28 Olympic team

[GamecockFam]

We're going to need a tall player to replace Griner with the young talent we are seeing internationally from teams like China, Australia, France and Brazil, to name a few. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Betts makes the team so that she can be that chess piece on the US squad. She'll be in the middle of her third season of the WBNA in 2028? Plus, she was integral at the Americup this past year.

Another dark horse candidates to throw out is Kelsey Mitchell. If they want instant chemistry the Mitchell/Boston/Clark connection would fit the bill. You'd have the Fever squad to backup the main squad in the same way that the Liberty/Aces/Mercury squads dominated this US Olympics squad.

Guards: Young, Howard, Plum, Copper, Ionescu, Clark
Forwards/Centers: Collier, Stewart, Wilson, Brink, Boston, Betts

I'm not sold on Ionescu making the next team and could see someone like Mitchell or Bueckers beating her out. If for some reason a vet at the forward position decides to bow out, Hamby makes sense as a possible choice.

 

[GoChips20]

Is there any college coach who has been very successful and has a history with USA basketball?

Mulkey Walz Brooks ?

I wonder if they go back to Staley?

I wonder if they’d try to tag Hammon assuming she’s not in the NBA. Depending on how the next few seasons go, Weatherspoon could also be a great choice.

I can’t see Mulkey as a fit for the national team.

Walz and Brooks could be solid choices.

I don’t think Dawn has any interest in the job again after voluntarily stepping down after Tokyo.

 

[MilfordHusky]

The next Head Coach is often one of the Assistant Coaches. Mike would be good, but may be too old. I think Joni is too inexperienced. My current guess: Kara Lawson, who has 3x3 coaching experience.

Dawn and Geno will not want it, nor will they be chosen.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

The next Head Coach is often one of the Assistant Coaches. Mike would be good, but may be too old. I think Joni is too inexperienced. My current guess: Kara Lawson, who has 3x3 coaching experience.

Dawn and Geno will not want it, nor will they be chosen.

Kara Lawson and Joni are terrible choices. What have they won as head coaches?! The 2028 might be a very young team and you simply cannot select a young, unproven head coach to lead them. Either go back to Reeves or Staley or try to lure Hammon to do it. Otherwise think outside the box because imo no one on tahr coaching staff should be head coach this decade.

 

[Vowelguy]

The next Head Coach is often one of the Assistant Coaches. Mike would be good, but may be too old. I think Joni is too inexperienced. My current guess: Kara Lawson, who has 3x3 coaching experience.

Dawn and Geno will not want it, nor will they be chosen.

Thibault is done, as Reeves noted in her post game.

Unless Lawson makes a final 4, no way I see her being chosen.

I had forgotten about Hammon. She seems like a very strong contender.

 

[Vowelguy]

I'm not sold on Ionescu making the next team and could see someone like Mitchell or Bueckers beating her out. If for some reason a vet at the forward position decides to bow out, Hamby makes sense as a possible choice.

If you dump Sabrina, that means turning over 3 PGs. Seems questionable.

In terms of size I was wondering about Ayoka Lee.

 

[JellyBean]

It can't be Reeve. I'm over that experience.

Also, I'm moving Kah and KP up into the "under consideration for 2028" category. I underestimated them both.

Oh, come on! I have 15 years of experience with Coach Reeve here in Minnesota. Y'all can handle one more Olympic run with her as coach

But I think Coach is a one and done, which is okay with me. I am sure there is a list of potential coaches out there. Hopefully they start early on the search.

 

[JellyBean]

The next Head Coach is often one of the Assistant Coaches. Mike would be good, but may be too old. I think Joni is too inexperienced. My current guess: Kara Lawson, who has 3x3 coaching experience.

Dawn and Geno will not want it, nor will they be chosen.

I can see Coach Lawson being in the conversation. Mike. Nah. Not just the age factor. I just don't see him being another Coach Reeve. Whoever they bring on as the coach has to be that Wow factor coach and a coach that wants to invest the time and energy into the program.

 

[12au]

Very good list. I might substitute Brink for Howard, but this could be very close.

Brink could be a good fit. With FIBA physicality maybe her foul issues go away a bit.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Brink could be a good fit. With FIBA physicality maybe her foul issues go away a bit.

