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Pan Am USA Vs Cuba 1:30 PM Link

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Early in the 2nd half Cuba led by 14 points. That qualifies as a comeback in my book.
 
Would love to see Niya Johnson or Lindsey Allen or Brown on this team and any somewhat athletic post player out there - Coates Reimer and Mavunga are both big and slow - having another player able to come out on screens would be huge.
 
Wbbfan1 said:
WNBA players have left their WNBA team to play for Sr Teams of other countries.
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Case in point being Achonwa, who'll be missing four games with the Fever for this tournament and more next month for the FIBA Americas. Kinda surprising Indiana is letting her off for that length of time.

If the WNBA wasn't ongoing, I think USA BB would consider letting pros try out for this team. They already do for the men's team - five players on the Pan Am roster are pros. Granted, they're NBDL level pros, but still...
 
cordarone said:
Case in point being Achonwa, who'll be missing four games with the Fever for this tournament and more next month for the FIBA Americas. Kinda surprising Indiana is letting her off for that length of time.

If the WNBA wasn't ongoing, I think USA BB would consider letting pros try out for this team. They already do for the men's team - five players on the Pan Am roster are pros. Granted, they're NBDL level pros, but still...
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Canada is trying to qualify for the Olympics - no way Natalie was staying with her WNBA team for this preparation match. Same with another 'Americas' foreign players in the WNBA.
 
SCGamecock said:
YES! That was awesome. My mouth dropped when she took it in for the layup. I've never seen her drive the ball like that.

With that said, Coates had a pretty rough day and a forgettable first half. She looked flat footed and slow at times. Her body language (not just hers in reality) was telling. Thankfully she was able to turn it on for the team in 2nd half.

I understand the heavy criticism of Coates, her play the last few games have been great for this team. You want those high expectations. But if I'm being honest, it's obvious fatigue was a major factor today for everybody not named Moriah Jefferson... and even then, Jefferson and Stewart probably missed more 3's today than they've missed ALL last season for UCONN.. and there were some pretty bad turnovers by everybody as well.

Tiffany Mitchell is really missing.. This team could use another guard capable of taking over a game. But ah well, what can ya do...

Linnae Harper was HUGE in the 4th.. big steals, hustle plays and huge free throws. I love to see a player relishing in the moment. She's my player of the game.
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Coates was terrific in the 2nd half. She wasn't the only US player who played flat-footed in the first half.

Stewie made 4/5 three-pointers last night but the shot wasn't there today probably because of weary legs. I understand shooters need to keep shooting but I would have like to have seen more high-low with Stewart and Coates.

Moriah made some poor decisions in the second half and I'm sure she knows that. She isn't going to get rest so she just needs to be tougher and not let fatigue affect her game like that. This is a great learning experience for these young players. They have to dig down and find another gear.
 
iri10 said:
The balance of this team's roster is very questionable. Some of that couldn't be helped (Mitchell's injury), but the team could really have used another good point guard so that Moriah didn't have to shoulder everything - surely there was one to be found somewhere in all of college-land?
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-Absolutely! A Lexie Brown/Lindsay Allen/Niya Johnson type would have spelled Moriah nicely- the kid play heroic minutes despite her obvious fatigue. But it's understandable that the selection committee went with just Moriah and Tiffany; they could not have anticipated Mitchell's injury.

-Playing 4 games in 4 days with only 7 players is killer. I don't mean to be mean, but Brunner and Coyer cannot compete at this level. I question their selection. Courtney Williams and Kelsey Plum are nice collegiate players but they struggled big time in the few minutes they got, committing lots of turnovers and making terrible decisions with the ball. Mitchell's injury was the biggest blow. With her healthy, USA is an enormously better team.

-The Pan Am person who made this 5 games in 5 days schedule is a big........
 
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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.
 
lne001 said:
Granted she can run faster than Reymer, if she is motivated. Alaina is 6' 4", 210 pounds - both which qualify as big and heavy in my book, and she's younger and more athletic than the Cuban posts. Short sprints are not kind to older bodies. I also think Mavunga, Reimer and Stewart would quarrel with your assessment of their efforts underneath, especially in the first half.
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Coates is the only one big ENOUGH to bang with the Brazilian and Cuba bigs from what I have seen. And even for her it's not easy. Yet she is faster than Reimer and Mavunga. She's not slow, you want slow, see Elam Ibiam.
 
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This USA team is a sad bunch. Thanks for Moriah & Stewart, OR NO wins for this group VERY troubling to watch this poor effort by other USA players Harper at least did ok
 
I don't think this was what one should call a "lucky" win. Specifically, I don't concur with those who chalk the closeness of the contest up to USA weariness. These are teenage college players going up against a much more mature (25-35 yr. olds) and much more physical team. Pulling out the win was pretty gritty, and although our two favorite players had a lot to do with it, and although it is obviously tough for some on our Board to credit their teammates from other schools, others on the team really helped, especially Harper. I'm quite impressed with Coates, who will be a handful to contend with next season. All teams are playing a grueling schedule, not just USA!
 
Coates is player that I'm sure all UConn fans would have loved to have stone hands and all :) she has been the most consistent of the post players especially as Reimer at least till now has been disappointing.
 
