Pan Am Title Game

[Aluminny69]

Surprised no one mentioned two UConn players ( Jefferson and Nurse) diving for the same loose ball, and banging heads. That's UConn determination. Kia Nurse was outstanding, deserved the MOP award. Looks like Saniya Chong will not be seeing more playing time next season, barring injuries.

 

[MilfordHusky]

what 10 others would you have chosen to join Stewart and Jefferson ?

Well, if you really want the best U.S. lineup, someone named Maya would be a definite upgrade.

 

[Orangutan]

I'm just thankful no Duke players were on this team.... I'd probably would have gotten banned from the boneyard

I hear that....lol

 

[CBear01]

Surprised no one mentioned two UConn players ( Jefferson and Nurse) diving for the same loose ball, and banging heads. That's UConn determination. Kia Nurse was outstanding, deserved the MOP award. Looks like Saniya Chong will not be seeing more playing time next season, barring injuries.

Looks like Mo seemed more bruised up than Kia

 

[Gate81]

congrats to Kia and Canada. We knew from all the prior games that the US team was lucky to be in the final game. I think of several on the WUG team (e.g., Aja Wilson and McCall) and some that weren't selected (Thompson) in favor of the dead weights on this team...it just must taste awfully bitter and will add motivation for Stewart nnd Jefferson this year.

 

[Aluminny69]

I'm just thankful no Duke players were on this team.... I'd probably would have gotten banned from the boneyard

Did you have any Duke player in mind that could have helped this team? (serious question.)

 

[UcMiami]

Interesting that Nurse had such an offensive explosion - she had been almost ignored in half court sets for the previous four games.

Silver is not a bad result for USA - I expected as much. On the senior national team we make up for lack of cohesion (from lack of practice time) by having clearly superior talent. But when we send 'girls' to perform 'women's jobs, we should expect to struggle. I do think we could have put together a college team that would have won this game, but fielding two teams this summer (PanAm and WUG) and some perhaps questionable choices and an injury was too much.

 

[Alydar]

I was responding to comments about effort not about effectiveness. Don't think it's fair to question effort.

Reimer also scored 10 points (on 3 FGA) and drew 5 fouls, including the 4th on Achonwa, so not fair to say that she is "unable to compete". She competed. If you feel she was ineffective, so be it.

It's not my place to argue that point extensively here.

I didn't say she didn't compete. That was another poster. I thought Reimer played very well last season after she missed the Fla Game. But it looked to me that she had trouble with the speed of play in Toronto. She seemed to be unable to get her shots off playing with her back to the basket and her feet seemed slow.

The entire US offense seemed to be playing a high-low post set. Canada collapsed on the high post every time a pass went there and were very effective in shoving the low post player out of position. Most of the turnovers were a result of the inability to pass into both the high and low post. I can't blame Bluder, she had 2 weeks to put in an offense and then lost her best scoring guard. If I would have done something different I would have only played 2 of Coates, Reimer & Stewart and put in a quicker player at the 3 instead of having all 3 bigs in together so much. The US team could have used either UConn's Tuck or Notre Dame's Turner in the low post position. Both know how to seal off a defender to receive a pass and score once they get the ball.

Bottom line: A lot of the US's inability to run their offense had to do with the great defense played by Canada. Kudos to them.

 

[Orangutan]

I didn't say she didn't compete. That was another poster.

I know, just explaining further the post of mine that you had quoted.

 

[CBear01]

The US team could have used either UConn's Tuck or Notre Dame's Turner in the low post position. Both know how to seal off a defender to receive a pass and score once they get the ball.

If you had to split the two (assuming they would have placed one on each team) who gets to play in Pan Am?

IMO Tuck plays PA bc of her experience with Stewie and Mo plus she essentially has 3 years college under her belt vs 1

 

[Alydar]

If you had to split the two (assuming they would have placed one on each team) who gets to play in Pan Am?

