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Paris Olympics Discussion Thread

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Is Germany really so good at 3x3 or is the US team lacking? This game looks disappointing to me so far.

US takes the L, 17-13. Blew a 5 point lead early on.
 
The deacon said:
Excellent commentary, The Farm Fan... I'll add only that Hambey will have an excellent chance to get a gold medal in 3x3, but Nneka will again get shut out despite being one of women's basketball's best players (and sportswomen) for many years.

I'm sorry for Napheesa her contributions likely will be minimal. I just hope her Olympics action doesn't hurt her when she's back with the Lynx.
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We'll have to get out of pool play first. Yikes.
 
The deacon said:
Excellent commentary, The Farm Fan... I'll add only that Hambey will have an excellent chance to get a gold medal in 3x3, but Nneka will again get shut out despite being one of women's basketball's best players (and sportswomen) for many years.

I'm sorry for Napheesa her contributions likely will be minimal. I just hope her Olympics action doesn't hurt her when she's back with the Lynx.
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The real problem which is showing up was taking 7 guards. Thomas is only effective if both Stewie and A'ja are on the floor. She also slows the team down when she is bringing the ball up.
This team needs a fast pace to be most effective, and take the most advantage of
A'ja, and Stewie's speed up and down the floor.
Collier not being healthy makes it worse, and Griner isn't the player she was the last Olympics. So you have 2 effective front court players.
Hopefully Collier can give them something in the knockout round.
They don't need her against Belgium or Germany, so rest her, and hope she gets better.
 
maple said:
US women’s rugby 7s will now play in the bronze medal match after losing to New Zealand in the semis 24-12. Nothing but pride for the US though, having played a staggering powerhouse so close. This was not an easy win for NZ and the US is the only team so far in the Olympics to score 2 tries against them. The US has the athletic ability to play with anyone, they just lack experience and the same amount of skill. That will come as the sport grows.

Let’s go USA!! Bring home the first rugby medal!!!
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Really enjoying this tournament. Can't remember the name of the player for the US, but when running back Derrick Henry of the Ravens is impressed, that's saying something ;)

The possibility of the US and Canada medalling in this event is awesome to see too. My hometown has a player on the Canadian squad and the excitement has been fun to watch online. May try to sneak out of work to watch the gold medal match at the local watch event in town. :D
 
Bigboote said:
I really like the new-look women's soccer team. The one place where the team had suffered in the last several years is putting the ball in the net. They were so dominant in the midfield, absolutely dominate time with the ball, but would wind up winning 1-0 or drawing because they'd miss shots or lose the ball close to the goal.

This team doesn't seem to dominate the midfield as much, but boy they can score. And they seem to be playing with way more joy than they did under Vlatko.
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The tactical adjustments Emma Hayes had made for the women's soccer team have really made them a much more enjoyable team to watch. A lot of the same faces as the world cup team but operating in a way that is much more beneficial to their skill sets.
 
cancontent said:
Really enjoying this tournament. Can't remember the name of the player for the US, but when running back Derrick Henry of the Ravens is impressed, that's saying something ;)

The possibility of the US and Canada medalling in this event is awesome to see too. My hometown has a player on the Canadian squad and the excitement has been fun to watch online. May try to sneak out of work to watch the gold medal match at the local watch event in town. :D
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Ilona Maher!! She’s a beast and she (and her sisters) been really blowing up on social media for all the right reasons. A great ambassador for the sport and also a great role model for young female athletes.

(Also a great representative for Quinnipiac!)

I can’t believe the Matildas were upset like that. :eek: An Aussie/Kiwi final and US/Canada bronze would have been quite the matchups. Alas, I am very nervous if the US can compete with AUS; I suspect AUS will be gunning hard to make up for their semis loss. Fingers crossed though!!
 
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maple said:
Ilona Maher!! She’s a beast and she (and her sisters) been really blowing up on social media for all the right reasons. A great ambassador for the sport and also a great role model for young female athletes.

(Also a great representative for Quinnipiac!)

I can’t believe the Matildas were upset like that. :eek: An Aussie/Kiwi final and US/Canada bronze would have been quite the matchups. Alas, I am very nervous if the US can compete with AUS; I suspect AUS will be gunning hard to make up for their semis loss. Fingers crossed though!!
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Thank you! I've become a fan of her now as well. While I kind of agree regarding the match ups for the medals, personally I'm glad Canada and America aren't facing each other. Personally, I want to see both countries on the podium versus battling it out for one medal. And I hear you regarding Australia, but after seeing how Canada performed, I have faith in the heart of the US and that the match will be competitive the whole way through.
 
And some drama on the men's side today between Japan and France. Just saw online that Rui Huchimaura was ejected for 2 unsportsmanlike fouls! :eek:. Need to see if I can find a stream of the game to see how that transpired.
 
Happy Lets Go GIF by NHL


So Excited Lol GIF by HBO Max


WHAT A FINISH
 
CajunHusky said:
Brings to mind the fabulous opening of the early episodes of the weekly ABC Wide World of Sports, 60's and 70's .....

Joy of Victory ... Agony of Defeat. Realy did a great job of celebrating sports.
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Jim McKay, “the Thrill of Victory, the Agony of Defeat.”
 
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@maple Was Jason Kelce the good luck charm? Love this!!!

Oops. Didn't realize the post was NSFW. Here's the pic.
 

