Without Cambage... we are terrible.
Should have taken Whitcomb.

WC...
Mitchell, Mansfield, Madgen, Bunton.

Olympics...
Wallace, Whitcomb, Blicavs, Tolo.

Why are Liz and Mitchell not with the team??

Exactly.

They are. Just a friendly.
Mitchell just played finals.
Talbot didn't because she was out with concussion.
Probably won't risk Cambage too injury.

Seriously, how did Madgen make this squad?

https://www.msn.com/fr-fr/sport/rugby-union/basket---les-bleues-déroulent-face-à-l'australie-85-77/vi-BBN3yih

Looks asthough brondello received a piece of paper with 20 names on it and just chosen the players she is most familiar with.

Madgen has been pretty woeful in her come back at seabl level. Did not deserve a recall after those recent international friendlies.
Mitchell has not had a great season at the Mercury.
Mansfield could barely bring the ball over half court against France.

Other options were available.
Could have had Whitcomb at sg + one/two of
Hurst- 24/12/6 QBL
Wilson- 15/6/12 SEABL
Donnelly- 17/7/8 QBL
as a back up pg to ebzery who has been running point a lot lately.

Stop putting Donnelly in the conversation at PG! She is nowhere near it, Hurst and Wilson should be in over Madgen

Much different opponent going from Argentina to France though.

77-70 win vs Latvia.

Whitcomb in for Mitchell due to injury.

Team is now...

Ebzery/Mansfield
Whitcomb/Ohea/Madgen
Allen/Talbot
George/Magbegor/Smith
Cambage/Bunton

Anyone got a replay of these games?

Watching Garrick the other night, would have been a much better option than madgen.
Stroking it from 3 and playing good defense.

If Sami Whitcomb shows up and spreads the court for Liz, the opals might have a good run at a top two finish!

Whitcomb is the best addition we could have had lol.
We have no one else better at the guard spot who is currently 100% fit.

Starting 5...
5'10 Ebzery PG
5'10 Whitcomb SG
6'2 Allen SF
6'4 George
6'8 Cambage C

Off the bench...
5'7 Mansfield PG
6'1 Ohea SG
6'2 Talbot SF
6'4 Smith PF
6'5 Bunton C

Limited minutes...
5'11 Madgen SG
6'4 Magbegor PF/C

Game against turkey.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jxcwYB-uYoA

Little odd having Cambage on the perimeter for the first qtr shooting 3s.
Maybe trying to limit foul trouble. Who knows...

Bunton, Mansfield, Ohea and magbegor need more gametime in the lead up.

Aus in four nations tournament before WC.
Aus, jap, esp, chn

China v aus at 5.30 pm today.

http://www.canalfeb.tv/video/china-vs-australia/19415

Awesome ^^ thanks for posting. Am getting very excited about the world champs. Go Opals!

Starts at 6 now I believe.

Big test for Liz with 2 girls her size.

Omg, Mansfield injured.

Lavey flying over. Lavey!

OFFS! We're screwed

Brought in because of familiarity with the system....

Probably 4 better pg options that weren't on the 20 women list.

I'd say Goriss and chambers made the call.
Hurst, Wilson, Donnelly and even 18 y.o Conti are ahead of Lavey imo.

game starts at 2.30am AEST

any of the actual WC games getting shown on fta or just fox?

Just fox or livebasketball.com

Sorry livebasketball.tv

I think Smith with a season or two as a pro will be really good. Just needs to learn not to make thise silly frustration mistakes

Smith will be very good. Knocking on the door of being drafted next year.

Magbegor needs a lot more development. Very late to close out and it looks as though they don't want her to use her athleticism. Standing straight up which is not her game.
We want her to block shots around the perimeter and in the post.

I'd argue that Aokuso is slightly more advanced at this time. Not as mobile but certainly more skilled, stronger, better perimeter shooter atm. Another player we will see a lot of in the next few years.

Bunton too looking very fit and mobile. Tolo getting to the Olympics is not a sure thing if alex keeps improving.

Madgen has looked quite comfortable handling the ball. Must have worked on that part of her game in the last year,

Lavey back in the squad now for the injured Mansfield.

probably Ebzery will be the one who gets most minutes at pg though anyway.

5'10 Ebzery/5'8 Lavey
5'10 Whitcomb/6'1 Ohea/5'11 Madgen
6'2 Allen/6'2 Talbot
6'4 George/6'4 Smith/6'4 Magbegor
6'8 Cambage/6'5 Bunton

Biggest squad by height. Average height of 6'2.

It's a really versatile squad. Most players can play/defend multiple positions. The addition of Whitcomb gives some extra offense as she can create her own shot when we have that inevitable offensive breakdown.

Lavey isn't awful - she sets up on offense well and defends well. My reason for going with Mansfield is more that Lavey isn't as aggressive as she used do be- first Lynx season for example.

Lavey has potential, but no coach has gotten the best out of her.
Same goes for Clydesdale, speed to burn but restricts herself around the perimeter instead of opening up the defense. I Wish they had more confidence in attack.

Even pthough they are both in there mid 20s and still have a full cycle of asia, world and Olympic tournaments ahead, It looks asthough they will both lose out to younger prospects in the not too distant future.

We can medal.
Spain, France, Canada, Japan, Australia are after silver and bronze.

Think we have a shot at bronze.
We can beat Canada and Japan in the post. Question is can we slow them down in transition and defend the perimeter.

Spain are also undersized in the post but they have been together for so long and share the ball so well.
A much improved France will be tough. A veteran frontcourt with a youthful and exciting backcourt in epoupa and johannes.

Canada are a pretty balanced side. Good team and only getting better.

Lavey's peak was that first season in Perth when she was taking threes with confidence (and hitting them) and playing high energy defence. She seems to have declined every since then. She is still steady but unless she is hitting from the perimeter she provides nothing on offence other than just advancing the ball.

Exactly, which is not on at that level. That's why it keeps being Mitchell's spot. It's also why Ohea needed more time in the lead up. At least she gives us size on the defensive end and can run the point as well as any of our other options and better than most

Spain just beat Opals by 3. flattering margin as they were up 13 with 3 min left though Cambage, Ohea, Bunton, Whitcomb DNP. @MicheleMenso seems to be the person to follow on twitter for opals news

lavey 1/7
magbegor 2/10
george 1/10

Surprisingly china beat Japan but no team is playing there top players.
Really not a good indication of what it might be like in the tournament.

So..
WC ending injuries for Mitchell and Mansfield.
Ohea and bunton also seem to be having issues.
Not great... very heavy scedule before the WC. About 7 games in 2 weeks...

I'd tell you but unfortunately they're not obvious enough for me to know about.