The world No. 2 Opals had medalled at the previous five Olympics and were aiming for a breakthrough gold, but won't take the dais after a shock 73-71 quarter final loss to 14th ranked Serbia.

Goriss, a development coach at Basketball Australia's Centre of Excellence for more than a decade before joining the Capitals this year, said more must be done to grow the WNBL.

The WNBL was not shown on television last year, which reduces its attractiveness to sponsors.

"We as a sport collectively have to promote the WNBL and women's basketball a bit better," Goriss said.

"Until we get on TV and have something to sell and get more sponsorship, it will help.

"You don't begrudge the girls going overseas where they can actually make a living, and get paid for what they do well.

"[But] it's unfortunate we can't keep some of those better players in Australia."

He admitted it's hard for the best young talent to ignore the big stage the US college system offers, but is adamant it limits their development.

"I still believe the WNBL is the best comp for our juniors to play in, then they can go overseas," he said.

"The more the younger girls play against and train with senior women, the more their development will progress from a strength and basketball IQ perspective.

"There's opportunities offshore in college but to transfer to the international game you need hard and tough competition against older players.

"[In the WNBL] you train in a holistic environment and you're not pigeon-holed into being a role player [like some US colleges].

"The WNBL has done a great job with aligning clubs with universities so players don't have to travel to the US to get a degree."

Goriss believes the talent is there for the Opals to rebuild after Australia's under-17 side the Sapphires won world championship gold last month.

He also was assistant coach of the under-19 national side that claimed bronze at last year's world championships.

Penny Taylor played her last game for the Opals against Serbia, joining superstar Lauren Jackson in retirement.

"The under-17s are a talented group and there's certainly some players who should be Opals in the future," Goriss said.

"But a lot of things have to go right, whether they play in the WNBL or go to college, how they progress physically.

"I shy away from comparing players to past players. People are touting [standout under-17 prospect] Ezi Magbegor as the next Lauren Jackson, let Ezi be Ezi.

"I still think the AIS and the COE model is still the right one to go with, getting the best players training together in the same environment with good support staff around them."

Excluding rugby sevens, where the women won gold in the sport's Olympic debut this year, Australia is in danger of failing to win a single medal in team events for the first time since Los Angeles, 1984.

Men's basketball team the Boomers, who take on Lithuania in a quarter final at midnight Thursday AEST, are the last hope.

A powerhouse performance from Liz Cambage (29 points, 11 rebounds) wasn't enough to help the Opals avoid a stunning exit from the Rio Olympics, edged out by the Serbians in a nail-biting quarter-final.

The heartbreaking loss reduced the women to tears, ending captain Penny Taylor's career on a sombre note as her teammates admitted they struggled to look her in the eye after the match.

"For a kid growing up in basketball, this is the goal," an emotional Taylor said.

"This is the ultimate – to represent your country, to be named one of the best basketballers in your country is huge. That was always my goal. It hurts a little not to have done that tonight.

"It's pretty upsetting. We expect more from ourselves and everyone expects more from us. It hurts to let people down and let ourselves down. All the work that has gone into it ... it's very disappointing."

The Opals came into the game with a perfect 5-0 record in the group stage and were expected to make light work of a Serbian team who had won just two of their five games at the Olympics.

But 26 turnovers ended up costing them any chance of a medal.