OT: Brazil leading the USA at Fiba Americup, 2023 35 - 25

[Zarathustra]

The Brazilians are seasoned: average age 28 years old and BIG: 6'8" Kamilla
Soares 6' 6", Erika De Souza (41 years old) 6' 6", and Damiris Dantas 6'4"
(30 years old) and formerly of the WNBA. Lauren Betts of UCLA, 6' 7", is holding
her own with 12 rebounds, assists, and steals.... but the USA needs POINTS!

 

[SECbbfan24]

Hard to believe Betts only could average 9 minutes a game for Stanford with what I'm seeing right now. Could make a case she was the biggest get in the portal this year at 6'7 with 3 years left of eligibility able to rebound and score well around the rim.

Brutal loss for Stanford


Also 2-15 from 3 and 21 turnovers?

 

[LuvBball]

Tough loss. Hopefully they'll bounce back

 

[Husky fanatic]

That said USA still lost.

 

[Bone Dog]

It looks like Betts played well. Better than she'd shown last season. I hope she can bring that back in the fall. It looks like the guards gave the game away -- 4 assists and 21 turnovers. We out rebounded them 46-35, and that seems to have been due largely to Betts's effort.

 

[Cuango]

It looks like Betts played well. Better than she'd shown last season. I hope she can bring that back in the fall. It looks like the guards gave the game away -- 4 assists and 21 turnovers. We out rebounded them 46-35, and that seems to have been due largely to Betts's effort.

Wow! 4 assists to 21 turnovers! Hard to beat anyone when you play like that! There’s no sugarcoating that! It’s just bad!

 

[Bone Dog]

I'm surprised, in a way, by the lineup USA put out there. Angel, Janiah, Rickea, Raven, that group I understand. And Betts, of course. But where was Caitlin -- this was a game she could have taken over -- or Rori, or Hailey Van Lith, or Rice, or Morrow, or Brink, or Holmes, or Kitley. It looks like we didn't put out enough of the top players.

 

[SECbbfan24]

I'm surprised, in a way, by the lineup USA put out there. Angel, Janiah, Rickea, Raven, that group I understand. And Betts, of course. But where was Caitlin -- this was a game she could have taken over -- or Rori, or Hailey Van Lith, or Rice, or Morrow, or Brink, or Holmes, or Kitley. It looks like we didn't put out enough of the top players.

Brinks and Hailey Van Lith did the 3 v 3, so maybe they didn't want to participate in this as well.

Others you mentioned may have declined, although Morrow was cut during the final selections.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

Hard to believe Betts only could average 9 minutes a game for Stanford with what I'm seeing right now. Could make a case she was the biggest get in the portal this year at 6'7 with 3 years left of eligibility able to rebound and score well around the rim.

Brutal loss for Stanford

Not many people have pac12 network but I do and watched most of Stanfords games. Betts really struggled early in the season. Like struggled a lot. Stanford did a good job of developing her through the season and accordingly her minutes rose. She still could have gotten more minutes later on but she was playing behind Brink and because neither were reliable shooters and neither can defend the perimeter against small line-ups they couldn’t play that much together consistently.

Tara did a bad job with that roster last season but I think Betts was the exception. She still lacks mobility so fast teams with strong perimeter shooting are going to make her ineffective in college until she develops the foot speed to defend beyond the paint.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

I'm surprised, in a way, by the lineup USA put out there. Angel, Janiah, Rickea, Raven, that group I understand. And Betts, of course. But where was Caitlin -- this was a game she could have taken over -- or Rori, or Hailey Van Lith, or Rice, or Morrow, or Brink, or Holmes, or Kitley. It looks like we didn't put out enough of the top players.

Morrow got cut in try out, Rice is playing for the u-19 team. I think Rori might have gotten cut?
I think most of the premier player turned down the invite in favor of training with the college teams or doing 3v3. With the Olympics next year there’s not much upside in going to this if you’ve already competed for Team USA.

 

[MilfordHusky]

U.S. shot an abysmal 31/13/65.

 

[SECbbfan24]

Not many people have pac12 network but I do and watched most of Stanfords games. Betts really struggled early in the season. Like struggled a lot. Stanford did a good job of developing her through the season and accordingly her minutes rose. She still could have gotten more minutes later on but she was playing behind Brink and because neither were reliable shooters and neither can defend the perimeter against small line-ups they couldn’t play that much together consistently.

Tara did a bad job with that roster last season but I think Betts was the exception. She still lacks mobility so fast teams with strong perimeter shooting are going to make her ineffective in college until she develops the foot speed to defend beyond the paint.

I will be honest I didn't get to watch Stanford a whole lot last year given I did not have access to the PAC 12 network but she does look really good so far this tournament but maybe Betts is just making a big jump and taking a step from where she finished her freshmen season (which happens all the time).

It will be interesting though to see how her first season at UCLA will go.

