Olympic women's basketball tournament (5x5) (SPOILER ALERT) | Page 4 | The Boneyard

Olympic women's basketball tournament (5x5) (SPOILER ALERT)

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Plebe said:
The 2016 team IMO was the greatest ever, no doubt, but not because of their individual bona fides, impressive as they are. It was the combination of experience and chemistry that really set them apart from all other teams in history.

Nine out of the 12 were returning Olympians, and 2 of the 3 Olympic rookies (Griner and EDD) were already multi-time WNBA All-Stars by 2016.

The cohesiveness, chemistry and flow was far and away the best I've ever seen on any team. The coaching staff implemented effective systems for both offense and defense, and all the players knew and excelled in their roles.

Not only is this year's team 50% rookies, but it just can't be overstated what a huge net negative the turnover at guard and wing has been. Spots vacated by Whalen, Augustus, Moore, McCoughtry and Delle Donne are now held by Diggins, Gray, Loyd, Atkins and Collier. There's just no sugar-coating what a collective downgrade that is.

Even for those partisans inclined to doubt Dawn's coaching, the coaching staff also includes two of the greatest coaching minds of our time in Cheryl Reeve and Dan Hughes. (I'll refrain from including Rizzotti in that league.) I keep thinking that surely, from all that experience and knowledge on the bench, must emerge something better than what we've seen thus far.
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I believe the average margin of victory was close to 30 ppg. They struggled in only 1 game--the game Sue missed due to injury.
 
Stymie said:
I did believe that A. Edwards would be more of a force on Team Canada. Anyone else surprised?
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No.

From what I was reading before she got picked it looked like she wasn't going to get picked to even make the team.

Secondly, she is very young.

OFC I didn't "know it." But not surprised she isn't getting much time.

Third, but I wouldn't have expected her "to be a force." She wasn't "a force" vs Tennessee, Arkansas, South Carolina, Baylor, or Arizona. Only vs Iowa. If she wasn't a consistent force in wcbb then being so young no way I'd expect she'd be a force in Olympics.
 
OMG, Japan leading 30-28 after 1Q. Making every 3pt shot and now going on an intense full court trap defense. Only Stewie playing really well with 3pt shoots of her own.
 
eebmg said:
OMG, Japan leading 30-28 after 1Q. Making every 3pt shot and now going on an intense full court trap defense. Only Stewie playing really well with 3pt shoots of her own.
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Stewie was 3-5 from 3 and D was 2-2. Good thing they were hitting from deep because otherwise we'd be down double digits with this non-defense we're playing.
 
Plebe said:
Stewie was 3-5 from 3 and D was 2-2. Good thing they were hitting from deep because otherwise we'd be down double digits with this non-defense we're playing.
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Yeah, they're ahead now, but the weakness does seem to be the defense, against quick Japanese players.
 
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Plebe said:
Stewie was 3-5 from 3 and D was 2-2. Good thing they were hitting from deep because otherwise we'd be down double digits with this non-defense we're playing.
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Much better 2Q (49-38 at half) since Japan is being better contested on 3 but they are really magicians on those drives. Some open layups missed at end of really shifty drives

Diana still brilliant but Sue cant buy a 3.
 
Dawn running the reserves with Bird for the 4th Qtr. against Japan's starters, and they are holding their own thus far.....
 
Japan keeps taking the US bigs off the bounce. Dawn needs to go with Stewie and Aja as the only bigs on the floor.
 
Now WIlson, Stewart, and Taurasi come back in with about 5 minutes left to play, and a 10-pt. + lead. The nails in the coffin for the Nippon Netters....
 
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Looks like Japan died a little by the 3-pointer tonight. Can't argue it though - they were totally out-matched in the paint.....
 
Yuk. That game was hard to watch. And why did they choose three players for the team that Dawn Staley is afraid to put on the court?
 
Japan shot 6-10 from the arc in Q1, then 4-28 after that. The defense clamped down. Stewie played some 3 and some 4 and did a lot of ball-handling. She had 15/13. A'ja was strong again with 20/10. 30 assists to 17 TOs was better than 25 to 25 against Nigeria. Sue was 0 for Tokyo until she got a friendly roll on a trey. But she had 6 assists and 2 steals. Atkins played the last 1:30 or so. Sky and Phee didn't get in.
 
