Better than having it hosted in Iran...

possible team under chambers with wnba outs?
Brondello, Lange and Goriss will still be in wnba?


Reid-Rocci
Nicholson-Madgen
Blicavs-Maley
Garbin-Froling
Tolo-Scherf

1 of Borlase/Swain
1 of Bibby/Atwell

Others on the list
Mangakahia
Heal
Puoch
Aokuso



Wnba commitments?
Whitcomb
Wallace
Talbot
Allen
Magbegor
George

Likely
Melbourne
Smith

New Zealand have named their extended Asia Cup squad, with a "surprise" inclusion

https://nz.basketball/sky-sport-tall-ferns-confirm-extended-squad-ahead-of-fiba-asia-cup/

"The other great news for us is the reclassification of Tahlia's basketball nationality. Essentially an athlete has a basketball nationality as soon as they put on a national team singlet for the first time. Tahlia played in the U17s and U19s for Australia, so that meant she’d declared for them - even though she has Kiwi parents and a dual passport."

“Over time FIBA has become more accommodating of players wanting to change countries, provided they can meet some strict criteria; ie you’ve lived and played domestically in the country you desire to change to and you’ve made a strong contribution to basketball in that country, which Tahlia has done. FIBA and Basketball Australia agreed to make this happen, which is great news for us and the Tall Ferns squad as Tahlia is still young and obviously very talented. She wants to go to the 2024 Olympics and this is the start of that journey for her.”

Lots will go to nz when they can't make opals. Look at the jnr team lists and you’ll always see 3-4 who have spent entire life in Aus and Aus programs.

Hope the Girls can finally win a gold medal!

NZ tall blacks were very unlucky not qualifying to the Women's World Cup in Australia. I had NZ a better team then South Korea and Puerto Rico.

I don't think New Zealand is better than South Korea. Charlisse Leger-Walker is very good and Davidson is decent in the post but the rest of the New Zealand squad is not really up to scratch. Tupaea could start for them but I think she needs to play her way into some form in the NBL1 season. She's looking very rusty atm. The Koreans were bad at the World Cup but I think they're still more talented than New Zealand overall. Anyway, I think those two teams will be fighting it out for 4th spot at the FIBA Asia Cup and that final Olympics qualification spot.

Best they can do atm, probably

PG C.Leger-Walker
SG T.Tupaea
SF S.Beck
PF C.Paalvast
C K.Purcell (pregnant), P.Davidson has to start

PG K.Leger-Walker
SG M.Goulding
SF T.Reed
PF A.Taia
C P.Davidson, A.West comes in to backup

SG K.Heremaia
C J.Trousdell


This nz will be much better in 5 years time, atm they are 4th to 6th in asia.

Has there been any news or promotion out of the training camp that's currently running? Meant to be prep for this.

Looks lIke only half the squad turned up to Training camp.

Wish the women would take this Asia Cup seriously. We always underachieve in this tournament no Golds.

India 2017 - Bronze.
India 2019 - Silver.
Jordan 2021 - Bronze.

Not sure why the women had 3 tournaments and the men only had 2 tournaments.

We have unfortunately used asia cups for development and having several wnba players unavailable every asia cup doesn't help.

How important is winning the Asia Cup? I think Basketball Australia mainly view it as a way to qualify for international tournaments. Can't say I disagree with them, taking players’ professional commitments into account.

Aussie's should still take it serious since a good example is the New Zealand women’s team not even able to qualify for the Women’s Fiba World Cup in Australia.

Australia has much more talent than New Zealand. *Much* more.

All it takes is one loss in the 1/4s and you are screwed for 3 years. BA is making of the chances of that go up by not taking the asia cup seriously...
Foolish to say we can guarantee 4th or better forever more even with a relatively deep pool.

That is why China demanded li and han be available in previous tournaments. These days the pool is much deeper and can afford to keep 1 in the wnba.

I think Australia will be fine. It's really quite simple - if you want top players to attend these regional tournaments then you pay them. I don’t begrudge top players the opportunity to make money in their relatively short pro careers.

Of course they should prioritise club over country if it is just the Asian cup, the other tournaments have windows inbetween seasons. The issue is using the tournament for development over the best available.

I'm all for using a couple of spots for development as long as we can get away with it. I think that exposure is beneficial.

I don't mind it being used for development as long as that player is good enough to step in and play a role, eg Maley at WWC. You just need a good mix.

From those around this Opals camp and in Europe I'd like to see a team similar to the one that went to Jordan.

Something like:
Guards - Reid, Mangakhaia, Heal, Nicholson
Forwards - Blicavs, Garbin, Atwell, Bibby
Centres - Tolo, Sherf
Youngsters - Borlase, Swain, Pouch (2/3)

Others - Kunek, Horvat (Euros); Mansfield, Magden, Mitchell (Availability?); Rocci, Cole, Sharp, Froling, Aokuso (thereabouts)



I'd let all the US based players stay there, its summer for college and middle of season for WNBA, assuming they all make their teams (unlikely). Melbourne and Maley most likely to come home though, if theu do would try to fit them in.

IMO

Reid(1) / Rocci(1) / Mangakahia(1)
Nicholson(2/3) / Swain(2)
Blicavs(3/4) / Kunek(3)
Griffin(4) / Froling(4/3) / Garbin(4/5)
Tolo(5) / Scherf(5)



In other news, looks like Jackson will play in Paris if healthy. Not a fan of this decision personally.

Also, apparently swain is torchin people at the hoops summit training camp.
Hard to see them being competitive with team usa with such little lead up preparation.

