The Australian Goannas Deaf Basketball side are an outside chance of making the final eight at the World Championships in Taiwan but will need other results to go their way.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mudgee’s Jordan Woolmer has starred for the side during their first three games as the Aussie side racked up a hard-fought win over Poland before falling agonisingly short against Greece.
The side’s third game of the tournament came against the powerhouse Americans with the Goannas handed a heavy 70-point loss.
Dubbo Rams coach Tim Griffiths, who has watched Woolmer blossom as part of his side in recent seasons, said it was great to see him flourish on the world stage.
TO PAGE 43
“Jordan’s got such a great work ethic and he’s always keen to learn,” Griffiths said.
“If you’re a good student of the game then you’re going to go further, so I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Jordan Woolmer.
In the side’s first clash of the tournament, Australia were slow to start but found their rhythm from the field to lead Poland by 11 at the end of the first quarter.
Both sides were guilty of turnovers to start the second period but it was the Goannas who again settled into their plays better as the lead grew to a commanding 14 at the long break.
Australia missed several crucial defensive rebounds in the third quarter before they managed to send the game towards being a blow-out with the margin growing to 20.
However, Poland did well to trim the lead back to 14 going into a tense final quarter.
Thanks to loose passes, the Goannas saw their lead evaporate to just one with only two minutes left on the clock.
“Being a player that relies heavily on vision that’s obviously important and we find that even playing for the Rams that he is able to pick up and see a great deal of the court.”
Mark Bilyj attacked the basket for the Aussies to force the Polish side to send him to the line, and thanks to him hitting three from six, the side earned victory 57-51.
Woolmer was solid for the Aussie in the win with 11 points and a decent amount of boards for the guard with six.
The side’s second game of the tournament was against Greece and Woolmer found his range from beyond the arc early to help give the Aussies a three point lead with the local hope scoring an impressive eight points for the quarter.
Greece hit the lead early in the third team with Woolmer called upon to hit a clutch free-throw for a technical-foul against their opponents.
It was nip and tuck through the third term before Greece hit the lead in the dying seconds when a baseline drive just fell in to give them victory.
Despite the loss Woolmer was outstanding for the national side, filling up the stat sheet with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
“He is going to take this experience on board and be an outstanding player for the Goannas team,” Griffiths said.
“Knowing the young man as I do, I know he won’t get too dishearted by the loss against Greece.
“He’ll simply look at how he can make things differently the next time they get an opportunity like that again and try and learn from it.”
Despite Woolmer playing the one, his five boards give an insight into the mind-frame the Mudgee-born player attacks the game.
“He’s pretty fearless, he’ll take anybody on,” he said.
“That’s just the nature of the way he plays but on top of that he’s developing great court vision as can be seen by the number of assists.
“Being a player that relies heavily on vision that’s obviously important and we find that even playing for the Rams that he is able to pick up and see a great deal of the court.”
The Aussie side came back to earth with a thud in their third game of the tournament when they were outplayed by the red-hot American side.
Wearing pink socks to support one of the squad’s mothers who is battling breast cancer, the Aussies were blown off the court in the first quarter, with more than six minutes passing before they got on the board.
As a result the Goannas trailed by 34 at the long break and faced a huge mountain to climb.
With the starting five back on the floor, the Aussies scored 17 points for the third term, which was equal to their entire offensive production for the first half.
However, the United States were too good no matter what the Goannas threw at them as they ran out convincing 113-43 winners.
The victor of the other pool game between Greece and Poland will determine where Australia finish and what place they will play-off for with two more games left on their schedule.