Australia 22 vs China 19 First Quarter

[Zarathustra]

Lara Somfai 2 points and , by my count 7 rebounds.

 

[yhun89]

7 REB against Ziyu? Dang.

Now 8. Ziyu hasn’t gotten a single board.

 

[Zarathustra]

7 REB against Ziyu? Dang.

Now 8. Ziyu hasn’t gotten a single board.

At the Half : Australia 49 China 42 Lara Somfai with second foul at
8 minutes 50 seconds LEFT in second Q. She sits until 1:49.. Two Points for Lara
but 8 rebounds.

 

[Zarathustra]

End of Third Quarter Australia 68 China 63 Lara with 10 rebounds, but
an off game so far scoring. Ziyu Zhang with 17 points in the third quarter for
a total of 36 points ( 7' 3" )

 

[Kaizen]

Live here,

 

[yhun89]

End of Third Quarter Australia 68 China 63 Lara with 10 rebounds, but
an off game so far scoring. Ziyu Zhang with 17 points in the third quarter for
a total of 36 points ( 7' 3" )

17 in a QUARTER???

 

[rvwsleep]

96-79 final. Australia wins. The big girl, Zhang, from China ran out of gas and the Opals ran up the score in the 4th quarter.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Somfai was mostly a non factor.

OTOH, Saffron Shiels was incredible with 31 points on 12/14 shooting, 15 rebs, and 6 assists.

 

[rvwsleep]

Zhang had 42 points in 26 minutes. At this level, she's probably good for 20 minutes. She was really dragging in the fourth quarter. She did shoot 18 of 36 (50%) for this game. But that was far below the 88% !! she was shooting coming into the game.

 

[Zarathustra]

End of Third Quarter Australia 68 China 63 Lara with 10 rebounds, but
an off game so far scoring. Ziyu Zhang with 17 points in the third quarter for
a total of 36 points ( 7' 3" )

Final Score Australia 96 China 79
Lara Somfai with three fouls, 28. 02 minutes
6 points 13 rebounds three assists, three turnovers, one block
Shiels for Australia: 31 points and 15 rebounds and hitting 12/12 from two point land 0/2 from three point land.
Ziyu Zhang for Ching, 7'3", with 42 points and 14 rebounds

 

[Zarathustra]

17 in a QUARTER???

Correct! 17 points on top of 19 points at the half. Full game 42 points.

 

[Zarathustra]

MVP: Ziyu Zhang . Lara Somfai and Saffron Shiels from Australia on the
All Tournament Team.

 

[yhun89]

Somfai was mostly a non factor.

OTOH, Saffron Shiels was incredible with 31 points on 12/14 shooting, 15 rebs, and 6 assists.

She got any offers?

 

[Zarathustra]

She got any offers?

Concerning Saffron Shiels, U18 Australian Women's Basketball team and
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM member with Lara Somfai ( note Lara and Saffron were
also both on the ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM in the FIBA OCEANIC WOMEN's U 17
Championship, October 2 - 7th, 2023). Saffron Shiels is, 6' 2" (188cm), born January 18, 2006
(18 years old). She is listed as "FORWARD" on some Australian /FIBA web pages. She
was the primary ballhandler (PG) in the just completed Asian Championship. She is
a recipient of a scholarship with the Basketball Australia's College of Excellence. She is
from Newcastle, Australia and currently plays for the TOWNSVILLE FIRE (WNBL in
Australia). She signed with TOWNSVILLE at age 17 and just resigned with the "FIRE"
for an additional two years on June 14, 2024. So, perhaps she is not interested in
coming to the USA for college? Also, KUDOS to the Australian HC Kisten Rae Veal for
her great game plan against CHINA and to the entire Australian U 18 team for their
execution of that wonderful game plan. Watch the replay if you are interested.
The game was not a 96 - 79 blowout. It was undecided until the last 4 ++ minutes when
Australia outscored the Chinese 13 to 3. It was 83 - 76 prior to that Aussie spurt. NOTE:
China lead briefly in the third quarter coming back from a half time deficit: 49? to 42?

 

[Zarathustra]

For the whole tournament: Lara Somfai's Efficiency 21.2 vs Saffron Shiels' 22.8,
Lara's PPG 17.6 vs Saffron's 18.0 and Rebounding Lara's 10.8 rpg vs Saffron's 11.6 rpg

 

[bballnut90]

Ziyu is just unstoppable inside. If she stays healthy and develops she's going to be a force on the international level for a long time.

 

[Coler]

Ziyu is just unstoppable inside. If she stays healthy and develops she's going to be a force on the international level for a long time.

I really hope she comes to the WNBA once she's a bit older.

Also on the international level, China having a frontline of Ziyu and Han Xu at 7'3 and 6'11 is very scary going forward.

 

[bballnut90]

I really hope she comes to the WNBA once she's a bit older.

Also on the international level, China having a frontline of Ziyu and Han Xu at 7'3 and 6'11 is very scary going forward.

Get a couple of solid guards and they could be dangerous

 

[Coler]

Get a couple of solid guards and they could be dangerous

They have Li Meng who played for the Mystics last season. She's pretty talented also.

