U19 Semi-Finals Sat.: USA vs Japan 3PM; Russia vs Canada 12:30 PM

[Wbbfan1]

Connected to a VPN service that I use and connected to an Australia Server. Now watching the Youtube Steam and I'm not having any buffering or quality feed issues.

 

[Wbbfan1]

USA scoreless in first three minutes of 4th quarter. Sloppy play.

Good that USA had the 20 plus point lead entering 4th quarter. They are playing so poorly. Scored 4 points in 7 minutes of play.

 

[Niles]

My ESPN3 is coming in crystal ( no pun intended ) clear with no issues.

 

[HuskyFan1125]

My ESPN3 is coming in crystal ( no pun intended ) clear with no issues.

Me too

 

[calpedaler]

Me too

No problems here either.

 

[EricLA]

Horrible 4th quarter almost cost USA the game. Not sure the reasons but 3 more minutes of play would have resulted in a loss. Crystal's shooting continues to find new ways to bottom out.

 

[Wbbfan1]

USA Wins 73-66 However USA scored only 8 points in 4th quarter giving up 23

IMO Crystal is so inconsistent a shooter, that it will be difficult for her to start this year for UConn. She's got to improve her shot. She was 1 - 9 today with many wide open 7 to 8 foot jump shots. 0-3 on three point shooting. Didn't look like she was favoring her ankle.

I think it will be difficult for this team to beat Russia in the Gold Medal Game. Russia is so strong up front and this USA team is not a great low post defensive team. USA will have to have a consistent shooting game to beat Russia and minimize turn overs.

Box Score: FIBA Live Statistics

 

[ed4ourgirls]

In international competitions (FIBA) do the women play with the same size ball that
the men play with? If so, I wonder if that could have any effect on our shooting.

 

[j66kicker]

In international competitions (FIBA) do the women play with the same size ball that
the men play with? If so, I wonder if that could have any effect on our shooting.

No, smaller ball:

FIBA Men: Size 7 = Max 30.7" circumference
FIBA Women: Size 6 = Max 29.0" circumference

NBA: 29.5-30.0" circumference (ditto NCAA Men & H.S. Boys)
WNBA: 28.5-29.0" circumference (same as Size 6) (ditto NCAA Women & H.S. Girls)

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Horrible 4th quarter almost cost USA the game. Not sure the reasons but 3 more minutes of play would have resulted in a loss. Crystal's shooting continues to find new ways to bottom out.

 

[Golden Husky]

USA Wins 73-66 However USA scored only 8 points in 4th quarter giving up 23

IMO Crystal is so inconsistent a shooter, that it will be difficult for her to start this year for UConn. She's got to improve her shot. She was 1 - 9 today with many wide open 7 to 8 foot jump shots. 0-3 on three point shooting. Didn't look like she was favoring her ankle.

I think it will be difficult for this team to beat Russia in the Gold Medal Game. Russia is so strong up front and this USA team is not a great low post defensive team. USA will have to have a consistent shooting game to beat Russia and minimize turn overs.

Box Score: FIBA Live Statistics

CD shot only 40% for the Huskies last season, lowest FG% on the team for anyone who played appreciable minutes and her numbers for the U19 team aren't even close to that. I'm no Pete Maravich but there appears to be too much arc on her shot.

John Wooden once was asked if he'd take a great shooter who couldn't do anything else on the court or a player who could do everything but shoot and he said, "Give me the shooter. I can't teach that but I can teach everything else."

CD can still be an effective player without being an efficient scorer if she takes care of the ball, finds her teammates and plays defense. It's defense that may be the largest concern. UConn switches on everything and CD is the only really short player on the team. That's a problem.

I'm rooting for the kid but she's got some obstacles to overcome.