U19 World Championship Gold Medal Game 2:30 USA vs Australia

[Blueballer]

2-10 oof dissapointing for Fudd, many in the forum have said she not starter opening day and I think this just affirms she is not ready. Deberry idk what happened to her might be a year for her just to learn from the bench. My top 3 players of the tournament: Betts/Citron/Clark

Give me a break. You know how much competietive basketball she's played in the last year? VERY little if any. Between COVID and injury this is the first action she's seen in a long time. She will be ready when UCONN starts.

 

[Carnac]

I was in NYC buying a new suit for my son's upcoming wedding at 2:30 EDT, so I taped it on ESPN+. Just watched. Some thoughts:

• It looked like both teams had played multiple games in too few days. Many drives and short-range jumpers were hitting the front of the rim. Tired legs. Fudd, Clark, Citron all missed shots they normally put down.
• Johnson was pistol hot in the first half and PaoPao was consistent throughout.
• Close played whom she wanted to win a championship with in the 2nd half: Citron and Fudd played nearly identical minutes and seconds--just under 32 -- to lead the team.
• Verhulst had a good tourney as a substitute.
• Ware played well today. She has soft hand (Volleyball background?).
• Thought Betts was a major influence on the tournament. Perhaps pick an all-star five and have the MVP be in addition?

Congrats to U.S. and all concerned.

Agree with your observations. Betts was a nightmare for all of their opponents. None of them had an answer for her. Can you imagine her a year from now. Bigger, stronger and a little more wiser.

Dad is a 7-1 former NBA draft pick in 1998, mom is 5’9” former volleyball player. Betts was born in Spain. Now living in Colorado. She might not be through growing yet. I think it’s a good bet that Betts will be in the news the next 5 years and beyond. Tara will make sure she’s ready for the W.

 

[Jingo]

The first few games Betts was the best one and the last few games Citron was the better one. The overall I would choose Citron be the MVP.

Close b/n those two .. I pick Betts b/c she was Bill Russell: 1) intimidation 2) blocks and 3) rebounds .. she'll be Stanford's All-American, eh?

 

[CTrefugee]

I was impressed with Fudd's Def., passing, and overall hustle. She will be a great Husky. BTW I used a server in the Netherlands to watch the game on FIBA.

 

[shiverz45]

Cori Close did very little substituting in this game .

BOX SCORE

Wolfenbarger and DeBerry did not play. Diamond Johnson lead the USA in scoring with 15.

Yet she (Johnson) only played half the minutes of the other guards and was shooting a better percentage.

 

[bloor]

Looks like FIBA is in no hurry to post the complete semi-finals and finals games on YouTube.
Here is the highlights video from USA vs. Australia

 

[Carnac]

Looks like FIBA is in no hurry to post the complete semi-finals and finals games on YouTube.
Here is the highlights video from USA vs. Australia

I posted a replay of this game about an hour after it’s completion.

 

[bloor]

I posted a replay of this game about an hour after it’s completion.

Unfortunately I (and I assume everyone else) am unable to view your video posts on this thread--just get a message "Video unavailable--the uploader has not made this video available in your country" on a black screen. You were clever enough to find a work-around, I was not.
Edit--the video you posted on post #63 was the August 8 group game between USA and Australia

 

[Carnac]

Unfortunately I (and I assume everyone else) am unable to view your video posts on this thread--just get a message "Video unavailable--the uploader has not made this video available in your country" on a black screen. You were clever enough to find a work-around, I was not.

I posted the full replay about an hour and forty-five minutes after the game. I didn’t realize that everyone else could not get the game live as I did. While you guys saw the “video unavailable” screen, I didn’t. I saw the link that we’ve seen all week. Had I known it was not available to everyone here in the yard, I would not have teased you. Thanks for posting the highlights. That will suffice for some who don’t want to see the whole game.

 

[bloor]

I posted the full replay about an hour and forty-five minutes after the game. I didn’t realize that everyone else could not get the game live as I did. While you guys saw the “video unavailable” screen, I didn’t. I saw the link that we’ve seen all week. Had I known it was not available to everyone here in the yard, I would not have teased you. Thanks for posting the highlights. That will suffice for some who don’t want to see the whole game.

May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your underwear .

 

[SVCBeercats]

Azzi will not be the second coming of Paige. I expect Caroline to have a better freshman season.

 

[Dillon77]

Agree with your observations. Betts was a nightmare for all of their opponents. None of them had an answer for her. Can you imagine her a year from now. Bigger, stronger and a little more wiser.

