I thought Lauren Jackson had retired again?

Really struggling to understand Madgen's selection.

She got the auto selection 'C' badge.

Alice Kunek was unlucky but can say the same for Rocci, Reid.

Atwell and Kunek much more valuable than Magden.

Atwell and Kunek much more valuable than Magden.

Old and Slow , I hope that Brondello is brave enough to not start Madgen and George and give the likes of Melbourne and Borlase decent amounts of Court time.

Is Mr Brondello about to appear on the benches again as he done before ??

There were lucky players included based on form: Tess Madgen and Cayla George.

there were very unlucky players to miss out: Alice Kunek and Darcee Garbin.

Atwell's lack of D hurt her chances. Steph Reid's height may have hurt hers as well.

Officially

Brondello HC
Chambers AC
Seebohm AC
Goriss AC

Social media says these were better options

Jade Melbourne
Sami Whitcomb
Kristy Wallace - Rocci/Reid/Amoore
Isobel Borlase
Tess Madgen - Kunek/Atwell/Nicholson
Steph Talbot
Bec Allen
Alanna Smith
Cayla George - Garbin/Aokuso
Ezi Magbegor
Lauren Jackson
Marianna Tolo

I seem to be the only one saying Swain for Madgen.
Not a whole lot of love for heal who has scored back to back 50+ point games.

I would love to have seen Swain in for Madgen, but at this level I think it would have been more for the experience than for the minutes.

Swain's time is likely to come as soon as Paris is over and the retirements flood in.

I would not choose anyone for an Olympic team just for the experience.
Best of the best imo.

Will we medal?

We should finish top 4.
Outside of the 4, brondello should step down imo.

Really only usa are superior, the rest are beatable if we perform.

Both Talbot and Allen injured today, not good.
Hopefully will be ok for the Olympics.

Allen has been listed as a game day decision (lower back) for a few games now.
Sometimes has played, sometimes hasn't.

Talbot though - leaving the game early with a foot injury and not returning ... that's a worry.

Talbot is a big worry. Allen appears set to return next game.

Agree. Top 4 for the Opals or we underachieve with this squad and the competition ahead.

Swain's time will come, as perhaps will Heal's.

NBL1 form is a lot different to international form.

Kunek Atwell and Nicholson are not the same position as Madgen. Kunek would be competing with Borlase, Allen and Talbot. Rocci/Reid competing for ball handling position against Melbourne/Whitcomb. Wallace plays more of a role and can kind of plug a few positions. Her work ethic and hustle gives her a point of difference.
I'm guessing Madgen is favoured for her affect on the team and her experience. I don't see Rocci as ready yet. I would have maybe preferred Reid for Madgen but her height is questionable.
Agree George has been out of form, but she is bigger and stronger than Darcee, also more of a shooter and a great passer. I think Garbin was more competing with Smith, who has been in great form.

OVerall I think the team is right, and will hopefully do well. Best of luck to all the ladies.

George was in fine form on Have You Been Paying Attention this evening, for what that's worth

Talbot back in action today for LA was a welcome sight.

What are Alice Kunek and Amy Atwell doing with the Opals in Spain? Is someone injured?

Coverage for the warm up games and reserves for the Olympic team.

Is someone going in with a suspect injury?

Madgen is pretty much permanently injured, right? Allen & Talbot have had injuries lately. Wallace always a worry. LJ could break at any moment.
Having a couple of spares on hand and involved until the very last second seems wise.

Allen, Talbot, Wallace, Madgen, Jackson have all had issues in the last 2 months.
Probably should have taken 1 pg and 1 fwd as backup, not 2 that play the same position.

BA recently have put out a schedule that is different.

23 JULY - Opals vs Spain
Calle de Damaso Alonso, Segovia
Spain Invitational Tournament  
2:00am AEST | 3:30am AEST | 4:00am AEST
 
24 JULY – Opals vs Canada
Calle de Damaso Alonso, Segovia
Spain Invitational Tournament  
12:00pm AEST | 1:30am AEST | 2:00am AEST


Doesn't even make sense..., all in AEST.
BA lol.
It actually AWST / ACST / AEST

Reserve players - also a risk that a 3x3 player got injured before the start of the games and needed replacing.

Pre olympic Game at 4am tomorrow morning vs Spain on Courtside.
Vs Canada at the same time the following morning.

Anyone found a box score?
Just watched the 3min highlights on Courtside- interesting that Kunek and Atwell both got on the court given that they are supposedly emergencies, so interested to see who didn't play (I think I saw Madgen in the background wearing a full tracksuit)

Found a box score but it's not letting me post the link.

Madgen and Talbot didn't play.

Also, Borlase and Allen were listed as active but played 0 min.

Madgen has only played limited minutes in 4 of the last 8 warmup games.

