11.30pm in Adelaide tonight. Midnight eastern.

Serbia will be another potential banana skin game for us. With every game I'm trying hard to ignore the conclusion that our sluggish starts are directly related to our starting 5.

^ Same
There will be no excuses for a loss tonight but can think of a few reasons it might happen.

Serbia has a pretty talented starting 5 so they're not to be scoffed at - especially considering our own recent form lately.
They put up 84 points against the USA, which means if we trot out our usual defence they should be eying triple digits.

We can't afford any more sluggish starts. Time for the Opals to get serious now, including the coaches.

Pick n Pop with Liz's opponent.

Ignore Burton while she is in the game and double Liz (while clogging the paint).

Slow the game down.

Hopefully the Opals are ready for this as they go through the Euro gauntlet the next 2 games (Serbia/Spain).

#letsgogirls

7mate for this one tonight.

One thing that gives me hope is some of our players have been dialling it in on D like they're waiting for the real stuff to start.

When Taylor was switched on defensively against France we looked incredible, and her offence followed from that. Same with Cambage late in close games. If we get those two on the job from tip-off we will be a different team, and that pair will be much harder to guard if we're running off TOs and misses.

Opals starting 5 unchanged.
Joyce backing his regulars to get off to a better start.

First foul by Penny was dumb.
Now it bites her on the bum because she has to sit after picking up a questionable 2nd

Cmon Jarry!

Phillips hitting jumpers is a nice bonus here

Brendan yells a lot.

Another pretty unimpressive start defensively.
Serbs missing a few easy ones kept it to a 'respectable' 20 pts conceded.

There sure are. Which should favour us.

Jarry is so much better than Burton, she actually plays defence, blocks out, rebounds and can score at the other end.

Couple of handy threes from Jarry. Doing a nice job as the Penny fill-in

Jarry looks like a skillful basketball player.

Well, at least we have a lead at half time. Only the 2nd time that's happened, so I guess that's a plus.

That really was another 20 minute serve of mediocrity though.

We started to build a nice little lead until Tolo was taken off.

We're keeping them in the game - 13 turnovers in a half!

Aside from multiple self-inflicted wounds (like not hustling for boards and loose balls) we're playing a good brand of basketball, holding them to 33% and running off it.

So sad to see this team play without energy though after that was one of their absolute trademarks two years ago.

Whats the chances that the serbian coach gets sacked if they lose this game.

So So glad that the serbian Women's team does not run the same passing and movement offences (and as well) as their men.

i watch a series of 4 passes in our "offence" where 4 of our five players just stayed in the same positions ( including one who passed twice) for the entire time, and then we had to settle for a 3 dribble drive and forced 9 and missed) shot.

This is so frustrating, its interesting to listen to LJ and how "politew" she is being with here comments. Praising Tolo and jarry, nothing said about other players.

Mitchell needs to control our offence much better in the second half, we are rushing and turning the ball over way too much.
I'm not kidding about this... I regularly see better defensive intensity and cohesion in the WNBL.

I agree with you, Andy. This is the most un-Opals-like defence I have ever seen.

Just 6 mins played, so I'm expecting her to step it up this half.

Everyone sit back and enjoy the Penny show in the second half!

Everyone sit back and enjoy the Penny show in the second half!

That's what Liz is doing

That's weird It posted twice! Hope I didn't jinx her, lol.

Ok, sub made. It's a fair fight now. 5 vs 5.

OK 5 on 5 again...Lets Go opals.

Quality drive from Leilani

As good as she plays the Opals are almost better without Liz it seems.

I don't get this defence.
We're just letting Serbia literally choose whichever mismatch they want.

WTF!

Why put Talbot in? Just changed the game.
Then slow on the time out.

There is some horse jumping on the other channel.

What a steaming pile of slop that was.
21 turnovers in 3 quarters

Guards are so struggling
Mitchell with 6 turnovers.

Guards are always left one out to bring the ball up.

Cant believe I woke up for this.....

I think Penny retired after the last game, she doesn't even want to play defence.

our guards are picking up their dribble too soon and we are getting caught - need to keep the ball alive

Its all on Lizzy's shoulders.

Hey Jarry - we're the ones wearing yellow

Page is out!

Liz virtually daring the refs to foul her out of this.

I'm just so sad.

Solid rim protection from the Opals today.

"Worst opals team of all time?"

Don't know about all time, but possibly since the 80's.
Will know in 61 seconds.