IMO Tuck plays PA bc of her experience with Stewie and Mo plus she essentially has 3 years college under her belt vs 1

I'd put them both on the Pan Am team. There was too little quality depth on this team. When the schedule is 5 games in 5 days you need depth that can contribute. And the purpose of the Pan Am games should be to give potential national team members some experience playing senior level international teams. Mitchell's injury certainly hurt but the US was short of players able to play at this level.

 

[Phillyconn]

That couldn't end quick enough. Twenty more minutes and I think a UConn player might've left on a stretcher. Some of the Canadian players would be more at home in roller derby. Hopefully, Jefferson is okay, or will be.

Yeah, I was surprised at how the Canadiens manhandled our post players and got away with it. Our players got whacked on every rebound. Looked like prison ball by the Canadiens. I hate em.

 

[Phillyconn]

Except for the fact there are no college soccer teams in Germany. All the kids are either playing in pro leagues at that age, or at family picnics. Instead of badmouthing Canada's team, it would be better to congratulate the U.S. team for beating the National Teams of Cuba and Brazil, which was a tremendous achievement for a college all-star team hastily, and poorly, put together. Also, Kia Nurse is nowhere near the number one option on the Canadian team; she just happened to have the game of her life tonight. Canada just won the Gold Medal for the first time in their history; whining about them celebrating seems to me to be in incredibly poor taste.

Screw the Canadiens, it's bad enough that they own hockey, now this crap. I did not root for Kia tonight.

 

[iri10]

Looks like Mo seemed more bruised up than Kia

Not many players are going to come out on top of a collision with Kia. I remember early last season when she got hit hard and went flying. Instead of smashing into the court in a tangle of limbs like most players would, she was able to turn it into a semi-controlled roll to dispel the worst of the impact. Right then I knew we had someone who could take an on-court pounding.

 

[iri10]

I'd put them both on the Pan Am team. There was too little quality depth on this team. When the schedule is 5 games in 5 days you need depth that can contribute. And the purpose of the Pan Am games should be to give potential national team members some experience playing senior level international teams. Mitchell's injury certainly hurt but the US was short of players able to play at this level.

Mitchell, Tuck (replacing Brunner), Turner (replacing Reimer), Niya Johnson (replacing Plum). That's a gold medal team there.

 

[triaddukefan]

Did you have any Duke player in mind that could have helped this team? (serious question.)

She could have at least given Jefferson a rest for a few minutes at the PG. She also could have played alongside Jefferson in the backcourt and provided some scoring. I love Azura Stevens as a player.... but she is right where she needs to be on the U-19. At 6'6 and 180 lbs.... she would have been manhandled by those women playing in Canada.

 

[Huskies Rule]

No, Huge UConn Fan. Just pointing out that this USA team did a poor job going after rebounds in this game. Reimer 31 Minutes with ZERO Rebounds and Mavunga with 2. Meanwhile Nurse and Fields for Canada had 13 combined. If Reimer grabs 5-7 rebounds in this game USA might have won it. Never mind the non existent help defense they provide on Canada's Dribble drives for layups.

Yes! And Yes! Perhaps THE most surprising statistic for the 5 game tournament was seen in rebounding. Moriah Jefferson had a total of 16 rebounds, averaging 3.2 rebounds per game. Taya Reimer had a total of 15 rebounds, averaging 3.o rebounds per game. Huh? Bluder should have played Moriah at power forward alongside Coates.

[Reimer had 2 blocked shots all tournament. Moriah had 1]

 

[blkkirk]

My take was that the there was no cohesion to the team. They did not seem like a team. Out hearted and hustled. Maybe they were tired. I saw a lot of what appeared to be both. Great win by Canada.

 

[Huskies Rule]

Interesting that Nurse had such an offensive explosion - she had been almost ignored in half court sets for the previous four games.

Silver is not a bad result for USA - I expected as much. On the senior national team we make up for lack of cohesion (from lack of practice time) by having clearly superior talent. But when we send 'girls' to perform 'women's jobs, we should expect to struggle. I do think we could have put together a college team that would have won this game, but fielding two teams this summer (PanAm and WUG) and some perhaps questionable choices and an injury was too much.