Madgen is apparently playing the next game.
Allen and Talbot managing WNBA niggles - nothing serious.

Game was broadcast live on Spanish RTVE.es Deportes

Great to see Smith bring her WNBA form to opals, good both off & D. Ezi solid but missed a few easy layups. If both Ezi & Smith fire, Opals look dangerous.

Can't find a video replay (or not posted yet?).
Next Aus v Canada match is showing as upcoming. You will need to signup a free account.

Opals were up 20 at 3/4 time. There was convenietly a scoreboard issue which then halted the restart of the 4th quarter, and then within a blink Spain had the lead back to about 6 points.

Ezi was terrible for pretty much the whole game must have missed at least 8 shots under the basket.

Kunek was almost 1st sub into the game. Atwell and Kunek both played big minutes.

4 selected players werent suited up.

S5 was

Melbourne
Whitcomb
Atwell
Smith
Magbegor

+ subs
Wallace
Kunek
George
Jackson
Tolo

DNP
Madgen
Borlase
Talbot
Allen

Power rankings have USA, Belgium and France winning medals.

Australia up at half time 39-35 vs Canada but we ain't looking too good.
No Borlase, Talbot or Jackson.

Canada not so good either, predicted to finish somewhere in the middle of the pack this Olympics. Future majors they should be stacked and move up the rankings.
5 u23s on the current roster.

FT
Canada beat Australia in a tight contest. 77-74.

Melbourne very good, Smith good, Magbegor better late. The rest need to turn it up a notch...

Some of these vets really struggle against the youth.

That was honestly terrible.

Allen limped off after chasing down a fast break, put her hand straight up and went straight to the locker room.

Atwell gets into the game, turns down a shot, turns it over, then misses a block out which lead to a score, then fouls a 3 point shooter with less than 1 sec left on the clock before half time.

Complete lack of a point guard, and bigs got beaten inside. In the 3rdQ Whitcomb with 2 poor dribbling turnovers and then forced shots, total liability for 2-3 mins.

Melbourne has a complete lack of poise though and blew the wide open uncontested layup for the win. Looked like she might have tweeked an ankle a couple of plays earlier.

Smith a complete lack of poise. Easy to see why Magden was starting as she bring a level of calm and organisation.

Amazing how a team can go from looking so good against China to complete rubbish.

Jackson spent the whole game standing behind the bench, which was a bit strange. No Borlase again is a big concern.

Started with 3 guards. Amazing how they can have so many guards and not one point guard.

Wouldnt surprise me if Kunek ends up getting a spot, especially with Allen hurt they have no wing type defenders/runners.

Hard to see what that game achieved.

how did you watch it Hooping? Do you have a link?

The link below is my gift to you Bluey. All sports, all the time, all free.
Just be careful on how you navigate it. You'll need to click away a lot of ads before you can press the play button on your chosen sport link.
Hopefully it'll allow me to post the link.
If not, i'll follow with a wording of the link


https://www.vipleague.pm/

appreciate you Bear

Full replay on CBC sports - VPN required.

https://www.cbc.ca/player/sports/replays

@ Bluey watched it on courtside1891. Different commentary to the Canada link above.

Allen was hurt at the 9min mark on the 2nd quarter, right leg, pulled up hopping onto left leg and then limped off to change rooms. Spanish people on X have said not an ankle but higher up. So who knows. None of the commentators even noticed.

Wallace has been very poor, punched herself in the head at the end of the first qtr from frustration.

Trying to work out what does Kunek need to do to get a start here. All star 5 in last years FIBA qualifying and played extremely well against China. Sandy must have her favorites.

Kunek has been good in some games and missing in others since her return to the opals. A good replacement for Blicavs or Maley for sure but I don't think she’s ahead of Allen or Talbot. I’d happily take Kunek, another forward over a 5th big.

Borlase, Talbot still yet to play.
Madgen, Jackson sat out 1 game each.
Both Atwell and Kunek have not done much in 2 games.
Allen injured early vs Canada.
Melbourne has been played to exhaustion, the failed layup at the end as an eg.
Wallace is clearly struggling mentally, nothing is working for her atm, dropped from the fever rotation in the last month probably did not help.
Smith, Tolo have been serviceable.
George and Jackson have contributed but can be a liability if you want to play a bit quicker or against a more athletic opponent.
Magbegor, another one that’s looks spent after a big half season with the storm
Whitcomb looks more like a 2, big minutes at the point is slowing her down. She is 36 now.
George 35, Tolo 35, Jackson 43, Madgen 34, Allen 32, alot of exp but also alot of miles in the legs.

Not expecting much from this Dad's Army Opals Team, we’ve taken into this Olympic Campaign players who are borderline injured, in poor form & way past their prime date! This Olympics is a recipe for disaster with an all time low finish on the cards, this is Team that Sandy wanted so she’ll have to ride or die with them...

