Day 7 of FIBA Recap 2010
In the first games of the knockout stage, Australia and France were the first to punch their ticket home. Australia lost by nearly 30 points to Slovenia and Turkey easily handled France to advance.
Slovenia's ability to hit shots from anywhere on the court, plus Australia's inability meant this one was over early; Australia shot just 31% from the floor in the game, and connected on just 2-of-19 shots from behind the arc, while Slovenia hit half of its shots from the floor, including 16 3s. Veteran guard Jaka Lakovic knocked down five three-pointers to finish with a game-high 19 points and Goran Dragic often fed him on the perimeter as he finished with 8 assists. The Australians couldn't utilize their size advantage inside and were stuck forcing shots from the perimeter.
In the second matchup, Turkey lit up the scoreboard with 95 points in their victory over France. Hedo Turkoglu was able to find his shot in the first round of the knockout stage, something he had struggled to do through the team's first five game and he ended up with 20 points. On the French side, Boris Diaw did similarly in having his best game of the tournament with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting, but it was not nearly enough as Turkey raced to a 18-point victory that was eased by France's strong fourth quarter over Turkey's reserves.
By Chris Andrews
