An Ugly Win for USA WBB for the Gold Medal

[oldude]

I’ve always said, “I’ll take an ugly win any day over a well-played loss.” That’s exactly what the US delivered in the Olympic gold medal game against a spirited physical effort from France before a passionate crowd in Paris.

The US effort was plagued by turnovers, poor defensive rebounding and missed layups. A lot of the problems that the US faced were clearly the result of extremely physical play by France. There were too many “non calls” to keep track of and several “phantom” calls as well, particularly in the 4th qtr.

In the end, the US found a way as they continued their Olympic unbeaten streak, now at 61 straight wins, winning a nail biter 67-66. Gabby lead France in scoring, hitting a huge 3 down the stretch and a remarkable 2 at the buzzer, with her foot on the 3-pt line, leaving France 1 point short of sending the game to OT.

 

[David54]

Gabby was impressive.

 

[rbny1]

An ugly win maybe, but a really exciting game.

 

[bantamlaker]

Gabby played her heart out and almost pulled off the miracle. Just what we would expect from the Gabulous one.

 

[Creature]

OP forgot to mention how foulingly physical this game was; hard to make a layup when somebody is hacking on your arm

 

[REB1094]

SO many turnovers and missed layups. France was playing extremely physically and it flustered the US all game

Game turned in the 3rd quarter when Reeve instantly pulled any guard that turned the ball over. Took a little better care of the ball and Aja came alive defensively enough for the US to get back in it

A lot of stars had rough games but made the plays when needed. Ugly win, but great team win to come back and bring home gold

Man, Gabby almost stole that game. Insane shot making down the stretch

 

[hoopsdiva]

I'm not sure if they're showing this on American TV (I'm in France right now), but while Gabby was in tears after the game she was being comforted not only by her French coaches and teammates, but by Diana and Breanna. UConn solidarity.

 

[Bills Fan]

Maybe in '28 the Women's team selection committee will be smart enough to put the best players on the team and looking down the road that will include Clark and Paige.

 

[oldude]

OP forgot to mention how foulingly physical this game was; hard to make a layup when somebody is hacking on your arm

???

Maybe you missed the following quote in the OP, “extremely physical play by France. There were too many “non-calls” to keep track of.”

 

[Zonepress]

The officiating was bizarre
Lack of a lead guard was obvious
Having DT and Chelsea gray, who is coming off injury and not a full strength were very questionable decisions to have on the team,
Another Lead guard would haven been very
Helpful
Almost cost them the game

 

[MilfordHusky]

The officiating was bizarre
Lack of a lead guard was obvious
Having DT and Chelsea gray, who is coming off injury and not a full strength were very questionable decisions to have on the team,
Another Lead guard would haven been very
Helpful
Almost cost them the game

I have 1 word for you: Paige

 

[hoopsdiva]

The French announcer just referred to her as Gabby la Magnifique.

 

[Cheddie]

I thought, in this game at least, that the US really missed Sue Bird or a similar good point guard. Gray and Young were ineffective. Phenomenal game by Gabby and the US is lucky it wasn't tied at the buzzer- a matter of inches. Felt bad rooting against a Husky, especially one who left all her heart on the court.

 

[bbsamjj]

USA had 19 turnovers; but I think 14 or 15 of them were in the first half; they cleaned that up in second half. Was bizarre how often USA gave up offensive rebounds in the first half.

Reeves ended up closing game with her most athletic guards (minus Loyd): Plum, Young, Copper. Copper had 10 of her 12 points in 4th.

 

[CTGirl15]

Tough, tough win by the US. A classic Gabby Williams performance for France, she did everything she could to win that game. Kahleah Copper was impressive for the US.

Lots of turnovers and missed layups and officiating was all over the place, but the weirdest thing about the game was the rotations from Cheryl Reeve. Would have liked to see what Diana and/or Jewell Loyd could have done in this game and not sure why BG wasn't given at least a few minutes in that second half. It worked out alright for the US, but some interesting choices there.

All that to say, the US wins gold and it was a fun game to watch. Great ending to a great Olympic games!

 

[UConnCat]

Gabby was magnificent.

USA Basketball has work to do starting with the next head coach and the guard play. That was not Cheryl's finest hour.

 

[bballnut90]

Building a roster without a healthy PG nearly cost the US. They basically took 6 shooting guards and one hobbled point guard which made no sense from a roster construction standpoint.

They got the job done largely due to Wilson and Copper but the turnovers and poor execution offensively with a collection of stars like that was painful to watch at times. Next go around this shouldn’t be an issue with so many talented up and coming young PGs (Clark, Paige, Miles, Harmon, Hidalgo, etc.) Still though, congrats on an 8th straight gold.

