DavidinNaples
11 is way better than 2..!! :)
- Joined
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More than a few USA fans were surprised when Katie Lou was selected to the USA women's team for the FIBA AmeriCup in Puerto Rico. After an injury-filled WNBA rookie season of minimal minutes and career low scoring, many thought she didn't belong. Skeptics chalked it up to Geno being on the selection committee. Geno didn't need to ask for any favors. Instead, he most likely posed one question to the selection group. "Who else you got that can make 3 point shots?"
For the tournament, USA made only 30 threes in 6 games. Lou had 10 of those makes or 1/3 of the total. She was 10-28 overall or 36%. But a deeper dive into the stats shows USA made 10 threes in the first game against Paraguay, by far the easiest opponent. While Lou was 1-6 and just getting started, in the next five games, against tougher opponents, USA made only 20 more threes. Samuelson had 9 of those on 9-22 shooting (41%).
Lou played “starter minutes” in the tournament. Her 114 minutes were only 2 minutes fewer than Diamond DeShields and 5 minutes fewer than Napheesa Collier's 119. She was on the court for more time than Syl Fowles and Stef Dolson. To her credit, Dawn Staley figured out USA had no threats from deep, other than Lou. Arike was 5-25 or 20%, Jordin Canada only took 6 threes and made 1 (17%). DeShields made 6 threes, but 5 were in the first game. She was 1-5 the rest of the tournament. Sykes and Sessions were a combined 3-13 (23%) for the six games.
Samuelson proved Geno right and earned her Gold medal. Coach Staley remembered all those UConn vs South Carolina games and ignored Lou's WNBA season. Katie Lou responded with a team-leading 10 threes, 27 rebounds (4th highest) and 9 assists vs only 4 turnovers. Her 27 boards matched Dolson and Elizabeth Williams' totals, proving she is the Rebounding Samuelson.
This tournament should help Lou in her season abroad and next year in the WNBA.Go Katie Lou..!!
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