USA wins FIBA

[Zarathustra]

Final USA 77 - 63 A'ja Wilson does EVERYTHING in the fourth for the USA
after China got it down to single digits 69 - 58. Wilson had 18 points?
Kelsey Plum with great drives to the basket. USA made 20 out of twenty-one foul shots
made. Han Yu 6' 9 " was great for China. Li Weng got twenty-one points?? for
China, from everywhere! Defense and defensive intensity were the gold
standard for the USA. The Bench made that possible.
Sellout crowd of 9,400++ A huge Chinese contingent with flags,
chants and NBA legend Yao Ming in the stands for China. Chelsea
Grey made three two pointers in the middle of the fourth to maintain
a ++ margin. Brianna Steward with great hustle and rebounds to
make the fourth quarter USA stand hold up. My MVP was A. Thomas.
She gave her all, all the time. A 14-point USA win, and nowhere near
a blowout! Who will win the other pool? Canada? Australia in
a comeback from their initial loss to France (GABBY)?? , Stay tuned!
TIME FOR BED... It was worth the loss of sleep!! Z

 

[Zarathustra]

Do they reseed after group play? If not, is there a danger of the US not facing China in the finals. The 2 best teams by quite a margin?

China and USA are my prediction for the FINAL!! Yes, the tournament follows the
regular FIBA re-shuffle after the pool play.

 

[Zarathustra]

China is impressive. It's downright scary how much they've improved in the last 10 years or so. Their skill level, court IQ and team awareness have progressed light years.

Lots of significant contributors for USA, but I can't emphasize enough how impactful Alyssa Thomas has been. I was unsure how her game would translate at this stage, but she had 5 steals, 5 assists, 8 rebounds and 12 points. Led the team in minutes, steals and assists.

Ms. Thoms as my MVP also!!

 

[Plebe]

Do they reseed after group play? If not, is there a danger of the US not facing China in the finals. The 2 best teams by quite a margin?

Not exactly a reseeding. A drawing will determine quarterfinal pairings, but the top two teams in each group will be drawn against teams 3 and 4 of the other group. If US and China finish 1-2 in the group, they would not be on the same side of the draw.

China does still have to play Belgium, which could be a good game, although I expect China to win.

 

[nwhoopfan]

US had some nice runs, but looked discombobulated much of the game. D was good. China looked much smoother on offense than US did. They all had a few moments, but overall it appeared to me that Loyd, Copper, Atkins and Laney all struggled in this game.


The Australian announcers did no homework for this game. They referred to Chelsea Gray as a 3X3 teammate of Plum in the last Olympics. Oops, wrong Gray. They were also completely clueless about Thomas' shoulder issues and were perplexed by her FT shooting form.

 

[Iluvacc2]

Lots of significant contributors for USA, but I can't emphasize enough how impactful Alyssa Thomas has been. I was unsure how her game would translate at this stage, but she had 5 steals, 5 assists, 8 rebounds and 12 points. Led the team in minutes, steals and assists.

X______

There were some errant miscues and dropped passes by USA, although that is to be expected since this is the first time the entire team has played together in a game. The play of the game was a ridiculous block by Stewie that led to a ridiculous although, maybe now we should say a regular shot for Gray.

I've been most impressed with AT though, there were some question marks about her ability to be an effective four in FIBA games, but she has answered all questions so far. She seems to be everywhere on the court defensively and offensively. I haven't seen a USA player do that since Catchings was in her prime.

 

[Zarathustra]

US by 20+

USA 77 - China 63 USA was up by 9 with 3:21 seconds to
go in the 4th quarter. See box score for 2 point and 3 point %
USA did not win the battle of the boards. Exciting game.

 

[EricLA]

Alyssa Thomas was a beast. POG by a mile IMHO. Wilson got her points, but she's not the player you want taking mid-range shots. China is too big for her to maneuver effectively around the basket.

