U17 Semi-Finals USA vs Australia 10 AM

[CocoHusky]

Wasn't the U17 team the one that got all new players (or 10/12)? I could be mistaking. It could have been the U18.

You are correct U17 got all new players except Prince & DeAcosta. Same coaching staff.

 

[willtalk]

The problem was certainly at the guard positions. Last year they had guards who could shoot but for what ever reason chose to do only that and didn't even bother getting the post or wings involved in the offense. That was fine as long as they were hitting their shots but after the first couple of games the started missing their shots but still kept chunking up misses. I already stated about the assistant coach telling them early in the Brazil game to work the ball for a better shot during a time out, but the moment they got back in a guard threw up a 25 footer.

It was obvious that the head coach had lost total control over the players ( guards ) and they just did what ever they wanted to do. You solve this problem by sitting them on the pine until the decide they want to follow instructions. This is not what Dori even attempted to do. So rather than blame the coach- where the blame should have gone, the committee decided it was the players and replaced the guards with players who couldn't shoot. I guess that's one way of stopping guards from hogging the offense.

 

[BobbyJ]

I couldn't watch these "free for alls" for more than a couple minutes here and there. For those of you who could, when she got on the floor, did Collier look like the best player in her class?

 

[mkwstar23]

Australia out hustled and out played the US...they wanted to win more than we did...afraid that the Aussies were just a better team...was not impressed with the U17 team at anytime during the tourney...you do have to remember that the national teams of other countries play together off and on all year....still today a very weak effort

 

[bags27]

Was Geno was there?
"Auriemma has been scouting in Europe two of the past four weeks"
Stevens, Camara Must Sit A Year, But UConn Women's Practices Should Be Awesome

 

[UcMiami]

Was Geno was there?
"Auriemma has been scouting in Europe two of the past four weeks"
Stevens, Camara Must Sit A Year, But UConn Women's Practices Should Be Awesome

Was for some of the group games but returned for his golf tournament so I don't think he went back for the knock-out games.

 

[MilfordHusky]

For those who think team play isn't important and Candace should be on the Olympic team based solely on talent, look at today's results. Talent alone is not enough. (I'm one of those who thinks she should be on the team but more or less understand her exclusion.)

 

[mkwstar23]

For those who think team play isn't important and Candace should be on the Olympic team based solely on talent, look at today's results. Talent alone is not enough. (I'm one of those who thinks she should be on the team but more or less understand her exclusion.)

she is an excellent player but right now Ogwumike has a stronger argument to be an Olympian than Parker does...

 

[bags27]

For those who think team play isn't important and Candace should be on the Olympic team based solely on talent, look at today's results. Talent alone is not enough. (I'm one of those who thinks she should be on the team but more or less understand her exclusion.)

Can't seem to have a Parker-free zone anywhere, can we?

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Australia out hustled and out played the US...they wanted to win more than we did...afraid that the Aussies were just a better team...was not impressed with the U17 team at anytime during the tourney...you do have to remember that the national teams of other countries play together off and on all year....still today a very weak effort

You know, Australia has great athletic talent in almost every sport. And the same goes for the men as well as the women. Look at the great Aussie players of the past in the WNBA, and fine players today. And wasn't there a great Aussie center who blew off the WNBA not long ago to play in Australia and for the national team?

I don't think Australia beating the U.S. is a big shock. They've been good for a long time.

But this does beg the question of whether the U.S. coaching staff made some blunders in coaching and selection....

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Nelson-Ododa the best player on the floor again. Collier played less than 2 minutes, missed all three shots.

My top targets off this team in the '18 class would be Williams, Nelson-Ododa, and DeCosta.

 

[mkwstar23]

You know, Australia has great athletic talent in almost every sport. And the same goes for the men as well as the women. Look at the great Aussie players of the past in the WNBA, and fine players today. And wasn't there a great Aussie center who blew off the WNBA not long ago to play in Australia and for the national team?

I don't think Australia beating the U.S. is a big shock. They've been good for a long time.

