50/50 game vs Belgium I think

I agree that it's close to a 50/50 game, so yeah I'd say that's decent value.

Bec Cartwright vs Kim Clijsters

Last thing we need is a Talbot injury. Ooh boy.

Why no Steph Talbot?

Poor execution from the Opals to start. Ezi a mixed bag, but no one else has offered much thus far.

Yep, could have been worse than a 4 point deficit.
Great start from Ezi. Ebzery & Tolo good. More help needed.

Couple of threes helps things along. Onya Cayla.

Ezi doing her best Shaquille O'Neal impersonation. Cannot be stopped in the paint.

Liz who?

Madgen doing her best Sobey impersonation.
Checks in and gets the instant costly turnover.

Unrelated to the actual gameplay, but does anyone know why the Opals are wearing a one-piece, rather than the normal singlet and shorts?

George has come to play today. (At one end at least)

Mitchell really doesn't offer anything without someone to generate open 3s for her e.g. Cambage. Yet she remains on court.

Good response that quarter.
Now need to get Allen going after the break.

Loving the bodysuits.

And we're being beaten easily by fast first steps too, but some of that is due to poor position.

Bloody hell Opals. Get a rebound!

We are stinkin' it up. No apparent plan on offense or defence. Lots of dumb plays and dumber players. We'll be lucky to make it out of the group.
New broom required.
And Cambage should be given an open clearance. Cancerous.

Yeah Tess
Geez we needed that!

Cambage hasn't posted anything to that effect on Instagram.

Ouch. Awful 5 seconds from Ezi

Gawd... 5 on 4 break and we turn it over
*facepalm*

When this team loses the plot, it really does it 100%

Our defensive rotations were so slow, and our offense was listless

Being given a lesson in basics and team play by Belgium. Too much iso play from Opals, and poor rebounding.

15 down with 25 seconds to go. Does Sandy put on her bench to protect her stars? Nup

For 25 seconds?

The margin matters in group play, Hoopie.

I was watching while doing other stuff but did they turn it over three times off baseline inbound passes? That's unacceptable at domestic rec league level and embarrassing at Olympic level

Talbot's absence hurt too, I didn't realise she was injured until halfway through the 2nd.

Did Case or Rachel mention how long she might be out? (I was watching the 7plus broadcast with "Mr Personality" commentary)

Yeah it was a bit hard to watch that one.

I am not a coach. I have no experience in coaching. However... now just follow me here.... if a team is going on a massive run, it just seems to me like... maybe... just maybe... you might seek to stop the game, stop the momentum and make some changes to the game plan?

Nope. didn't happen. She let them die out there then called a time out with 30 seconds left for some unconscionable reason.

I can't see this Opal's team medalling. I hate Cambage with every fibre of my being but without her, they'd be lucky to make the quarters.

Odds of 1.34 imply a 75% win probability for the Opals. Value on Belgium?

Id rather fail without her than miss the medal games with her.
she would without doubt let us down at the most critical moment.

Wallace has actually got to get through a season first

That last quarter was putrid.

I find it funny that someone said "oh dont make this a Brondello bashing thread". It's like they want us to ignore the clear lack of leadership she showed tonight.

So much for not needing Liz.

61-63 was the killer moment. Meesseman scores, steals the inbounds and scores immediately. She carries on with confidence while the Opals floundered a bit from there.

Had been up 59-56 before 7-0 Belgian run forced timeout, so presumably played through the next run instead of breaking it up again so soon.

Seven minutes without a field goal in the fourth.

I'm not going to blame Brondello for missed uncontested shots, of which there were enough. Even Ezi, good as she was, missed two reasonable ones at a critical time.

The mindset tonight was depressingly different to that when we played the USA in Vegas. I guess that's the difference between the freedom of being an underdog in a game with nothing on the line, and the favourite at the Olympic games.
The D was poor, but not fatally so. But when we had possession we were too casual and lacked purpose.
I very much agree with the anon above who said

The Opals seem to lack a sense of who they are and how they're going to win games.

For sure. Talbot is key player now. Her hustle factor in particular was sorely lacking in today's game.