Gray took too many one on one shots and single handedly slowed the US scoring in Q4 letting China come down and score after numerous Gray misses. Still, she's really good. Loyd was MIA, Atkins should have seen almost no time on the floor - she was ... not good. Not sure what Laney was doing out there. Stewie did a lot of great things except scoring. He shot was off.

Just my $.02. I thought it was interesting that Ionescu, Jones, and Austin got 0 minutes.

 

[Zarathustra]

Alyssa Thomas was a beast. POG by a mile IMHO. Wilson got her points, but she's not the player you want taking mid-range shots. China is too big for her to maneuver effectively around the basket.

Gray took too many one on one shots and single handedly slowed the US scoring in Q4 letting China come down and score after numerous Gray misses. Still, she's really good. Loyd was MIA, Atkins should have seen almost no time on the floor - she was ... not good. Not sure what Laney was doing out there. Stewie did a lot of great things except scoring. He shot was off.

Just my $.02. I thought it was interesting that Ionescu, Jones, and Austin got 0 minutes.

Maybe Sabrina, B. Jones, and S. Austin are future "surprises" for some
unprepared and unsuspecting future opponent. Then again, USA did need
the "A" team to be on the floor last night to squash any hopes of a
long China run or come back fourth quarter. GO DEFENSE, Go Alyssa,
Go entire team!!

 

[Blakeon18]

U.S. scores World Cup-record 145 points in rout

The U.S. women's basketball team put together a record-breaking performance in its 145-69 rout of South Korea on Monday at the FIBA World Cup.

www.espn.com

USA 145 South Korea 69. Many records set on offense....MANY.

 

[Zarathustra]

U.S. scores World Cup-record 145 points in rout

The U.S. women's basketball team put together a record-breaking performance in its 145-69 rout of South Korea on Monday at the FIBA World Cup.

www.espn.com

USA 145 South Korea 69. Many records set on offense....MANY.

Interesting to note that KOREA scored more points, 69, than China did, 63 (against the USA).
USA wanted the scoring record, but they were kind enough to let up on the defensive pressure!

 

[MilfordHusky]

USA was a little lax on defense, but played a very uptempo game. In the second half, they scored at will, Bri Jones and Kelsey Plum in particular.

 

[cancontent]

This tweet made me chuckle.

 

[Zarathustra]

Half time USA 43 China 33. But the USA was only up 18 - 16
prior to the last USA " push". Which team will run out of steam first.??
Frenetic Defense for USA ( A. Thomas, et al). A'ja Wilson is
the force on offense for USA. She is quicker than the China " bigs".
China with temendous passing, 3 pointers, and passing out of
double teams. Look like a sellout crowd. GO USA.

 

[Zarathustra]

Alyssa Thomsa OUT.... injury. at 6;24 of the third quarter
A shoulder injury. OUCH! Could be a game changer.

 

[MilfordHusky]

AT is back.

 

[Zarathustra]

Alyssa Thomas, back from the locker room. She has
arisen from the dead! USA hitting their 3 pointers.
Kudos to C. Grey and K Plum. Ms. Plum with some
great 3 X 3 moves to the basket for scores. Plum has
a driving dagger as time runs out in the third quarter!
USA defense is the BEST End of third quarter
USA 68 China 47

 

[Zarathustra]

USA 78 China 49 6:24 in the fourth.
Note A Chinese player out with a knee injury
carried off the floor with just over 7 minutes
China somewhat deflated. USA continues to
hit their shots.. It could be the rout is on!

 

[Zarathustra]

Five minutes to GO.... USA putting in the reserves:
A AUSTIN, Sabrina I. some sloppy defense and
offense now for the USA. The margin will close.
USA may miss out on the largest MOV for the
Final in the Championship

 

[Zarathustra]

Final USA 83 China 61
Rebounds USA 37 to 36 CHINA
Assists USA 22 to 15 China
Wilson 19 points, Plum 17 points Go Aces!
Jewel Loyd 11. But praise the defense!
Last game USA 77 China 63 = 14 points
tonight 22 and USA pulled the starters at 5 minutes
to go ( Ms. Plum stayed in for the GLUE to hold
the USA coherent at the end). 16,000 people in the stands!
Australia wins the bronze over Canada.

