That was as ugly as expected. Hard to get up for an opponent that bad.

She sure is.
Just came off a WNBA season so good that she won MIP for the 2nd time, playing 30mpg and shooting 43% from 3, and had career highs for points, rebounds & assists, but yeah got totally washed up between September and November.

"She sure is" was response to washed up, btw. She's not my favourite player, but I do think she is clearly our best PG.

Korea-China is going down to the wire.

No, she isn't

Mitchell is far from washed up lol, as for having whitcomb as the naturalised player over her , HELL no.
As could be seen at the end of that game Enzery turns the ball over way too much, neither Enzery or Lavey are good floor leaders

Right now Mitchell is all we have for PG

And Seekamp, who most definitely can - and does - run a team well and is able to use her initiative on court when necessary.

That said, I thought it was generally agreed that most, if not all, the guards in this team were picked largely for their speed/lateral movement with a view to limiting the guard quickness and outside shooting of the quick little Asian guards.

Opals defeat India 114-29 in the 2nd game. I only caught the final 6 minutes, and that was 6 minutes too many.
Looking forward to the one proper game of the tournament tomorrow, and hoping that these garage lead-in games have helped the preparation more than they have hurt it.

I tune in 4 minutes late and we're already down 14? Jesus....

16-30 after 1

34-47 @ Half time

Cayla George is terrible.

Can they please delist lelani mitchell, she is a huge defensive liability. Looks out of breath trying to chase motohashi.

Give tess lavey a go in the 2nd half, surely she can play better d then mitchell. Sami whitcomb needs to come in as the naturalised player, they need another floor spacer.

The way this Japanese team move the ball is a joy to watch. Aussie team is all one on one moves.

Looks like sandy b has heard us, benching mitchell and george to start the 2nd half.

The japanese ball movememt, spacing and shooting is elite.

Need cambage to take over if we are going to come back.

That pull up 3 was a dagger.

I once saw an interview where Claudia Brassard predicted Cayla George would be defensive player of the year in the WNBL. I wondered if she thought that would motivate George to actually play some defence.

Real smart, Liz

That is the biggest weakness of cambage game. She would be goat if she could keep her emotions in check.

What did Liz do while my video was down??

Hovasee = Japanese coach

Motahashi licking her lips when she sees mitchell trying the gaurd her

What did Liz do while my video was down??

:(

Bec Allen having a shocker shooting night.

Sami whitcomb

Opals got no game plan when cambage isn't in. One woman team.

They were doing that when she was in.

Final score 69-82

Ezi is impressive.

A real backwards step for the team.

Sandy B will have to make some changes, can't just keep selecting her favourites.

Ok all blaming different players, but honestly Brondello is to blame, her subs are horrendous, Allen obviously off her game yet left out there jacking up,empty threes every possession, Ebzery doing stupid fouls, hanging onto players, and then the clown of them all Cambage, she just can't get her bigmouth out of her ego can she. Why on earth do we persist with this stupid person, she’s a bloody disgrace.no good being the size of a giraffe if you Get kicked out because you act like a jackass.

Certainly far from gold medal expectations with this lot. Too old, too slow. Poor coaching.

has Luuuc come around to changes yet?

and then the clown of them all Cambage, she just can't get her bigmouth out of her ego can she. Why on earth do we persist with this stupid person, she's a bloody disgrace.

I miss the days when more than 4 non-trolls posted about WBB here

Yeah, the first move we should make is to dump the only elite player we have. Nevermind the fact that she carried our team to a world cup silver a year ago. Let's put Scherf in there instead right? At least she won't get techs.

Did Japan need a 6"6 Goliath to beat us?

No they didn't , she played , she made little difference, on three blocks in quick succession right before she was ejected, every one of those blocks could just have easily been a foul, he’ll the first one she missed her player completely, give her credit she then raced to smack that ball out of the way, but also thought it amusing she was caught sleeping.

You have a brilliant young tall in Ezi who produces as much if not more without the attitude and over inflated ego, pumped by her own arrogance .
Just how far do you go with her shit, Brondello needs to look at fresher players than the same old same old, and that includes Cambage, officials have had a gut full , what sort of mentality is it that shoves the finger up right at the ref in a game like that
She’s a liability NOT an asset

Garbin .. seriously , she's had so much development how much more does she need , she had years at the AIS.

For every negative that comes with Cambage, you have to remember her ceiling is ridiculous. Who else do we have that could score 50 in a WNBA game? I don't see a path to a medal without relying on her heavily.

For every negative that comes with Cambage, you have to remember her ceiling is ridiculous. Who else do we have that could score 50 in a WNBA game? I don't see a path to a medal without relying on her heavily.

Scoring 50 points in ONE game does not mean she can, does or ever will do that again .

You have to factor in everything else not just that ONE player or one game

The fact is sure Cambage has the ability if she's inclined to work hard, but the repeat button shows this is NOT the case. So just how long do you keep sucking that same price of lemon before you see the cracks it causes .

Australia is stuck in a time warp of wanting bigs , but the international game has developed into a fast mobile guards heavy rotation on teams, something Australia continues to over look and it ignores the smaller mobile players out there

Sandy is a long-time product of the WNBA and that's obvious to me in her selections and the team’s style of play.

Why would we expect an unselfish team-oriented offense like Japan’s from someone who hasn’t needed to think like that for years? The WNBA just doesn’t play that way.