Absolutely agree. And while my math is terrible, between the Pan Am, WUG, and U19 teams, with 12 players selected per squad, that adds up to 36 kids. I know that not everyone in the country tried out, was invited, or even wanted to play on one of those teams (Morgan wisely chose to rest her surgical knee), but with the abundance of incredible talent across the nation, you cannot tell me that these are even close to being the 36 very best college ballers in America. I could quickly rattle off 50 better players who would have made a real difference.

The U19 team (though not necessarily the best of the 3 teams) had 12 players who could all contribute. It was put together far more thoughtfully than the other teams, with the quality, balance and depth needed at all positions to compete and win.

And when it comes to the coaches, I'll take Staley/Walz or McKeown/Warlick over Bluder every day. Though hamstrung by Mitchell's injury (and dubious player selections), I still had lots of questions about Bluder's X's and O's, playing time distribution, and in-game adjustments not made.

Having said this, the ONLY THING THAT REALLY MATTERS IS THAT MORIAH IS HEALTHY. She appeared concussed. She is such an incredibly wonderful young lady- I pray that she is okay.

 

[wire chief]

I missed the game. Did the camera show any interaction postgame among Kia, Mo & Breanna?
We have to feel really good about Kia's upcoming season. Who among all college sophs is more big-game experienced than our Canadian?

 

[OldAlum]

Well, congrats to Canada and especially Kia!
And thank God it appears there are no long-lasting injuries, like ACLs.

USA team never looked good. Never seemed able to find a rhythm together. Was reminded how much the team around her affects Stewie. She needs the other shooters and passers to provide some help - she really can't do it alone. At times I thought Moriah was trying to do too much. Then I looked at the others besides Stewie and saw that they often were not giving her much choice. She played with tremendous heart, but the style of game seemed to throw her a bit.

I wish there was a rule limiting any one player's time in a game. Especially when there are 5 games in a row! Tired players are more prone to injury. IMO Moriah should have gotten more rest, regardless of the situation in the game. You cant endanger the rest of a player's career. (To be clear, I'm not sure that the ankle turns were from fatigue - maybe, maybe not - I was more afraid of ACLs. And, of course, hitting heads happens when 2 UConn players hustle!)

I don't begrudge or belittle Team Canada. They beat the teams that were at the games. Props to them! After watching this, I hope WCBB does NOT tend more towards the international game. Much prefer the intercollegiate style of play!

 

[MJL243]

I missed the game. Did the camera show any interaction postgame among Kia, Mo & Breanna?
We have to feel really good about Kia's upcoming season. Who among all college sophs is more big-game experienced than our Canadian?

They didn't show it on camera, but during the handshake line after the game, the Canadian announcers said Stewie gave Kia a big hug.

 

[Kmoney]

Congrats to Canada. They were the better TEAM. They played like UConn Huskies.
Congrats to USA also. They lost to one of the top 10 teams in the world on their home court. The USA didn't have the depth of quality to play 5 straight days and win against tough physical teams.

Normally when I think of USA basketball winning silver medals, I associate it with failure. In this case I consider it a success that should be admired.

I will not criticize any individuals because I did not see any "quit" in any players. What I saw was a USA team that didn't know how to overcome the Canadians and were physically and mentally fatigued. As th saying goes "fatigue makes cowards of us all".

 

[meyers7]

Assuming that Mo is OK, I'm far from devastated by this result. I've been predicting that Kia and Gabby will be the two most improved players for UConn next season. We'll have to see about Gabby, but Kia will enter the season with a huge jolt of confidence, and the level of her play and her competitive spirit speak for themselves!

I'm kinda thinking, hoping, Williams will be our 5th starter this year. We'll see.

 

[meyers7]

I hardly bad-mouthed them, just pointed out some objective facts for a change. Canada is not a very good team, and this game showed it.

They got 5th in the World Championships last year. They are the 5th best team in the world. That's pretty good.