Bigpetunia said:
I don't think this was what one should call a "lucky" win. Specifically, I don't concur with those who chalk the closeness of the contest up to USA weariness. These are teenage college players going up against a much more mature (25-35 yr. olds) and much more physical team. Pulling out the win was pretty gritty, and although our two favorite players had a lot to do with it, and although it is obviously tough for some on our Board to credit their teammates from other schools, others on the team really helped, especially Harper. I'm quite impressed with Coates, who will be a handful to contend with next season. All teams are playing a grueling schedule, not just USA!
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I can honestly say that Coates is growing on me. I never understood the hype around her. She's shown flashes of greatness. If she could play with high intensity even when she doesn't get the ball she'd average 16+ PPG next year. She just seems to be unaware sometimes on the defensive end and gives up a bit to easy on the offensive end unless she thinks it'll result in 2 points for her.
 
UConnCat said:
Early in the 2nd half Cuba led by 14 points. That qualifies as a comeback in my book.
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Ah I see! Didn't watch the game. I looked at the stats. I have it recoreded though. Was gonna use this thread to determine whether or not is was worth watching.
 
I'm really disliking international play based on these games. Way too much contact, even with the guards. Lots of plays that would have been fouls in college ball. I don't really like rugby...
I think Moriah was a little frustrated trying to figure out both her team and the kind of game the refs were allowing. The overthinking led to some uncharacteristic unforced turnovers. And Breanna was just out of sync today too.

Hope they all get some rest tonight and take their Advil! BTW, anybody find a box score?
 
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Let's get the win again tomorrow. It's hard for these college age women playing against much older and more physical players, but they showed heart.
 
OldAlum said:
I'm really disliking international play based on these games. Way too much contact, even with the guards. Lots of plays that would have been fouls in college ball. I don't really like rugby...
I think Moriah was a little frustrated trying to figure out both her team and the kind of game the refs were allowing. The overthinking led to some uncharacteristic unforced turnovers. And Breanna was just out of sync today too.

Hope they all get some rest tonight and take their Advil! BTW, anybody find a box score?
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I agree. This type of play is screaming for a major injury to happen. Hard to watch. I was looking at the stats here: http://results.toronto2015.org/IRS/en/basketball/results-women-2-01.htm
 
ASweet3781 said:
Pretty bad stretch there for Moriah and Stewie.

On a side note can these announcers sound any more disinterested? Weird.
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I agree. Snoozefest. And nothing like having an English-as-a-Second-Language person doing the color.
 
It was really interesting watching Team USA's reactions after the final buzzer went off. All the kids were happily smiling, hugging and celebrating. EXCEPT Moriah and Stewie- they looked only relieved and exhausted, definitely not jubilant.

They have been indoctrinated with that Geno lesson which says there is no celebration (or cutting down nets) until the Championship is won.
 
Tomorrow's game has got to be easier than this one was. All of our girls are tired. We'll see if they can gut it out.
 
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Carnac said:
Tomorrow's game has got to be easier than this one was. All of our girls are tired. We'll see if they can gut it out.
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Watching Canada/Brazil now. Canada over the US by double digits.
 
Beginning to agree. USA may have the better players, but Canada has the better team. They have been together for almost two years off an on. They also went on an six game Exhibition Tour earlier this Summer playing some of the Best European Sr Teams.

lne001 said:
Watching Canada/Brazil now. Canada over the US by double digits.
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Huskies Rule said:
It was really interesting watching Team USA's reactions after the final buzzer went off. All the kids were happily smiling, hugging and celebrating. EXCEPT Moriah and Stewie- they looked only relieved and exhausted, definitely not jubilant.

They have been indoctrinated with that Geno lesson which says there is no celebration (or cutting down nets) until the Championship is won.
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The only ones really celebrating hard were the ones that weren't exhausted. Also, Geno was in the house and they didn't have their best game. Maybe that had something to do with it.
 
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Wbbfan1 said:
Beginning to agree. USA may have the better players, but Canada has the better team. They have been together for almost two years off an on. They also went on an six game Exhibition Tour earlier this Summer playing some of the Best European Sr Teams.
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Yeah, Canada is dominating Brazil, shooting a whopping 38% from the field. There's fools gold in the Yukon if you ask me. Brazil is just having a bad game. Canada struggled with Cuba too and were better rested. I also think we'll make more than 1 3 pointer.
 
SCGamecock said:
YES! That was awesome. My mouth dropped when she took it in for the layup. I've never seen her drive the ball like that.

With that said, Coates had a pretty rough day and a forgettable first half. She looked flat footed and slow at times. Her body language (not just hers in reality) was telling. Thankfully she was able to turn it on for the team in 2nd half.

I understand the heavy criticism of Coates, her play the last few games have been great for this team. You want those high expectations. But if I'm being honest, it's obvious fatigue was a major factor today for everybody not named Moriah Jefferson... and even then, Jefferson and Stewart probably missed more 3's today than they've missed ALL last season for UCONN.. and there were some pretty bad turnovers by everybody as well.

Tiffany Mitchell is really missing.. This team could use another guard capable of taking over a game. But ah well, what can ya do...

Linnae Harper was HUGE in the 4th.. big steals, hustle plays and huge free throws. I love to see a player relishing in the moment. She's my player of the game.
Expand ...
Hats off to Coates. I suspect she grew as a player today - learned to reach down and gut it out because losing is unacceptable. USA wouldn't have won if she didn't.
 
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