Interesting thought. How the heck did Jackie foul out?

 

[12au]

Interesting thought. How the heck did Jackie foul out?

Paris refs--the good news is we'll have LA refs next time

 

[UcMiami]

Mulkey has declined in the past
Walz has had some run with USA
Brooks ... not sure
Dawn seemed pretty sure she wouldn't coach again, but she bleeds for the team so maybe if they begged she would say yes.
Kara...? She doesn't have the deep coaching experience but she has deep USA roots.

 

[cancontent]

Paris refs--the good news is we'll have LA refs next time

This is sarcasm, right?

 

[GirlBoo1020]

We're going to need a tall player to replace Griner with the young talent we are seeing internationally from teams like China, Australia, France and Brazil, to name a few. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Betts makes the team so that she can be that chess piece on the US squad. She'll be in the middle of her third season of the WBNA in 2028? Plus, she was integral at the Americup this past year.

Another dark horse candidates to throw out is Kelsey Mitchell. If they want instant chemistry the Mitchell/Boston/Clark connection would fit the bill. You'd have the Fever squad to backup the main squad in the same way that the Liberty/Aces/Mercury squads dominated this US Olympics squad.

Guards: Young, Howard, Plum, Copper, Ionescu, Clark
Forwards/Centers: Collier, Stewart, Wilson, Brink, Boston, Betts

I'm not sold on Ionescu making the next team and could see someone like Mitchell or Bueckers beating her out. If for some reason a vet at the forward position decides to bow out, Hamby makes sense as a possible choice.

I'm not sold on Plum, Copper, or Howard making the next team, more so than Ionescu of your list. Plum, imo, was a disaster this tournament and her playing time was befuddling and what kept France in the game. Howard seems to take a step back every season and her 3x3 showing was less than inspiring. Copper was excellent this game and good throughout but she's already 30 and as a player that relies on her athleticism I'm not sure she'll be as impactful 4 years in the future when she's lost a step.

I think team USA needs to build around a Jackie/Sab backcourt for the next 4 years leading into 2028. Both the youngest guards and imo the best guards in the WNBA right now and now have Olympic 5x5 experience. Ones of Cheryl's many mistakes was not playing them together more. Then grab 3-5 guards from a pool of players like Clark, Plum, Juju, Bueckers, Raven Johnson, Howard, Hildago, Fulwiley, Copper.

 

[Zanzman]

Really you think Sabrina played bettee tham Kelsey plum ?

 

[GirlBoo1020]

Really you think Sabrina played bettee tham Kelsey plum ?

I thought Plum was truly terrible today. For every good thing she did she did 3-4 very bad things that off set it completely offensively and defensively. Watching the game it felt like she was one of those possessed Victorian dolls you see in horror movies. Every time i thought she was out of the game for good she pop back on my screen after a time out ready to foul someone for an and-1.

Despite the one bad turnover from Sabrina, the offense seemed to run smoothest when she was in there. Just a coaching disaster from Reeves today, not just the backcourt minutes but also the front court decisions were questionable.

 

[Vowelguy]

 

[nwhoopfan]

Plum, imo, was a disaster this tournament and her playing time was befuddling and what kept France in the game.

You didn't watch the same game I and several others watched.

 

[Vowelguy]

You didn't watch the same game I and several others watched.

Agreed. I thought she was poor in the semis, but played big in the final.

 

[GirlBoo1020]

You didn't watch the same game I and several others watched.

I honestly have talked to quite a few people and the consensus has been Plum played terribly on both ends. Curious what you saw that warranted her playing today? I really think we would have had a much more comfortable victory if she has traded places with Lloyd, Taurasi or even Sabrina.

I find her to be a low basketball IQ player that takes the rest of the team out of the flow of the offense with poor decisions. She was also hunted on the defensive end of the court imo.

 

[GamecockFam]

View attachment 102818

Seems like they just picked the most popular rookies / college players and threw them on the team without a thought ...

It's so hard to predict four years in the future, so I get it. Players we aren't talking about, like Jacy Sheldon, Diamond Miller, and Chennedy Carter could take their game to the next level.