Swain has experience being a regular starter in a decent pro league. Most of the other players at the Nike Hoop Summit have high school experience at best with some FIBA junior international experience. She really should be cleaning up with her talent *and* experience advantage. Hope she has a great game to create a bit of international buzz for her. I think she's being slept on for the upcoming WNBA draft.

I suppose Kunek could bring some experience to an Asia Cup team but I think her offensive game deteriorated in this European season. Do we want Kunek as a defensive stopper off the bench? It's possible Puoch could be better in that role already. Not really that keen on Kunek.

Where is Jackson announcing she's trying for Paris? Please can we not have another comeback go around. Is this all her, or BA trying to ride her coattails as long as possible?

I don't mind a team that included Griffin, she deserves more reps and if Sami is in USA then there's no conflicts. Is she at this camp though?

No she's not, many we’re not selected or at camp. They ended up using the Coe team to make up numbers.

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8145644/french-revelation-opals-open-door-for-stunning-lj-olympic-comeback/

Thanks for link

She had that amazing Sydney WC bronze game, the WNBL season which included that huge crowd game (sure, didn't go to plan). The comeback was a success. She's the GOAT, not Johnny Farnham.

Brondello chasing LJ to play is a bit odd IMO. We're not short of bigs for next year. The bronze medal game against Canada was very impressive of course but besides that, the rest of the tournament was pretty eh. I wouldn't be scrambling to get that LJ on my Olympics playing roster.

They should put Loz Nichols in the team as Captain since her performance with Townsville was great.

Heal is maybe heading to Europe, but she'll also be good since how good Townsville’s run was. Across the board pick mostly WNBL players, then just have a few from collage for development as 11th-12th man spots etc. Get the 3x3 Aussie women’s team included in this squad.

IMO ATM Paris
Reid 1
Rocci 1
Whitcomb 2/1
Melbourne 2/1
Wallace 2/1
Talbot 3/2
Allen 3/4
Blicavs 3/4
Smith 4/5
Magbegor 4/5
George 5/4
Tolo 5


The Reserve squad
Mangakahia 1
Heal 1
Swain 2
Borlase 2
Atwell 3
Puoch 3/4
Maley 3/4
Bibby 4/3
Froling 4/3
Garbin 4
Aokuso 5
Scherf 5


The NOT selected extended squad
Amoore 1
Shelley 2/1
Wehrung 2
Cole 2
Garrick 2
Wilson 2/3
Kunek 3
Sharp 3/4
Horvat 4/3
Griffin 4
Bunton 5
Jackson 5


The Sandy Special and the likely team going to Paris.
Whitcomb 1/2
Melboune 1/2 - comes in, pushing out Maley
Wallace 1/2
Madgen 2/1 - el capatano
Talbot 2/3
Allen 3
Blicavs 3/4
Garbin 4 - Sandy not a big fan of smith it seems
Magbegor 4/5
George 4/5
Tolo 5
Jackson 5 - back again, after retiring

I actually like the Sandy squad with 2 changes.

Smith for Garbin and Scherf for Jackson

Weedy, do you really think Rocci can run the point for the Opals? I'd have Reid & Melbourne or Reid & Mangakahia

I think Goriss/chambers have alot of say, don't forget Rocci was ahead of all other in the japan tri series, Reid only getting a few minutes, Melbourne also missing in the last game and 13th woman at WC.

I have no issue with Mangakahia or Rocci being chosen, but it looks clear they are leaning to Rocci or not at all if they still think Madgen is a pg.

Unrelated but...

Nike hoops summit measurements



S.Swain
Height 5'9.5
Weight 153.7lbs
Wingspan 6’2
Hand Width 7.5inch
Hand Length 7.5inch
Standing Reach 7’6.75

N.Puoch
Height 6’2.25
Weight 156.7lbs
Wingspan 6’4.75
Hand Width 8inch
Hand Length 7.75inch
Standing Reach 8’1

Surprised Pouch hadn't got a longer wingspan

Fournier the Canadian combo forward comes away with the best measurements

Young Oct 2005 born, 6'2.5 with a 6’6 wingspan, big hands and highest vertical leap. The only one that can dunk in the field.

She had been dunking for years and I think will be the first wing to consistently dunk in games when she is in the wnba

Think her future is at pf tbh

Only seen limited games but seem pretty agile. Hopefully she works on it in college. We will see more 6'3" girl becoming wings over the next 5 years. Starting to appear more often now in college.

These days
Low End / High End

PG, 5'6-5’11
SG, 5’9-6’1
SFs, 6’0-6’4
PFs, 6’3-6’5
C, 6’5-6’9


I remember when 5’11 was a big for a sf and 6’5 centres were giants.

Agree. It's the reason I’ve taught my 5’10" 12 year old SF to be a PG as it’s unlikely she will grow much more, maybe another inch if she’s lucky.

Swain now as high as #9 on one mock draft recently updated.
#12, #15, #22, #34 and undrafted on the others.

Can't be having Rocci [for Paris] with better guards around now. Same with Magden, don't need her as captain taking a spot, give that to George or Blicavs.

Smith after this season in Europe and being paid well to do a role in Chicago has to be selected (when available).

Allen isn't a 4, but she and Talbot (when fit again) will have to cover the 3 more in the future than they have in the past, but their versatility is handy.

I thought it was interesting that Rocci didn't attend the Opals camp, especially when almost everyone else she is competing with turned up...

I don't think the camp was that serious, just touching base before camp 2 which I think is in May.