I'd say USA women's basketball is in pretty good shape... | The Boneyard

I'd say USA women's basketball is in pretty good shape...

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I honestly don't EVER see USA women's basketball losing! Rio will be tough with a healthy Cambage and Jackson but I just don't see them losing!
 
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Whowever will chose the 2016 Rio team will have a huge challenge as if healthy there will be atleast 20 deserving players
 

UcMiami

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I honestly don't EVER see USA women's basketball losing! Rio will be tough with a healthy Cambage and Jackson but I just don't see them losing!
Well ... it isn't more than 8 years ago when that 'can't see it happening' happened. Talent is expanding all over the world, and while that includes the USA, the rate of expansion is probably faster in Europe and Asia. Off shooting nights and fouls is a great equalizer - one of the reasons I think Maya deserved the MVP was she seemed to appoint herself the designated 'good omen' player for USA by taking the first jump shot in just about all of the 6 games and draining it. If she had missed, and then the next player missed ... the pressure starts mounting and it can snowball.
Serbia was down 5 late in the third Q - give them two more good players so the starters didn't tire so much and a few breaks and who knows what happens.
Baylor couldn't see losing to Louisville, TN couldn't see losing to Ball St. etc, but it happened.
Geno is the ideal type of coach for USA basketball because of his experience being overwhelming favorite and keeping his team focused on every play. With the women, I think that is easier to accomplish than with the men, but it is essential to USA success - the minute a coach lets a group of all stars lose focus anything can happen as the men's NBA stars found out.
 

EricLA

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Australia was short, but so was the U.S..

EDD, Catchings and Parker are not exactly chopped liver.
Agreed. When healthy they all make this team likely at the expense of Sims, Stewie and Dupree (or Nneka). Add in Fowles and you can remove the other of Nneka/Dupree.

It will be very interesting for 2016.
 
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Agreed. When healthy they all make this team likely at the expense of Sims, Stewie and Dupree (or Nneka). Add in Fowles and you can remove the other of Nneka/Dupree.

It will be very interesting for 2016.
It will be interesting, but in 2016 these players will all be 2 years older. Just like this year, only moreso, there is no chance they will all be healthy right after the WNBA season.
 

easttexastrash

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The competition for a spot on the team in 2016 will be fierce. EDD's health is the biggest question, to me. If she's healthy she's on the team, and she may have to come off the bench. It is amazing to think of having Fowles, Charles, Griner, Parker and EDD to play the 4 and 5 positions. What does that do for Nneka and Dupree? What did Nneka or Dupree bring that Parker and EDD can't?
 
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UcMiami

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The competition for a spot on the team in 2016 will be fierce. EDD's health is the biggest question, to me. If she's healthy she's on the team, and she may have to come off the bench. It is amazing to think of having Fowles, Charles, Griner, Parker and EDD to play the 4 and 5 positions. What does that do for Nneka and Dupree? What did Nneka or Dupree bring that Parker and EDD can't?
I think rebounding - not that those two do not rebound, but especially with Nneka she is just a relentless rebounder - I was impressed with how many time Dupree effected the rebounding as well - not necessarily getting the rebound but keeping it alive for someone else.

As far as other teams being short vs. USA missing players it speaks to USA pool depth - take a starter off the USA team and you end up with a real star player replacing them. Take a starter off another national team and their replacement tends to be of lesser quality and the team is truly weakened. Especially at forward for the USA where the depth of talent is phenomenal - the loss of three forwards hardly changed the strength. Not a knock on Catch or Parker or EDD, but Nneka and Dupree are different but equally impressive.
 

MilfordHusky

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Yes, we are in good shape. For many reasons. Here's a big one: Maya Moore is barely 25 years old.
 
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Let's keep it real. There's no other country on the planet that devotes the resources to women's sports that the United States does. Especially women's basketball. Given our population base and the college sports system that trains so many women's players, we have a MASSIVE advantage.
 
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Hypothetical question...if we had sent the best college players from this past season to the Worlds and Geno was the coach, could they have won it?

Let's say roster looked something like:
Stewart
Dolson
McBride
Loyd
Thomas
Ogwumike
Sims
Schimmel
(fill in the rest)

Would they be able to win?
 

UcMiami

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Hypothetical question...if we had sent the best college players from this past season to the Worlds and Geno was the coach, could they have won it?

Let's say roster looked something like:
Stewart
Dolson
McBride
Loyd
Thomas
Ogwumike
Sims
Schimmel
(fill in the rest)

Would they be able to win?
No - not won and not medalled either. They simply don't have enough experience nor enough strength. They would beat teams like Angola, but not the strong contenders and especially not with only a month to prepare.
The experience and maturation is not just physical but mental as well - learning to play different roles on different teams, learning the pro game and getting the international experience.
There is a reason that USA men's and women's teams went pro - they international teams were made up of 'amateur' athletes that were state supported and trained and worked together year around and they were beating the USA with regularity.
Dolson was a force in college last year, she was a bench player as a pro this year, and she looked overmatched in the friendlies as just one example. There was a reason that Sims and Stewart barely saw the floor - they might have started on some of the international teams but not on the final three teams.