I'm done, Opals are dead to me now. Someone needs to take responsibility for this, its disgusting.

ugggggh - we were doing well up by 7 or 8 and in control half way through

Worst Opals team I can remember since 1992

Yes, well played by Serbia. If anything the 2 point margin probably flatters the Opals.

picked the wrong team.
played the wrong players
poorly game coached
out hustled
out played
what effect on basketball funding now?
The Talbot sub was the moment the game turned and then Serbia started to believe.

this is not look like the team that played first quarter at Madison Sq Garden in the warm up game vrs US

Bye bye Brendan

Wow, what a lack of heart. So disappointing. To be -19 in the possession game in a knockout game is just beyond comprehension. The final play summed it all up, just throw it up to Liz!

Serbia wanted it and they got it, we played like millionaires and got what we deserved.

"Poorly picked, poorly coached, poorly played.

Well done to Serbia."

Pretty much sums it up

So much for sleep tonight, so freaking mad and upset there is no way I can sleep now.
If the Olympics haven't been crap enough for Australia this has topped it off nicely.

Batgirl,Ohea,Allen. Thanks Taylor.

Jarry with the hot hand and he takes her off.

The Opals got caught drinking their own Koolaid and paid the price. They expected to merrily waltz to the win with a 'she'll be right' attitude, smugly assured they'd take the game when it was too close for comfort with a minute left - no hustle, no desperation, no real effort.

Serbia outplayed Australia in every possible aspect and deserved that win. I certainly hope the boys saw that and re-establish in their minds the need to hustle, but somehow I don't think they have the same level of foolhardy entitlement that the Opals were absolutely reeking of tonight. It was Team USA-esque.

No need to say that Brendan Joyce should be out the door. You can't play games with 3 point deficits like you have a 20 point fucking lead.

Its a sad sad day for the players, both the ones that were in the team, and the ones that were not selected.

I could not see any real effect of a coaching philosophy in this Olympics. No evidence of having a quick hit offensive option designed around possible eventual mismatches, no evidence of fluid defenses tailored to exploit specific opposition weaknesses.

the team that this opals playing style most reminded me of is the USA mens team. neither are showing evidence of a clear direction from their coaches that the team is actually finding useful to run.

So so sad for penny taylor, to come back from an ACL to this. I so hope she has a killer WNBA season left in her to go out on.

I cant sleep until someone punches Joyce in the face.

edit: Say no to violence.

Point guards who can't distribute the ball well, no help defence, Liz had dumb fouls early and had to sit for long periods, Penny tried to force things too much, coach made strange subs at times, refs put the whistle away at the end (why can't they ref the same at the end as the rest of the game), turnover after turnover ...the list goes on.

==$0

It was like he wanted to get everyone playing time??? Obviously his selections is what did him in.. Not enough experience on the bench ..not enough defensive flexibility . Not enough good player management.. SMH everyone of you saw this train wreck coming why couldn't anyone that could have stopped it see it. So disappointed..

Can't blame the refs at all in this. Australia should have won by 20 regardless of what the refs did. The Serbians just wanted it more. That is the difference. Australia expected it, and Serbia was desperate for it.

this will surely affect our FIBA 2nd ranking

Will be interesting to read Boti's next article.

Yes I must get my popcorn ready for that one.

With the campaign over, it's time for some hard truths to be spoken again.

Perhaps a book Joyce could read while he is searching for his next employment opportunity.

https://www.amazon.com.au/Ego-Is-the-Enemy/dp/B01GSISCZW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471363958&sr=8-1&keywords=the+ego+is+the+enemy

well apparently from the Oz Swim team the Olympics is all about competing (not winning). So thanks for spending our tax payer dollars on competing.

Worst result since 1990?
Worth Olympic result ever?

"I could not see any real effect of a coaching philosophy in this Olympics."

This sums it up. In 2014 there was a clear plan, a clear style, this campaign was just a jumble. Much of tonight's loss is on the players, but that doesn't excuse a poor campaign from Joyce.

Is th Cambage countdown now over? Is Twitter gonna explode tonight? Can't wait

Its mostly on the coach I think. The chances of this group ever having a reunion party is as likely as the one the 2000 Boomers Olympic team (never) had.