She’s relying on our talls because that’s one of the few advantages we have over Asian teams like Japan, and our team matches up well against the other world teams. Personally, I’d take a 'horses for course’ approach, but I can understand why she won’t take a different squad to Asia qualifiers as opposed to the bigger tournaments. She’s taking a bit of a risk, though - there’s a small chance that we won’t actually get through the Asia qualifiers.

She has been all-WNBA first team and led the league in scoring and was second in rebounding in 2018. I get the immense frustration with her but let's not pretend she had one good game in the WNBA and is easily replaced.

Your right she "should" be putting up big number games consistently, but she doesn't dies she, and every time she does the same crap of losing her temper and thinking it’s funny to be ejected , not only does it show her total lack of consideration for her team mates but also the country she represents
What is it with Australians acceptance of poor behaviour in sport .

Don’t care how big she may be , think Australia is better off without her to be honest

Agree everyone just wanted a Joyce gone, Brondello IMO was never a good choice, not just because she was based on the other side of the world and made it very clear from the start she was not making the Opals her priority ( understandable as she probably gets paid a lot more in WNBA) , but she should never have been considered under those conditions. Add to that she's very much old school, which again she’s proven by her choice of roster, and who she cut immediately from the tryouts.

But it’s those who head BA that are the biggest hurdle we have for the women’s team in particular but the men’s also.

Time for a big clear out, starting from the top IMO.

As for Cambage, she will never be a role model for anyone , especially when everyone would rather look at her height than her behaviour.

She probably should have played tennis......at least she wouldn’t be letting her team mates down.

There's rumours flying around that Teaira McCowan will be the next player to be naturalised.

She would likely replace Cambage post Tokyo, who has given indications she might not stick around.
If this comes to fruition, the Opals will be next level. McCowan is an absolute defensive menace and rebounder, without the attitude that sometimes gets the better of Liz.

In fact, her ceiling could easily surpass that of Sylvia Fowles and Brittney Griner as many in the WNBA have already commented. Add some developing and upcoming quality guards/forwards around Teaira, and the beyond 2020 Opals era looks extremely bright indeed.

It's a pity that the processes can not be hastened to include her now for Tokyo, but that in itself would create bigger headaches for coach Brondello.

Good player obviously, but what is the process to get her naturalised?

In response to Post 775652,

Teaira McCowan is not a part of US Basketball, nor an invitee, and to the best of my knowledge has never represented the USA.
This is undoubtedly a consideration in any "stand down" period by FIBA which is not applicable in this case.
For obvious reasons, one doesn't expect any formal announcement to be made until post Tokyo. Hopefully, the conversation at that time would be around the area of defending a Gold Medal.

"Agreed. The guard situation has been critical for a while now. Very lucky we've had 2 Americans bail us out. What is wrong with guard development in this country? We used to be elite in that area. 15 years ago aussie guards were swarming the WNBA and we were leaving elite players out of the Opals because we had even eliter ones in there."

because BA only focus on bigs and have done for years because we didnt have any half decent bigs , but we had Taylor and Harrower and Ohea who is still around, , the guards are ignored unless they have connections.
we have plenty of good guards, they just never get the opportunity to be developed.

Agree with the above re bigs vs guards. Body type plays a big part in talent id with BA at the moment. Ability to defend etc. doesn't seem to be of as big a concern. Aus Camp invites after Nationals rarely have anyone other than those who have been high on the points scored column.

"Agree with the above re bigs vs guards. Body type plays a big part in talent id with BA at the moment. Ability to defend etc. doesn't seem to be of as big a concern. Aus Camp invites after Nationals rarely have anyone other than those who have been high on the points scored column."


Because it is all about who scores for most coaches and selectors, they don't look at the why factor, do they score the most because they put up the most shots, but actually have a crap shooting percentage.....(law of averages, )you can teach shooting techniques, but a great defensive player comes naturally, same a PG, they should be floor generals, not just scoring 50 points because they are the only ones shooting the ball.

And they look at height, not speed, they look at height, not work ethic, they look at heigh for everything basically.

Many guards never get the opportunity, and just because a kid goes to the Cof E, it certainly does not mean there aren’t better players who don’t or didn’t go, Only thing going to the Cof E guarantees , is that they will always be in the mix to choose from , not that they are the best choice.

the change to 24 sec shot clock hasnt helped. Ais/coe state development has always focussed on athletic types. There are guards like cole and heal, conti never given a clear run and playing afl unlikely too. Agreed many girls go over to play div 1 and dont play or are not committed enough to stay. Unfortunately Wallace is injured. Fingers crossed for her.


the 24 second clock has nothing to do with the fact they dont develop any guards, same as I wouldn't say those who choose not to go or not to stay at college are not committed, have you seen the majority of the standard in college basketball, its a handful of teams that have a handful of good players, sometimes they are better off staying put and working with seniors here.

Cole didn't go to college,instead shes worked her ass off to get where she is , but Brondello cut her first round and shes concentrating on 3x3 same as Garrick (who should be in the opals squad over the likes of Madgen., Clydesdale same deal, Heal and Conti and Shelley have had great opportunities but still a bit too young, Conti may possibly chose AWFL, and who could blame her, they get paid peanuts in women's basketball.

Wallace has been unlucky but she hopefully may make a good recovery and come back, but will she still have that edge two years out, Rocci, Panousis, Reid all good shooters but not great PG, Antoniado who seems to have been quiet on the radar for some reason could be another one to watch if she has another good season in NBL1 and they are all under 24. Plenty of guards around, if they take the time to actually look at them.