Australia has been eliminated from the FIBA World Cup, crashing to a 91-80 defeat at the hands of Slovenia on Friday night.

The Boomers never really looked like challenging until late in the third quarter, when Josh Giddey took over to give Australian basketball fans a glimpse of the future.

Unfortunately for the Boomers though, this is clearly not the time as attention instead now turns towards the Paris Olympic Games, which Australia has automatically qualified for.

That is one shining light to come out of a tournament that otherwise comes to a premature end despite promising so much, with Australia boasting one of its most talented rosters in recent memory.

Giddey finished with a game-high 25 points alongside eight rebounds, four assists and six turnovers while Patty Mills had 17 points and Dante Exum brought the energy off the bench with 13 points.

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While Luka Doncic had highlight moments late, Slovenia’s victory can also be credited to a host of the team’s lesser names that stepped up as the Dallas Mavericks superstar was constantly tested by the Boomers defence.

Mike Tobey in particular was highly effective on both ends, scoring 18 points to go with 12 rebounds. Doncic had 20 points himself to go with six assists, seven rebounds and six turnovers.

In the end, the Boomers will come to rue seven minutes and 43 seconds where they struggled to take advantage of an extended period with Doncic sitting during the second quarter in foul trouble.

Slovenia made a fast start on Friday night, with Duop Reath losing control of possession off the opening jump ball as Luka Doncic swarmed onto it for a layup within five seconds.

If the Boomers thought stopping Doncic was the only real challenge against this Slovenia line-up they were quickly proven wrong too as Zoran Dragic drained a quick 3-pointer soon after.

That put Slovenia up 5-0 within 40 seconds before Josh Green slammed home a dunk to score Australia’s first points of the game after initially missing a fadeaway jump shot.

The problem for the Boomers though was is even if they doubled Doncic, the masterful Mavericks superstar can still find a way to get the pass to an open teammate, as he did for Tobey’s first 3-pointer of the game.

Australia was starting to get out-hustled on the offensive boards, giving Slovenia free chances at points even when the shots weren’t going in.

So, as expected, coach Brian Goorjian was quick to go to the bench and bring in Xavier Cooks to try and change that.

Cooks had an immediate impact too, as he did against Japan, using his length and athleticism to combine with Green to get an early steal as the pair pressured Doncic.

Australia in general was blitzing Doncic to try get the ball out of his hands but again the issue was he was quickly getting it to teammates who were still proving more than capable.

Plus, it didn’t help that Australia’s rotations weren’t happening quick enough which was giving Slovenia’s other players plenty of good looks.

If he wasn’t passing, Doncic was even launching it from deep like he did with just over four minutes left to sink a 3-pointer and put Slovenia ahead 18-13.

The Boomers were also falling into the habit of putting so much focus into stopping Doncic that they were leaving the roller unattended near the rim.

That was the case when Doncic was double-teamed late in the first quarter, passing over the top for an open Tobey who was then fouled and made the 3-point play.

Tobey had a game-high 11 points after the first quarter, with Doncic on six to go with three assists and just as many turnovers.

Slovenia once again opened the better of the two teams early in the second quarter, although if there was any opportunity for the Boomers to swing momentum it came with Doncic on the bench.

The Slovenian superstar was called for a technical foul for throwing up a half-court shot after the whistle, which counted as a personal foul under FIBA rules.

That in turn brought Doncic up to three fouls and given the limit before fouling out is five in FIBA basketball, he was sent to the bench with just under eight minutes left in the quarter.

Australia was able to get a few defensive stops with Doncic sitting but struggled to get anything to fall, with Slovenia’s size and physicality inside the paint proving an issue as was the Boomers’ lack of consistent outside shooting.

Mills eventually drained a shot from mid-range to bring the score back to 34-25 as Slovenia called a timeout with just over six minutes on the clock.

The Boomers though weren’t doing themselves any favours as Mills later turned the ball over as Dragic came up with the steal and layup on the other end to put Slovenia ahead 36-25.

Slovenia had 11 points off turnovers at that point compared to none for Australia.

A few clutch buckets late from Mills saw the Boomers close the buffer to 49-40 by halftime as Slovenia made an interesting call to bring Doncic back on despite holding a handy lead.

In the end though, the fact Slovenia leads by nine with Doncic on just six points says it all for the Boomers, who missed a big opportunity to strike with the Mavericks star off the court for seven minutes and 43 seconds.

Mills had 14 points in the half to lead all scorers while in an intriguing decision from coach Goorjian, Cooks — arguably Australia’s best against Japan — only played six minutes.

The third quarter picked up in similar fashion to the previous two, with Slovenia taking control early while the Boomers’ shooting struggles continued.

In desperate need of some spark, Mills provided just that as he made his third 3-pointer of the night before trapping Doncic to get the ball out of his hands as Giddey scored on the other end.

That had Australia cutting the Slovenia lead down to 56-49, with Doncic picking up another foul which had him even more hesitant to put his body on the line in defence.

Cooks, meanwhile, was brought back into the game a few minutes into the second half but found himself on the bench soon after when he quickly picked up his fourth foul.

Dante Exum though was starting to deliver a similar impact off the bench to Cooks as he came up with a huge block that he then turned into a dunk on the other end.

Giddey, meanwhile, also attacked the rim with intent for seven quick points to bring his personal tally to 13 in the third quarter alone as Australia cut it to 66-62.

The late flurry saw Giddey finish the quarter with 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

If there was a critical turning point early in the fourth it came when Green had a good look from deep but missed, with Aleksej Nikolic going down the other end and draining a 3-pointer.

Giddey then missed a 3-point shot of his own before Tobey made a simple layup to bring up 18 points on the night and put Slovenia ahead 73-64, forcing Australia into a timeout.

There was no way back for the Boomers though after a string of poor plays, including three tunrovers in the space of 30 seconds, saw Slovenia take full advantage to go ahead 81-66.

It was the Doncic show at that point, with the Slovenian superstar emphatically blocking Mavericks teammate Green before Jakob Cebasek made a 3-point shot on the other end.

Dyson Daniels picked up his first points of the World Cup in a nice moment for the Bendigo product late, but it meant little in the end as Slovenia finished 91-80 winners.

AUSTRALIA STARTING FIVE

Josh Giddey

Patty Mills

Josh Green

Nick Kay

Duop Reath

SLOVENIA STARTING FIVE

Aleksej Nikolic

Mike Tobey

Zoran Dragic

Bine Prepelic

Luka Doncic