DavidinNaples
11 is way better than 2..!! :)
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2013
- Messages
- 1,051
- Reaction Score
- 15,757
Team USA faces France in a key game on Friday at the World Championship in Turkey. This will be a re-match of the Sept. 21st loss in an EXHIBITION game played in Paris. This Quarter Final match has France (3-1) going against Team USA (3-0) for the right to play the Australia vs. Canada winner on Saturday. The winner of that game plays in the Gold Medal game on Sunday.
Analysis - France won the EXHIBITION game 76-72 n Paris on the strength of their best player, Sandrine Gruda, scoring 26 pts and grabbing 15 rebounds. The U.S. missed 40 of their 67 shots, including 12 of their 15 three pt attempts, and were outrebounded 44-38. France had 15 offensive rebounds (vs. just 11 for Team USA), received 36 pts from their bench players (vs. just 28 for USA) and outscored USA 30-19 in the 4th quarter. France won because their best player scored and rebounded at will, their bench outplayed our bench and they won the 4th quarter decisively.
Stats - In four official games in this tournament, Gruda has scored 60 pts for France. That is twice the nearest player Ciak, w/ 28. In addition, Gruda has 32 rebounds, nearly twice the 18 by Ciak. And finally, Gruda has played 121 minutes or over 30.3 per game. No other French player has more than 25 minutes per game. Gruda is France's dominant player. Stop her, beat France.
France has made only 11-36 three pt shots (31%) in four games. Dumerc has the most at 4-12. In contrast, USA is 20-41 (49%) in only three games.
Gruda has no 3 pt shots, but is 27-43 (62%) from in close. Ciak, who at 6'6" is 2 inches taller than Gruda, is 10-15 (67%) from even closer. Together they have 20 fouls shots and have made 14. Other notable stats for France include 22 blocks vs. 15 for the USA and 74 turnovers (15 for Gruda) vs. 42 for the USA.Prediction - The result of this game will be very different from the loss in Paris. I predict a 15 point win for Team USA. Four factors will make the difference.
1. Griner will control Gruda. Along w/ a team defense that forces France to shoot from the outside, which they don't do well.
2. Team USA shot poorly in the first game, 21% from 3 pt range and 4-23 from Maya and DT. That ain't going to happen again.
3. Almost two weeks have passed since the Paris game. The whole lineup has had the chance to play together, get acclimated to Turkey and will have very fresh legs.
4. USA's loss to France was a shocker. This time they will have a complete scouting report, revenge on their mind and confidence from playing three very good games earlier this week. And this game isn't in Paris.
Go Team USA..!!
