Luuuc
Years ago
Olympics: Opals vs USA, 4 Aug 2021
2:40pm EST / 12:40pm WST
Quarter Final
Game Stats Page
Julio
Years ago
Fun Poll question & potential game for lockdown:
How many airballs total will be shot for the game (& take a shot for each one)
Thoughts ?
Isaac
Years ago
Opals starters:
O'Hea
Mitchell
Ebzery
Magbegor
George
Allen goes to the bench.
Julio
Years ago
No shots for me yet, not an airball in sight
Butttt??? What the hell are the Opals wearing??? Is that some kind of leotard??
Julio
Years ago
What's the normal field goal % in WNBA?
Any stats people out there?
Julio
Years ago
Opals with 10 turnovers in 1st qtr. Lucky I wasn't having shots on every one of those, my typing would suffer
Rain Man
Years ago
Bro Deli offensive plays are so bad. It's like watching a chicken with its head and arms and legs cut off at times
Mitchell keepin us in it but also poor iq tryin to get to bucket
Don't say anything positive about Mitchell, you will trigger her resident hater
USA will never lose at an Olympics with FIBA reffing gifting them so much. The contact difference, the travels .... It's 5 on 8.
Yes I'm sure it is just reffing that has them up 15 already
Call from the trail ref, the last of the 3 to have any sight on it. Rigged. Just no point with the fouls we are getting called for.
GordonG
Years ago
One set of rules for the Yanks, another set for everyone else...
Mitchell has been good so far but has sucked for 3 years straight.
#378 as a referee myself I am sure they can make this much difference. One decision every possession can certainly make more than a 15 point differnce. Impacts on the available players due to bogus early fouls one example of the influence.
Sporn is annoying , such an apoligiser...
Maybe we should defend stewart, duh
Julio
Years ago
Stewart for the USA is head & shoulders the best player on the court, she's got some skills
Julio
Years ago
Commentator said Aussies were ranked #2 in the world, surely not?
Rankings are calculated across 8 years remember
We are #2 in 2018, after 8 losses in 3 years, we are probably 4th or 5th now.
Julio
Years ago
Oh thanks, didn't know it was calculated over 8 years
Julio
Years ago
Aussies shooting at 29% in first quarter
& just 3/13 from 3 pt range
Tough to win if that keeps up
Smith has had a go shown a bit. Why no previous game time.
Atleast more effort this game. Still need quite a few changes before next year.
You think Stirling will drop sandy, Olaf, Cheryl and Paul?
All of em are good mates
Julio
Years ago
Yeah, I'd say Brondello is cooked after this performance, unless they perform a Bradbury miracle & the USA team fall down
FG% — AUS 31%, USA 55%
ME
(he/kangaroo)
Years ago
Poor coaching, strange roster decisions. The loss of Cambage is huge, no doubt, but the Opals have done themselves no favours and are more or less getting what was coming to them.
Time for a complete overhaul after this Olympics.
For the future of the program I hope she does. Seebohm in Sandy and Olaf out
Seebohm is the only option I see. All new assistants and staff also.
Vast majority of the squad don't look like theyre in the sane league as the USA.
Isaac
Years ago
Seems like they start a period with a set play and at least get something resembling an open shot. Most other times, it looks ad hoc and too easy for the US to obstruct.
Stewart is a menace. Just too good for them and they don't have anyone with the size to combat her.
Just can't put the ball in. Such a basic game in the end.
Julio
Years ago
Opals outclassed in just about every position. Mitchell has had a good game. Any thoughts on the Cambage absence?
Sandy will be talking about next years WC in the presser but you can F off,
Isaac
Years ago
Effort is at least there despite the margin and inevitability.
Crackers65
Years ago
US defence is incredible. Too big, strong, fast and athletic. We've had too many turnovers and missed too many
easy shots. US are very well coached. Bro cello has shown nothing and it doesn’t look like the girls are playing for her.
Talent and size. Without a Penny or LJ we can't compete. Shooting under 30% doesn't help.
Julio
Years ago
Too many passengers on the Opals team, time to blood some young players.
Time for a change imo.