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TheFarmFan said:
If we were to reroster based on what we know now, and recent trends from the first half of the W, here's who I'd substitute:

Nneka (if she were eligible) for Collier: Napheesa is obviously still dealing with her injury. She looks hesitant moving and I think should just rest. Right now she's a shadow of who she was at the start of the season. But she and Neeka do so many of the same things well, and I think both are such complements to either Stewie or A'ja.

Hambey for AT: love me some AT, but she's an awkward fit with such a loaded frontcourt, and she is effectively playing the three most of the time, but without any outside shooting skills to play as a wing, leaving her nothing to do. Hambey is that complete package of a power forward who could pivot between the 3 and 4 seamlessly.

Arike for Loyd: Can't have both, but boy is Arike streaking while Loyd is flatlining. Plus I actually think Arike is the better distributor and defender now.

McBride for Copper: as others noted, Copper is an amazing 1 on 1 player, but she's a bad fit when our team runs through A'ja and Stewie. I think McBride would feast from beyond the arc, and our team apparently seems to need three point shooting. (ASG Alisha Gray would also fit the bill here, and also provide outstanding D.)
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I wouldn't read too much into one game against a team that plays a very unique style. Just a reminder that in the team's tuneup against Germany a week ago, Loyd scored 11pts on 4-6 shooting and AT had 8pts, 7 rebounds and 4 assists off the bench (while Plum was 0-3 from the field in 6min of action).

As for Arike vs Loyd, yes, Arike balled out in the All Star game, but here are their stats from July:
Arike: 18.3ppg, 32%FG, 28% 3pt, 5rpg, 5.7apg, 2.6spg
Loyd: 20.7ppg, 37.4%FG, 22.5% 3pt, 2.6 rpg, 4.9apg, 1.6spg; don't think this seems like Loyd is "flatlining" compared to ARike at all.
 
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JstVisiting said:
3 on 3 team looked disjointed and overmatched against Germany. Idk why you can’t name whoever you want to the roster. Boston and CC would look great out there.
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I had to look up the players to remind myself of who they were (besides Hailey Van Lith). I don’t follow post-college WBB all that much, to be fair, but I kind of thought they’d want more household name talent on the 3x3.

Also I don’t know if I would have put Hailey Van Lith on the team.
 
JstVisiting said:
3 on 3 team looked disjointed and overmatched against Germany. Idk why you can’t name whoever you want to the roster. Boston and CC would look great out there.
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Been wondering, why these 3 players? No where near top talent in the country. Even with Brink, this is not a team destined to dominate.
 
maple said:
I had to look up the players to remind myself of who they were (besides Hailey Van Lith). I don’t follow post-college WBB all that much, to be fair, but I kind of thought they’d want more household name talent on the 3x3.

Also I don’t know if I would have put Hailey Van Lith on the team.
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Van Lith actually played better than anyone else on the team. Look at the stats. Rhyne Howard not only built a brick house but made sure not to expend any energy playing defense.


The committee can't just put anyone on the team. There are specific criteria just for players to be eligible. I found this post on reddit to be informative:

 
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Greinacher for Germany 3x3 team is a Gonzaga alum. She went by Sunny when she was state side.
 
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GCKSFN4L said:
For those that don't have Twitter the attached tweet says the following.

"More from NBC: the U.S. Women’s Basketball opener against Japan on USA Network and Peacock averaged 3.0 million viewers – more than all men's and women’s Tokyo Olympic basketball, besides gold medal games"

Not bad for Monday afternoon game.
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It is interesting how much worse the Tokyo ratings were; seems like Olympics camaraderie is the main driver of audience, rather than the competition itself. For reference also, the USA men vs Serbia had 10.9m, greater than Tokyo men's gold medal game (9.3m)
 
maple said:
I had to look up the players to remind myself of who they were (besides Hailey Van Lith). I don’t follow post-college WBB all that much, to be fair, but I kind of thought they’d want more household name talent on the 3x3.

Also I don’t know if I would have put Hailey Van Lith on the team.
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The problem is that all really good 3x3 teams have played A LOT together. High-level 3x3 is a different game. Individual skills from ordinary basket does not translate perfectly and building the required team chemistry takes time. Throwing in more individual stars is a very American solution but I wouldn't recommend it here.

I am not a great fan of Van Lith when she plays college basket. But she does have serious international 3x3 experience and was a fairly obvious choice for this team.
 
Latecomer said:
The problem is that all really good 3x3 teams have played A LOT together. High-level 3x3 is a different game. Individual skills from ordinary basket does not translate perfectly and building the required team chemistry takes time. Throwing in more individual stars is a very American solution but I wouldn't recommend it here.

I am not a great fan of Van Lith when she plays college basket. But she does have serious international 3x3 experience and was a fairly obvious choice for this team.
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This gets overlooked a lot. Majority of the competition play the 3x3 circuit exclusively. The Canadian team has been primarily the Plouffe sisters and Crozon for at least 2 years. The Plouffe sisters retired from the 5x5 team to focus exclusively on 3x3 when it became an Olympic sport.

To Van Lith's credit, she's been playing the 3x3 circuit for at least 2 years. She's been successful and has won at that level.
 
cancontent said:
www.fiba.basketball

Puerto Rico vs Spain - Group Phase - Women's Olympic Basketball Tournament Paris 2024 | FIBA Basketball

Puerto Rico vs Spain - Browse boxscore, game information & live stats, team rosters, photos and video highlights
www.fiba.basketball www.fiba.basketball

Spain beats Puerto Rico 63-62. Another strong game for Gustafson in a tight battle. 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Nice to see Guirantes bounce back with a better game. Lead the team with 15 points.
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Megan is such an awesome player. I am glad that she is balling out in these games.
 
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