I find it hard to believe that Juju Watkins would make the 28 team. The committee would only have her WNBA rookie season to judge, so she would have to have a Candice Parker (i.e., league MVP candidate) like rookie season for her to even be in consideration IMO. The same goes for all of these fantastic freshmen...Hidalgo, Fulwiley, etc. 2032 seems like their year to make the team.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I honestly have talked to quite a few people and the consensus has been Plum played terribly on both ends. Curious what you saw that warranted her playing today? I really think we would have had a much more comfortable victory if she has traded places with Lloyd, Taurasi or even Sabrina.

I find her to be a low basketball IQ player that takes the rest of the team out of the flow of the offense with poor decisions. She was also hunted on the defensive end of the court imo.

Yep, you watched a different game. They don't win today without her. They were down 10 in Q3 and it was not looking good. She comes in, hits 2 3's and a nice pass to Wilson for probably her only uncontested shot of the game. Just like that they're back in it. Probably the most critical juncture of the game. Her clutch FTs late were big as well. In a game where offense was hard to come by, she tied Copper for second most points, and every single one of them was needed. Like I said, they don't win without her. If you don't see that...I really don't know what you were watching. Also tied for a team high 4 assists. And on a day where everybody was turning the ball over, her 2 TO's weren't egregious. Didn't see her being bad on D either. Lacan scored a couple times on her, but she definitely was not getting lit up. She was pesky. She was the only U.S. player who was pressuring the ball the full length of the floor.

The guard corp was inconsistent in Paris. Young was easily the best, but today wasn't her today. Copper, Ionescu and Plum all had some good games along the way. The others...well I won't say anything.

 

[Ladeeeeda]

I thought Plum was truly terrible today. For every good thing she did she did 3-4 very bad things that off set it completely offensively and defensively. Watching the game it felt like she was one of those possessed Victorian dolls you see in horror movies. Every time i thought she was out of the game for good she pop back on my screen after a time out ready to foul someone for an and-1.

Despite the one bad turnover from Sabrina, the offense seemed to run smoothest when she was in there. Just a coaching disaster from Reeves today, not just the backcourt minutes but also the front court decisions were questionable.

This is a very unexpected take. Clearly watched a different game than me bc Plum only had one foul the whole game according to the box score lol

 

[Ladeeeeda]

I feel like people are in denial that the world is catching up to us. France exclusively practiced for 2 months prior to the games and they played before a home crowd. We couldn't make layups in the 1st half and that included our MVP.
I think everyone needs to start taking the world more seriously going forward.

 

[WBBTakeover]

I honestly have talked to quite a few people and the consensus has been Plum played terribly on both ends. Curious what you saw that warranted her playing today? I really think we would have had a much more comfortable victory if she has traded places with Lloyd, Taurasi or even Sabrina.

I, for one, saw us go down by 10 points and then saw her lead the 8-0 charge (including two 3-pointers for a team that notoriously could not hit threes) that brought us back. She also helped seal the game with clutch free throws. Plum had an up-and-down tournament (she was terrible against Australia), but yesterday's Olympic Finals was one of her finest career moments.

I really think we would have had a much more comfortable victory if she has traded places with Lloyd, Taurasi or even Sabrina.

I don't, and they were rightfully benched (or, in Sabrina's case, given reduced minutes). Sabrina couldn't guard anyone in that tournament whereas KP kinda could (depending on the match-up). DT sucked all tournament long despite being pegged as a starter for half of the games. Jewell was just--there.

I find her to be a low basketball IQ player that takes the rest of the team out of the flow of the offense with poor decisions. She was also hunted on the defensive end of the court imo.

You aren't wrong with this general assessment, which is why she's never going to be anyone's superstar. Most people here (with the exception of one person--and I'm sure everyone knows who I'm referring to) know this to be the truth with regard to Plum. It wasn't the reality yesterday--which is why we won that game. I'm not a KP fan (strictly because of her game--she seems to be a good enough person, so I'll pull for her more often than not), but I have to give credit where credit is due. She, 4th quarter Kah, and MVP A'ja were the main offensive reasons why we held on for gold (and none of those players were offensive wizards throughout the entire game).

That said, I don't think she is a lock to return. She should, however, be under heavy consideration for 2028 (with it being close to her hometown, she's going to go for it). If Team USA isn't going to recruit more players who are reliable 3-point shooters, then we really can't afford not to bring back a player who can at least hit them.