The Chinese and the Opals are fighting for a FINALS spot and the all import-ant RANKING points. An Opals loss to China at HOME carries a points PENALTY and all games carry a points bonus or penalty according to the margin of victory or loss.

The Opals lost to France in the group phase. However, since the Opals have advanced to the Semis, one round further than France, that should cancel the points penalty incurred from the loss to France. China stands to gain ground on Australia, Canada, Belgium, & France with a victory. And it is in China's interest to run up the score against the Opals with a 20 or more point vic- tory. I do not know how to calculate the ranking points, but a big Chinese victory tomorrow could see China vaulted from seventh to fourth.

IF the Opals lose by 20 or more points to the Chinese in the SEMIS, start cheering for a Team USA victory of 20 or more points in the final. Because that maybe the ONLY factor that keeps Australia ahead of China in the rank- ings. Olympic pots contain only three teams. China would advance from 2nd place in pot 3 to 1st place in pot 2. Now here’s the danger for you Aussies. Say China makes the final and losses to Team USA but they go from 637 to 670 points. We are now in Paris, the Opals MUST finish ahead of China, if they
do not, they drop to fourth or even fifth in the rankings. Remember, Spain should be in Paris.

Current Standings

World Zone
Rank Rank

3. Australia 1. AUS 678.0 0
4. Canada 2. CAN 661.6 0
5. Belgium 2. BEL 651.2 +1
6. France 3. FRA 637.7 -1
7. China 2. CHN 631.8 0

Big Chinese Win Standings

World Zone
Rank Rank

3. Australia 1. AUS 678.0 0
4. China 2. CHN 670.0 0
5. Canada 2. CAN 661.6 0
6. Belgium 2. BEL 651.2 +1
7. France 3. FRA 637.7 -1

Pretty sure Spain is in Spain, not Paris.

koberulz
Today

Pretty sure Spain is in Spain, not Paris.

-------------------

The Spanish Women's NATIONAL Team should be in PARIS for the 2024

Olympic Basketball Tournament.

Import-ant
Rank-ings
Vic-tory


If we rank the USA and Australia by basketball results AND education standards I am sure we have got them easily covered.

fan since the old snakepit
A few minutes ago

Import-ant
Rank-ings
Vic-tory


If we rank the USA and Australia by basketball results AND education standards I am sure we have got them easily covered.

-----------------------

This is a basketball tournament not a spelling bee. And the Opals

just rid themselves of a MENTAL DEFECTIVE.

At this point in time no one gives a toss about rankings points

The bible in Aramaic is easier to read than Cam's posts

I am hoping they gave tickets to all the U14 girls that complete their club championships today. A good step to encourage the next generation.

Good idea.

+
Within the hour

I am hoping they gave tickets to all the U14 girls that complete their

club championships today. A good step to encourage the next generation.

-----------------------------------------

I am hoping they gave tickets to all the U14 girls after they ban club

netball. A good step to encourage the next generation.

Aus should leapfrog Spains #2 WR with a semi win.
Canada could also leapfrog us.

Can confirm that no tickets were provided to any U14s. Not sure why they moved the AJC to Sydney. The only link with World Cup was the provision of a 15% off discount code to be used to purchase tickets during a specific 4 day period at the start of September. So many missed opportunities....

Why give tickets away when you can sell them?

Longer term investment by BA - these families put a few grand into getting to the U14s and our future Opals are here - once in a lifetime opportunity - stadium takes ? 15,000 y/n ?

marketing and Mr Cam nothing to do with Netball

+
Today

marketing and Mr Cam nothing to do with Netball

---------------------------------------------------------------------

According to this source: https://profile.id.com.au/australia/five-year-age-

groups

Australia has 4.5-4.6 million children between the ages of 0-14. Say 50% are

female that gives 2.3 million potential female sports participants. I know

Australian girls can play basketball, netball, & soccer and I have no idea how

many sports after that. That means you have a VERY limited population pool

from which to draw your basketball players. As a point of comparison, the

State of Calif has about 2.6 million FEMALE children from the ages of 0-13.



https://profile.id.com.au/australia/five-year-age-groups

2021 Australia

Age 0-4 1,463,817

age 5-9 1,586,139

Age 10-14 1,588,059

If kids choose to play a different sport than basketball then we should definitely ban that other sport. Makes sense on multiple levels.
I know a lot of kids these days are into volleyball as well. Get rid of it. Birthday parties gotta go as well.

I'm out sure what’s more difficult to decipher - Mr. Cam’s posts or Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Much prefer Casey, O'Hea and Griffin doing commentary to Timms, Screen and the guy with them.