Both groups will (do) know that they failed to meet the entirely reasonable expectations that were set for (and by) them, and that too much of that failure rested upon decisions that the head coaches made.

its not the worst Opals team per se, but its definitely the biggest gap between what should have happened and what did happen since the 1992 squad under Cadee failed to make it through the qualifying tournament ( which would have given Sandy brondello 5 olympics !!) - BUT which finally opened the coaching door for Tom Maher

hopefully we will get a similar upgrade in the coaching position next time.

just realised that this means that both Graf and Joyce will have been our only "0ne and Done" olympic 9 and Worlds) women's coaches EVER.

Have to wonder what could have happened if Stirling had remained for 2012, or if she or Maher had returned for 2016.

Not really any similarly successful ( as Stirling and Maher were) Oz based coaches seem to be available in the WNBL, I wonder if Brondello will apply ?

Sad for the players , Taylor more so than any, have to say all the "told you so" people re Joyce and his inability to coach at this level were absolutely right........... BA should never have appointed this clown to begin with , he is interested in himself and himself alone, you only have to listen to him waffle at camps about himself to under stand he hasn't actually got a clue, especially about defence , which is what this team lacked the most, so now the positive should be this is the end of Joyce , and the future Australian representatives will be chosen on ability not favouritism.

All the money the women's program ( well Joyce actually) got , all the success from before gone because one person wanted his own way and refused to see how wrong he was.

Thanks penny Taylor for all the years of great game, shame it had to end this way

and here it is

http://www.botinagy.com/blog/serbia-opals/

quotes

"The Serbs, ranked No.14 in the world and who only managed to qualify as their pool's fourth seed after getting past China by eight and Senegal by seven, made a mockery of the rankings, smacking a confused and one-dimensional Australia to its worst Olympic result since the Opals failed to qualify for Barcelona in 1992."


"But all that - along with the Opals' world No.2 ranking - came crashing down to a sadly predictable end today, Australia's whopping 26 turnovers a sure sign of the rampant anxiety and on-court tension within a team reduced to just one offensive strategy - " get the ball to Liz".

"Coach Brendan Joyce was out of ideas and imagination, his substitution pattern as erratic as his relentless sideline aggression, the stress showing, as it has all tournament. "

"Joyce's subbing pattern left a nation of bewildered basketball fans scratching their heads, no change more blatantly knee-jerk than throwing rookie Steph Talbot to the wolves with 80 seconds left in the third quarter."

"Not sure if Joyce thought that had broken the Serbs or whether he genuinely overlooked Phillips on his bench but Talbot had a turnover and a foul before he took her back out. Token runs in a quarter-final?"

"Phillips started strongly today, finding her stroke and sticking three early jumpshots, only to be subbed out. It made no sense when a shooter had found her shot."

no mention of Burton, I think that he's basically just embarrassed for her. She actually one of the victims of Joyce's coaching IMHO


Clearly Choco will be sending Boti some Christmas cards this year.

Don't the Opals still have a few (1 or 2) games left to fix positions 4-8 ?

If so he will probably wait until post Olympics to have more of a say.

Spain just about to lose to Turkey - just goes to show the evenness of the competition and the high level of talent out there.

JUST

Penny Taylor played 22mins with 9 assists , ok only two points but 22 mins even with three fouls that's ridiculous, a player of her experience needed to be out on the floor, and George who whilst may not be the best around can certainly hit the clutch 3 when needed ...and we needed them, played less than a minute.

Joyce must go, so to Hcizik and Cotter, they were poor choices as assistant coaches but good for Joyce as they would be yes men.... Zero I put just how he would want it

well, be judged on results, Joyce you are done!.

On the game TURNOVERS, TURNOVERS , TURNOVERS, has any team won at this level with 26 turnovers, ~ 20 more than the opposition? How many pts did Serbia score from dumb turnovers? Apart from the poor passing, foot on line for base line throw in is u12s shit.

Re Penny, she had a poor game and didnt play enough mins. Was it poor game = poor game time, or poor game time = poor game? What came 1st?

Dumb fouls also contributed to court time for penny and Liz. The games have been reffed the same all tournament, so why get dumb assed fouls.

That game was poor all round from both players and i admit the coach.

Suzy and Jenna certainly would have been the difference, probably needed better backup PG too, all those issues come down to just one thing ........ The coaches choices......... Which in turn comes down to BA choice of coach.

