Sarah Strong is competing at the FIBA 3x3 World Championships next week in Mongolia | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Sarah Strong is competing at the FIBA 3x3 World Championships next week in Mongolia

USA goes 4-0 in pool play, by routing Chile 21-6 with 2:33 left on the clock. Sarah Strong went 4 for 4 1ptrs; 1 for 1 from 2.

Next up: Winner of Mongolia (D #2 - lost to Spain; seeded 12th) vs. China (A #3 - lost to Poland & Australia); China seeded #1 in the tourney) on Saturday, June 28th @ 07:20 (a.m.).

Mongolia is the Home team, so I am rooting for them vs. China. I think Gene Kelly should have top billing in the following clip...




Rehydrate and refuel!!!

USA! USA!! USA!!! Go Strong!!!!
 
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Stagnant said:
My guess is China next. China is usually pretty good at 3x3. But haven’t been great at this event.
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I agree! Then USA > China with a surprise in the Semi-Final game:
USA vs Poland!! Poland has three ranked players in
the top 21 players in the Tournament (by Fiba "Player Value"). No other
team has more than 2 players with such high "Player Values".
In the opposite Bracket I see Australia making it to the FINALS. Quite a
competition for the opponent for Australia. I see
Canada over Japan in the PLAY-IN game, then Spain in a toss-up with Canada
(I'll pick Canada in an upset??!!!!), and then Australia winning in the Semi-Final.
A USA FINAL VS AUSTRALIA WOULD BE A REPEAT OF THE
PREVIOUS WEEK'S Final in the FIBA WOMEN'S SERIES. USA winning
the first game of that tournament (over Australia), then Australia coming from behind to win the last game in the tournament (in the Finals). ARE THERE ANY PROGNOSTICATORS out there in BONEYARD LAND??? Z
 
Not sure but I think she is still eligible for U18. I seem to remember from last summer's U18's that she turns 18 in 2025.

One thing 3X3 is good for is keeping the reflexes and decision-making sharp during the off-season.
 
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Alydar said:
Not sure but I think she is still eligible for U18. I seem to remember from last summer's U18's that she turns 18 in 2025.

One thing 3X3 is good for is keeping the reflexes and decision-making sharp during the off-season.
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Strong is already 19.
 
Sluconn Husky said:
Strong is already 19.
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I believe that the FIBA "cut off" for turning 19 was January 1, 2025. She
turned 19 after that date, so according to FIBA guidelines Sarah would
be eligible for a Fiba U19 event. I believe, but would have to check, that
Sarah's birthday come in February.
I just checked: Sarah was born on February 3, 2006, in Madrid, Spain.
She IS "19" but she turned 19 after January 1st.
 
Update: in the opposite Bracket Netherlands > Hungry 21 -9 to
play Australia; Canada over Japan 18 -6 to play Spain
In the USA Bracket: Poland (dark horse) over Germany 20 -18 to
play France, and MONGOLIA IN OVERTIME OVER CHINA!!!!
21 -19!! The home court advantage with the crowd cheering
every Mongolian point and booing every Chinese score.
Foul difference was critical and "some"?? calls going the
Mongolian way??? The big girl for China, 6'5", had a rough game.
USA VS MONGOLIA in the Quarterfinals 7:20 AM ?? tomorrow.
I saw a camera shot of Morgan Maly in the stands.
 
Mongolia is the next opponent. I didn’t expect that. But they have played great at this event. And they have home court advantage. Could be a tough test for the Americans.

Mongolia also has a somewhat recent win over the US in 3x3. They beat the US at the nations league 2 years ago. (The US had two teams at the event. The U19 team won the championship.)
 
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MONGOLIA 21 - China 19 in OT!!! China went BIG (6' 5" Yang) and goes home. Quickness (& home team) wins in the Knock-out round.

USA has NEXT!!! (7:20 a.m. tomorrow)
 
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US was down 10-6 halfway through the game against Mongolia. Strong has to be dominant or the US is extremely vulnerable.
 
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The US just doesn't move like you're supposed to in this format. Too much standing around and 1-on-1 again.

Mongolia up 16-15 with 53 secs lefts.
 
Mikayla Williams is supposed to be an elite player?

The US is going to lose to Mongolia.
 
Mongolia deserved to win. They made?? 6 two pointers.??
Morgan Maly with a number of turnovers. Sahara Williams
with an offensive foul and a delay of game penalty. Mikaylah
Williams with a technical foul and (poorly) trying to do it all
herself. THEY DID NOT GET THE BALL TO SARAH UNDERNEATH!
Sarah with multiple rebounds, a blocked shot, and solid scoring.
Mongolia also hit the CLUTCH FREE THROWS. I have yet to check
the official stats.
 
OFFICIAL FIBA STATS: USA vs Mongolia Mongolia 18 USA 15
Sahara Williams: 3 points 3 reb Player Value 2.0 3/6 on one pointers 0/0 2 pointers.
M. Williams: 5 points 3 reb Player Value 8.6 3/9 one pointers 1/3 2 pointers.
Morgan Maly: 2 points 2reb Player Value MINUS 0.50! 2/2 on ones, 0/2 on 2s.
Sarah 5 points 11 reb Player Value 10.3 3/6 one pointers, 1/3 on 2s.
Mongolia hit 3/8 one pointers, 6/24 two pointers. USA with 8 turnovers,
Mongolia with 4 turnovers USA 24 rebounds Mongolia 15 rebounds and
Mongolia was 3/3 on their free throws. USA DID NOT GO TO THE
CHARITY STRIPE!! 0/0!!!
I think the FIBA PLAYER VALUE ratings tell the story and the Mikaylah with
3/9 shooting from one point range. THERE WERE 1,500 Fans cheering for
Mongolia (FULL HOUSE). The USA fell behind, got it back to 15- 15 at 54.2 seconds remaining, but then then THE USA GOT "tight" and DID NOT GET THE BALL into SARAH and Mongolia closed it out the three free throws.
More Stats: MONGOLIA with 3 blocked shots and USA only had 2.
Mongolia with only 4 turn overs, Morgan Maly had 5 by herself. Khulan
Onolbaatar # 13 for Mongolia with 9 points, 4 for 9 from two-point range and 2 blocked shots.
See Thread #52, above, for other subjective comments. (IF you care for opinion).
 