We undersestimate the impact of the Opals having their best player and focus ripped out on the ev of the tournament. Love or loathe Liz, either way she is an outstanding player and hugely influential and key for the Opals. All the prep and planning for the tournament would have been with Liz in the line up, they've had to pivot quickly and the reality is clearly they havent sufficiently yet and may not be the team they wouldve been with Liz there. Not to say they shouldnt ahve been better last night, but you can understand why they weren't at their best in their first game without her.

The Opals will be better for the run. There were positive signs and if not for some poor decisions down the strretch from both players and coach we might have come away with a win. I'm not sure we need to overhaulling the team and programme on the basis of that result. Belgium had their best night. I'm backing the Opals to bounce back with their bacls against the wall v China. If we lose to China well then perhaps sky is really falling.

And finally, get rid of the bodysuits. Why do we have them ? Are they better for performance ? Are the girls comfortable in them ? Did they want them ? Why are we in body suits while most? all? other teams are not ? Are they supposed to provide some sort of advantage ? I reckon we could find a uniform place in Tokyo that can whip up some proper shorts and singlets in 24 hours. Or if they produce better performance let's put them in the Boomers as well for tonight.

@Nostraballmus

The players themselves requested to go back to the body suits. Only advantage I can see is no jersey for the opposition to pull?

China looked good. Looks like PR will be the easy beats of the pool, but still China was dominant and has plenty of size. Opals might have their work cut out for them?

sad watching it, coach has no idea what is happening . She is waiting for miracle on court until is too late . Ebzery is not the player for international level. Often shooting and ball possession make her looking like "the best " on the court,but she is "throwing bricks" not seeing players in better position. Girls can not dribble...in some stage they started to play netball (with passes in hands of opposition). No rebounding, very bad defense without help . Why the bench is not used when start 5 is in trouble? They were like paralyzed scared to shoot...Veteran George saved Opal's honor for few minutes. I was sick seeing Ebzery playing nearly whole match, each time she had ball I was closing eyes,I knew she will do something wrong. Girls just gave up ,stop running and fighting. They were already in the finals with their minds after beating USA in Las Vegas. If bench is not good enough to play against Belgium why they are in the team? If they are good enough why they don't play? It was "domestic " basketball level from Opals. I hope the coach will be replaced after Opal will no go out from the group. It looks like China kill them on boards and with shooting, Puerto Rico play with guts...I think Opal will not win if not change game after watching their embarrassing performance. I am worrying that pressure made them playing so bad,it happened in the past with Lauren Jackson on Olympiad when seeing US team panicked and could not score. Anyway,Good luck to Opals. Hope I am wrong

If bench is not good enough to play against Belgium why they are in the team? If they are good enough why they don't play?

LMAO Luuuc

Other teams will study the film of this game to gauge weaknesses in the Opal's game which i fear appear structural in nature and difficult to correct in the short term. Other posters have pointed to failings of key Opals personnel, which I don't want to get into. What I noticed were shortcomings in the Opals defense against Belgium screen and switch offence. A lack of communication among Opal players played a role. But give credit where credit is due - it starts with the Belgium's screening work, which was top class. Always catching a piece of the defender - taking advantage of (what I believe) was liberal referring standards in not calling illegal screens. It wasn't flashy, but the off screening work of Belgium was impressive, giving their ball handlers space and time, adding to confusion of Opal defenders as to when to rotate or provide help. For me this impressive Belgium work was in stark contrast with Opals play - too few screens, set too far from the defending guard and set too far outside the zone.

Far out tough crowd @SPECTATOR. Ebzery i thought was one of our best, 11 points 9 boards a few assists and never gave up. Sure she'd like those late freebies back and will be down on herself for the loss, but a bit rich to be suggesting she is not international level ! It amy have been a tough loss but I didnt see any lack of effort from anyone.

She made a few mistakes but was still our best guard, by quite a margin.

Oh, my goodness. The Opals only moderate.
The old days are gone.

Looks like Nostra is off the meds...

Cabbage would of made little difference.
Who gives a rats about what they wear, just need the coach to coach!

Cabbage mighta got 16 points

@Andre I've actually increased the dosage :)