USA wins gold, plays lousy basketball...

[DavidinNaples]

USA beat Canada 67-46 for the Gold in the FIBA AmeriCup tournament. Fortunately, the competition played even worse than the USA in the semi-final and final games. Confusion, sloppy ball-handling, and poor shooting characterized the USA squad against Puerto Rico and then again against Canada.
Consider:
1. USA shot 36% from the field in the final game, including 2-15 or 13% from three-point range.
2. The five USA guards shot 17% or 6-34 in the Final.
3. USA had more turnovers (17) against Canada than assists (16). They also had 17 turnovers against overmatched Puerto Rico, and only 18 assists.
4. Canada (the country) shot just 28% from the field in the Final, including just 3-20 from three-point range. They missed 50 of their 69 shots. Jordin Canada (USA starting point guard) had only 1 three-point basket all tournament and missed 61% of her shots from the field.
5. Arike went 3-17 in the final two games while Khadijah Sessions was 0-6 with 0 assists. (Tell me again why she was on this team instead of Christyn Williams? Oh yeah, she played for the head coach.)

Thank goodness for the "bigs" on team USA. Syl, Tina, Stef and Olivia shot lights out in both games or USA would have gone home with only a participation trophy. Those four combined to score 75 points in the two medal games, shooting 63% from the field. They also had 54 rebounds and played superb defense. For the tournament, Tina was also 3rd in assists (18) for the team and 2nd to Syl with 44 rebounds.

Napheesa grabbed 21 rebounds in the Semi-final and Final but shot poorly going 4-16 or 25%. Her newly remodeled three-point shot still needs work as she went 0-7 from beyond the arc. DeShields scored 25 in the opening game of the tournament, but disappeared in the final two games, scoring only 10 total points. After nailing 5 threes in that first game, Diamond had only 1 more the whole rest of the tournament. Very strange...?

There is another tournament in November in Argentina. Let's hope the USA guards show up to play and support the "bigs" doing all the heavy lifting to bring home the Gold.

Go USA..!!

 

[UConnCat]

Well said David. Zero offensive flow. That was tough to watch.

Fortunately most of the competition was pretty bad.

 

[victor64]

Well said David. Zero offensive flow. That was tough to watch.

Fortunately most of the competition was pretty bad.

And ONO made it through without getting hurt.

 

[Centerstream]

I will admit that I didn't see any of the games or any of the stats other than what has been posted here on the BY. But my first question is this, how did Olivia do in respect to fouls and fouls per minutes played?
Thanks.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Does anyone recall, from past years, do the pros who played for Team USA, leave their teams overseas to play in the tournie in Argentina in November?

 

[Carnac]

Great post David. I had a couple of observations I could have shared, but your very thorough narrative covered them all. As Cat commented, at times the last two games were hard to watch. SMH.

 

[UConnCat]

Does anyone recall, from past years, do the pros who played for Team USA, leave their teams overseas to play in the tournie in Argentina in November?

This is a new format. The Nov and Feb qualifying tournaments didn't exist in previous years.

Qualifying for the World Cup or Olympics was through the various FIBA regional tournaments (AmeriCup, EuroCup, etc) or by winning the World or Olympic gold. Winning World or Olympic gold still provides for automatic qualification but all teams still must participate in the qualifying rounds.

 

[UConnCat]

The 2019 AmeriCup was the first for Team USA since 2007. Why did USA play in the 2007 FIBA Americas (now known as AmeriCup)? Because it didn't win the 2006 World Championship and had to qualify for the 2008 Olympics by playing in the Americas tournament.

 

[UcMiami]

Yeah - bad basketball. LOTS of dribbling by the point guard. Found it strange that two USA guards made the five stars for the tourney - Canada I could see but having missed the first game, DD certainly did look the part of a star. Rather they recognize another post for USA.