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I woke up this morning and I logged onto the fiba website to see the result. I am pretty stunned and disappointed to see that we have lost to Mongolia. But that’s 3x3 basketball for you. The men were just eliminated as well.
 
I didn’t think team USA was very good. Sarah was great but her teammates didn’t seem to want to or be able to play with her to best advantage. Morgan and Sahara in particular were liabilities. Mikayla was capable of scoring pretty effectively but not much else.
 
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I checked in to see Sarah play. She has been doing really well in this format, too, even if the US team as a unit felt so-so. Anyway... I am a sucker for underdogs and found it impossible not to cheer for the Mongolian girls. They didn't win by chance: they led almost the entire game. Skilled 3x3 players, knew the rules and executed a winning game plan all the way. A young team with lots of heart, in front of a home crowd going crazy... sorry, gotta love that.
 
Bone Dog said:
I didn’t think team USA was very good. Sarah was great but her teammates didn’t seem to want to or be able to play with her to best advantage. Morgan and Sahara in particular were liabilities. Mikayla was capable of scoring pretty effectively but not much else.
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Agree. Sahara can’t shoot and is quite undersized for her game.

Sarah being the only post player was a problem. I was confused how Maly made it over the more experienced Cierra Burdick.
 
Stagnant said:
I woke up this morning and I logged onto the fiba website to see the result. I am pretty stunned and disappointed to see that we have lost to Mongolia. But that’s 3x3 basketball for you. The men were just eliminated as well.
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"Stunned" is the right word!!!
Bone Dog said:
I didn’t think team USA was very good. Sarah was great but her teammates didn’t seem to want to or be able to play with her to best advantage. Morgan and Sahara in particular were liabilities. Mikayla was capable of scoring pretty effectively but not much else.
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Some further FIBA Stats to confirm the above (these stats are only for 5 games,
so, the PPG, rebounds, and "Player Values" will change after 7 games). Note:
total number of players is 20 teams X 4 = 80. Thus, the numerical listing (below)
are for player ranking # 1 to #80. Full stats, and there are a lot of analytics, is on FIBA web page. Clink on WOMEN'S STATS and then Click "Individual". After 5 games:
Sarah: Rank #1: 38 pt. (tied for #1) Player Value 62(#1), reb 39 (#1), TO/g 0.6
M. W.: Rank #21: 23 pt, Player Value 23.4, reb 11, TO/g 1.6
M.M.: Rank #44: 16 pt, Player Value 11.4, reb 11, TO/g 1.0
S.W.: Rank #45: 16 pt, Player Value 13.5, reb 20, TO/g 2.0
If I'm a masochist, I may look at these and other values after 7 games. The USA
being knocked out in the Quarterfinals probably cost Sarah a chance of being
the Tournament MVP and being on the ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM. The ALL
TOURNAMENT team (generally) is two from the winning team and one
from the runner up team, and one from team # 3 and #4. The USA team will be rank somewhere between #5 and # 8 due to making it to the Quarterfinals.
Just for Semi completeness: 1pt FG % Sarah 76%, MW 50%, MM 47%, SW 57%
2-point shooting: Sarah 3/6 50%, MW 3/9 33%, MM 3/17 18%, SW 0/4 0 %
Team Stats (after 5 games): TOTAL POINTS: USA 93 (#3), with Poland 98 (#1) and
Australia 95 (#2).
N.B. "Player value" = (S- *for points) + KAS + DRV + DNK + BS + (REB/2) - TO.
Where: S- is shooting efficiency, KAS is Key Assists, DRV is Drives, DNK is
Dunks, BZR is Buzzer beaters, REB is Rebounds, and TO is turnovers. Note that
S- (Shooting Efficiency) is further broken down to: S- = PTS divided by
(1 Point attempts + 2-point attempts + Free Throw attempts)
TEAM USA had ONE "elite" player, one just below the top 1/4, and two players
in the lower rankings, i.e. less than a rank of 40 out of 80 players.
 
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FINALS: Netherlands vs mon"GO"lia! Mongolia over Poland 18 -17 n TO!
So, why do the Mongols win? Here are a few of the suggestions from the FIBA
announcers (beyond the talent issue):
1. Noise... the player on the bench is an unofficial coach to her
team on the floor. It is SO NOISY with the 1,500 (sell out +) crowd that
the "away" team loses some communication.???
2. Altitude... The Capital, Ulaanbaatar, sits at 4,429 feet above sea
level. The home team is used to this. With the fast paced, aerobic
challenging game, the Mon"GO"lians are better conditioned for the
altitude challenge.??
3. Home Cooking??? Maybe.
I would add, perhaps, the "sightlines" of the home court venue. This
should favor the 2-point (i.e. 3- point distance shot) that is the Mongolia
game plan. Then there is the shock value to the opposing team when
the game is close and the ensuing "tightening up". Lastly, the Mongolians don't
tend to foul and generally they are good from the foul line.
 
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