W17(63%)-L10(37%) as a coach of the #2 nation is unacceptable.
Crystal ball tells me it will be more of the same with only change is they will do everything possible the get Cambage back in. It'll be the wrong tack but it’s the easy out. Imo some players should never see an Australian singlet again.
Thatb63% includes teams like India, taipei, nz, Korea, Philippines, pr, Nigeria.
So no real competition a big chunk of the wins.
There are no more 6ft 8 females in the System , time for a complete rethink of the program. Some lean times ahead until a new Coach and new structure is implemented. BA has been spoiled by 15 years of Lauren Jackson and then Cambage. There is no plan B.
Yeah no superstar, and Seebohm plays team basketball based on fundamentals.
Anon
Years ago
Such a strange tournament for the Aussies, so many questions need to be raised with Brondello (who clearly is out of her depth). Why does Ebzery get so much court time without the ability to score? 2 points from 25 minutes today, 4 points from 27+ minutes on Monday (in a game that we won by 26!). Mitchell was patchy at best but a vast improvement on Ebzery, Madgen hardly saw the court. Surely there are better guards in the country, or perhaps this is just symptomatic of years of selection issues right from junior level.
Where is the intent to build for the future... both Ebxery and Mitchell well into their 30's. Smith hardly stepped foot on court, but was far more impressive defensively than her much more experienced peers.
Dont even start with the lack of actual structure game plan.
Time to say good bye Sandy.
The team was geared around Bec Allen once Liz went out.
She shot 7/34 20.6% for the tourney. Having your main player lay an egg like that makes things tough. I assume if she was making shots a lot more would have opened up for the bigs and the spacers on the wings.
Lavey after playing great gets a few minutes at the end, I don't get it.
Julio
Years ago
Reply to
Anonymous
Today
The team was geared around Bec Allen once Liz went out.
She shot 7/34 20.6% for the tourney. Having your main player lay an egg like that makes things tough. I assume if she was making shots a lot more would have opened up for the bigs and the spacers on the wings.
Yeah Bec Allen's stats were horrendous. Nerves? or some Technique error?
@ Julio
I'm not sure. She is a good player so potentially something mental is the issue there. A lot of pressure in these short tournaments.
Overall I'd say...
Mitchell 6/10
Lavey 8/10
Ebzery 3/10
Madgen 5/10
Ohea 8/10
Talbot 6/10
Allen 2/10
Blicavs 7/10
Smith 6/10
Magbegor 7/10
George 9/10
Tolo 7/10
Young Gun
Years ago
"Any thoughts on the Cambage absence?"
Primarily that Basketball Australia did the right thing to open an investigation into her behavior. I'd much rather play with integrity & achieve what we did, rather than allow a bad culture to be acceptable. I understand she has mental health concerns, but her behaviour has gone on for years.
Isaac
Years ago
Having watched the game but without much knowledge of the players besides George, Tolo and maybe Mitchell, the last thing I would have guessed in a million years was that anything was set up for Allen. I was trying to work out what her role was. Someone suggested she was primarily a defender.
If she was getting open shots from set plays, they must've been when I was looking the other way. She had a few moves around to put up long twos from the top of the key, but not a great deal else.
Was the thinking that without Cambage we didn't have an advantage to use inside? Otherwise I would've thought George/Tolo/Magbegor were generally good options.
@ Isaac
She eventually played her way out of being the main option and even out of the starting 5 by this game.
Sandys original pool of players
Mitchell*
Heal
Rocci
Mangakahia
Lavey*
Whitcomb
Ebzery*
Cole
Madgen*
Nicholson
Ohea*
Talbot*
Allen*
Blicavs*
Garbin
Smith*
Magbegor*
George*
Tolo*
Aokuso
Cambage**
*players chosen
** ousted
Rain Man
Years ago
Magbegor was meant to be the player to fill the gap left by Liz on offence. She came up short, however plenty of pressure laid on a still young player to be the star in absence of the most dominant player the country has at its disposal.
