Heads up: Friday USA Olympic team on TV....

[huskyd]

Too early to blame Dawn?

 

[EricLA]

I didn't watch the game. How did the other guards play? Who was on the floor for most of Q3 when Team USA gave the lead back to Australia? Obviously a concern. Did Geno ever lose a game when he was the US Olympic Head Coach??? Maybe Dawn didn't pay close enough attention to the Master when he ran Team USA for 2 consecutive Olympic cycles...

 

[Plebe]

I didn't watch the game. How did the other guards play? Who was on the floor for most of Q3 when Team USA gave the lead back to Australia? Obviously a concern. Did Geno ever lose a game when he was the US Olympic Head Coach??? Maybe Dawn didn't pay close enough attention to the Master when he ran Team USA for 2 consecutive Olympic cycles.

I only saw the last 8 minutes of the game, so I don't know who played 3Q. But the last 8 minutes were just ugly.

The US did have some defensive lapses in the portion I saw, but their defense still should've been good enough, as they gave up only 11 points in the last 8 minutes. The offense was just plain putrid.

I tried keeping some stats on replay, and it was a pretty shocking picture of offensive futility in the last 8 minutes:

• 3-18 FG: Two of these 3 makes were on offensive rebounds and put-back layups (by Fowles and Stewart).
• Zero assists (all 3 FG makes were unassisted: 2 on O-boards, 1 on a 10-footer by Bird).
• 3-5 FT.
• 0-10 3FG (Stewart 0-4, Loyd 0-2, Bird 0-2, Gray 0-1, Collier 0-1).

Early in this stretch, the US missed a huge opportunity to seize the momentum. Coming off a make and a stop, Collier found Fowles with a perfect pass leading her right to the rim, but Fowles missed a point-blank layup that would have given the US a 3-point lead. Then Fowles jogged back in transition, got beat by her person, and this led to a 3-pointer that gave AUS a 2-point lead.

On the brighter side, the US earned extra possessions by getting several offensive rebounds , keeping AUS off the offensive glass, and forcing multiple turnovers (Collier and Loyd in particular). But an inability to shoot the ball into the ocean from a boat can negate a solid defensive and rebounding effort.

The offensive flow and cohesiveness looked nonexistent. I'll hope to see some evidence in upcoming games of coach-designed offensive systems.

 

[uconnfan68]

USA lost second straight exhibition....just like our men did.
Led by 13 mid 3rd quarter....lost 70-67.
We did not look sharp for long stretches of the game.

Tokyo? "Concerned" not "worried".

Do not know if there are any more exhibition games...I think we start play in about 10 days...Nigeria?

They miss DT. She’ll right the ship.