This was a weird USA team. Besides the high low, and a few entry passes, there was very little to like in the way USA played. Minimal offensive movement or flow. I know people talk about USA B squad winning a WC or Olympic, but ... without USA A squad members Tina and Sylvia this team would have been in big trouble. Really like big mama and she didn't play or shoot badly, but she did struggled defensively. Williams wasn't any better, and Ono is still very young and not strong enough at this level. I understand that this squad was a throw together with little practice time, but ... It is strange timing for these games and they are having the college tour and two more tourneys - wonder if other players will join the squad - Ono obviously will be leaving. As far as Euro basketball - those competitions (and in other sports as well) are used to having national competition windows reserved out of their schedules. This is supposed to be the standard pre-Olympic qualifying format now so I assume it is happening in the other regions as well?

Sessions ... totally out of her depth. Have a hard time thinking of a single positive from the medal games for her. I don't mind her coach giving her a chance to don the USA jersey in a minor competition as long as it was just that. USA is going to have some issues with player availability with a more year around schedule of games so I will not be surprised with some odd selections, but hope they will generally be higher quality pros or really good college players. Ono could at least contend in her mop up minutes.

 

[meyers7]

This is a new format. The Nov and Feb qualifying tournaments didn't exist in previous years.

Qualifying for the World Cup or Olympics was through the various FIBA regional tournaments (AmeriCup, EuroCup, etc) or by winning the World or Olympic gold. Winning World or Olympic gold still provides for automatic qualification but all teams still must participate in the qualifying rounds.

And the USA has already qualified for the Olympics. These tournaments they can use to blood new/young players.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Ono could at least contend in her mop up minutes.

Ono played the last 3 minutes of the 2nd quarter when the score was USA 25 Canada 24. She had 2 rebounds and a missed shot. When the half was over USA went from a 1 point lead to a 10 point lead and Team Canada didnt score a point during that time period. Great experience in what certainly was not mop up minutes

 

[MilfordHusky]

Ono played the last 3 minutes of the 2nd quarter when the score was USA 25 Canada 24. She had 2 rebounds and a missed shot. When the half was over USA went from a 1 point lead to a 10 point lead and Team Canada didnt score a point during that time period. Great experience in what certainly was not mop up minutes

Liv had the "Griner Effect" in the paint on defense.

 

[oldude]

While the US WBB team has dominated international play for some time, even with their absolute best team on the floor, the offensive flow can be stagnant at times. The critical element for the US is the pg. On the national level, Sue has no equal in being able to facilitate the offense at the pg spot. While Lindsay Whelan was extremely active at pg, the offense never flowed quite as well when she spelled Sue. Going forward, the key for the US will be to find the next great pg(s) to run the show for the national team. It would be great if Mo were healthy. Perhaps Jordan Canada, or another WNBA pg can grow into that role. I tend to believe it will be a younger player just out of college; Ionescu? Crystal? TBD?

The other point worth making about the US effort yesterday, is that while the offense sputtered, holding a very good Canadian team to only 46 pts on 28% shooting is one hell of an effort.

 

[MilfordHusky]

The guard play in the half-court was mediocre at best. I like Jordin's quickness, but not her decision-making or shooting. After watching the Mystics v. Sun game with tons of points, I thought that the USA game looked like the B side.

I thought Tina and Syl gave us what we expected. They will be in Tokyo. Phee was good, other than her 3-point shooting. She also defended well against some good players. She's close to making the team.

Everyone else had some positives and negatives. If Stefanie can shoot 82% all the time, she'll be a contributor. With Arike's shot AWOL, Lou showed the importance of a 3-point shooter, especially against teams that sag into the paint. We need Sue, Dee, Maya, and/or Elena to knock down some treys.

 

[eebmg]

Liv had the "Griner Effect" in the paint on defense.