Offensively the girls need to get back to basics. Constantly picking up the ball with no pass or handoff available is beyond worrying. Too many pick and rolls ending up in 20 second offences with a Hail Mary at the end
The team was geared around Steph Talbot and Ezi Magbegor. Never Allen. Julio is a troll.
Asia cup in late September, no wnba players available. Perfect time to rest a bunch of players
#865454
The team (or offense) was built around Allen (go back and watch the Belgium game).
Go back and watch the US pre Olympic game. Talbot and Magbegor. Allen had one decent game, doesn't mean she was the team focus.
Japan is the team we should look up to plus we have post players.
Japan have no choice, they have 1 big who is injured.
Best shooting passing team for sure
Hoopie
Years ago
#446, I think you're being a bit generous on most of them, esp if you’re comparing them against other top 8 teams.
For example, Kayla George might have stood out with some nice touches, but she also missed easy shots, doesn’t move well on defence, and often jogs down the court on offence. Being one of the few talls helped boost her minutes.
Ezi worked hard and showed a lot of promise, but had to take on too much responsibility and become the focus on offence, and she also missed a number of sitters close to the basket.
Tolo ... amazing performance, considering how long she has been playing.
Bec Allen … yes, well. Don’t they have a team psychologist on board, because she should have carried the Opals with her all-round skills?
And so on.
I think it’s time for BA to recognise that persisting with a coach and players who aren’t up to it is just plain dumb. The fans certainly have. Admit that it’s time for a rebuild and have the guts to START DOING IT! Take a gamble on youth and accept that we’ll lose a few games until we work things out. Stop picking based on attendance at COE and athleticism and start picking shooters with good reliable technique, players with hunger and passion, versatile utility players who can fill multiple positions, players who can move their feet quickly on defence, etc.
Interested to know what the new roster would look like, thoughts?
Anonymous
Years ago
We needed a shooter to help spread the floor. We had one waiting in the wings in Whitcomb. People get their undies in a knot because she's Naturalised but end of the day she's a premier shooter and we simply didn't have one on that roster that Sandy selected. They were extremely lucky to make the quarters and it showed from the get go today against a ruthless and well coached US team
Give heal, Rocci, Nicholson, Maley, Aokuso, Scherf a shot in Asia.
Wnba and euro players unavailable which is half thevsquad.
Hoopie not sure if we should listen to someone who can't even get the player's names right. It's Cayla.
Add a fit Talbot to the team and they beat Belgium and China and avoid the US. Make top 4.
The USA are way ahead of everyone else in size, talent and depth.
Given they lost their offensive focus 2 weeks from the start of the event, with a fit Talbot they go top 4 which is where they should have been. Add in a Cambage interested in winning as well and they compete for the Gold.
The haters on Hoops are nasty and personal. Doesn't help.
Heal
Rocci
Lavey
Ebzery or Madgen
Nicholson
Ohea
Blicavs
Maley or Garbin
Smith
George
Aokuso
Scherf
Unavailable
Mitchell
Whitcomb
Talbot
Allen
Magbegor
Tolo
Belgium just choked big time to lose their QF v Japan!
What a win for Japan, 3 best players out.
Vanloo the villain
Belgium should of shot that earlier for a chance to rebound. Such a good win for Japan. They can beat Spain or France in the semi.
And missing tokashiki, fujioka and that other pg.
Credit to Japan program and what they have done in both men nwomen last 5 years.
Looks like we will go from #2 in world to #3 in Asia
Hoopie
Years ago
#469
- happy to be corrected on Carla's name, I don’t know how I did that
- Talbot in would have helped but I doubt it would have suddenly removed many of the other flaws which became obvious over the 4 games. I don’t believe that her presence alone would have made them a top 4 team - they needed more than just her input.
- I agree re USA, which is why I wasn’t comparing them against the US but more against Belgium and China. However, I would still have expected to see better basics individually and better team combination work in the 4 games considering that the same basic core has been there under Sandy for a while.
