies, leaving no stone unturned to try and stem the tide from drowning his Boomers’ aspirations.

THERE'S THE EXIT DOOR REF: Andrej Lemanis had a great tournament.

Ultimately he was unable to influence the result, the Boomers hitting an emotional wall on the one day a nation was tuned in hoping to see history.

Boasting arguably the second-most talented team in the tournament and playing a brand of basketball variously described as “beautiful” and “majestic”, Spain was going to be a difficult bounce-back in the quest now for bronze.

In foul trouble and not connecting as smoothly offensively, the alarm bells were sounding when Australia trailed 28-40 during the second period. But a 10-0 close to the half swung the momentum.

Now the Boomers knew they could get the job done. Time for the officials to enter the equation, quickly hitting Bogut with his fourth foul and finally with his fifth while David Andersen was waiting courtside to check in for him.

There was no call between Bogut’s fourth foul and Ricky Rubio lunging himself into our best big man before throwing himself on the floor in customary fashion.

Despite that, Australia wasn’t going away, Patty Mills hitting 13 third quarter points and Brock Motum burying a monster slam dunk through traffic.

Possibly the best half of the tournament, it ended in despair where, clearly, the players were not the ones left to determine the outcome. The Games were at an end.

Mills was a class above throughout, and so too was Bogut, despite the knee injury he battled so heroically to overcome in time for the Games clearly hindering him the longer the tournament went.

Baynes was solid but had a few confidence issues at times while Matthew Dellavedova (pictured above) was superb for the most part.

Joe Ingles’ offensive confidence was missing early but when he hit the game-breaking 3-pointer in the 11-0 intrapool run home over Serbia, it looked as if he’d overcome it. But he hadn’t, his reluctance to shoot from range brutally exposed by Serbia the second time around.

That lovable larrikin intercepting inbounds passes and hitting step-back threes was very difficult to find in Rio.

Ryan Broekhoff too did much of his best work defensively for the early going but found his stroke when needed, with 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting against Spain.

Andersen had a great farewell Olympics and, like Penny Taylor with the Opals, it was sad to see him close this portion of his career without a medallion.

The defensive intensity and energy Kevin Lisch and Damian Martin expended was a masterclass for anyone ever wanting to wear the green-and-gold. For my liking though, Lisch could have been more offensive-minded than the facilitator-role he settled into.

Cam Bairstow was solid but his shoulder injury opened the door on more playing time for Motum and he excelled with the opportunities.

Chris Goulding’s 22-point game against Venezuela showed he belongs in this company though he probably should have seized his chances in the Serbian avalanche where the Boomers desperately needed someone of his skillset to stem the tide.

But that tide was a tidal wave and putting that expectation on a player deep in the rotation might be unfair.

Lemanis and his coaching team did a superlative job, it’s that simple.

Given the precious nature of the officiating, where even the slightest suggestion of dissatisfaction was penalised by trigger-happy whistlers, there wasn’t a lot more that could be done.

A former national coach had a theory this week that Rio would be the turning point for the Boomers once again getting calls at international level.

During that run from 1988-92-96-00, as the Boomers moved into the 5-8 bracket and three times into the top four, the officiating turned in their favour. They had earnt the respect of the referees.

But since 2000, Australia has not been 5-8 or better and referees in love with their Euro and South American stars have gone back to treating the Boomers like a bunch of scrubs from Down Under.

That can change if Rio is followed up with a solid 2019 World Cup and Tokyo Olympics.

With some uncertainty now about qualifying through regular matches against Asian region opponents, the coaching job could go back to part-time which would keep the door open for Lemanis to continue.

If it stays a fulltime gig, his Brisbane Bullets’ NBL commitments will mean the end of the road, for now.

That would be a shame with players such as Mills, Bogut, Dellavedova, Baynes, Ingles, Broekhoff, Bairstow, Motum young enough to still be in the rotation for Tokyo, with exciting players such as Ben Simmons, Dante Exum, Thon Maker, Isaac Humphries, Jonah Bolden prominently coming into the mix.

HAPPIER TIMES AHEAD? Andrew Bogut shares a laugh with Patty Mills and David Andersen.

One aspect BA should investigate though is securing tournament play for its Boomers. The European qualifiers have their Eurobasket tournament, South American teams similarly are entrenched in tournament play.

It is the last deficiency in our preparation because, despite some terrific man-management through the Games, some of our Boomers did look better early and not as good as fatigue became a factor.

Look at seasoned tournament combatants Spain, beaten twice early but growing through the week and coming home strongly to win a bronze, albeit wind-assisted. You tend to master challenges more easily if you face them more regularly.

Make no mistake.

This was our greatest Boomers TEAM. It reignited passion for basketball in Australia. It was as important a group of true blue genuinely talented players as we’ve produced.

Life just doesn’t always reward the most deserving.