No contest in US Canada.

USA 45 Canada 21 HALF

Canada didn't turn up for the first quarter and were down by 20 at quarter time. Stewart, Gray and Thomas all impressive for the US as per usual. Shame the game isn't more competitive (though Canada was competitive against the US bench).

Kyei just 18y.o, will be great in the future.

Why is it that the Opals could only scrape out a 3 point

win against Canada?

Very young squad when you compare it to Aus

Fields 29
Colley 26
Konig 24
Hanson 22
Hill 28
Nurse 26
Carleton 25
Gilles 25
Amihere 21
Achonwa 30
Alexander 31
Kyei 19

Avg age 25,
27 in 2024



Whitcomb 34
Wallace 26
Madgen 32
Talbot 28
Allen 30
Maley 24
Blicavs 29
Garbin 28
Magbegor 23
George 33
Tolo 33
Jackson 41

Avg age 30,
32 in 2024

Weedy Slug
Today

Very young squad when you compare it to Aus

Fields 29
Colley 26
Konig 24
Hanson 22
Hill 28
Nurse 26
Carleton 25
Gilles 25
Amihere 21
Achonwa 30
Alexander 31
Kyei 19

Avg age 25,
27 in 2024



Whitcomb 34
Wallace 26
Madgen 32
Talbot 28
Allen 30
Maley 24
Blicavs 29
Garbin 28
Magbegor 23
George 33
Tolo 33
Jackson 41

Avg age 30,
32 in 2024

---------------------------------------

That looks and sounds like a Basketball Australia COE problem.

Will Team USA WIN BY 30 or more or 40 or more?

A'ja Wilson is the best player in the WORLD! And the ONLY player

that can say otherwise is Breanna STEWART

When Australia played Canada, it was Canada 57 Australia 51 at

the end of the third qtr.

Team USA plays Canada, it was Canada 29, Team USA 67 at the

end of the third qtr.

Why?

How come the Opals never had a 42 point lead over Canada?

Team USA took care of business, let's see if the Opals can win by 40?

USA 83 Canada 43 FINAL

The US continues its relentless march towards the world championship. Canada really struggled, especially offensively, but they have had a great tournament. They'll be tough in the bronze medal match.

Onto the main course now!

Li Meng is doubtful for tonight's game, according to ESPN. Has an illness.

"Mr Cam
Team USA took care of business, let's see if the Opals can win by 40?"

Hey A**clown, Opals only have to win by 1.

Someone said that A'ja Wilson is not as dominant as Lauren

Jackson was. What do you call Wilson's numbers, impotence?

A'ja Wilson against Canada

20 minutes 57 seconds
+/- 35
Efficiency +30
Points 15
Rebounds 12
Assists 1
Steals 3
Blocks 2

Ezi Magbegor against Canada

27 minutes 51 seconds
+/- 14
Efficiency +27
Points 16
Rebounds 7
Assists 3
Steals 1
Blocks 5

Can Ezi Magbegor produce the same or better stats against

China???

These missed layups holy f......

Cayla George is hopeless in big games. Two good games came in the easiest two. She won't pass 5 points tonight

Won't miss the buzzer sound glitches.

Cayla George is hopeless in big games.

Cracking game, the two #14 going at one another been great.

Needs more gold #5

Imagine playing an away game in your own country

Really feels like that doesn't it

China 36 Australia 30 HALF

It's a scrappy game which is what we want, but the offensive execution hasn't been good enough. The missed layups! Thank goodness for Whitcomb. But it's still a competitive game and very winnable.

Netball ads playing during the commerical break.

Need to find offense and quickly. Can't expect another half of Sami bailout.
And yeah ... finishing the wiiiiiiide open layups would be useful too.

More Wallace, less Madgen.

Definitely need more Wallace, yes. Might need more Madgen too.

Canada put the cue in the rack very early in that game. None of their starters played more than 21 minutes. Meanwhile we'll be running our key players into the ground as long as this stays a contest. Will handicap us significantly tomorrow.

Gotta make a run with Han Xu on the bench.

Lucky Mitchell retired or we'd be on less than 20pts for the half.

Well that was a wasted stretch.

Well, we're still in it but we’ve had our chances to pull away for a comfortable lead. Now we need to get to the foul line a lot more.

flop

Pau Gasol in the house!

Need some ball movers mid range/3pt shooters and more pace in this team.
Tolo been great, Blicavs not good.

Minutes
Madgen over wallace(wnba)
Blicavs over Allen(wnba)
George over Magbegor(wnba)

Team doing very well, but yes the game is about speed and athletes.

