2024 Olympics - Women's Basketball - Gold!

Taurasi is a liability when she's on the floor. I don't understand why she is still getting starts. We do much better with either Plum or Ionescu in that spot.

Today's game was impressive in a way, though. The U.S. clearly did not play their best basketball, but the game was never less than three possessions the entire 4th quarter. Belgium is really good. There's a reason Meeseman won the WNBA Finals MVP a few years back. She is unstoppable.
 
I can understand why they didn't take Caitlin Clark. She has had a rather severe turnover problem in the WNBA.

I can't understand why they took Iana Taurasi.

(She's "Iana" because she has no D.)
 
A lot good happened for the women but on the bad side they were very slow to close out on shooters, even those who continued to hit threes. Also, there was a tendency to drive or pass into double or even triple teams with a lot of turnoveers stemming from those. Stewart was excellent, Wilson was good although very turnover prone. I agree, Taurasi was a negative and didn't play much. She's been great in the past but at 42 years old, one wonders why she made the team. Lots of other players on the All Stars would have been better picks.
 
Saratoga2 said:
A lot good happened for the women but on the bad side they were very slow to close out on shooters, even those who continued to hit threes.
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I know what you're saying, but did you watch the screens? They made Bacot look like a garden statue. Heck, they even made Tony's Bennett's Virginia team look still. Meeseman didn't even bother with mere hip checks. She just walked into people. Our players have been taught from a young age to play at least mostly clean, and it took us a little while to realize that, even though the refs weren't calling the illegal screens, they weren't calling players for busting through them, either. Once we figured that out, we did much better. That mostly happened after the half, so I think some credit is due to Reeve and the staff for pointing out that we can and should play physically, too. Pushing back helped a lot.
 
Elizabeth Balogun with 14 points and a +20 plus/minus, tied for the team lead, as Nigeria beats Canada to go 2-1 in group play. They could still end up third in the group if Australia beats France by double digits, but the two best third-place teams go, and the other two third-place teams are 1-2.
 
brevity said:
12 teams compete in women's basketball 5x5, grouped as follows:

Group A

🇨🇳 China
🇵🇷 Puerto Rico
🇷🇸 Serbia
🇪🇸 Spain

Group B

🇦🇺 Australia
🇨🇦 Canada
🇫🇷 France
🇳🇬 Nigeria

Group C

🇧🇪 Belgium
🇩🇪 Germany
🇯🇵 Japan
🇺🇸 United States

As I pointed out in the Olympic thread for men's basketball, the flags are actually smilies built into the DBR board. Just search by country.
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The quarterfinals started earlier today.

🇦🇺 Australia beat 🇷🇸 Serbia 85-67.

🇧🇪 Belgium beat 🇪🇸 Spain 79-66.

🇫🇷 France leads 🇩🇪 Germany 68-52 early in the 4th quarter.

🇳🇬 Nigeria plays the 🇺🇸 United States at 3:30pm ET (live on Peacock and USA Network)

www.usab.com

With Brackets Set, USA Start Olympic Knockout Round Against Nigeria - USA Basketball

Fans can tune in August 7, 2024, at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network to catch the USA Women's National Team in Paris.
www.usab.com www.usab.com

Nigeria finished with a 2-1 group record and a bid to the Olympic quarterfinals after defeating Canada 79-70 on August 4. It was third quarter magic that propelled the Nigerians past Canada. After an even contest through the first half, the team held the Canadians to five points in the third frame while running out on a 23-point lift. Kalu was the main factor for Nigeria, as she has been all through Group D play, collecting 21 points. Elizabeth Balogun and Promise Amukamara put up 14 and 12 points, respectively.

The win cemented their place in Olympic history as the first African team, male or female, to make the quarterfinals in basketball. Entering the Paris Olympics, African women’s teams were a combined 1-37 in the Games.

Nigeria fought through adversity and deficits in the matchup, overcoming a nine-point Canada lead and battling out six lead changes. Despite being outrebounded 46-32, the Nigerians amended by excelling in the transition game — scoring 27 points off Canada turnovers, all rooted in their relentless defensive effort to produce 16 steals.
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Tale of the tape:

CategoryNigeriaUnited States
W-L record in group play2-13-0
Points per game69.392.0
Rebounds per game36.349.0
Assists per game13.728.7
Steals per game13.39.0
Blocks per game2.36.3
Turnovers per game18.314.7
Field goal percentage37.5%49.5%
3-point percentage30.4%32.7%
Opponent FG percentage42.4%40.5%
Opponent 3PT percentage30.8%36.6%

Elizabeth Balogun (Nigeria):
3 starts, 32.0 min, 8.7 pts (42.9% FG, 27.3% 3PT, 50% FT), 3.7 reb, 0.7 ast, 1.3 stl, 1.0 blk

Chelsea Gray (USA):
3 starts, 12.0 min, 0.7 pts (10.0% FG, 0.0% 3PT), 1.0 reb, 6.0 ast, 1.0 stl
 
Reeve finally coming to her senses and starts Jewel Lloyd over Diana Taurasi. The U.S. is still starting slow, though, mostly because they can’t shoot a lick. They are getting good looks, but they aren’t yet knocking them down in the first 3 minutes.
 
