Basketball On The Internet.

JUST how informative, influential or relevant the Boomers' 84-73 win over Nikola Jokic's Serbia was in their pre-Olympic warm-up clash in Abu Dhabi will be on show on Tuesday when they meet in a KO Paris Olympics quarter-final, the winner advancing to meet Brazil or the USA in the semi finals.

OK. The second part of that intro was a joke. Eliminating Serbia still will mean another inevitable showdown with the USA in the semi finals.

Yes, we all can understand that the whole Boomers' "gold vibes only" mantra does mean that somewhere along that journey to the top of the podium, someone has to beat the American NBA outfit and why not us?

Why not us?

Because we're not quite good enough but then, that's the beauty of sport. You can have an "on" night and they can have an "off" and miracles do actually happen.

Look at the Opals when they won the gold medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship. Don't think for a second Russia beating the US in the rival semi final played no role in that ultimate success.

If you're going to win Olympic basketball gold, someone has to beat the USA. But in this case it will not be Brazil in their quarter-final.

So either Australia or Serbia will need to and this is the match where the best of the Boomers need to stand up.

Patty Mills had 28 in that Abu Dhabi win over the Serbs and Dante Exum was the definite X-factor.

Dyson Daniels also served notice he would be a player to watch this tournament and Matthew Dellavedova gave invaluable relief minutes off the bench.

It is quite amazing how poorly Josh Green has been offensively considering like Exum, he was coming off the Dallas Mavericks' NBA championship series against Boston Celtics.

He was value in that series so rediscoverting his touch is key if he is to be any sort of factor. 

In the surprise loss to Greece where the Boomers fell behind by 17 in the first half and had to recover from a 19-point second-half deficit, Australia found the way it needs to play midway through the third quarter.

"There was a lot of hero ball, head dropping and poor defence," Boomers coach Brian Goorjian said post-game. "'That led to us not being able to play the defence that we know we can play. I thought the second half we did a better job.

"We've got young point guards in their first Olympics. Guys who are 20, 21 and I don't know if they have played in a game of this magnitude. But in the second half it was all huddles, talk, grit and ball movement and that's what we need going ahead."

That and a lot of work defensively on Jokic by Nick Kay, Jock Landale, Will Magnay and, with any luck, Duop Reath.

OUR exciting Gangurrus team contesting the Olympic 3X3 unfortunately has bowed out of the tournament, beaten again by Canada 21-10 in their play-in game.

The Aussies looked all at sea against Canada in their tournament opener, losing 22-14 but subsequently the team of Ally Wilson, Anneli Maley, Marena Whittle and Lauren Mansfield found their way with profound wins over Germany, China, USA and Azerbaijan.

Closing losses to Spain and France, the latter in overtime, left the Gangurrus with a 4-3 win-loss record, the same as Canada and in their play-in match, Australia hit the wall.

It still marked an encouraging Olympic debut for the Gangurrus

WOMEN'S 3X3 RESULTS

Day 1: Germany 17 d USA 13, Canada 22 d Australia 14, Spain 18 d Azerbaijan 16, China 21 d France 19 (OT)

Day 2: Australia 21 d Germany 19, Canada 21 d China 11, Spain 17 d France 12, Azerbaijan 20 d USA 17

Day 3: Australia 21 d China 15, Germany 19 d Canada 15, France 15 d Azerbaijan 10, Australia 17 d USA 15, China 14 d Spain 11, Germany 12 d Azerbaijan 8, USA 17 d Spain 11, Canada 13 d France 9

Day 4: Germany 18 d China 15, Australia 21 d Azerbaijan 12, Spain 21 d Australia 17, USA 14 d France 13, Azerbaijan 21 d China 19 (OT), USA 18 d Canada 17 (OT), Spain 22 d Canada 20 (OT), Germany 14 d France 13

Day 5: Canada 21 d Azerbaijan 19, Germany 18 d Spain 15, France 18 d Australia 16 (OT), USA 14 d China 12, Canada 21 d Australia 10 (Play-In), USA 21 d China 13 (Play-In).

A REMINDER the Opals face unbeaten host nation France in their final Group B game overnight.

To guarantee moving on to the quarter-finals, it is a "must win", although other results could still see Australia through, but with no certainty.

Match time is 5am AEST and 4.30am in SA.

MEN'S INTRAGROUP RESULTS

Group A: Australia 92 d Spain 80, Canada 86 d Greece 79; Spain 84 d Greece 77, Canada 93 d Australia 83; Greece 77 d Australia 71, Canada 88 d Spain 85. Canada 3-0 (+20), Australia 1-2 (-4), Spain 1-2 (-8), Greece 1-2 (-8). Tied Teams Table: Australia 1-1 +6, Greece 1-1 -1, Spain 1-1 -5. Final Order: 1 Canada, 2 Australia, 3 Greece, 4 Spain.

Group B: Germany 97 d Japan 77, France 78 d Brazil 66; France 94 d Japan 90, Germany 86 d Brazil 73; Brazil 102 d Japan 84, Germany 85 d France 71. Germany 3-0 (+47), France 2-1 (+2), Brazil 1-2 (-7), Japan 0-3 (-42). Final Order: 1 Germany, 2 France, 3 Brazil, 4 Japan.

Group C: South Sudan 90 d Puerto Rico 79, USA 110 d Serbia 84; Serbia 107 d Puerto Rico 66, USA 103 d South Sudan 86; USA 104 d Puerto Rico 83; Serbia 96 d South Sudan 85. USA 3-0 (+64), Serbia 2-1 (+26), South Sudan 1-2 (-17), Puerto Rico 0-3 (-73). Final Order: 1 USA, 2 Serbia, 3 South Sudan, 4 Puerto Rico.

WOMEN'S INTRAGROUP RESULTS

Group A: Spain 90 d China 89, Serbia 58 d Puerto Rico 55; Spain 63 d Puerto Rico 62, Serbia 81 d China 59. Serbia 2-0 (+25), Spain 2-0 (+2), Puerto Rico 0-2 (-4), China 0-2 (-23)

Group B: Nigeria 75 d Australia 62, France 75 d Canada 54; Australia 70 d Canada 65, France 75 d Nigeria 54. France 2-0 (+42), Nigeria (-8), Australia 1-1 (-8), Canada 0-2 (-26)

Group C: Germany 83 d Belgium 69, USA 102 d Japan 76; Germany 75 d Japan 64, USA 87 d Belgium 74. USA 2-0 (+39), Germany 2-0 (+25), Belgium 0-2 (-27), Japan 0-2 (-37).