But this does beg the question of whether the U.S. coaching staff made some blunders in coaching and selection....

well said

 

[MilfordHusky]

Can't seem to have a Parker-free zone anywhere, can we?

I didn't want to resurrect the entire discussion, but I thought it was relevant.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Nelson-Ododa the best player on the floor again. Collier played less than 2 minutes, missed all three shots.

My top targets off this team in the '18 class would be Williams, Nelson-Ododa, and DeCosta.

I'm liking Nelson-Ododa more and more.

 

[j66kicker]

Can't seem to have a Parker-free zone anywhere, can we?

Why fight it?

 

[SkilledUp]

You know, Australia has great athletic talent in almost every sport. And the same goes for the men as well as the women. Look at the great Aussie players of the past in the WNBA, and fine players today. And wasn't there a great Aussie center who blew off the WNBA not long ago to play in Australia and for the national team?

I don't think Australia beating the U.S. is a big shock. They've been good for a long time.

But this does beg the question of whether the U.S. coaching staff made some blunders in coaching and selection....

You leave Alexis Morris at home and don't invite Didi Richards to USA trials and this is what you get. Just read a long post from Morris's mom and she was spot on. The selection committee has to do better with everything across the board.

Also....:.the game is changing and it is really hard for these big centers to keep up with the pace of the game. It is showing more and more these days.

 

[UcMiami]

You leave Alexis Morris at home and don't invite Didi Richards to USA trials and this is what you get. Just read a long post from Morris's mom and she was spot on. The selection committee has to do better with everything across the board.

Also....:.the game is changing and it is really hard for these big centers to keep up with the pace of the game. It is showing more and more these days.

I am sure her mom is an unbiased observer!
Every USA team that gets selected has been trashed by a certain number of observers, most of whom have specific connections to some of the players not selected, whether it be regional (bias against FL players!) or AAU affiliation, or whatever. Mostly the selected teams have won gold, but sometimes they stumble which is not surprising in single elimination tournaments (look at UEFA and Iceland and Wales for an example running currently.) With 100+ kids participating in the current format and a weekend to evaluate it is a really difficult situation for any committee. All college coaches over the last ten years or so have been complaining about the HS preparation of their incoming freshman - too many tournaments and games being played and not enough team practice, too much individual skills work and not enough integration in team concepts of defense and offense, too much me and not enough we. USA basketball ends up trying to make up for that in a week or ten days of practice. At the least the college coaches have months of practice and 4 years to work with their freshman.
I did not see in watching these games any issue with the 'bigs' keeping up with the speed of play - I did see lots of issues with team play including a lack of commitment to help defense, team rebounding, and passing. It did seem that the team might have been heavy on posts and light on wings, but not that significantly. The most glaring thing to my eye was a lack of structure in the team and that strikes me as a coaching issue - and this was the same coaching staff that was in place last year.

And as I mentioned before, I got a sense that there was an over-reaction to last year's bronze medal. In general these age specific teams and the national team believe in continuity - they do not get a lot of time each year to structure a team so they rely on the continuity of coaches and players year over year to build up a knowledge base. By dropping 10 of 12 players from the U16 team they threw away any carry-over and I do think that hurt this team. Last year's team played really well up until the semis and then played a stinker, but came back and played a really good bronze medal game - to reevaluate everything based on a weekend of trials this year seemed a little bit of overkill. A comparison of this year to last year I think would say that the U16 team performed better than the U17 team, and I suspect an unchanged team from last year would have performed better this year - not advocating that, but a team of 8 hold overs say and 4 new inclusions probably would have played better as a team just because of the experience gained last year.

On the national team - while they continue winning golds there is no need for them to qualify in the off years for the next WC/OLY competition, but I think USA basketball should start reconsidering that process. I believe there is no bar to them playing in the qualifying tournaments (should they win, the automatic qualifiers become the runner up teams) and keeping the national team pool together and competing would be a great way to integrate the younger players into the NT structure. That is going to become really important over the next 4 years.