Phredd3 said:
Reeve finally coming to her senses and starts Jewel Lloyd over Diana Taurasi. The U.S. is still starting slow, though, mostly because they can’t shoot a lick. They are getting good looks, but they aren’t yet knocking them down in the first 3 minutes.
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The USA lead is 30 late in Q3. Whatever the early issues were, they got resolved.
 
Yep. The final win was by just 15, but we rested the starters pretty much the whole fourth quarter, and we were just kinda relaxed and jacking up threes late in the game. There was a little kerfuffle at the end, after the U.S. took a shot clock violation with time left, and Nigeria went back down and scored. One of the U.S. players threw the ball at the scoring player and got a technical for her troubles. It's still a 15-point win, ladies, and the margins don't count now that we are down to playoff time. Keep your heads out there.
 
The semifinals start in 35 minutes, and for once, Team USA has the earlier game.

🇦🇺 Australia vs 🇺🇸 United States (11:30am ET, live on Peacock and NBC)
🇧🇪 Belgium vs 🇫🇷 France (3pm ET, live on Peacock, 1-hour delay on USA Network?)

www.usab.com

USA Women Face Australia in the Olympic Semifinal - USA Basketball

Fans can tune in August 9, 2024, at 11:30 a.m. ET on NBC or Peacock to catch the USA Women's National Team's semifinal match in Paris.
www.usab.com www.usab.com

The Australians took down Serbia 85-67 in their quarterfinal tilt in Paris. After finding their groove to create some separation halfway through the opening frame, Australia cruised full speed ahead to secure their spot in the Olympic final four.

Alanna Smith, Jade Melbourne, Cayla George and Sami Whitcomb were a tremendous quartet for the Opals. Smith, a forward with the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA, dominated down low to supply a game-high 22 points and 13 rebounds. Melbourne was versatile and efficient in the matchup, making her mark all over the court for 18 points, four rebounds and five assists. George notched 18 points and three steals, while Whitcomb added 15 points, as the pair found their confidence from beyond-the-arc hitting three triples apiece. While the Australians did not reveal much depth to their roster, the team certainly put on a shooting clinic, finalizing a 45.8% field goal mark and claiming nine 3-balls on the game.

As a unit, Australia outrebounded Serbia 44-32 and exploited the transition game to put up 15 fast break points to Serbia’s four, despite finding themselves guilty of more turnovers. Jovana Nogic and Angela Dugalic played well for the Serbians, combining for 31 points, but were unable to mute Australia’s momentous scoring runs, leaving up to 17 points unanswered at a time. The statement win moved the Australians to 3-1 in the Games, a bounce-back streak after losing their opening group play match to Nigeria, 75-62.
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Ta(b)le of the tape:

CategoryAustraliaUnited States
Win-loss record3-14-0
Points per game74.091.0
Rebounds per game40.847.8
Assists per game22.029.3
Steals per game9.57.8
Blocks per game3.56.0
Turnovers per game20.515.0
Field goal percentage47.2%50.5%
3-point percentage36.9%30.8%
Opponent FG percentage38.0%40.6%
Opponent 3PT percentage33.3%30.8%
 
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Sunday morning games.

Bronze medal game: 🇧🇪 Belgium vs 🇦🇺 Australia (5:30am ET, live on Peacock, 15-minute delay on USA Network)
Gold medal game: 🇫🇷 France vs 🇺🇸 United States (9:30am ET, live on Peacock, NBC, Telemundo)

www.usab.com

Ready for the Final Against France, USA Women Can Make History with Eight-Straight Gold Medals - USA Basketball

Fans can tune in August 11, 2024, at 9:30 a.m. ET on NBC or Peacock to catch the USA Women's National Team go for gold in Paris.
www.usab.com www.usab.com

The host nation took down Belgium in their semifinal contest on Friday afternoon in Paris, sneaking away with a 81-75 win in overtime to advance to the gold medal game. Belgium held slim advantages at the end of the first three quarters, before France battled through the last ten minutes to take a 66-60 lead with under a minute left in regulation. Belgium’s Julie Vanloo and Emma Meesseman paired up to spark a six-point streak to force overtime. Gabby Williams guided the French through extra time to secure a six-point victory and a chance to play for gold. She finished with 18 points and four assists in the matchup. Valeriane Ayayi added 17 points and five rebounds for the French, while Iliana Rupert was clutch from the charity stripe and put up 17 points on the game.

As a team, France set themselves apart from Belgium in the battle for offensive boards, as the French grabbed 19 rebounds on their end for 18 second chance points. They also forced and converted 22 Belgian turnovers into 30 points. The French saw an advantage in their depth with 29 points coming off the bench, compared to Belgian’s eight bench points. Earlier in the tournament, France dropped a close contest to Australia 79-72, their only loss of the Games.
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The final tale of the tape:

CategoryFranceUnited States
Win-loss record4-15-0
Points per game77.489.8
Rebounds per game34.447.4
Assists per game20.629.6
Steals per game12.08.2
Blocks per game4.65.8
Turnovers per game13.414.6
Field goal percentage42.3%50.4%
3-point percentage30.5%32.6%
Opponent FG percentage40.1%39.7%
Opponent 3PT percentage28.9%29.5%
 
France plays defense like UConn—foul all the time and put the pressure on the officials. It’s backfiring so far, and they don’t have an answer for Griner.
 
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