 

[Kaizen]

They have Li Meng who played for the Mystics last season. She's pretty talented also.

On March 13, 2023, Li Meng signed a training camp contract with the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).[7] On May 1, 2023, Meng confirmed via social media that she had earned a spot on the Mystics' regular season roster,[8] making her the third Chinese national to play in the WNBA, after Han Xu and Yang Liwei.[9]

On April 22, 2024, Li Meng tallied 23 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals in Game 5 of the 2024 WCBA finals to defeat Inner Mongolia and win the WCBA finals. She was named Finals MVP.

Li Meng (basketball) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Bone Dog]

I thought Lara played well. China was an interesting team, I thought, and Zhang Ziyu tended to take them out of their high energy running game. But there were also stretches when Ziyu would score like 10 pts in a row. It would happen because she’d get the ball in the low block, shoot, get her own rebound, shoot again and get fouled. The Australian bigs would focus on trying to disrupt her shot and foul her in the process. At halftime, the coach must have told them to focus on boxing out rather than challenging her shot and that seemed to work better. Ziyu seemed quite frustrated by this and also got tired out by it. She sat out the last 5 mins and seemed disconsolate on the bench.

Shiels looked good, but I think her game seemed to depend on having a big like Lara clearing space for her.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Shiels looked good, but I think her game seemed to depend on having a big like Lara clearing space for her.

Shiels averages 19.6 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 6.1 APG in the WNBL.

 

[Zarathustra]

I thought Lara played well. China was an interesting team, I thought, and Zhang Ziyu tended to take them out of their high energy running game. But there were also stretches when Ziyu would score like 10 pts in a row. It would happen because she’d get the ball in the low block, shoot, get her own rebound, shoot again and get fouled. The Australian bigs would focus on trying to disrupt her shot and foul her in the process. At halftime, the coach must have told them to focus on boxing out rather than challenging her shot and that seemed to work better. Ziyu seemed quite frustrated by this and also got tired out by it. She sat out the last 5 mins and seemed disconsolate on the bench.

Shiels looked good, but I think her game seemed to depend on having a big like Lara clearing space for her.

I thought the Aussie H.C. Kristen Veal had an effective game plan. They swarmed Ms. Zhang and the
players were constantly reminding each other to keep their hands up and " IN HER FACE" to block her
vision. Lara never directly was the main defender on BIG # 19 and the Aussie keep an endless rotation
of players on Zhang to share in any foul taking and to ?? tire Zhang out ?? On offense the ability of
Australia to "dive" to the basket and accept passes for layups was rather effective. Lara was effective
here also with nice passes and often being the entry player for passes at the top of the key. Lara's
rebounding was magnificent to behold. I know that Lara did not have a great scoring evening ( China
time ) but I don't agree with the comment earlier that Ms. Somfai was a " non factor ". Rather she
would " steady" the team and did so many times by word and action. Ms. Saffron Shiels is
obviously talented but she sometimes dominated the ball and would not pass out when there was
a (to my eye) available Aussie teammate with a better shot (something I don't think that
Geno would take kindly to). To her credit she many some incredible drives to the basket.. and
the ALL FELL ( 12 for 12 !!). Shiels made some 'yarders... that touchdown pass that missed
everyone and she had three miscues in a row when the Chinese closed the gap in the third
quarter. Saffron reminded me of KiKi Rice and/or Mikayah Williams at times. Very good but perhaps
too dominant at times. Anyway, Australia needed someone to have an "ON" game and she sure
provided a dominant one! BYW did anyone notice that most all of the AUSSIE players had
the "CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE" listed as their home "club". The "CoE" is the former National
Intensive Centre Program (NITCP) a leading Junior development program since 1981. They
develop the nucleus of the Australian teams: Boomers for men and Opals for women. The age related
groups are the "GEMS" for women U18 and the "Sapphires" for women U 17. We will most
likely see Lara and her U 18 teammate # 8 Zara Russell, a 6'1" Forward, in the FIBA U17
Women's WORLD CUP, 2024 in Mexico July 13 - 21st. I have not seen the full roster as
of yet, but both Lara and Zara are on the WEB PAGE for the "SAPPHIRES" (U 17). They were
born on March 28, 2007 (Lara) and June 22, 2007 (Zara) and are both still age eligible
for the tournament. JULY IS HERE, Get ready for the MEXICO tournament which should
include Olivia VUKOSO with Croatia (Lara vs "THE BIG O"!!!!) and also the FIBA U20 tournament
on July 6 - July 14th in Sofia, Bulgaria. The Bulgaria Tournament is the FIBA U 20 Women's EUROBASKET 2024
"Division B". This EUROBASKET Tournament includes Gandy Malou-Mamel and her Irish Teammates. A Lot of WBB
FIBA tournament for the BONEYARDERS to enjoy the UCONN POI recruits!! Z

 

[Bone Dog]

Shiels averages 19.6 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 6.1 APG in the WNBL.

Does this mean she isn't eligible for the NCAA?

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Does this mean she isn't eligible for the NCAA?

That's a good question and I'm not sure.