George has been good though, China doesn't defend the 10 ft jump shot well.

Both sides excellent, love the way the refs let them play.

Come on, girls - play smart and finish strong!!

Win or lose, not the greatest game today.
Lots of missed layups, passes, turnovers, just 25% from 3 today.

Hopefully we got the bad offensive decisions out of our system that quarter and play with composure in the 4th

33%fg

It's been an incredibly fugly game.

Pau Gasol in the house!

Hopefully we got the bad offensive decisions out of our system that quarter and play with composure in the 4th

RIP aussie

Very tight, some players really struggling to get up and down.

C'mon Wally. Be smarter.

Dam the shooting % are shocking.

Don't like some of the drone-style camera angles.

Don't like some of the drone-style camera angles.

flop again

Feed is also terrible all tournament

Can possession arrow please fuck off?

"I've seen:

Gaze
Gasol and
Yao Ming.

Anyone else?"

Lauren Jackson is in the house too

She's an active player not a FIBA ambassador.

Hold tight, could scrape over the line here.

"She's an active player not a FIBA ambassador."

Joke
______

Your head ;)

Anyone want to see overtime?

Regardless of result, surely sandy knows we need another ball handler next year.

Yipes, terrible offence out of that timeout.

Cayla lol

Stupid.

It might be bit ugly but I've really enjoyed this game.

FT AUS 59-61 CHN

So winnable

That hurts

Damn, that Talbot turnover killed it.

It's hard when you're playing in China's backyard.

Should have subbed on super sub Liz Cambage

On the last Opals possession: Ezi MAGBEGOR 2pt driving layup missed

A very tight game and we did some great work to hang in there, but jeez we did some dumb stuff compared with what had been so successful to now.

Perthworld
Today

It's hard when you're playing in China's backyard.

_________________________________________________

Excuses, excuses, excuses!!!

A 3 from LJ would have been a fairy-tale ending. Could have put her on instead of Bec.

Credit where it is due to China's defence.
They made life bloody hard for us.

Cracking game, hopefully australia get the bronze. It's a world game, they just don’t hand out medals like some other sports australia compete in.
Probably should have tried to get the bench more time though the tournament, to many exhausted players down the stretch.

The missed lay-ups and fouls shots... shot ourselves in the foot

China 61 Australia 59 FINAL

Damn, that was so winnable. Our spotty offensive execution caught up with us and hopefully it provides food for thought about team selection and strategy. Great effort from both teams though and it was very entertaining despite the ugliness.

Bronze medal game should be good tomorrow. The gold medal game, probably a one sided affair for the US.

You can look at a lot of why's, but I'm not convinced by the current coaching group. It's all panick and stress in the whiteboard which screams of an insufficient preparation.

We had a beautiful mismatch going on with Ezi and then Allen comes in and throws 3 hail Mary's in a row with no passing.

Desparate for more on floor leadership and some perimeter threats.

Thought our defence was a lot better than where we were at at the start of the week.

A22

Probably should have tried to get the bench more time though the tournament, to many exhausted players down the stretch.

16 hour turnaround, third game in three days...no way it's going to be watchable.

No player to take pressure off Sami, sandy looked pretty disgusted at the press conference when the dude was telling her the squad needed another pg over a forward,
Eg like Maley who she didn't use much.

We did not look after the ball at all, and you just knew that last play was going to hell. So much talk and then seemingly changing parts right at the end. Shame, as their form deserved to have them play in the gold match. It will take a huge effort to get up next game, considering their schedule.

Luuuc
A couple of hours ago

Definitely need more Wallace, yes. Might need more Madgen too.

Canada put the cue in the rack very early in that game. None of their starters played more than 21 minutes.

Meanwhile we'll be running our key players into the ground as long as this stays a contest. Will handicap

us significantly tomorrow.
--------------------------------
Total
mins

Ezi MAGBEGOR 22:29

Marianna TOLO 25:31

Cayla GEORGE 27:31

Steph TALBOT 31:56

Samantha WHITCOMB 32:20

Wallace 9 mins
Garbin 2 mins
Maley 0 mins
Jackson 2 mins

Madgen 13 mins 0 points
Allen 13 mins 0 points
Blicavs 19 mins 0 points

Xu HAN against Australia

26 minutes 28 seconds
+/- 5
Efficiency +33
Points 19
Rebounds 11
Assists 0
Steals 2
Blocks 5

Ezi Magbegor against Canada

27 minutes 51 seconds
+/- 14
Efficiency +27
Points 16
Rebounds 7
Assists 3
Steals 1
Blocks 5

Can Ezi Magbegor produce the same or better stats against China???