How the hell he ever got the job will remain a mystery

It hurts so bad I cant even watch the USA v Japan game this morning. Don't think I can watch any more women's basketball for a while.
Must be such a sad feeling amongst the girls this morning....this WAS the Opals time to shine, the last time playing with the superstar Taylor. Cant believe how upset I am, my week is totally ruined.
Only a Gold or Silver by the Boomers will ease the pain a bit.
Wont happen but BA needs to give us Aussie basketball fans an apology, first they kept coach Graf for 2 - 4 years too long and then replace her with someone with less clue (didn't think that would have been possible)

I'm with you Andy. Absolutely shattered, barely slept.

You could see the writing on the wall the whole tournament. I was hoping we could eke out results until the Gold medal game though. Full credit to Serbia.

"Coach Brendan Joyce said he feels particularly sorry for Taylor, 35, playing in her final Games.

"It's disappointing. I feel for Penny Taylor, it’s her last Olympics," he said.

“We were confident we would get through this and get to the medal rounds, so being knocked out is really difficult to swallow.” "

for those Anons wondering how Joyce got there

http://www.hoops.com.au/forum/39643-stackers-thoughts-on-joyces-opals-role/

Stacker recently crediting Joyce with more basketball nous than what was eventually shown in this Olympics


http://www.allstarcoaching.com.au/#!Salute-the-Boomers-and-Opals/cn168/57adc4250cf2ee4302c8677b

On the brightest side I can think of, the Opals' pool results should still mean that they will finish 5th for the tournament.

That is also the worst case scenario for the men. That means Australia's overall ranking shouldn't go down.

Ok, I'm stretching.

Shattered!

Ditto
I'm still :(

So many dissapointments at these Olympics, some awesome efforts but our heads didn't seem to be right and this is a huge opportunity missed...

Never mind, it is over for the Opals now, so it is time to rebuild, congratulations to our veterans who will not go on, you have been wonderful for our game and all the best for the future.

Now let's turn to the future and build our next team, that's what is on the table now!

still #$%^ stunned. I am now overboard. a piss poor performance all round.

Although it was not him that made the 26 turnovers, it was a below par performance from Joyce.

Anyone got a video of the non-call when Cambage landed on her back late in Q4?

My gut feel was that the non-call was correct as Cambage seemed to jump into it and exaggerate the contact, but I'm not 100% sure.

Non-call was correct (from memory): the defender was stationary and within their cylinder. It just happened to be an awkward fall for Liz as she jumped to the side.

Agree. Correct no-call IMO.

The no call was correct. In addition Liz should have received a tech for language when she carried on like a pork chop after she got up off the floor.

That Serbian female coach certainly got more out of her team than Joyce did.

Hire her QUICK!

I like Boti's quote: a team playing to win against a team playing to not lose. Liz deserves to be in the all-tournament team, with Leilani an honourable mention.

I was impressed by the Serbian girls' foot speed in defence and rebounding, and how closely they could guard us. It really upset us and forced us into so many turnovers.

Bye, Penny. You've been great!

I reckon it will be years before we're ranked top 3 again.

where do you find the game stats

"where do you find the game stats"


Stats for the whole tournament are here
http://www.fiba.com/olympicswomen/2016/all-games

For this game:
http://www.fiba.com/olympicswomen/2016/1608/Australia-Serbia#|tab=boxscore_statistics

"where do you find the game stats"

http://www.fiba.com/ls/#8093&BKW400304

Opals "average" Boxscore for Rio:

Yep, pretty sure Spain & France both leap-frog us, so we're down to 4th now :/

Leilani Mitchell was very ordinary down the stretch.
Last quarter - failed to block out 3 point shooter who airballed and rebounded her own shot.
Last minute failed to rotate across on defence.
Last play couldn't even get a shot off.
These don't even show up on the stats sheet along with 5 turnovers. They are just glaring mistakes from memory, hate to think what else would show up on a review.

Lavey became a non-option after she was doubled teamed and then gave up a layup.

The tournament stats on Talbot showing that she hadn't even scored, show what a such a dumb coaching move it was to sub her into the game.

Burton/Hodges both run around and don't do too much, cant shoot, iffy on layups. Almost playing a whole game with one player who is a defensive liability, and can be cheated off on by the opposition.

There is also a vacuum of leadership types within the playing group.

Knew from the moment Burton was named in the squad that they'd never make it. The whole momentum of the game shifted with Talbot's errors, though I see her being on the court at all as a fault of Joyce's and not hers. Worst coach ever.

So Serbia won the bronze? The Opals lost to a good team which was under-estimated and which over-achieved.