2024 Olympics - Women's Basketball - Gold!

Oh, my. France with a buzzer-beater that would have tried it, but her foot is clearly on the line, the U.S. wins gold. Wow.
 
Great win under difficult circumstances. I wonder if the officials were borrowed from team handball. Never seen so much contact allowed in any BB game.
 
The women really hit their foul shots at the end. Gutty performance by BOTH of our Olympic Basketball teams under difficult and pressure filled environments. I'm very proud of them, and our Olympic teams in general. Well done!
 
Already? ESPN looks ahead to 2028 and speculates on the women's basketball roster.

www.espn.com

Projecting 2028 Olympic roster: Will Caitlin Clark or Angel Reese rep Team USA in L.A.?

Will Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, JuJu Watkins or Paige Bueckers suit up for U.S. women's basketball in the 2028 Los Angeles Games?
www.espn.com www.espn.com

Returners:
Naphessa Collier
Sabrina Ionescu
Kelsey Plum
Breanna Stewart
A'ja Wilson
Jackie Young

Newcomers:
Aliyah Boston
Cameron Brink
Paige Bueckers
Caitlin Clark
Angel Reese
JuJu Watkins

If Cheryl Reeve doesn't return as head coach, Kara Lawson is mentioned as a possibility.
 
Kara gets a gold medal. Is she the only current Dukie with a gold? (sorry if this is obvious yes or no, I haven't been following the Olympics much)
 
dudog84 said:
Kara gets a gold medal. Is she the only current Dukie with a gold? (sorry if this is obvious yes or no, I haven't been following the Olympics much)
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Sorry, but coaches don't get gold medals. (Coach K never got one, even when his players ceremonially put theirs around his neck.) So Coach Lawson is comparatively empty-handed as a 3x3 head coach in Tokyo and a 5x5 assistant coach in Paris.

I believe Jayson Tatum and Chelsea Gray are the only Blue Devils with gold medals this year.
 
I didn't think the game was overly physical, and I thought the refs clamped down as much as was required. They did miss a couple of calls each way.

The first half reeked of complacency. Forget being "physical." France outhustled the USA everywhere on the floor, though the US defense was solid.

In the second half, it looked like the nerves were getting to them. Wilson really steadied the ship.

And I don't think Reeve made a lot of smart decisions. She waited far too long to bring in Ionescu, who had an impact. Griner was burned a couple of times when the French guards raced past her in the lane, but maybe she could've kept France from snagging so many offensive boards.

I don't like to compliment UConn players, but Gabby Williams was tremendous.

Like the women's soccer team, they had a nice mix of talent and luck. That's what it takes sometimes.
 
King of Defense said:
I didn't think the game was overly physical, and I thought the refs clamped down as much as was required. They did miss a couple of calls each way.

The first half reeked of complacency. Forget being "physical." France outhustled the USA everywhere on the floor, though the US defense was solid.

In the second half, it looked like the nerves were getting to them. Wilson really steadied the ship.

And I don't think Reeve made a lot of smart decisions. She waited far too long to bring in Ionescu, who had an impact. Griner was burned a couple of times when the French guards raced past her in the lane, but maybe she could've kept France from snagging so many offensive boards.

I don't like to compliment UConn players, but Gabby Williams was tremendous.

Like the women's soccer team, they had a nice mix of talent and luck. That's what it takes sometimes.
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It appeared that the women's team was knocked back by the level of physicality and hustle offered by the French team. Brittany Griner's size was helpful for inside scoring but she is too slow to provide effective defense and also slow to get to rebounds. Clearly the coach made a statement by leaving players on the bench of playing them very spariingly. She waited a long time to put Ionesceau in but when she did she got better ball security and tough defense. Between Plum and Ionesceau the team reduced turnpovers and improved it's defense. While Wilson and Stewart didn't have their best games, they still are too important to sit for more than a short rest.