- I agree that with Cambage we would have challenged for gold, but I was quite ok with letting her go
- I agree re your comment about the haters, and don’t consider myself one. I’m an experienced coach who’s always looking for a better way to do things, and in the Opals I see a need for that. I don’t hate them - I’ve been supporting them for decades, and always will.(Bec Allen has been one of my favourite players for years; that she had a poor tournament is obvious but it doesn’t mean we should drop her automatically. Instead, I’d like BA to find out what the issue was and work out how to make sure it doesn’t happen again.)
Sometimes the process doesn’t work well enough, in which case change should at least be considered. If players have flaws, call them out constructively and work to fix them with the players; otherwise, try something or someone different.
I accept your points, even if I don’t agree with some of them. Rant over.
Hoopie
Years ago
Oh, ffs - I think I should go to bed. I HATE f**king auto-correct.. Yes, CAYLA
The excuses are rollin in...
https://au.yahoo.com/sports/opals-describe-huge-impact-of-liz-cambages-olympics-absence-loss-team-usa-quarter-finals-104536772.html
https://twitter.com/7olympics/status/1422844130120671237?s=21
Not sure 'excuses rolling in' is fair. They lost their dominant 6,8 centre on the eve of the tournament, that’s going to have a significant impact & it’s okay to acknowledge that
If they said we lost Talbot for a couple of games .. that would have been fair.
2 games in 18 months, bunch of bs
Games behind close doors don't count sandy.... lol
Haters. UnAustralian. Seriously these women give their all to represent the country and you sit on your couch beer in hand abusing them.
No ones throwing abuse, just stating the obvious.
Didn't give much is rubbish. They are also playing against the best in the world. It's actually hard to play at that level. That's why so few can do it.
The Deputy PM of Australia making life changing decisions about people's lives and the lives of generations to come was drunk off his face in Parliment today, but meh politics.
Basketballers not living up to my expectation so I can live my failed sporting career through them ... abuse, attacks, demands for sacking, questions about their effort.
This country is stuffed.
#500 it's a problem when you don’t bring the best and choose friends instead.
This is a basketball forum, this isn't about politics.
Look online or Twitter or Instagram, every eighth post almost is about sacking sandy.
so many see it...
France vs Japan
USA vs Serbia
Australia to finish 8th of 12.
France just beat Spain. Spain went into game with 3/0 v France 1/2 , big time upset. France now play Japan.
France had Japan and usa in group, the other semi
21/70 30%
17 assists, 21 turnovers...
That is horrendous!
Julio
Years ago
Not having Cambage shouldn't effect basic shooting and passing/turnover errors. They didn't perform in the Pool matches either. Definitely have to have some changes, that usually falls on the coaching staff in other sports. Surely Sandy's time is numbered.
514, we finished 8th Einstein
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketball_at_the_2020_Summer_Olympics_-_Women%27s_tournament
Rank
Gold medal
Silver medal
Bronze medal
4
5 China
6 Spain
7 Belgium
8 Australia
9 Canada
10 South Korea
11 Nigeria
12 Puerto Rico
Last 25 years olympics
United States 1996 Bronze medallists 3rd of 12 8 5 3 Maher
Australia 2000 Silver medallists 2nd of 12 8 7 1 Maher
Greece 2004 Silver medallists 2nd of 12 8 7 1 Stirling
China 2008 Silver medallists 2nd of 12 8 7 1 Stirling
United Kingdom 2012 Bronze 3rd of 12 8 6 2 Graf
Brazil 2016 Quarterfinals 5th of 12 6 5 1 Joyce
Japan 2020 Quarterfinals 8th of 12 4 1 3 Brondello
Even Joyce finished 10 and 2 in Olympic/WC cycle and he was sacked, sandy ends up 9-4 over 1 Olympic/WC cycle and 17-10 over 3 years and she should keep her job, hell no!
I don't think anyone is suggesting that Sandy should be reappointed, it’s just the over the top (personal) attacks that are distasteful & unnecessary
Olympics is over and it must be Spring soon as the big Cabbage has sprouted again. Was wondering how many days post Olympics it would be.
Interesting comeback in the current context given the heat an AFL player has received in the past week for some non-direct comments.
When should we expect the review to report back, at the end of the WNBA season, late on a Friday afternoon, maybe an AFL finals weekend?
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