2025 USA Women's AmeriCup Team | Page 3 | The Boneyard

2025 USA Women's AmeriCup Team

The USA squad went 4-0 in Group B and now face the Dominican Republic in the quarterfinals Friday at 11:40 am. Brazil went 4-0 in Group A.

If things go as expected, the USA squad should face Canada in the semi-finals and Brazil in the finals.

Edited: Fixing mistakes called out in below posts...
 
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The USA squad went 4-0 in Group B and now face the Dominican Republic in the semifinals today at 11:40 am. Brazil went 4-0 in Group A.

If things go as expected, the USA squad should face Canada in the quarterfinals and Brazil in the finals.
I think they have today off today and will play DR tomorrow.
 
The USA squad went 4-0 in Group B and now face the Dominican Republic in the semifinals today at 11:40 am. Brazil went 4-0 in Group A.

If things go as expected, the USA squad should face Canada in the quarterfinals and Brazil in the finals.
I believe you mean semi-finals. Canada finished second in Group A.
 
Gotta love summer vacation. Enjoy!
Thanks! It's mostly a staycation but I'm taking some time to visit my sister's family to eat southern BBQ and watch fireworks in celebration of the July 4th holiday here in the USA.
 
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Time will tell during the tournament. Currently majority of the minutes at guard are going to Shay Colley (Michigan State), Sami Hill (Virginia Tech) and Day-Wilson (we all know the list ;) ). They're getting at least 25 minutes a game. The rest of minutes are being split between Swords, Russell, Gibb and Wallack.

Personally, I don't know why Day-Wilson is getting the amount of minutes she's getting, however she's making the most of it. Gives me flashbacks of her play during U19 in 2021. Scored a lot, but most of the points seemed to come from foul shots.

Not to mention, this is a different coaching staff compared to the one when Swords started to train with the Senior Women's team. Fortner knows what Day-Wilson can do from her time coaching against her in the ACC. Maybe there's a level of familiarity at play here.
Delaney Gibb looked really great last game and really throughout the tournament. Idk if it's because she's on the national team but she just looks springy and quick. I caught her a bunch last year at BYU and she had a really great year. I guess in college she's like a pretty tall and somewhat physical guard. But on the international stage she uses her quickness.

On the USA team, I wanted to mention that Miles, Edwards, Hidalgo have been pretty good. But Kneepkens has been pretty great as well.
 
Delaney Gibb looked really great last game and really throughout the tournament. Idk if it's because she's on the national team but she just looks springy and quick. I caught her a bunch last year at BYU and she had a really great year. I guess in college she's like a pretty tall and somewhat physical guard. But on the international stage she uses her quickness.

On the USA team, I wanted to mention that Miles, Edwards, Hidalgo have been pretty good. But Kneepkens has been pretty great as well.
Hidalgo has been hot and cold. IMO Miles and Edwards have been the most consistent from game to game, and are standing out among their peers. Kneepkins and Blakes also have had their moments of elite play.

Some of the stalwarts (Booker and F. Johnson mostly) and the majority of frontcourt players have been mildly disappointing. Just something isn't clicking.

Highlights against Mexico:
 
Aww man, watching these games is making me sad about Miles transferring. I think she's going to be a great PG for the USA. She understands the assignment of being the PG better than Hannah does. Miles assist numbers is fantastic for only play half the game. She gets it and wants to be a facilitator
 
Aww man, watching these games is making me sad about Miles transferring. I think she's going to be a great PG for the USA. She understands the assignment of being the PG better than Hannah does. Miles assist numbers is fantastic for only play half the game. She gets it and wants to be a facilitator
Agree 100%. Hannah is a SG who can play PG, Miles is a pure point with a nice individual offensive game to complement. I always thought Miles was at the top of the second PG tier right below Paige and Caitlin while all three were in college.

Miles’ defense and to a lesser extent overall athleticism are question marks, but if she lands in the right spot I could see her unseating a starting WNBA point guard as a rookie. Not a lot of passers like her out there.
 
Agree 100%. Hannah is a SG who can play PG, Miles is a pure point with a nice individual offensive game to complement. I always thought Miles was at the top of the second PG tier right below Paige and Caitlin while all three were in college.

Miles’ defense and to a lesser extent overall athleticism are question marks, but if she lands in the right spot I could see her unseating a starting WNBA point guard as a rookie. Not a lot of passers like her out there.
I remember back in 2019 for the U16, Miles passing skills were evident back then. I was mesmerized by her ability to control the game and make her teammates better. I'm interested in how TCU will use her.
 
Something to monitor for the USA squad. VanSlooten was a starter today but played two minutes. Hopefully it's nothing significant.
 
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Something to monitor for the USA squad. VanSlooten was a starter today but played two minutes. Hopefully it's nothing significant.
Probably just being cautious since she was up and moving on the bench most of the game
 
Something to monitor for the USA squad. VanSlooten was a starter today but played two minutes. Hopefully it's nothing significant.
Looked like a possible concussion. Hoping they just kept her out the rest of the game for precautionary reasons.
 
Looked like a possible concussion. Hoping they just kept her out the rest of the game for precautionary reasons.
Appreciate the insight. Definitely need to be cautious and hope it isn't one. Travel could be a challenge if it is.
 
