Olympic Oops?

[Fairfield Fan]

I know there were lots of reasons posed for Candace Parker's being left off the Olympic roster at the time. But now that we're five games into the WNBA season, and Parker is ripping a tornado-like path through the league, can we now say that it's beginning to look as though the selection committee really blew it?

Candace Parker - WNBA

Parker is the fifth leading scorer with nearly 21 points a game, she's eighth in rebounds with 7.5, she's tenth in blocks, and twelfth in assists. She's outscoring another roster center, Griner; she's outscoring and out rebounding roster forward Tamika Catching; she's outscoring Seimone Augustus. And she's younger than Catchings. There were hints that Parker wasn't a "team player," though they selected McCaughtry, who has been benched for long periods with no obvious physical ailments.

Can we now say that the decision to leave Parker off the roster is looking pretty bad right now?

 

[j66kicker]

I'm fine with the committee's selections

 

[Goodgood]

No.

 

[Aluminny69]

They picked the Olympic Team BEFORE the WNBA season started, much like they pick all Americans before the NCAA tourney starts. Hindsight is always 20/20. Rebecca Lobo pointed out that the Olympic committee rewards loyalty. While Breanna Stewart has always answered the call, Parker has opted out of several Olympic competitions.

It will be interesting to see, if someone gets injured, whom the Olympic committee will choose as a replacement.

 

[UcMiami]

NOPE.
It was never about scoring it was about chemistry and defense.

 

[OldAlum]

I wonder if the Olympic committee would consider changing the selection process in the future. There dies not seem to be a pressing need to name the complete team so far in advance. It seems they could name 8 or 10 players as definites and then wait to name the others to make the roster 12. With the WNBA playing and the possibility of injuries, it would seem they could get the best and healthiest players that way.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

NOPE.
It was never about scoring it was about chemistry and defense.

Having said that, Parker's WNBA team is undefeated: 5-0. Seems as though chemistry isn't an overwhelming problem in LA.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

They picked the Olympic Team BEFORE the WNBA season started, much like they pick all Americans before the NCAA tourney starts. Hindsight is always 20/20. Rebecca Lobo pointed out that the Olympic committee rewards loyalty. While Breanna Stewart has always answered the call, Parker has opted out of several Olympic competitions.

It will be interesting to see, if someone gets injured, whom the Olympic committee will choose as a replacement.

Seems to me it should be about fielding the best team with the greatest opportunity to win all the marbles. Loyalty, unless it's about national loyalty, shouldn't be the ultimate, or even a critical, factor.

 

[VAUConnFan]

It was a bad decision before the WNBA season started. It will always remain a bad decision regardless of how the season plays out.

 

[MilfordHusky]

NOPE.
It was never about scoring it was about chemistry and defense.

Another succinct reply that nails it.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

They picked the Olympic Team BEFORE the WNBA season started, much like they pick all Americans before the NCAA tourney starts. Hindsight is always 20/20. Rebecca Lobo pointed out that the Olympic committee rewards loyalty. While Breanna Stewart has always answered the call, Parker has opted out of several Olympic competitions.

It will be interesting to see, if someone gets injured, whom the Olympic committee will choose as a replacement.

Yes. But of course, we all knew long before this WNBA season began that Candace Parker was probably the premier power forward in the country. And now we still know she's the best power forward in the country. So what exactly were the reasons for leaving her off? Oh, right. No one's talking.

 

[Kibitzer]

Candace and Stewie should be teammates on this Olympic team.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Yes. But of course, we all knew long before this WNBA season began that Candace Parker was probably the premier power forward in the country. And now we still know she's the best power forward in the country. So what exactly were the reasons for leaving her off? Oh, right. No one's talking.

I'm not sure she's a power forward. She's a finesse player. I think Nneka plays the 4, and Candace plays the 3.

Candace is unquestionably a fabulous offensive player, especially when she plays hard. That apparently wasn't enough for USA Basketball. I know it looks odd at first glance, but USA Basketball was looking for something a little different.

 

[UcMiami]

Having said that, Parker's WNBA team is undefeated: 5-0. Seems as though chemistry isn't an overwhelming problem in LA.

Yeah - but it is her team so anything she does is good with her teammates - she is the star and if she gets bored and takes a quarter off, it is still cool. If she decides she doesn't want to get back on defense, or wants to play swinging gate defense ... ok. On the NT that doesn't fly.