I would guess that there were other WNBA players who would have better choices for the team than old sentimental picks. The US women's soccer coach did cut some of the former star players and chose well. Their forward line were quick and skilled. Rodman's skills are a level lower than Swanson and Smith bit she is a very good athlete and showed good conditioning by supporting the defense.
 
Saratoga2 said:
It appeared that the women's team was knocked back by the level of physicality and hustle offered by the French team. Brittany Griner's size was helpful for inside scoring but she is too slow to provide effective defense and also slow to get to rebounds. Clearly the coach made a statement by leaving players on the bench of playing them very spariingly. She waited a long time to put Ionesceau in but when she did she got better ball security and tough defense. Between Plum and Ionesceau the team reduced turnpovers and improved it's defense. While Wilson and Stewart didn't have their best games, they still are too important to sit for more than a short rest.

I would guess that there were other WNBA players who would have better choices for the team than old sentimental picks. The US women's soccer coach did cut some of the former star players and chose well. Their forward line were quick and skilled. Rodman's skills are a level lower than Swanson and Smith bit she is a very good athlete and showed good conditioning by supporting the defense.
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Rodman's got substantial skill -- she turns on the ball and leaves defenders in the dust. She's probably a little less consistent than Swanson. But yeah -- she tracks back so well on defense. It's a strong front line. Stronger when Lavelle is playing right behind them.

I still don't understand why Hayes brought Jaedyn Shaw if she had no intention of using her. That's worse than Tatum's Olympic playing time.
 
King of Defense said:
I didn't think the game was overly physical, and I thought the refs clamped down as much as was required. They did miss a couple of calls each way.
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CameronBornAndBred said:
I agree. Anyone that has watched NCAA women's ball of late knows that the women can and will beat the hell out of each other. Today's game wasn't anything that they weren't used to.
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I could not disagree more, as someone who watches a ton of NCAA women's ball. Yes, the women can be very physical in the NCAA. They can't hold players' shoulders down on rebounds, they can't slap arms on players holding or shooting the ball, they can't bodily shove players out of bounds with or without the ball, and they can't bump into ball handlers so hard that they lose their dribble. All of those things happened in this game. Do NCAA refs miss those calls sometimes? Absolutely, but in this game those things were routine. It was the most physical women's game I've ever seen.

LaChina Robinson, 4-year NCAA player and 7-year NCAA assistant coach, plus analyst covering NCAA women and the WNBA for the past 15 years, agreed with me on the broadcast.
 
Phredd3 said:
I could not disagree more, as someone who watches a ton of NCAA women's ball. Yes, the women can be very physical in the NCAA. They can't hold players' shoulders down on rebounds, they can't slap arms on players holding or shooting the ball, they can't bodily shove players out of bounds with or without the ball, and they can't bump into ball handlers so hard that they lose their dribble. All of those things happened in this game. Do NCAA refs miss those calls sometimes? Absolutely, but in this game those things were routine. It was the most physical women's game I've ever seen.

LaChina Robinson, 4-year NCAA player and 7-year NCAA assistant coach, plus analyst covering NCAA women and the WNBA for the past 15 years, agreed with me on the broadcast.
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Yeah, but I think she thought everything France did was a foul.

In fairness, she did spot two things the US got away with -- I think one was traveling.

I really didn't see what you're describing here, though. But I watched Duke-UNC games in the Debbie Leonard era, and those Carolina teams were beyond "physical." I always thought "Slappy" was a good nickname for Sylvia Hatchell.
 
This was the last roundup for the older women's basketball players-they wanted to get their gold without the youngins'
getting the spotlight-fine. Take your medals and leave the stage please.

Looking forward now to LA 2028 with Caitlin, Angel, Paige and JuJu !!
 
A'ja Wilson's "that b-i-t-c-h" quip and Mona Lisa smile while walking away from her postgame interview (after being asked to give one word to describe Kahleah Copper) was an absolute highlight of the Olympics. :LOL:
 
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