The answer is NO!

Ezi Magbegor against China

22 minutes 29 seconds
+/- 1
Efficiency +18
Points 12
Rebounds 6
Assists 2
Steals 3
Blocks 1

IF Ezi Magbegor had only replicated her stats from the game against

Canada, the Opals would be playing Team USA for the Gold. Now the

Opals have ONE day to recover.

It was obvious that Tolo should have been rested much earlier in the first quarter, which would have made a difference later in the game when we needed her energy and toughness.

I disagreed with some of Sandy's combinations. Hell, I might even have tried Tolo, Magbegor, George, Talbot and Whitcomb at one stage to put China’s bigs under real pressure.

And I would have ripped into the girls early in the third qtr when they started rushing up shots and playing stupid.

But what would I know?

A healthy Bec Allen would have helped - I can't believe she's magically fully better a few days after that injury. Could have played Wallace and Jackson a few more minutes.

I think Brondello goes with Madgen over Wallace because she's steadier on offence. The problem is that Madgen doesn't really ADD anything to the offence. She can hit a wide open three but that's about it. Wallace is a bit more erratic but can make more plays if given the chance.

Blicavs' inability to shoot from the outside really hurts her utility on offence. She looked good against Belgium, but most of the tournament (including tonight's game) she has wafted around not looking like she has a purpose on offence. Such a player shouldn't get so much playing time in big games.

That was brutal

Opals tried their hearts out, rebounded like crazy and defended well, but ultimately couldn't execute well enough on the offensive end

I would've liked to see LJ out there in the 2nd half, for a bit of extra offensive punch, but we did struggle in 1st half with her out there, and the crew down the stretch was at least getting it done at one end of the floor so it's understandable

Bit concerning/odd that 33 y/o Whitcomb (although she's playing well) appears to be the only PG?

Seems like many of the core players are quite old- Tolo, Whitcomb, George

We're heading into the Ezi era though, she's a bonafide star

The offense seems tailored to the team- lots of screens, pick and rolls, back cuts to help cover the reality that we lack explosive go-to scorers who can penetrate and attack the rim. The lack of scoring tonight might be a personnel issue more than a coaching issue. But I don't know the girls games too well so could be off the mark there

My first post here. Thanks for the opportunity.

Tough game and hats off to China who thoroughly deserved the win. Team selection was flawed from get go. A young guard like Melbourne or Heal to support Whitcomb would have been helpful but then Sandy would likely have been reluctant to use them. I'm not a fan of her screeching flustered communication style. While she coached and subbed better as tournament went on, last night Brondello ran key players into the ground Whitcomb, Talbot and Tolo. At this level Madgen simply isn't up to it. That's been obvious to most but not Sandy. I also think the wife-husband coaching team is unprofessional. Cheryl Chambers offers something strong for future. Good coach proven at WNBL level and experienced assistant with this program. Would like to think there are other good candidates. Shannon Seebohm always impresses me as a fine young coach coming through doing well with Sapphires. Chris Lucas is good. Paul Gorris and Guy Molloy less preferred but do have WNBL titles on their CV

Heal coughs it up with a little bit of pressure applied, I doubt she will be the long term option for australia.
Chambers and Goriss, no thanks, had more than enough opportunity. It's time for fresh blood, Seebohm, veal etc.

Imagine playing an away game in your own country

Yep Australia , Chinas province , imagine going to war with China, half their army is already here lol

But what a crowd fantastic atmosphere and so good for womens basketball , it was absolutely deafening at times, from both sides really , now imagine how loud the finals going to be , that's going to be one hell of a game

1.4 mill Chinese in Aus. 5.6% of the population.

"Definitely need more Wallace, yes. Might need more Madgen too. “

Certainly didn't need more Wallace, she completely undisciplined, huge difference between playing tight D and thuggery D, Wallace plays the latter, she’s had more offensive fouls and fouls than points in the minutes she’s played
Putting a team like China who will not back off from someone hacking at them , to the foul line in such a tight game would have been poor coaching ( though Sandy isn’t the best of coaches I don’t think she’s that stupid) same as how she didn’t play Jackson, game was way too fast for Jackson, she’s done physically at this level, but has been an important PR piece for the Opals after the mess Cabbage created
WHITCOMB made a huge error, one she will no doubt be upset about herself, but that’s sport , you can only have one winner , the girls did OK, they needed a true PG to create for them, and control the game, we tried to play at Chinas erratic pace, instead of playing our game of controlled and patient offence , shots were rushed .
BA need to clear out the old blood, Brondello included and start looking at more than just their fav COE players and the old worn out legs
All those players should have been able to play at pace a good 30 mins plus , Talbot and maybe WHITCOMB I think looked the only one who could .
I hope they can pull off bronze today, but Canada may just put run them

I thought not playing Wallace much last night was a huge mistake. Led to huge fatigue for Whitcombe, who wasn't able to drive the offence in Q4 and had some key mental errors on D late.