ONO is already more aggressive than Griner

 

[MilfordHusky]

In terms of evaluating play, the medal round carries by far the most weight. Though there may be some cupcakes in the early rounds at the World Cup or Olympics, the competition is much tougher--more size, skill, and physicality. Diamond's game 1 was stellar, but she won't have that level of competition in any meaningful FIBA games down the road. Who stood out on Saturday and Sunday? That's the relevant barometer.

 

[MilfordHusky]

ONO is already more aggressive than Griner

The paint became the Bermuda Triangle when Liv came in. I saw opponents drive toward the paint and stop or turn around.

 

[Carnac]

The paint became the Bermuda Triangle when Liv came in. I saw opponents drive toward the paint and stop or turn around.

Hopefully The paint will similarly become the Bermuda Triangle when Liv is on the floor for UConn. You know she is going to be challenged, and I expect those challenges to be met with fierce resistance.

 

[Triad]

Great post David. I had a couple of observations I could have shared, but your very thorough narrative covered them all. As Cat commented, at times the last two games were hard to watch. SMH.

What boggles my brain, easy bobbled, is that USA citizen born as such Puerto Ricans, get to play as a separate nation. How come?
Oh, well, anytime Olivia/Liv/Olivia Nelson Ododa is my darling player for the year--more I hope. The kind of games play great, good, or poor is great for Olivia and Geno and Uconn. She is learning by leaps and bounds which only proves a very intelligent player will choose Uconn--they don't all go to Stanford. Wish CW had the same opportunity!..

 

[Triad]

Hopefully The paint will similarly become the Bermuda Triangle when Liv is on the floor for UConn. You know she is Going to be challenged.

If you will recall the final game of 2019 (so far) Olivia was a beast against 2 top experience, seniors players. Except for Frosh like fouls she was a beast and ND's bigs respected her abilities on defense. She was NOT playing against chopped liver few posts were more capable/experienced. Have no fear, ONO may be outsized but not out played or intelligenced

 

[Triad]

The paint became the Bermuda Triangle when Liv came in. I saw opponents drive toward the paint and stop or turn around.

She had the same effect on Turner and Shepard for ND in the final. Expect more and better from this very intelligent , beautiful (can I still say that?) young lady.

 

[Vowelguy]

Know nothing about this, so a question:

In some sports, these non-Olympic events can be characterized by lesser players and little practice time, so the quality of play is lower and flow not so good. Is that what happened here?

 

[eebmg]

I think the biggest problem was their single mindedness to get the ball inside and not off ball reversal but only with lobs which can be defended. Yes, we have an advantage inside but if you become 1D, your game first looks terrible and your guards and wings never get in a natural flow.

 

[Biff]

The paint became the Bermuda Triangle when Liv came in. I saw opponents drive toward the paint and stop or turn around.

Well in the past Liv's height has typically been recorded in US customary units (feet/inches).
Everyone around the world finally realize how tall she actually is with the recent revelation of her height in Hartley Units, a recognized international standard. The secret is out!

 

[baggerbob]

The guard play in the half-court was mediocre at best. I like Jordin's quickness, but not her decision-making or shooting. After watching the Mystics v. Sun game with tons of points, I thought that the USA game looked like the B side.

I thought Tina and Syl gave us what we expected. They will be in Tokyo. Phee was good, other than her 3-point shooting. She also defended well against some good players. She's close to making the team.

Everyone else had some positives and negatives. If Stefanie can shoot 82% all the time, she'll be a contributor. With Arike's shot AWOL, Lou showed the importance of a 3-point shooter, especially against teams that sag into the paint. We need Sue, Dee, Maya, and/or Elena to knock down some treys.

Stewie, and EDD will be a nightmare for the rest of the world in Toyko.

 

[eebmg]

Here are Dawn's post game quote regarding strategy


We got off to a slow start. I thought we were forcing things a little bit. We played at Canada’s pace. Once we turned up our defense, got into transition and got some easy buckets, I thought we got into a better flow. So, we stopped trying to run sets and we just ran our transition stuff, where we got really good ball movement, really good shots. They didn’t all fall, but we created enough separation with our defense that it helped us win the game.

