- Joined
- Feb 18, 2016
- Messages
- 3,646
- Reaction Score
- 12,024
Does anyone know who these Serbian players are who have made it to the Olympic semifinals? After the Australian game, Sue Bird was effusive with her praise of the Serbians, stating that these players are "ballers", and that she plays against tough Serbian players on lots of European league teams.
And who ARE these Japanese players who knocked off the superstar forward Emma Meeseman and her Belgian team?! The announcer said that they're missing their excellent 6'5" post player, but I have no idea who they're talking about. But Japan was scrappy, shot superbly from three, and had the US team on tenterhooks until late in the game. Are they playing in a Japanese league? In Europe?
For that matter, I was immensely impressed with France, both when playing us, and against Spain in their semifinal game. Gabby was Gabby, strong in every aspect of the game. But I finally got to watch Sandrine Gruda, the forward Connecticut selected with an early draft pick years ago, hoping to entice her to the WNBA. She was excellent. And Marine Johannes was a very impressive guard. Who this 19 year-old forward, Rupert, is, I don't know, but lots of promise. And for that matter, Spain's Alba Torrens, a teammate of Sue and D who won the European League championship, is certainly impressive.
The international cohort in the WNBA appears to be just the tip of the international talent iceberg. There appear to be amazingly talented players whom we never get a glimpse of. But one thing's for sure: the days of unquestioned American dominance are over. We beat Australia by 24, which is a tight game by the standards of virtually every Olympics of the past. But consider that that 24-point win came against a team that didn't have Liz Cambage, arguably the best post player in the world. How the outcome could have been different had she participated?
I hope that news from overseas leagues becomes easier to access in the future. European soccer games are regularly broadcast in the US. Perhaps ESPN will feature some top overseas teams as well in the future.
But if anyone can tell us about who these Serbians are, or Japanese, I'm all ears!
And who ARE these Japanese players who knocked off the superstar forward Emma Meeseman and her Belgian team?! The announcer said that they're missing their excellent 6'5" post player, but I have no idea who they're talking about. But Japan was scrappy, shot superbly from three, and had the US team on tenterhooks until late in the game. Are they playing in a Japanese league? In Europe?
For that matter, I was immensely impressed with France, both when playing us, and against Spain in their semifinal game. Gabby was Gabby, strong in every aspect of the game. But I finally got to watch Sandrine Gruda, the forward Connecticut selected with an early draft pick years ago, hoping to entice her to the WNBA. She was excellent. And Marine Johannes was a very impressive guard. Who this 19 year-old forward, Rupert, is, I don't know, but lots of promise. And for that matter, Spain's Alba Torrens, a teammate of Sue and D who won the European League championship, is certainly impressive.
The international cohort in the WNBA appears to be just the tip of the international talent iceberg. There appear to be amazingly talented players whom we never get a glimpse of. But one thing's for sure: the days of unquestioned American dominance are over. We beat Australia by 24, which is a tight game by the standards of virtually every Olympics of the past. But consider that that 24-point win came against a team that didn't have Liz Cambage, arguably the best post player in the world. How the outcome could have been different had she participated?
I hope that news from overseas leagues becomes easier to access in the future. European soccer games are regularly broadcast in the US. Perhaps ESPN will feature some top overseas teams as well in the future.
But if anyone can tell us about who these Serbians are, or Japanese, I'm all ears!