Cori has a golden opportunity with that roster... they may end up playing UCONN or LSU in the Cayman Islands early

 

[Zarathustra]

Tough loss. Hopefully they'll bounce back

Canada also has a "senior" team with many of the Canadian Olympic Caliber players on their
roster. My guess is USA will have to beat Canada later in the tournament to have a chance
to have a rematch with the Brazilians. Note: Brazil had 16 assists, USA FOUR!!!
and somehow USA out rebounded Brazil 46 to 35 = all credit to Lauren Betts: 11 points
15 rebounds with an efficiency rating of 27. NOTE: LSU's Reese had 3 points in 14:32 minutes.
Rickea Jackson of Tenn had 10 points.

 

[Zarathustra]

I'm surprised, in a way, by the lineup USA put out there. Angel, Janiah, Rickea, Raven, that group I understand. And Betts, of course. But where was Caitlin -- this was a game she could have taken over -- or Rori, or Hailey Van Lith, or Rice, or Morrow, or Brink, or Holmes, or Kitley. It looks like we didn't put out enough of the top players.

My understanding is that this is an OLYMPIC QUALIFYING tournament. USA is already
in the Olympic Mix due to winning the gold last time. So.... All the other teams in
the tournament were VERY HUNGRY to place well in the tournament to keep their
Olympic hopes alive. So... most teams sent their "A" teams, or near to it. America
sent their collegians and crossed their fingers.

 

[SECbbfan24]

15 rebounds with an efficiency rating of 27. NOTE: LSU's Reese had 3 points in 14:32 minutes.

Reese looks like she is in rough physical shape right now and rusty. Since the natty, she has been traveling around the country the last 3 months making appearance after appearance. Seldom have I seen her really in a gym doing much so I'm not surprised she is struggling so much...

 

[Alydar]

I'm surprised, in a way, by the lineup USA put out there. Angel, Janiah, Rickea, Raven, that group I understand. And Betts, of course. But where was Caitlin -- this was a game she could have taken over -- or Rori, or Hailey Van Lith, or Rice, or Morrow, or Brink, or Holmes, or Kitley. It looks like we didn't put out enough of the top players.

Maybe they had scheduling conflicts?

 

[Zarathustra]

Maybe they had scheduling conflicts?

Another FYI: Kamilla Cardosa of the University of South Carolina is playing
for Brazil using her mother's name " Soares ". Mom's name is Janete Soares.
Kamilla "Soares" is listed as playing with the " University of South Carolina".
Both of Kamilla's parents are BRAZILIAN. Raven Johnson of USC is
on the USA squad. Raven had 8 points.

 

[cancontent]

My understanding is that this is an OLYMPIC QUALIFYING tournament. USA is already
in the Olympic Mix due to winning the gold last time. So.... All the other teams in
the tournament were VERY HUNGRY to place well in the tournament to keep their
Olympic hopes alive. So... most teams sent their "A" teams, or near to it. America
sent their collegians and crossed their fingers.

Good point. Someone on twitter mused about why the US didn't look to recently graduated players or WNBA players who aren't with a team (e.g. Taj Cole, Cunane, Cox, etc.). These players could be considered hungry and looking for an opportunity to show what they can do.

Another thing to consider with the US roster is they're now playing the international game, not NCAA. If my memory is correct, several of these players haven't played much international ball and aren't used to FIBA rules, where more contact is allowed. I watched the USA-Argentina game and Reese looked visibly frustrated with the officiating. This could be a shock to the system for some of these players, where others like Betts may be more accustomed to it as she's played in several FIBA tournaments.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

I will be honest I didn't get to watch Stanford a whole lot last year given I did not have access to the PAC 12 network but she does look really good so far this tournament but maybe Betts is just making a big jump and taking a step from where she finished her freshmen season (which happens all the time).

It will be interesting though to see how her first season at UCLA will go.

Cori has a golden opportunity with that roster... they may end up playing UCONN or LSU in the Cayman Islands early

She definitely started playing better towards the end of the year... she looked closer to this in their Feb/March games. I think she will look a lot better at UCLA this season, but I also think that would have been true if she stayed at Stanford.

I am really excited about this UCLA team though, I have a lot of questions about Close's coaching ability and this season should answer them one way or the other. On paper they have the talent of a top 3 team, but last year they looked like a team that was less than the sum of its parts if I am being honest. Can they put it all together this year? We shall find out.

 

[Husky fanatic]

U.S. shot an abysmal 31/13/65.

Where do you find the box score?

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

That is really a bunch of players that are not mostly top stars. Coached by Kamie Ethridge, with Aaron Johnston as one of the assistants. I can't place the other assistant.

I thought UConn was going overseas? or am I confusing them with someone else? I suspect teams that are traveling overseas perhaps were not looking to send players to this tourney.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Where do you find the box score?

Probably USA basketball. I was just on the site checking the roster, I didn't look but there was an article, so probably a box score.

 

[cancontent]

Where do you find the box score?

Probably USA basketball. I was just on the site checking the roster, I didn't look but there was an article, so probably a box score.

Box score: USA v Brazil boxscore - FIBA Women's AmeriCup 2023 - 4 July - FIBA.basketball

You can track the tournament from this site: FIBA Women's AmeriCup 2023

 

[cancontent]

This is sarcasm right?