Josh Giddey reacted to the loss against Serbia in the 2024 Paris Olympics basketball quarterfinal hurt the Boomers a lot, but it would be a stepping stone for future victories.
Josh Giddey scored 25 points for Australia on Tuesday, but it was not enough to take down Serbia despite leading by as many as 24 points in the second quarter. After the tough loss, the Chicago Bulls star guard reviewed the event that had just transpired.
"I thought we had everything we needed in this locker to win a tournament like this. I still do believe that. This tournament's come down to one or two possessions. It shows how little room for error there is," Giddey said in the mixed zone.
"I love my teammates and our coaches. Everyone's poured so much into this. I think we deserved better, our fans deserved better," the player said. "It's just a tough one for us, knowing we've got another four years until the next one."
Leading by one (16-15), the Boomers finished the first quarter with an impressive 15-2 run. With Serbia trailing by a huge margin in the second quarter, Serbia's Svetislav Pesic had a fiery rant during a timeout, yelling at his players for letting Patty Mills score too easily.
"We did a lot right. We got out to a big lead. We just had to know they were going to make runs and come back," Giddey said. "I don't think we weathered the storm good enough in the third quarter when we got the lead. Obviously, a lot of what-ifs you can look back on and say we should've done this or that. The reality is - for us, it's over."
"We've got a team that stays together. When we get back to LA in '28, we're going to be ready to go."
When Mills scored a tough fadeaway over Nikola Jokic in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter, the Serbian coaching staff tried to call a timeout they didn't have. As such, the Australian staff was protesting the referees to give their opponents a technical foul.
"I mean, yeah. You can't do that. I think it's pretty normal when you call a timeout when you don't have one, you're not allowed to," Giddey said. "I'm not going to get caught up in what could've happened or what should've been called. The game played out how it did, and we weren't good enough, they were better than us."
Most likely, it was Patty Mills' last game wearing the Australian jersey in a major international tournament. The electric guard finished the match with a game-high 26 points.
"He deserved better. It was up to us to help him get that ultimate goal of a gold medal," Giddey said about Mills.
"Whether it's his last or not, he's poured so much into this program. His legacy will never ever be forgotten in this country and in this tournament," the guard continued. "You talk about FIBA Patty - one of the greatest to ever do it in these types of tournaments. We're very very lucky to play with him. I am, as well. Whether it's his last or not, it's been an unbelievable experience getting to learn and be around a guy of his caliber."
Giddey is only 21 years of age. He promised to go as long as his country needed it. For now, it's all the way to the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games in the home country of Australia.
"I'll go to as many as I can. This is a tough way to end my first one, but fortunately, I'm 21 years old, so I've got a lot of years left in the tank. In 2028, in LA, we'll be ready to go. I'll be 25. At that point, we'll be a lot more mature as a group. We've got a lot of young guys coming through. We'll be ready," he said.
"It, obviously, hurts now, but it's going to help in the long run. It's fueling that fire going forward. This is a taste that we never want to have to taste again. We have the right guys within this locker room to go through," Giddey concluded.
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