Give all of those college stars a few years as pros and the answer might be different.
 
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Interesting. I like your take.

I think they could've been in contention and had a decent chance. It goes with out saying, though, that we'll never know.
 

UConnCat

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No - not won and not medalled either. They simply don't have enough experience nor enough strength. They would beat teams like Angola, but not the strong contenders and especially not with only a month to prepare.
The experience and maturation is not just physical but mental as well - learning to play different roles on different teams, learning the pro game and getting the international experience.
There is a reason that USA men's and women's teams went pro - they international teams were made up of 'amateur' athletes that were state supported and trained and worked together year around and they were beating the USA with regularity.
Dolson was a force in college last year, she was a bench player as a pro this year, and she looked overmatched in the friendlies as just one example. There was a reason that Sims and Stewart barely saw the floor - they might have started on some of the international teams but not on the final three teams.

Give all of those college stars a few years as pros and the answer might be different.

From what I saw sitting in the stands in Istanbul a team of college players definitely would not have earned a medal and probably would have finished middle of the pack if given enough time to prepare. Putting college players on a USA team and giving them a couple of weeks to prepare would have been ugly for the US.
 
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Their biggest challenge would be adapting to the international game/rules, which our vets are very familiar with. If they would be able to do that, I think they could medal.
 

UConnCat

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Their biggest challenge would be adapting to the international game/rules, which our vets are very familiar with. If they would be able to do that, I think they could medal.

The vets are familiar with the style and what it takes because they've played overseas and in international competition for years. That's what it takes, not a few games to "adapt." A team of college players would have lost to Serbia and several other teams. Suggesting a team of US college players could go to a world championship and medal is silly and insulting to what the team of veteran and young players just accomplished.
 

UcMiami

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To follow on - college players in your list have for the most part been the stars of their team and more talented and generally stronger than both their teammates and their opponents. The transition to professional sports involves a huge distillation of the talent pool - players on their own team and their opponents are much more talented than what they experienced in 99% of their college careers and the game is played faster. On top of that the systems they play change, and change frequently - for example in Griner's year and a half of pro ball she has played for three different coaches - the adjustments she has needed to make for each coach add to her mental knowledge of the game and her ability to adapt to different teammates and different systems. All of that experience makes it easier to adapt to the national team in a short period of practice time and makes it easier for her similarly experienced teammates to adapt to her.
Add in teammates that have been making those adaptations for 4 or 8 or 12 years and the coaching staff has a much easier time as well. The coaches can use a shorthand that is readily understood by the whole team or most of the team, and teammates can help each other because they have been doing it year after year. Geno has talked about major adjustments he has made to his coaching style because he is working with such experienced and smart and talented players on the national team.
Elsewhere we have talked about the adjustment to the pros for college players being similar to the adjustment to college for HS players - the game changes based on the same distillation process for talent. The same could also be said for pros to national team. At each level it is a little easier because the players are more mature and have had additional years to hone their individual skills, and greater experience of systems and coaching. But it is still similar.

One note on Nurse - unlike our hypothetical team of college greats getting together for a month to prep for a international competition, Nurse has had two years of working with the same team - a big advantage even for someone so young. She is not as old or as skilled as Stewart nor as experienced, but unlike Stewart she has been able to grow for two years with her national team teammates and playing for the same coach.

NB - one of the reasons Uconn non-star players have had such success in the WNBA I think is related to the star power on the Uconn team and their learning how to contribute when not the focal point. And the system Geno runs is so team oriented - it is very rare for one player to dominate statistically in a single game let alone for a whole season. As an example - Moriah Jefferson was clearly the 5th option on offense, but she still averaged 10 ppg and led the team in steals and assists.
 
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Well ... it isn't more than 8 years ago when that 'can't see it happening' happened. Talent is expanding all over the world, and while that includes the USA, the rate of expansion is probably faster in Europe and Asia. Off shooting nights and fouls is a great equalizer - one of the reasons I think Maya deserved the MVP was she seemed to appoint herself the designated 'good omen' player for USA by taking the first jump shot in just about all of the 6 games and draining it. If she had missed, and then the next player missed ... the pressure starts mounting and it can snowball.
Serbia was down 5 late in the third Q - give them two more good players so the starters didn't tire so much and a few breaks and who knows what happens.
Baylor couldn't see losing to Louisville, TN couldn't see losing to Ball St. etc, but it happened.
Geno is the ideal type of coach for USA basketball because of his experience being overwhelming favorite and keeping his team focused on every play. With the women, I think that is easier to accomplish than with the men, but it is essential to USA success - the minute a coach lets a group of all stars lose focus anything can happen as the men's NBA stars found out.
And I think Geno is taking these players under his wing so that they get to their potential.
 

Aluminny69

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Hypothetical question...if we had sent the best college players from this past season to the Worlds and Geno was the coach, could they have won it?

Let's say roster looked something like:
Stewart
Dolson
McBride
Loyd
Thomas
Ogwumike
Sims
Schimmel
(fill in the rest)

Would they be able to win?
Well, hypothetically speaking, if it were an U23 Tournament, it would definitely level the playing field. I think USA could win a U23 World Tournament.
 
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