Japan plays tough, they don't quit, and they run their offense--drive and kick to the arc--very well. They beat a very good French team in their first game.
 
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Terrible team defense in the first quarter. Japan had 30 points. Camera work was awful. Bird's eye view doesn't work in basketball and this obsession with showing every player from Japan after they score, or are substituted in or out was annoying when there is live action in the game. Not a smooth offense at all. If the ball goes inside it is either a shot, often with no one else under, or a bad pass by a big.

Only a handful of fast breaks all night and if Gray gets the ball in transition, it's no longer a break with her over dribbling. Bird has made one field goal in two games, something like 1-14. Just a different team than we are used to in the Olympics. Stewie played the entire 3rd quarter. She took her first shot in that period with 11 seconds to go. That has to change.
 
Do we know the channel and [our] time for the replay of USA/Japan?

If...IF...they do what they did after Nigeria, it would be Friday afternoon at 4:15 on USA Network.
 
Blakeon18 said:
Do we know the channel and [our] time for the replay of USA/Japan?

If...IF...they do what they did after Nigeria, it would be Friday afternoon at 4:15 on USA Network.
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Yes 4:15, but this time on NBCSN.
 
Am I the only person who noticed this? Unless my poor old eyes are deceiving me, for the last 2 minutes of the 3rd period Stewie played the point. She was on the floor with Gray, Loyd, Tina & Sylvia. She brought the ball up, set up the offense at the top of the key & ran the offense. Call her a point forward if you want but she was doing exactly what a point guard does, & doing it pretty well.
 
I agree with what someone said above. Their best team against this small lineup was Wilson at the 5 & Stewie at the 4, with Sue, Dee, & Loyd. It looks like Stewie is becoming the glue player on this team. A little of everything. Handling, shooting, rebounding, defending, blocking. I think her line was something like 15 pts., 13 boards, 6 assists, 2 blocks.
 
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BlueDolphin said:
I agree with what someone said above. Their best team against this small lineup was Wilson at the 5 & Stewie at the 4, with Sue, Dee, & Loyd. It looks like Stewie is becoming the glue player on this team. A little of everything. Handling, shooting, rebounding, defending, blocking. I think her line was something like 15 pts., 13 boards, 6 assists, 2 blocks.
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Even though A'ja is playing great, leading in scoring. Have you noticed who is on the floor almost the whole game, with all the lineups? Dawn doesn't take Stewie out much at all.
 
baggerbob said:
Even though A'ja is playing great, leading in scoring. Have you noticed who is on the floor almost the whole game, with all the lineups? Dawn doesn't take Stewie out much at all.
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Looking over Fiba stats for 2 games Stewie 34.4 minutes per game, only 3 players in the tournament with more. Gill from Spain 36.9, Nurse from Canada 36.1, and Takada from Japan 34.7.
If we have so many great players, why is Stewie playing almost the full game?
 
BlueDolphin said:
Am I the only person who noticed this? Unless my poor old eyes are deceiving me, for the last 2 minutes of the 3rd period Stewie played the point. She was on the floor with Gray, Loyd, Tina & Sylvia. She brought the ball up, set up the offense at the top of the key & ran the offense. Call her a point forward if you want but she was doing exactly what a point guard does, & doing it pretty well.
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Yes, I don't think I've ever seen Stewie handle the ball this much. Some of it was out of necessity to help break the full court pressure, but I also noticed the stretch you mention, where she somehow seemed more the PG than Gray or Loyd.

baggerbob said:
Looking over Fiba stats for 2 games Stewie 34.4 minutes per game, only 3 players in the tournament with more. Gill from Spain 36.9, Nurse from Canada 36.1, and Takada from Japan 34.7.
If we have so many great players, why is Stewie playing almost the full game?
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We have great players overall but we are weakest at the wing position. Stewie in fact is playing mostly out of position at wing, but she's still far better than any other option.
 
baggerbob said:
Even though A'ja is playing great, leading in scoring. Have you noticed who is on the floor almost the whole game, with all the lineups? Dawn doesn't take Stewie out much at all.
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I think Dawn has said on multiple occasions that Stewie is the best player in the world.
 
baggerbob said:
It seems obvious Dawn has decided, Stewie is the Most Important Player on the team.
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She has had a front row for Stewie quite a few times so hardly a new observation I imagine,.
 
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