Pan Am USA Vs Cuba 1:30 PM Link

[Gus Mahler]

Kia is better then any USA guard not named Moriah, the USA guards haven't heard of working the ball for a good shot. To much one on one, get the ball and drive, throw up an off balance shot, with no-one to rebound. Harper made that 3, and then with the USA up 3, she throws up another line drive miss, early in the shot clock, which leads to a fast break at the other end. A little patience, working for a good shot USA could have gone up 5, instead the lead was cut to 1, and the steal from Moriah, gave Cuba the lead.

Yup on all counts.

 

[Aluminny69]

My observation: The USA players are NOT in mid-season form. Face it, they haven't played competitive basketball since March. You can't just turn it back on. UConn fans are used to watching them play against significantly weaker teams, while they develop their team work and shooting. This game was a combination of not having played for a while, and fatigue.

I found the game very entertaining. Basketball in July. Just not pretty, but that's to be expected.

 

[FAN11]

This board is very critical of anybody not named Moriah or Breanna. It was obvious that they were fatigued and didnt have there legs under them, but they all digged deep in the fourth quarter and really had to overcome poor play down the stretch by too players I will not name. By the way Shatori Walker played one hell of a game but was not even mentioned on this board. Just being completely non-biased.

 

[UConnFan]

I don't remember prior Pan AM's.

Was USA supposed to win this game vs Cuba?

USA hasn't been to the finals since 2007?

IS this a surprise USA is in the finals and were they expected to win or to get to finals before the games started?

2011 US women's Pan Am team, including Stewart as the only high school player, won 2 games, lost 2 games, and finished at 7th.
http://www.usab.com/history/pan-am-womens/sixteenth-pan-american-games-2011.aspx

 

[Huskies Rule]

Cuba has played as many games, and a much tougher one yesterday. Age is not a friend to running up and down the court.

With the rough, physical banging style of the Cubans (not Mark), their age is absolutely an advantage. Youth is nice, but you can't tell me that a 25 or 30 year old athlete can't get up and down the court every bit as well as a 20 year old can. There is pretty much NO difference in the ability to run the floor between 20 year olds (USA) and 28 year olds(Cuba, Brazil). We're not talking age like in senior citizen years. That 5 and 10 year age advantage Cuba and Brazil enjoyed was manifested in stronger, more rugged players who at the same time were no less adept at "running up and down the court."
For sure, someone of MY age wouldn't be a friend of running, heck no, but these are all young athletes.

And certainly stronger, more mature athletes in their late 20's (on average) can far better withstand the rigors and beatings to their bodies that 4 or 5 consecutive games inflict than 19 and 20 year old young women can.

 

[iri10]

I finally got around to seeing the U19 game today. I know they were very competitive against the Pan Am team in scrimmages, but I can't help but feel that they would have gotten wrecked if they were playing at the Pan Ams.

The refs are calling things completely differently at the U19s - more like basketball instead of football (though they're far from perfect, of course). A bunch of 19 and unders aren't going to be able to take that easily for 4-5 days in a row.

A few of them would be able to transition well. A'ja's height and length would surely be an asset, but the physicality would be really hard on her. Plus she's not better than Stewart. Dangerfield seemingly couldn't be worse than the backup point guards on the Pan Ams, but I feel she too would be overwhelmed at times. Thomas is unusually sturdy for a U19 and could probably take/dish out punishment better than most of them. Though if we're considering Thomas, might as well have put Gabby on the Pan Ams instead. And so forth.

 

[Huskies Rule]

I finally got around to seeing the U19 game today. I know they were very competitive against the Pan Am team in scrimmages, but I can't help but feel that they would have gotten wrecked if they were playing at the Pan Ams.

The refs are calling things completely different at the U19s - more like basketball instead of football (though they're far from perfect, of course). A bunch of 19 and unders aren't going to be able to take that easily for 4-5 days in a row.