These are grown women with a life away from basketball so giving them some planning time for the month of the Olympic break is a nice thing to do. Sure they may be injures but if you name a core of eight, you might have injuries with them too. The Olympic committee has been both successful and following a pretty consistent formula for a very long time - why change. As Fairfield says - there isn't much surprising happening this WNBA season - Parker has consistently put up significant numbers as have all the others in consideration. Phoenix is certainly a little shocking at 0-4, but that is a WNBA team, not the Olympic team - DT is DT, and while Griner appears to be struggling, one doesn't really expect that to continue.

 

[mkwstar23]

I'm not sure she's a power forward. She's a finesse player. I think Nneka plays the 4, and Candace plays the 3.

Candace is unquestionably a fabulous offensive player, especially when she plays hard. That apparently wasn't enough for USA Basketball. I know it looks odd at first glance, but USA Basketball was looking for something a little different.

this nails it...when she plays hard...and for the record they will win easily without her...Candace is a great player when she is getting lots of shots and making them...she can disappear when she does not get the ball a lot and defense speaks for itself...personally i think her not being selected is not a question of talent but rather a statement that the bigs they took instead of her are both much better perimeter players and 3 pt shooters...just an opinion
this being said i can see why her fans are mad because she is playing better than Delle Donn right now and Augustus but unfortunately she does not play the position they do...at least on this Olympic team

 

[Goodgood]

Parker is playing all out because she is trying to prove that she should be on the team. If she had done that all the time, there is no doubt that she would have been selected.

This proves that the committee is right by not selected her. She had more to give and didn't for whatever reason.

 

[Aluminny69]

Yeah - but it is her team so anything she does is good with her teammates - she is the star and if she gets bored and takes a quarter off, it is still cool. If she decides she doesn't want to get back on defense, or wants to play swinging gate defense ... ok. On the NT that doesn't fly.

I agree, and would add that credit should be given to Brian Agler, who has the Sparks playing as a team. It was pointed out that, if you add in Agler's 82-22 record with Columbus of the defunct ABL, Agler has the most career wins of any active Women's Professional basketball coach.

 

[ThisJustIn]

Nope. She's currently #5 in pts, #26 in f/g%...

I still feel like one more big.medium should have been left off (Angel?) and sSimm or Sloot.

ALSO - there is still a "just in case" team - and until the games start, the roster is fluid. The way she's handled this whole thing, it feels like she's shot herself in the foot. I mean, would you want her on the team now?

 

[Fairfield Fan]

this nails it...when she plays hard...and for the record they will win easily without her...Candace is a great player when she is getting lots of shots and making them...she can disappear when she does not get the ball a lot and defense speaks for itself...personally i think her not being selected is not a question of talent but rather a statement that the bigs they took instead of her are both much better perimeter players and 3 pt shooters...just an opinion
this being said i can see why her fans are mad because she is playing better than Delle Donn right now and Augustus but unfortunately she does not play the position they do...at least on this Olympic team

I'm sorry, but "when she plays hard"? She's been the powerhouse in the league amongst bigs for years. I find it difficult to question her work ethic when the results are so mind-boggling.

Is that what we think happened? The committee thought she just doesn't work hard? Wasn't she a beast during the last Olympic games?

 

[EricLA]

NOPE. It was never about scoring it was about chemistry and defense.

Candace is unquestionably a fabulous offensive player, especially when she plays hard. That apparently wasn't enough for USA Basketball. I know it looks odd at first glance, but USA Basketball was looking for something a little different.

this nails it...when she plays hard...and for the record they will win easily without her...Candace is a great player when she is getting lots of shots and making them...she can disappear when she does not get the ball a lot and defense speaks for itself

I liked what all 3 of you said and just wanted to add - a very smart person recently said "She's a tremendous offensive player, but while she may score 20 points, she gives up 15-20 due to lack of effort on defense". I think that's pretty obvious to people who see the games in person and focus on what she does when she's NOT involved in a play. I'm not saying she is lazy, but it's never more obvious than when she stands around in the lane watching people drive by her and score.

And by the way, when she does set her mind to it, she can be a solid defensive player as well. But watch any of the other players selected to the team, especially players like Maya, Catch, Stewie, Dee, Tina, Angel, and Siemone - they work their BUTTS off on defense and never take a play off. I left Sylvia, Brit, Sue and Lindsay off because as the 1's and 5's, their defense often looks different... Plus, in fairness, I've never focused on Bird or Whalen when they play defense so I can't speak with any kind of authority to what they do...