There's an interesting article in The Age online this morning about the Opals culture and how they developed it.

Sandy’s comments suggest that she was very hands-off in its development.

Opals team selections in summary.

5 players selected to cover the 4/5 spots. Including Allana Smith who is ranked 9th in WNBA in fouls per minutes and Ezi who is ranked14th in fouls per minute. To be backed up by 3 player each aged 35,35, 43. Just wait for Smith fouls putter her into foul trouble. Hard to see any of these 5 playing any positions other that 4/5 primarily because Smith is likely to get into foul trouble.

That leaves 7 players to cover 3 spots or 120 minutes per game
Out of those 7 players who are all guards, you could argue that all 7 of them are shooting/combo guards. Apparently a 3 or mobile stretch 4 big are not required anymore.

So we know that Borlase, Allen, Talbot are all injured or carrying injuries in addition Madgen has barely played this year due to injuries. Are they going to be able to consistently get 60 minutes per game or more out of these 4. Tough to ease players back in when so many under a cloud.

Out of the remaining 3 healthy players - 36 year old Sammi Whitcomb's form has been on the decline, turnovers and a poor 3pt% is almost a given. Wallace isn’t at the top of her game and is struggling. These 2 should really only be playing 30 minutes a game between them.

That leaves 21 year old Jade Melbourne, who looked like she tweaked an ankle last minute of the practice game against in group rival Canada. Let’s assume Jade has to play 30 minutes per game.

The reserves are a very tentative 26 year old Atwell, and Kunek who is 33 and at least can play that missing wing , small ball stretch 4 spot.

Hopefully they can get past Nigeria in the first game.

The Opals team physios might be the real MVP's this campaign.

The Boomers made the tough calls. I am not sure the Opals did. Find out next week.

Not sure about that...

Chambers/Goriss would want Rocci
Seebohm would want Reid/Kunek

0 made the final 12.

If Allen is not able to continue, surely they would have to go with Kunek. Atwell defense is not up to Kunek's level. Need a tall 3 to swap over with Allen.

Can probably assume Allen is ok to go if you look at recent Insta vids and pics.

Bec Allen is out. Atwell in.

Hard top,

where has this been reported? is this official? I can't find anything.

big call Allen already in the athlete's village.

I mean if she has an official injury and is unable to play, I guess it would make sense that their is an official replacement such as Atwell, but I can't see anything on the basketball australia website confirming it?

It will come

Opals photos in the new kit this arvo, no sign of atwell but Allen is still there.
Would be very last minute replacement if true.

I find it annoying when people give information not publicly available without any sort of details, explanation, source etc..
At least it wasn't the even more cryptic "big out for the Opals to be announced soon" type post that I also see on these threads (which funnily enough often seem to turn out to be true, although in this case Hardtop has no previous posting history to suggest whether they are actually 'in the know' or not).

Just watched the recent opals Insta page update from 10 mins ago, allen clearly there.
Hardtop maybe just a big atwell fan or he/she really is in the know.

If Bec has tweaked a hamstring then she would be looking at a 2 week minimum recovery, but could still be walking around fine. There must be an official time to submit a confirmed roster. I expect that she would just stay with the team even if she isnt playing.

The cut off was 25th July.

Don't think I've ever heard Atwell described as "tentative" before.

Atwell was very poor, nervous I guess, in the Canada practice game.

I did have her in my original 12 at the expense of George, and backing up Allen at the 3.

Official Atwell in , Allen out hamstring

Hardtop was in the know.
Without Allen, medal chances have slipped quite a bit.
Hopefully Amy pulls up at every oppportunity, not pass it.
Still end of Brondello finishing outside the 4?

:(
Losing Allen really hurts
At both ends

Shooting, D and rebounding gone. Atwell offers just 1.

Ah bugger, that is a big blow losing Allen! Such a vital cog. All the best to Atwell who has worked super hard the get the opportunity. When in rhythm she is a fantastic shooter.

Allen has been a star for the Opals, next Olympics will be 35. Fingers crossed she gets another good crack at LA Olympics (if she chooses).

I don't think she’ll make the next Olympics tbh.
2026 WC probably her last chance.

You're probably right there Weedy, 4 years is a long way away. But she is such an elite pro with her fitness and routines that she might be half a chance. Might depend a fraction on how she is still fairing in the WNBA. LJ is such an inspiration to this squad at age 43 and still finding good ways to contribute.

Yeah, 4 years is a long time, and if there's one thing an Opals program would never do it's select a player who is past their prime!

Belgium news - Julie Allemand will not participate in the 2024 Olympics due to injury

Hurts them too. Was a pivotal piece with her speed.

That really sucks about Allen, hope the injury is not too serious.