A few of them would be able to transition well. A'ja's height and length would surely be an asset, but the physicality would be really hard on her. Plus she's not better than Stewart. Dangerfield seemingly couldn't be worse than the backup point guards on the Pan Ams, but I feel she too would be overwhelmed at times. Thomas is unusually sturdy for a U19 and could probably take/dish out punishment better than most of them. And so forth.

Totally agree! I watched the U19 games, and they completely lack anything even close to the kind of physicality seen in the Pan Am Games. The U19s run up and down the court, playing an almost free-flowing, show-your-skills kind of game by comparison. No overt elbows, constant grabbing, shoving and pounding. Nothing near the rugged, bruising play observed in every Pan Am contest. Two extraordinarily different styles of basketball played.

 

[Huskies Rule]

I finally got around to seeing the U19 game today. I know they were very competitive against the Pan Am team in scrimmages, but I can't help but feel that they would have gotten wrecked if they were playing at the Pan Ams.

The refs are calling things completely different at the U19s - more like basketball instead of football (though they're far from perfect, of course). A bunch of 19 and unders aren't going to be able to take that easily for 4-5 days in a row.

A few of them would be able to transition well. A'ja's height and length would surely be an asset, but the physicality would be really hard on her. Plus she's not better than Stewart. Dangerfield seemingly couldn't be worse than the backup point guards on the Pan Ams, but I feel she too would be overwhelmed at times. Thomas is unusually sturdy for a U19 and could probably take/dish out punishment better than most of them. And so forth.

Totally agree! I watched the U19 games, and they completely lack anything even close to the kind of physicality seen in the Pan Am Games. The U19s run up and down the court, playing an almost free-flowing, gentle game by comparison. No overt elbows, constant grabbing, shoving and pounding. Nothing near the rugged, bruising play observed in every Pan Am contest. Two extraordinarily different styles of basketball played.

In the NCAA and even the WNBA, every single player on Cuba would have fouled out of the game- twice !! Not a brand of basketball I like.

 

[Gate81]

Anyone know what is up with Williams - she went from starting to getting 0.34 minutes today! I though yesterday she looked a little peeved at not starting.

The game I saw Saturday night Williams did not impress but seemed to both play poorly and make bad decisions (yes, I get the department of redundancy department).

 

[Kmoney]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_Women's_Pan_American_Team#Players
If you look at players on the 2011 PanAm team, they weren't very good. They finished 7th. The best player on that team, by far, was Breanna Stewart and she was still in High School.

I think we should give some credit to these young ladies that have battled and won against grown women.

Up until now they have been winning these battles in front of generally neutral crowds. Monday night will be different and maybe a "Bridge Too Far". My gut tells me the U.S. will play their best game and overcome Canada and their crowd.

 

[ThisJustIn]

I'm impressed with the folks who are unimpressed with this team. Throw a group of kids together mid-summer break, have them work with coaches they don't know, then send them up against a bunch of pros who've played together for a while... this team sure does stink.

I'd love to talk with the committee about their strategy... especially since they have to negotiate around the WNBA and NCAA rules... Getting folks experience against international players and refs is clearly key. The Olympics is the goal.... these tourneys are about separating the wheat from the chaff. Sure, a gold would be nice, but USA basketball thinks longterm.

 

[lne001]

Youth is nice, but you can't tell me that a 25 or 30 year old athlete can't get up and down the court every bit as well as a 20 year old can.

Yes, yes I can. The Cuban posts were grossly overweight and plodding, and one would think they would be wearing down faster than the US as a result of the same schedule of games. But reasonable people can disagree.

 

[mairnéalach]

This is my first post so please be gentle. While I'm a UConn grad, I only became interested in WBB about 6 years ago and know virtually nothing about the professional or international game. It just seems to me that the US Pan Am team, made up of college players, who've only played together for a short time, are necessarily at a disadvantage against older, more experienced players and well established teams. I watched the game against Cuba and while it wasn't pretty and it was a nail biter, I was very happy that Team USA won, if only by one point. A win is a win. I agree about the degree of contact...getting hit by some of the Cuban players must be like running into a concrete wall. And, I have to ask (please forgive me if it's been asked before) what's with Casanova's shorts?