I interpret transition stuff to be. Run like the athletes you are?

 

[Carnac]

What boggles my brain, easy bobbled, is that USA citizen born as such Puerto Ricans, get to play as a separate nation. How come?
Oh, well, anytime Olivia/Liv/Olivia Nelson Ododa is my darling player for the year--more I hope. The kind of games play great, good, or poor is great for Olivia and Geno and Uconn. She is learning by leaps and bounds which only proves a very intelligent player will choose Uconn--they don't all go to Stanford. Wish CW had the same opportunity!..

Don't worry or be concerned about Christyn, she'll be fine. She played a lot of USA basketball this summer in 3-4 different places around the world. She's learned to play with other players of equal skill and ability against other world class competition, she'll be fine.

I'm going to borrow a phrase from Kia Nurse's dad here: for the next 3 years, Christyn is going to be "a nasty piece of business" to the rest of WCBB. She's well on her way. She wants to be great. She's nice and "cutesy" off the court and during media interviews. On the court, she's all business. I also believe that before she graduates, as she said this time last year, "people are going to feel UConn".

 

[Carnac]

If you will recall the final game of 2019 (so far) Olivia was a beast against 2 top experience, seniors players. Except for Frosh like fouls she was a beast and ND's bigs respected her abilities on defense. She was NOT playing against chopped liver few posts were more capable/experienced. Have no fear, ONO may be outsized but not out played or intelligenced

A year removed and a season under her belt along with the experience she gained with the USA team and the older players (who tutored her), I think the only resemblance she'll have to the ONO we saw last year is the same uniform number 20, and that smile. She's not a freshman anymore. She won't play like one. She starts the season with experience and understanding of the team plays, concepts and placement responsibilities (being where she's suppose to be on both ends of the court at any given time) she didn't have last year.

She'll also take the floor with a world of confidence she didn't have last year. I expect her to really settle down after the holiday break (9 games). She'll really get comfortable and mesh with the other starters during conference play.

I seriously look for her average a double-double this year, and the remainder of her time in UConn. She will get starter's minutes now. Liv can grab 10 rebounds in a half, let alone a game. We know she can get 5 points in each half, especially if they look for her on the low post block every once in awhile. Oh yeah, If you can't tell, I'm a BIG ONO fan too.

 

[Centerstream]

A year removed and a season under her belt along with the experience she gained with the USA team and the older players (who tutored her), I think the only resemblance she'll have to the ONO we saw last year is the same uniform and number 20. She's not a freshman anymore. She won't play like one. She starts the season with experience and understanding of the team plays and concepts she didn't have last year.

She'll also take the floor with a world of confidence she didn't have last year. I expect her to really settle down after the holiday break (9 games). She'll really get comfortable and mesh with the other starters during conference play.

I seriously look for her average a double-double this year, and the remainder of her time in UConn. She will get starter's minutes now. Liv can grab 10 rebounds in a half, let alone a game. We know she can get 5 points in each half, especially if they look for her on the low post block every once in awhile. Oh yeah, If you can't tell, I'm a BIG ONO fan too.

Certainly hope you are right. I think she could have been a force last year if she didn't have the foul trouble that she seemed to have. I believe that she was the victim of the "I think she committed a foul so I am going to blow my whistle" syndrome. Some calls were justified but I think some were not.

 

[oldude]

Certainly hope you are right. I think she could have been a force last year if she didn't have the foul trouble that she seemed to have. I believe that she was the victim of the "I think she committed a foul so I am going to blow my whistle" syndrome. Some calls were justified but I think some were not.

Actually, last year Liv really did foul a lot initially because she didn’t move her feet and she swung down when attempting to block shots. As the season went along, working with CD, Liv significantly improved her footwork as well as her body position and shot blocking technique. In the last 3rd of the season, Liv became a much better defender without fouling excessively. This year I expect Liv to be a defensive force.