Dad is a 7-1 former NBA draft pick in 1998, mom is 5’9” former volleyball player. Betts was born in Spain. Now living in Colorado. She might not be through growing yet. I think it’s a good bet that Betts will be in the news the next 5 years and beyond. Tara will make sure she’s ready for the W.

Lauren Betts plays for Keith Van Horn's AAU Club in Colorado, so she's got former NBA experience at the club level, as well.

Lauren Ware chose Arizona, in part, because she wanted to play both basketball and volleyball. I don't know if she's still playing V-ball, but she's got soft hands and thought her timing on jumps got better and more timely as the games went on.

And to tie those two together, Maggie Mendelson, the 6'6" center from Utah, also is a top-rate volleyball player who is entertaining playing both sports in college. She, too, plays for - cymbol shot - Keith Van Horn.

 

[cancontent]

Betts was the secret/unsecret factor in USA team winning, but, I cannot
disagree with C Clark and S Citron on the all tournament team.
I think there is a limit on how many players from one team
can be on the ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM??

Not sure about that. I've seen 3 players from one team win all-stars before. For example, in 2019, Betts, Citron and Verhulst won all-star nods in Chile. I do think they select from the teams in the semi-finals too.

I don't have a problem with Clark or Citron on the list. I do believe Kone, from Mali deserved to be on this list. She was really impressive. Playing pro in Spain has been a huge boost to the Mali program's ability to develop players.

 

[Carnac]

A note on watching the game today. I turned on my "VPN" switch, and the game was visible to me through this portal. I routed it through a European country. I've since turned it off, and a notice says the game is not available in your country. If I turn the VPN back on, I can see the game. Oh well, I tried.

U.S. women beat Australia to win Under-19 FIBA World Cup​

Try this. I copied it from the YouTube site. This one works for everyone for free. Enjoy.

USA v Australia | Full Game - FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup 2021

Watch the Group Phase game between USA and Australia at the FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup 2021. #FIBAU19Don't miss the end of the #Tokyo2020 Olympic ...

www.youtube.com

Again, my apologies. This game is from Aug 8, not the championship game.

 

[Zarathustra]

I was in NYC buying a new suit for my son's upcoming wedding at 2:30 EDT, so I taped it on ESPN+. Just watched. Some thoughts:

• It looked like both teams had played multiple games in too few days. Many drives and short-range jumpers were hitting the front of the rim. Tired legs. Fudd, Clark, Citron all missed shots they normally put down.
• Johnson was pistol hot in the first half and PaoPao was consistent throughout.
• Close played whom she wanted to win a championship with in the 2nd half: Citron and Fudd played nearly identical minutes and seconds--just under 32 -- to lead the team.
• Verhulst had a good tourney as a substitute.
• Ware played well today. She has soft hand (Volleyball background?).
• Thought Betts was a major influence on the tournament. Perhaps pick an all-star five and have the MVP be in addition?

Congrats to U.S. and all concerned.

Looking at the ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM, I see that each of the FINAL
FOUR teams had one player on the ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM and the
winning team ( USA!) got two. This seems like a tradition at FIBA. One
for each of the FOUR and two for the winner. Not necessarily the " BEST"
four players ( but not far off) , but , perhaps unfair to BETTS. We would
not have won without BETTS and not without a solid effort from EVERYBODY!
I even thought Wolfenbarger and DeBERRY were essential for our "rotation
bigs" to practice against some other " BIGS". Did that help when we met
the Aussies with an average height of 6'0" +??. I think so, Kudos to all!!

 

[bloor]

Again, my apologies. This game is from Aug 8, not the championship game.

the most wise and learned Carnac never errs--he was just testing the alertness of his unworthy followers.

 

[Kmoney]

Azzi will not be the second coming of Paige. I expect Caroline to have a better freshman season.

Azzi will be fine. 3 games in 3 days. She played a lot of minutes and actually played defense. she is an excellent all around player. There is a reason Coach Close kept her on the court despite not shooting well. Some of the guards did her no favors in not giving her the ball when she was open. This led to pressing when you don’t know when you’ll get your next shot. You could tell she was uncomfortable with the ball yesterday. She took ten shots yesterday and not one of them was bad compared to the other guards, but several were bad for her normal shot selection.

 

[bbsamjj]

Yes and I would say Diamond Johson as well. And unless I am hallucinating, didn't PaoPao change hair styles from quarter to quarter.

Both PaoPao and Diamond Johnson had excellent freshmen years as guards at Oregon and RU respectively. They got overshadowed by Paige and Clark, but they were top 15 recruits who lived up to the hype.

 

[Sakibomb25]

And to tie those two together, Maggie Mendelson, the 6'6" center from Utah, also is a top-rate volleyball player who is entertaining playing both sports in college. She, too, plays for - cymbol shot - Keith Van Horn.

