Screen is a surprise but other than that its pretty much the best available talent we can put together!

Anything less than playing off for the Gold medal would be a disappointment.

Was busy earlier hence the data dump...

A very strong squad overall. Let's hope that fitness and availability prevail for a good crack at gold.

Wonder when the men's squad will be announced?

Link: http://basketball.net.au/index.php?id=302&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=2342&tx_ttnews[backPid]=1&cHash=09e5f57a53

No Rachel Jarry?

Jarry is there.

I'd take Zavecz over Magden. There is enough offence in the squad. Zavecz is a much better perimeter defender.

wow look at those talls.

looks like an incredible list of players in the 188+cm range. alot of those guards im familiar with but havent seen their form lately or know how they compare on the world stage. how has the form of harrorer/ phillips and ohea been?

jackson/ cambage/ batkovic. damn thats good.

how has francis been progressing? i remember she was very promising out of the ais?

anyone wanna have a stab at who they would start??

i havent watched the wnbl as much lately but damn i was always impressed by the tenacity of some of their guards on defense. i think it might have been harrorer who was one. there have always been a couple of girls who just attacked on defense like terriers and i loved that. a few guys around the nbl could do with that kinda aggression ( not physical but that mentality that you are foaming at the mouth to get it back type ).

Just to start the discussions. 12 for London.
BATKOVIC, BISWHOP, CAMBAGE, JACKSON, TAYLOR, HARROWER, HODGES, PHILLIPS, SNELL, WILSON, ZAVECZ, O'HEA.

Just to start the discussions. 12 for London.
BATKOVIC, BISHOP, CAMBAGE, JACKSON, TAYLOR, HARROWER, HODGES, PHILLIPS, SNELL, WILSON, ZAVECZ, O'HEA.

Sorry about previous spelling.

The starters would probably be:
JACKSON, TAYLOR, HARROWER, WILSON, BATKOVIC/BISHOP.

mcleod will push for guard spot - 3 wnbl player of the week this season. Tolo will go close.

starters -

cambage
jackson
taylor
ohea
harrower / phillips

Abby Bishop potentially starting?! For the Opals?! Hell no! Her WNBL form has been patchy at best (sometimes outstanding, and sometimes a complete no-show). She's likely to make the team of 12, but I doubt she'll be getting many minutes.

My squad would look something like this:

STARTERS: Jackson, Batkovic, Harrower, Taylor and Snell.

THE REST: Summerton, Cambage, Phillips, O'Hea, Wilson, Bishop, Zavecs.

Massive squad....

Will be their last shot at it with Jackson/Taylor and Harrower..

Now or never ladies....

Also Graf better bring her A game

would they not play jackson in bursts off the bench for most of the tournament?

or is she over alot of the niggles? like i said im not real up to date but has carried alot of niggles around for a few years now. cambage and batgirl can bulldoze through most teams anyway with jackson for impact.

Reality Check people - the opals ONLY focus is to beat the USA. Our traditional lineup isn't good enough to beat the USA. They won't even come close!

Time to start the clean out.
My starting 5: Cambage, Jackson, Taylor, O'Hea, Phillips.


The remaining 7:

Batkovic, Bishop, Jarry, Zavecs, Harrower, Snell, Cox


We are up against: Augustus, Angel, Moore, C.Parker, Bird, Taurasi, Pondexter.

Very tall + athetic (has there been a more intimidating USA lineup over teh past 10 years?).

We take a 'defensive' attitude into the tournamet. We won't outscore the USA - just try to limit the cheap points (fast-breaks, offensive rebounds, easy put-backs, open jumpers, drive + dish).

We take a tall lineup in and half the job is done.

Cambage Batkovic
Jackson Bishop Francis
Taylor O'Hea
Snell Phillips
Harrower Richards Macleod

I say it , so it must be so.

Mine first instinct is exactly the same 12 as Camel 31.

The one change I'd be tempted to make is Cox for Francis/Bishop. Cox is more of a tweener, but also has a more rounded game, very high basketball iq and is all hustle. In the end though I think I'd probably stick with the original 12 purely because we need to nurse Jackson through as much as possible, and that means having added depth at the 4 spot.

The squad also has way too many point guards. Tess Madgen should feel pretty ripped off, and I also would have liked to see Steph Cumming in there. Neither would make it to London but they're the future wings for this team.