France with a heck of an effort, Gabby was sensational for them. Her W career hasn’t taken off into stardom but she showed this week she can compete with the best of them. France shot themselves in the foot settling for mediocre 3pt shots all 4th quarter and hitting none until they were down 4 with under 10 seconds left.

In regards to people commenting on reffing, I thought if anything there were some crucial calls that went against France. Notably in the 3rd, Wilson hacked Johannes in the face and it wasn’t called, led to a 5 on 4 with Johannes down on the other end and resulted in a wide open 3 for Plum. 5 point swing there. Also a ball that was blatantly off Wilson late in the 4th was given to the US for another possession. Calls go both ways but it definitely was not one sided in favor of France.

 

[UcMiami]

Wow!
What a game from France and what a mess of a game by USA.

This was one game where I thought Diana would have been a good sub in the second quarter when the US was running around in circles - the reason to include her in the team was for a moment like that where the guards were playing scared. (And she couldn't have done worse than any of the other subs in that quarter )

 

[cancontent]

Building a roster without a healthy PG nearly cost the US. They basically took 6 shooting guards and one hobbled point guard which made no sense from a roster construction standpoint.

They got the job done largely due to Wilson and Copper but the turnovers and poor execution offensively with a collection of stars like that was painful to watch at times. Next go around this shouldn’t be an issue with so many talented up and coming young PGs (Clark, Paige, Miles, Harmon, Hidalgo, etc.) Still though, congrats on an 8th straight gold.

France with a heck of an effort, Gabby was sensational for them. Her W career hasn’t taken off into stardom but she showed this week she can compete with the best of them. France shot themselves in the foot settling for mediocre 3pt shots all 4th quarter and hitting none until they were down 4 with under 10 seconds left.

In regards to people commenting on reffing, I thought if anything there were some crucial calls that went against France. Notably in the 3rd, Wilson hacked Johannes in the face and it wasn’t called, led to a 5 on 4 with Johannes down on the other end and resulted in a wide open 3 for Plum. 5 point swing there. Also a ball that was blatantly off Wilson late in the 4th was given to the US for another possession. Calls go both ways but it definitely was not one sided in favor of France.

Agreed. The differential in the first half didn't give me the impression referees were letting things go.

 

[bbsamjj]

The issue for team USA on the PG front is, quite frankly, lack of options at this point.

You can point to Clark but given how much she has struggled against physical play and with turnovers in the league (though gotten MUCH better), this was not a game where she would have succeeded, imo.

Natasha Cloud I believe isn't in consideration because she has played for Jordan.
Jordin Canada is injured. SDD has been coming back from maternity leave and has been solid but not spectacular (and she barely got off bench for team USA in Tokyo). You've got a ton of WNBA teams using 2-guards as their PGs (Arike or Sheldon in Dallas; C. Williams in Minnesota; T. Harris in CT, Sabrina a lot of the time in NY (though she is more of a PG than most)).

Agree the talent coming up should help with this.

 

[hoopsdiva]

They're showing the medal ceremony. When Gabby's name was announced she got a huge ovation. She smiled and wiped a tear from her eye.

 

[UConnCat]

Wow!
What a game from France and what a mess of a game by USA.

This was one game where I thought Diana would have been a good sub in the second quarter when the US was running around in circles - the reason to include her in the team was for a moment like that where the guards were playing scared. (And she couldn't have done worse than any of the other subs in that quarter )

Agree.

The game got away from the head coach. USA BB was very fortunate to win.

 

[cancontent]

USA had 19 turnovers; but I think 14 or 15 of them were in the first half; they cleaned that up in second half. Was bizarre how often USA gave up offensive rebounds in the first half.

Reeves ended up closing game with her most athletic guards (minus Loyd): Plum, Young, Copper. Copper had 10 of her 12 points in 4th.

Ionescu's contributions in the 3rd and 4th quarters were also impactful. The US took the lead when she entered the game and it helped change the tone of their play in my opinion.

 

[oldude]

Agreed. The differential in the first half didn't give me the impression referees were letting things go.

Yes & no. The refs clearly called more fouls on France. And the US cashed in from the foul line. But the refs could have called many more fouls on France, but they just don’t want to relegate a championship game to a constant procession to the free throw line.

It reminds me of UConn’s games with UCF in the old AAC, where the “Hack a Husky” strategy was employed by UCF. The refs could have called a foul almost every trip down the floor. But no referee wants to call a foul every trip down the floor, so a level of really physical play is permitted.

 

[nwhoopfan]

not sure why BG wasn't given at least a few minutes in that second half

Trouble defending any of France's front court players. They all can shoot 3s and are all more mobile than BG.