It's my hope that Mendelson just concentrates on volleyball - she's the No. 2 player in her class and I think her ceiling is higher for volleyball. And it's my hope that she of course chooses Stanford

 

[Sakibomb25]

Azzi will be fine. She won't be the second coming of Bueckers... because she's not Bueckers. She'll be one of UConn's top players, whether as a starter or a bench player. Auriemma will know what to do with her talents to maximize her gifts. People have to understand these championships are glorified All-Star games - not a true indication of how they will perform at the next level. Sure, you can make some assumptions, but you shouldn't ever write-off a player based on their performance.

Case in point, Cameron Brink came off the bench and wasn't particularly outstanding during her time on the court when she played for the youth teams. And yet she was outstanding for Stanford as a freshman. Azzi will be fine.

 

[SVCBeercats]

Azzi will be fine. 3 games in 3 days. She played a lot of minutes and actually played defense. she is an excellent all around player. There is a reason Coach Close kept her on the court despite not shooting well. Some of the guards did her no favors in not giving her the ball when she was open. This led to pressing when you don’t know when you’ll get your next shot. You could tell she was uncomfortable with the ball yesterday. She took ten shots yesterday and not one of them was bad compared to the other guards, but several were bad for her normal shot selection.

My opinion has little to do with her performance in the FIBA U18 championship. UCONN has had three transcendent players; "D", Maya, and Stewie. Paige is looking very much like #4. Three more years will tell the tale. The probability of back to back transcendent players is very low. True there have been excellent pairs Sue & "D", Maya and Tina, etc. Which players had freshmen seasons like Paige? Maya! Stewie struggled but rallied in the NCAAs. "D" was very good as a freshman but not like Paige and Maya. Being the #1 high school player doesn't mean anything in college even if it happens as a sophomore. CW and Meg were #1 in high school but not amazing in college, very good at times but no Wunderkinds. Azzi will be a very good player. However, I think Caroline Ducharme will also be a very good player. Both may have similar average playing times as freshmen.

 

[SVCBeercats]

Case in point, Cameron Brink came off the bench and wasn't particularly outstanding during her time on the court when she played for the youth teams. And yet she was outstanding for Stanford as a freshman. Azzi will be fine.

Yes, she will be fine but some folks seem to believe in Azzi UCONN will have another Paige. I just believe back to back Wunderkinds is highly improbable. A very good player? Yes!

 

[bloor]

FIBA finally after two weeks posts the full gold medal game

 

[itsasport]

I was impressed with Fudd's Def., passing, and overall hustle. She will be a great Husky. BTW I used a server in the Netherlands to watch the game on FIBA.

The announcers for the game were very good. They concentrated on what was actually going on in the game (very refreshing).

They said that defense won the game for the USA, and gave Fudd most of the credit because she shut down the Aussies primary scorer. Fudd also sent good passes inside.

One bad shooting night means nothing, She has a beautiful shot. She did not take one bad shot, which cannot be said for other players.

She is an incredibly smooth player on offense and defense.

She will end up, at least, as the equal to Paige and in the top tier of players to wear the Husky uniform.

 

[JoePgh]

FIBA finally after two weeks posts the full gold medal game

Thanks very much for posting a link to this game. I just finished watching the whole thing. Since Amari didn't play, I mainly focused on Azzi's performance.

From a shooting standpoint, it was definitely a "lowlight reel" game for her. She hit two shots in the entire game, despite playing mucho minutes. One of her baskets was a putback of her own 3-point miss, and the other was a 3-pointer with about 15 seconds left, after the game had been decided -- i believe it was the last shot of the game. In between were a bunch of misses, mostly of 10-foot pullup attempts. I agree that she didn't take any bad shots, and hopefully she would hit more of these shots on most nights. But generally it was like watching Olivia in the Arizona game, but fortunately without a similar bad result.

The announcers were very informed (two Aussie ladies), and as noted, they gave her credit for her defense against Jade Melbourne, who is normally Australia's leading scorer but who was held to 7 points in this game. I guess that Cori Close agreed -- I can't figure out any other reason why she gave Azzi so many minutes when she clearly couldn't hit the side of a barn. But her "floor game" was very unselfish and very good.

The game was much closer, especially in the first half, than you might think from the final score or the box score. The teams were tied at 26 very late in the first half, and then the US started to pull away. It was mainly on 3-point shooting from guards other than Azzi, and total control of the boards at both ends. Lauren Betts is for real, and so is Sonia Citron.

I haven't seen the box score, but I think the teams' shooting percentages were similar (not very good for either team), but the US dominated in shot attempts due to their offensive rebounding.