Camel / Dan

Macleod, Harrower, Richards, Phillips ---- 4 PGs!(plus O'Hea can handle the ball if need be so 5 players can fill the PG spot).

For me Richards is out (only b/c she's injured and he knees don't look good), and Macleod won't get any time anyway behind Phillips and Harrower (so why bother).

Francis??? Cmon... maybe in 4 years but at the moment I take Tolo and Summerton ahead of Francis.

You guys left out Jarry?

I think there are 10 definites (Jarry makes it for me). The last two spots are extremely competive with : Cox, Richards, Macleod, Zavecs, Tolo, Summerton, Francis -- are in the running (anyone know how Hurst is going overseas? she might be a shot as well).

Anyone willing to stick there neck out as say Harrower doesn't make it?

TMK,

Yes - Richards' place is obviously doubtful due to her health (and a history of health issues).

Re: 4 point guards, I don't consider Phillips to be a PG. To me she is a 2 that can handle the ball, but she is not really a playmaker. I have her in there at the 2 spot because our only other 2 is Snell. (O'Hea can also fill in at 2 but I worry about her quickness there at international level)

I am a huge Jarry fan and left her out only because I think Penny & Jenna take care of the 3 spot.

I'm not 100% happy with my Francis pick but my rationale is that we need extra depth at the 4 to give LJ as much rest as possible through the tournament. (Then again maybe I should just face the reality that Carrie will run her into the ground regardless and use the spot for the best possible player rather than going by positions!)

I agree that Tolo is better than Francis but she is effective only within about 2' of the basket, and we already have Batkovic & Cambage in the team who are a level above. No way could I justify a 3rd centre unless they are versatile, and Tolo unfortunately is as un-versatile as they come.

Who else could replace Francis in my team? As I mentioned before my #1 option would be Cox. Very smart, can play inside/outside, and is all hustle. #2 option would be Jarry. Hodges (Summerton) would be after that in my order.

If Harrower is healthy then she must play IMO. That's why I'm taking 3 PG's - to allow Kristi lots of bench time and to cover us if she breaks down. But she is still a class above everyone else when it comes to running a team at the moment.

The guard spots are in a sad state for the Opals atm, unfortunately. It's a shame because we have never been stronger from 3-5.

dan care to match us up with team USA and where we can get an advantage.

see spain and belarus did not qualify and they are around 5th and 6th ranked FIBA

"dan care to match us up with team USA and where we can get an advantage."

Maybe Penny Taylor at the 3. Possibly LJ at the 4 if she is fit & firing (that's a big if). That is all. We have quality at the 5 spots but theirs is better, and I don't even want to think about the guard positions.

Bottom line: we're screwed against the USA. They have awesome players at every position and far more importantly, depth. That's where they will get us, as always. We can usually put 5 quality players on the floor and genuinely compete with them, but as soon as we go to our bench we take a big step down in class, and they don't take any.

What we really need to concern ourselves with is not finishing 5th again. That was disgraceful. There is no reason we shouldn't come home with the silver this year given our personnel and the extensive preparation together that we will have. My opinion of our head coach is not high, however, so it is far from a given. What we must NOT do is commit the monumental screw-up we did in the worlds by throwing everything we had at the USA in the preliminary round. The second thing we must do is keep the big picture in mind and not run Harrower, Taylor & Jackson into the ground by the end of the first week.

In the gold medal game, if we make it, well anything is possible on the night. If we play at our best and they have a poor one then yeah we could get it. Realistically though I think that if we played them a dozen times we'd win one. Hopefully that 1 in 12 comes on the right night.

Always need 3 point guards and 5 bigs;

1/ Harrower/Mccleod/Richards
2/ Snell/Jarry
3/ Taylor/O'hea
4/ Jackson/Bishop/Hodges(summerton)
5/ Batkovic/Cambage

Worries that Phillips is out of sight and out of mind in Poland. But she could push either Richard(inj) or Jarry/O'hea out.

Think Hodges/summerton makes it as she is quite athletic and mobile to play undersized 4's through the tournament. This is where the question makes regarding players making it look the most open. Bishop/Summerton/Pennaluna or even an undersized Zavic/Wilson/Tayor combo could play time at this spot.

Will be interesting how Zavic and Tolo go at Camp though I think Tolo cant push the 3 bigs (including Jackson who can play the 5) out of the team. The big sneak here is how Pennaluna comes back from her ACL. the back up 4 will be interesting.