Appreciate the insight. Definitely need to be cautious and hope it isn't one. Travel could be a challenge if it is.
The Dominican team was very physical from the beginning and seemed to get a bit reckless as the margin grew. A lot of US players took elbows to the head and neck with a few going as no calls.
 
Well it will be Canada vs USA in the semis. Will be interesting to see how things go at the forward/post position tomorrow. Canada has been relying heavily on Kayla Alexander, but will it be enough?

Guard play will also be interesting. Day-Wilson has been the primary PG but her shooting woes, with the exception of one game continues. Had to deal with foul trouble in the first half today. It will be fun to see how the likes of Miles, Blakes, Hildago and Johnson fare against veterans like Shay Colley and Sami Hill, along with the youth movement in Swords and Gibb.
 
Well, I just finished watching the DR game. This team is so hard to predict. Edwards and Miles were the consistent players up until this game, and they both had off nights. On the other hand, Booker and Johnson were not playing well at all up until this game...and then both were lights out today. :confused:
 
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Well, I just finished watching the DR game. This team is so hard to predict. Edwards and Miles were the consistent players up until this game, and they both had off nights. On the other hand, Booker and Johnson were not playing well at all up until this game...and then both were lights out today. :confused:
I think anyone on the roster is good enough to carry and get hot in a hurry tbh. The luxury of depth and not depending on the same players
 
I think anyone on the roster is good enough to carry and get hot in a hurry tbh. The luxury of depth and not depending on the same players
That continued with their win against Canada today. In this case it was the Hildago show and she made Canada's veterans look silly. She made great plays against everyone, and had an insane steal off of Swords when it looked like Swords had her beat.

The guard play of the US was the key in this game as the forwards and posts didn't have much impact offensively. This was a tad surprising as I thought Canada's lack of depth would have been an issue, however Kayla Alexander was able to get a double double in 27 minutes of play.

The big takeaway for me from this game is that Canada's guard play is still an issue, even when you factor Carleton and Nurse into the equation. Day-Wilson isn't the answer at this point. Her stats this tournament do not justify her being a starter. Colley lost her composure and fouled out on a tech after how she reacted on a non-call when trying to make a lay up. Swords and Gibb may be the future, but they're still young and they're not true point guards. It will be interesting to see what the next squad looks like during the next part of the qualification phase.
 
Will be interesting to see how the USA plays Kamilla Cardoso and the Fever's Damiris Dantas on Sunday in the champ game. Been a lot of small ball, or so it seems, for both USA and opponents in games leading to Sunday. Can Edwards and Stuekle manage Cardoso/Dantas without pulling Beers into the game for more minutes?
 
Will be interesting to see how the USA plays Kamilla Cardoso and the Fever's Damiris Dantas on Sunday in the champ game. Been a lot of small ball, or so it seems, for both USA and opponents in games leading to Sunday. Can Edwards and Stuekle manage Cardoso/Dantas without pulling Beers into the game for more minutes?
I think it's going to be a platoon tonight. While Beers didn't have much impact yesterday, it could be different against Brazil.
 
Honestly the USA bigs have just been ho-hum for the majority of this tournament. I think the game is going to come down to the Brazil frontcourt scoring vs. the USA backcourt scoring. I don't think the USA has a pair of players who can stop both Dantas and Cardoso when they're on the court at the same time. I also expect to see more Crooks in this game to try and neutralize Cardoso. I doubt it works since Cardoso is really good in transition and transition defense is a weakness of Crooks.
 
Honestly the USA bigs have just been ho-hum for the majority of this tournament. I think the game is going to come down to the Brazil frontcourt scoring vs. the USA backcourt scoring. I don't think the USA has a pair of players who can stop both Dantas and Cardoso when they're on the court at the same time. I also expect to see more Crooks in this game to try and neutralize Cardoso. I doubt it works since Cardoso is really good in transition and transition defense is a weakness of Crooks.
Do you really see Crooks getting minutes? The most she has seen was 15 versus the Dominican Republic and she didn't play yesterday which surprised me.
 
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I can see us putting her out there for a few minutes to see what happens.
Had expected to see more of her this tournament. To your point about transition defence, maybe that was why (rhetorical)?
 
Well, Canada won by the skin of their teeth in double OT over Argentina 76-75. Personally, I was resigned to a loss until Fortner drew up a crafty last second play where Swords scored the winning basket.

Overall observations:

1) Day-Wilson is not the answer for PG at this time, especially with her issues with shooting and decision making right now.

2) Gibb and Swords held their own at this level, but can get picked on defensively, especially Gibb. At the same time, it was very telling to see them both play double overtime and Day-Wilson remained on the bench.

3) The forward/post position depth for Canada could be a problem when they can't rely on WNBA players. Kayla Alexander handled majority of the playing time with Kyei and Potter used sparingly.

4) If the youth movement is really here, Canada Basketball needs to prove it during U19 and return with another medal. Hopefully Swords and Gibb won't be too gassed for the tournament.
 
Well, the USA better be thankful that Cardoso has 3 fouls going into halftime. Brazil was dominating with both Dantas and Cardoso on the court.

I think it's pretty clear that Dantas will be named tournament MVP if Brazil wins. It's a bit of a question mark for the USA, if they win. It might just be the MVP of this game, which is looking like Blakes. If not her, then probably Miles, since she has had the most consistent performance across the whole tournament.
 
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