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Yeah - but it is her team so anything she does is good with her teammates - she is the star and if she gets bored and takes a quarter off, it is still cool. If she decides she doesn't want to get back on defense, or wants to play swinging gate defense ... ok. On the NT that doesn't fly.

These are grown women with a life away from basketball so giving them some planning time for the month of the Olympic break is a nice thing to do. Sure they may be injures but if you name a core of eight, you might have injuries with them too. The Olympic committee has been both successful and following a pretty consistent formula for a very long time - why change. As Fairfield says - there isn't much surprising happening this WNBA season - Parker has consistently put up significant numbers as have all the others in consideration. Phoenix is certainly a little shocking at 0-4, but that is a WNBA team, not the Olympic team - DT is DT, and while Griner appears to be struggling, one doesn't really expect that to continue.

I just wonder whether Coach Geno isn't playing it too safe this time. He's gone with the old guard, but they are a lot older than the last time. This looks like a risk.

 

[Bestiarius]

I know there were lots of reasons posed for Candace Parker's being left off the Olympic roster at the time. But now that we're five games into the WNBA season, and Parker is ripping a tornado-like path through the league, can we now say that it's beginning to look as though the selection committee really blew it?

Candace Parker - WNBA

Parker is the fifth leading scorer with nearly 21 points a game, she's eighth in rebounds with 7.5, she's tenth in blocks, and twelfth in assists. She's outscoring another roster center, Griner; she's outscoring and out rebounding roster forward Tamika Catching; she's outscoring Seimone Augustus. And she's younger than Catchings. There were hints that Parker wasn't a "team player," though they selected McCaughtry, who has been benched for long periods with no obvious physical ailments.

Can we now say that the decision to leave Parker off the roster is looking pretty bad right now?

Are we going to get into a stat cherry picking contest? She wasn't picked, her merits and drawbacks have been discussed to death. It's done. Moving on is the healthiest thing to do.

Let's cheer on the Olympic team. I don't understand those fellow Americans in orangeland who will be boycotting and hoping the USA loses because of the committee's decision.
http://www.wnba.com/stats/
[URL='http://www.wnba.com/wnba-season-20-tip-off-infographic/']- WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA[/URL]

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Are we going to get into a stat cherry picking contest? She wasn't picked, her merits and drawbacks have been discussed to death. It's done. Moving on is the healthiest thing to do.

Let's cheer on the Olympic team. I don't understand those fellow Americans in orangeland who will be boycotting and hoping the USA loses because of the committee's decision.
http://www.wnba.com/stats/
- WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA

Hoping the US team will lose?! Who's doing that? I live in Connecticut!

 

[Jmpenn]

I liked what all 3 of you said and just wanted to add - a very smart person recently said "She's a tremendous offensive player, but while she may score 20 points, she gives up 15-20 due to lack of effort on defense". I think that's pretty obvious to people who see the games in person and focus on what she does when she's NOT involved in a play. I'm not saying she is lazy, but it's never more obvious than when she stands around in the lane watching people drive by her and score.

And by the way, when she does set her mind to it, she can be a solid defensive player as well. But watch any of the other players selected to the team, especially players like Maya, Catch, Stewie, Dee, Tina, Angel, and Siemone - they work their BUTTS off on defense and never take a play off. I left Sylvia, Brit, Sue and Lindsay off because as the 1's and 5's, their defense often looks different... Plus, in fairness, I've never focused on Bird or Whalen when they play defense so I can't speak with any kind of authority to what they do...

I guess you haven't seen many Phoenix games. Dee hasn't been playing much defense this season.

What's wrong with the Phoenix Mercury? - Excelle Sports

 

[Uhuru]

Yes. But of course, we all knew long before this WNBA season began that Candace Parker was probably the premier power forward in the country. And now we still know she's the best power forward in the country. So what exactly were the reasons for leaving her off? Oh, right. No one's talking.

And it's because no one is talking that makes me think something very disruptive happened. The selection committee knows how accomplished an offensive player Parker is. So, it must have been something OFFENSIVE that kept her off the team.

I have no use for Parker who I've always considered a prima donna. And I'm glad she's not on the Olympic team. And I don't give a crap what anyone thinks of my opinion, just like I don't give a crap about their opinion.