Red80 - Phillips has a spot 100%.
She is a starter for the Fever. Her last season in the WNBA was phenominal. As a pg she scored in double digits regularly - she is the closest the Opals have to Sue Bird; same height, athletic, aggressive, can penetrate, shoot, and find the open player.

Dan - I think we can see our issue is with our guards. Our guards have traditionally run the offense and taken open shots.

Harrower is only 5'4". In the modern game that is TINY! She's on the other side of 35 and has lost at least 2 gears - likely to be the worst Harrower we have ever seen which is a shame b/c in her prime she was one of the best guards the Opals ever had.

We need tall athletic guards who can draw attention.

The positive things is our bigs are going to get more cheap points than ever. Cambage attracts so much attention - Jackson, Taylor, Batkovic are going to find it easier to score.

TMK, I don't disagree with anything you have said about Harrower. It's just that IMO, despite all of those deficiencies she is still better than any of our other options. It's officially the end of the era in which we had more world class PGs than we knew what to do with, and unfortunately the young replacements have yet to step up and fill the void.

I expect MacLeod to play plenty of minutes because she is tough and can reliably stick the outside shot, and that is going to be important to stop defences collapsing onto LJ, Liz & Suzy.

IMO height is something we just have to live without for now at the PG spot. The closest thing we have to a tall one is Veal, but I just don't think she is quite at the level of some of our other options.
The rest of the world is not exactly stacked with tall PGs so I wouldn't get too hung up on that aspect. Bird, Harding, Montgomery and Whalen are all 5'9 or under (and those are listed heights - we all know what those are worth).

Bird et al ... 5'9" and athletic and in their prime.

Harrower 5'4" and 37 yrs of age.

This will be Harrower's 4th shot at it. What's the point? The years have been kinder to her. There's a psychological factor here as well - we need a new lineup to get the gold.

This is all very anti-Harrower but she has given it her best and come up short - there's a real chance she may hinder the Opals team and this is likely to be the last time we see Jackson, Batkovic, Taylor, Snell in the team.

Dan - If the Opals aim is to win Silver then yes we need Harrower. If we want to win gold give the spot to Macleod or Phillips and take a punt on a new look(ever heard of Jeremy Lin?).

phillips knows the players - she was suiting against the new ones as well - moore - griner will be the unknown.

erin has matched on birdy, DT in the wnba - would know their temperament and moves.

angel will be one to watch - she can really get the numbers up internationally

i agree with dan - PT at the 3 can be our clear match up winner.

but then nobody thought patty mills would school team usa as well.......

There is a reason why Phillips has signed a multi year deal in the WNBA, i am sorry there is no no way you can compare McLeod to Phillips. Has anyone been following her in the Polish League and Euro League??? She is killing it.
Yes McLeod has had an OK season in the WNBL but Phillips is playing in the 2 BEST Leagues in the WORLD against the worlds best players.

You cant say that BA aren't following Phillips and Taylor's games in the Euro League Finals they would be watching everything because we need to pick the best players possible

Harrower and MacLeod... Seriously... This is an international tournament. Both don't get a spot, too old for Harrower, this squad diesnt need her experience and I'd rather develop a youngster for the future (Jarry) with the spot and I'd take an extra big over McLeod.

There are enough ballhandling two's that can and will get the job done. The key will supplying the bigs. Phillips, Jarry, Snell, Wilson and O'Hea can do that quite well. These guys also have a good midrange game as well for the pick and pop.

TR - spot on!

Harrower doesn't cut the mustard anymore - reminiscent of Ray Borner vs the Dream Team in 92'.

Another comment i would like to make is that everyone keeps saying Phillips isn't a PG but look what she has done with both Indiana and her Polish team at the Point. I very much consider her a PG. I don't think any of you have been following and watching her game at the point. you just remember her in the WNBL which was 3-4 years ago now.... Let me tell you in that time players games can change and improve...

Phillips did an awesome job on Whalen in game 2 of the Euro League Finals

Whalen 9pts 11 reb 0 as 0 st 1 to @ -10 ranking

v's

Phillips 12pts 5 reb 5 as 2 st 0 to @ +21 ranking

i am actually glad that some of you AREN'T Opals selectors

Aw. Seems Jarry is some kinda supa being from somewhere else ^ , and some are not taking Phillips ^
You're pretty good at it.

that is a good job on whalen by EP