 

[OldAlum]

Wow, Moriah played all 40 minutes. Going to be tough for her next game. Makes me worry about injury.
I don't know how some players turn their shorts into bloomers (or why). Do they tuck them into their undies?

 

[meyers7]

A couple of things, and quite a bit of it has been covered by others in this thread. Obviously it's a really good thing that this team has made it to the Gold medal game. Quite an achievement unto itself. From 7th place (last PA games) to 1/2 this time, much better.

True these are college girls playing against women. And teams that have been playing together for some time. And let's face it, everybody likes to beat the USA at basketball. (So we're gonna get everybody's best shot.) Add on to that, these girls are not in in-season shape or form. We're used to seeing UCONN play after they've had lot's of fitness work and a whole season of playing together. This, is not even close to that. Add on to that 5 games in 5 days. They never do that. 3 at the most.

Also, this offense is nothing like UCONN's offense. Very sparse, and pretty easily defended. If you really watch it, there's not much movement, and a lot of one on one stuff. Understandable with the little amount of time they've been together.

So kudos to the girls for making it this far. And best of luck to them tonight as they go for gold.

 

[Boreifs]

The coaching staff for Team USA is also disinterested. This is International Basketball. Man to man defense against a team that is quicker than your team spells disaster. It almost was. The big girl for Cuba ate our lunch.

Did you watch the game?! Cuba took its big lead in the second quarter when the U.S. switched to a zone. The only reason they ended up winning was because the U.S. guards were faster and consistently beat the Cubans downcourt in transition offense. Your assertion may be correct in theory, but it doesn't apply to this game at all in any way, shape or form.

 

[CocoHusky]

This is my first post so please be gentle. While I'm a UConn grad, I only became interested in WBB about 6 years ago and know virtually nothing about the professional or international game. It just seems to me that the US Pan Am team, made up of college players, who've only played together for a short time, are necessarily at a disadvantage against older, more experienced players and well established teams. I watched the game against Cuba and while it wasn't pretty and it was a nail biter, I was very happy that Team USA won, if only by one point. A win is a win. I agree about the degree of contact...getting hit by some of the Cuban players must be like running into a concrete wall. And, I have to ask (please forgive me if it's been asked before) what's with Casanova's shorts?

Welcome. Casanova's shorts?- that is the way she likes them. There was literally nothing at stake for USA basketball with the Pan Am games so no harm in sending a bunch of college players. When Grown behind WOMEN are playing against a bunch of college kids, the college kids are going to get banged up especially when the refs are determined NOT to call the game the way they are supposed to. 5 Games in Five nights was going to be tough on college players or professionals. Let's applaud the effort of the entire TEAM ( Not Just UCONN players!) so far and wish them well in the Gold Medal game. All these college players are better off for this experience!

 

[UcMiami]

I love Moriah and Breanna and they are clearly the leaders of this team - and by the way, I think this is the first team Breanna has captained at least since her HS team - Morgan was captain of the last U19 team), but there are clearly some other USA players making major contributions - Walker has been very good as well as Coates. Mavunga has had her moments and Harper has been very good on defense while making some poor decisions on offense. I have been quite disappointed in Reimer - I defended her after the first game, but think her play has gotten worse as the games continue. Plum seems to be over-matched, Williams in a funk, and Coyer and Brunner complete non-factors. I think the selection committee got this team wrong, though if Mitchell were healthy it might look a lot better.
I have not been overly impressed with the coaching - I understand the short training, but the offense seems really static - little movement so players often have no one to pass to.

I am surprised by the officiating - have not seen this level of physical play in other international competitions - it boarders on the ridiculous. And I am really surprised with the scheduling. I have not followed the PanAm games closely before so don't know if this is standard, but to play even a five game tournament (most are 6 or more) without a single rest day is crazy. The U19 have a rest day today and they are still in pool play!