Trouble with Wallace is she ain't a pg and some players like this play erratic when you put them in for only 2-3 min short stints. She’s not an impact player, Melbourne is an impact player. She’s a backup sg that needs 5-6 min runs, playing 20 minutes, not just 9.
Whitcomb was gassed, 33 min yesterday, Madgen offered nothing, to slow to penetrate, can’t create seperation, can’t facilitate or direct, solely a spot shooter in space.

The guard problem needs addressing like many have already said.
Whitcomb, Wallace, Melbourne, still need 2 more guards over the next 2 years. Lavey would be selected under a new coach I think, if it’s Seebohm, we would likely see some bias and Reid would come in too.

Outside of that, a fully fit Mangakahia deserves a shot at running the point and I think getting Swain into an opals camp would likely see her thrive in a more competitive environment. Puoch also another to get into camp quick as future opals sf.

Unfortunately with only 2 years to Paris a lot of people are going to try and hang on in this program even though they are done.

I don't see BA blowing it up, but they need to.

I would start by changing the coaching group, less interested in who comes in than moving on from Brondello, not because she can't coach but trying to juggle the Opals as her second priority isn't right and hurts the team at the margins and the margins is all it takes to get rolled in a key game.

The key core of the team is Tolo, Ezi, Talbot, Whitcomb and Allen...every other spot should be up for grabs.

I would take Melbourne, how she wasn't picked above Maley is a mystery.

Not sure why Smith wasn't in, hopefully she will come back.

I wouldn't take Madgen, LJ (give her an assistants gig), Maley.

Others might keep going while we transition.

With all the kids playing college hoops over the last decade their must be contenders.

We do lack some star power, but have enough talent to compete at the top 5 level.

F22

Hard to make a decision on Maley with very little gametime. She is only 23 also.
31y.o Kunek deserves a shot after 2 great seasons in europe and I think Blicavs spot is also up for grabs. Was woeful yesterday, played too much.

Certainly didn't need more Wallace, she completely undisciplined, huge difference between playing tight D and thuggery D, Wallace plays the latter, she's had more offensive fouls and fouls than points in the minutes she’s played

My 'em has matured and deserves a look for sure, n her younger years she was not a great fit.
But it's not those positions we are short on it’s the true PG that can make decisions , run a team, play defence and score when needed.
The fitness level of the so called "elite of basketball “ was clearly an issue
They should ALL be able to run a full 40 mins , not that you would want them to but they should be able to.
They need a coach and a board that looks further than the “circle clique"
Reid, Rocci, Wallace , Melbourne are all firm favs of Gorris and Seebohm, Mangakahia got the sympathy pick by Sandi
Time they looked at the rest of what we have

"Trouble with Wallace is she ain't a pg and some players like this play erratic when you put them in for only 2-3 min short stints."


Wallace had played her back-up role well throughout the tournament, there was no gambling by putting her on. For some reason, she played the fewest minutes of any game this tournament when Whitcombe desperately needed that extra rest.

It's a common decision basketball coaches make late in seasons/tournaments, not trusting the bench players who have helped get them there in the first place and running the starters into the ground so they're not as effective late-game.

Shotblocker, who is the rest?

Free throws win games.

This was particularly brutal:

36 - 40
Q3 | 6:57

32 Samantha Whitcomb 3rd of 3 free throws missed

36 - 40
Q3 | 6:57

32 Samantha Whitcomb 2nd of 3 free throws missed

36 - 40
Q3 | 6:57

32 Samantha Whitcomb 1st of 3 free throws missed

Perthworld
Within the hour

This was particularly brutal:

36 - 40
Q3 | 6:57

32 Samantha Whitcomb 3rd of 3 free throws missed

36 - 40
Q3 | 6:57

32 Samantha Whitcomb 2nd of 3 free throws missed

36 - 40
Q3 | 6:57

32 Samantha Whitcomb 1st of 3 free throws missed

----------------------------------------------------------

What did you expect from Samantha "the FOREIGN import

SCRUB" Whitcomb???