At the beginning of the game, several players on both teams seemed to have trouble with the ball. Cat wondered if there was something physically wrong with the ball, as if it was slippery. It definitely looked like it.
I thought Sue looked off a bit--not because she is too old or slow, but because of a couple of mental lapses. She is also not as strong as Lindsay. Serbia was very physical, to the point were Geno and Dee got technicals and several players, including Sue and Lindsay, were VERY pi ed. Lindsay was able to play through the contact because of her strength, but fouls could have been called on most possessions. Several players almost lost the ball in addition to the actual turnovers.
Dee looked for her shot a little more tonight and she absolutely lined up some threes, as did Maya earlier in the game. Both of them made the game look easy. No one hustles like Maya. She chased down a Serbian on a breakaway layup and either deflected it or pressured the player into a miss. Maya was a good 10' behind her near half court, but caught up to her over 45'. It was vintage Maya Moore. No one else does that.
The U.S. played much better defense in the second half, slowing the player who had 22 at the half. The free throw defense was poor, however. We got called for some minor fouls, and Serbia shot 20-21 or something like that.
Stewie and Odyssey did not play much at all (40 secs). I thought 9 of the others played well. Angel was the exception. She was overly aggressive on defense and picked up 3 fouls in limited minutes. She just seemed to be out of sorts tonight. By her standards, it was a very bad night. I look for her to bounce back on Tuesday.
It has been a huge amount of fun to watch the games in person, from good seats, near the Team USA contingent that includes Kathy Auriemma. She is as nice and personable as everyone says.