 

[Zarathustra]

MVP A'ja Wilson All tournament team:
A'ja WIlson, B. Steward,
Seth Talbot and Brigit Carelton, and China's Xan Yu
( of the USA Liberty )
Player of the game for the Championship game was :
Chelsea Grey.

 

[Carnac]

MVP A'ja Wilson All tournament team:
A'ja WIlson, B. Steward,
Seth Talbot and Brigit Carelton, and China's Xan Yu
( of the USA Liberty )
Player of the game for the Championship game was :
Chelsea Grey.

I said it in a recent post, and I'll say it again..............."cream ALWAYS rises to the top." Congratulations to USA head coach Cheryl Reeve, her staff and of course the players on their hard fought victory. Kudos to Alyssa Thomas for her impression of Lazarus. Thomas has grit!!!
Congratulations to Chelsea Gray on being named POG for the games. She got game. She's racking up awards. She was named the tournament MVP for the WNBA championship finals.

Thanks Zarathustra for keeping us up to date on these games.

 

[Zarathustra]

I said it in a recent post, and I'll say it again..............."cream ALWAYS rises to the top." Congratulations to USA head coach Cheryl Reeve, her staff and of course the players on their hard fought victory. Kudos to Alyssa Thomas for her impression of Lazarus. Thomas has grit!!!
Congratulations to Chelsea Gray on being named POG for the games. She got game. She's racking up awards. She was named the tournament MVP for the WNBA championship finals.

Thanks Zarathustra for keeping us up to date on these games.

You are very welcome! Z Final 'odds and ends"
1. Meng Li CHINA did not play against Australia or USA " out with a fever". She
was averaging 16 ppg and was a Player of the Game during the tournament.
These stats are for the full tournament not head to head:
2. points per game USA 98.8 China 81.4
3. 2 point % USA 55.3 China 55
4. 3 point % USA 41.1 China 38.5
5. Rebounds USA # 1 CHINA # 4
6. Assists to Turnover USA 2.3 CHINA 1.8
7.Steals USA # 1
8. Turnovers USA #12 ( best in the field of 12 teams)
We now wait for FIRST NIGHT and " November!!"

 

[JordyG]

China kept it close and competitive for the half. But the US ultimately stopped China's pick and roll game by playing tight on the perimeter and by wising up to China's pocket passes off the dribble. Defensively China's 2/3 defense, which said "we're going to collapse on the US forwards and you can't beat us at the arc" was crushed at the arc by Plum, Gray, and Loyd. By the time China changed to M2M and went back to any high/low offense it was too late. Funnily enough, the US is so deep that the Olympic team may be radically different from this World Cup team. A team which will still be 20 points better than any of these other World Cup teams which will pretty much have the same rosters.

 

[EricLA]

The first half was "only" close because USA was practically 0-fer in 3-point shooting. It opened up in the 2nd half especially with Loyd and Gray hitting outside shots. And of course Plum. Just goes to show how deep USA is. Take out Stewie or Wilson for 1 game and we still rout China.

Every cycle, people keep saying "the rest of the world is catching up". USA proved that even tho the team hardly practices together, give them 2 weeks in a tourney, and they will still still steamroll. Team USA always gets stronger during an event because it's just about the only time they have to practice together.

Overall most impressed with Stewie, Wilson, Gray, Thomas and Plum. Aside from a nice 2nd half, Loyd was MIA for most of the tourney. Atkins had some nice moments. Not sure why Laney made the team. Autin has a nice future as does Ionescu. Jones had some nice moments but not sure she's the future. I thought Copper would have more of an impact but she was sick towards the end of the tourney.

I think there will be some reshuffling for the Olympics coming up next.