Post by semper on Jul 16, 2021 19:34:14 GMT -5
I was traveling and could not see it.
Here is one person's analysis:
"3. All-Star Spots
As regular readers will be aware, I'm not the biggest fan of All-Star games. The basketball tends to be virtually unwatchable, and the sideshows aren't enough to keep me entertained. This year was a little different. It still wasn't quite a proper game - there were 19 fouls called all night, and only 17 free throws - but the Team USA vs Team WNBA structure made it a contest. Both sides gave a damn, and the fact that it stayed close helped as well. If either side had been up 20 in the final quarter, we might've seen paths cleared for attempted dunks; instead we had both sides battling it out to the finish, until Team USA realized they'd run out of time to bridge the gap.
The loss in and of itself isn't a huge deal for the USA. On a pure talent basis Team WNBA was comfortably the strongest squad they'll face all summer, plus the US are obviously still in the process of trying to coalesce into a team. However, there were some interesting indications of what might be to come, and a few mildly worrying concerns for the US.
Despite the move to add an extra wing player to the squad rather than another post (like, say, Nneka Ogwumike), Breanna Stewart still started the game at the 3. She spent the vast majority of her minutes at that spot over the course of the game, playing as essentially a perimeter player. Stewart can certainly perform that role - she won MVP at the World Cup three years ago as a 3, and played there a lot for UMMC Ekaterinburg this year. She'd be one of the best players in the world as a full-time 3. But it's still not her most effective position, or where she's been playing for Seattle all season. Once Diana Taurasi is healthy maybe we'll see her as a de facto 3 alongside two other guards, sliding Stewart more to the 4, but Wednesday night was an indication that Dawn Staley still seems to view Stewart as a regular wing option. It would be a stretch to call the position a 'hole', but the US haven't really played with a natural 3 at a major tournament since Tamika Catchings retired (and Angel McCoughtry started picking up major injuries).
The other primary element that Wednesday night seemed to highlight about Team USA was their lack of a player like the MVP of the game, Arike Ogunbowale. The US obviously have a lot of people who can get their shot whenever they want. But they have a lot of guards who are willing to sit back and wait, or pick their moments. Jewell Loyd, Ariel Atkins, Sue Bird, Chelsea Gray and even modern-day Diana Taurasi are often willing to play a secondary role offensively to high-scoring teammates - Ogunbowale wants the ball and wants to shoot. This obviously comes with negatives as well - when the ball isn't dropping, that kind of player can shoot you out of games just as easily as they can win them - but Ogunbowale is the sort of player who forces the action. Team USA sometimes feels just a little bit too nice. Everyone recognizes how good everyone else is, and wants to make the extra pass or the 'right' play. Sometimes you just want them to illustrate that they're the best basketball players on Earth and go get a bucket.
Of course, none of this is likely to matter. There are some good teams going to Tokyo, and on a bad night for Team USA an upset isn't beyond the realm of possibility. But typically, talent wins out. And player-for-player, as usual, the Americans are comfortably the most talented team heading to the Olympics. However, as Wednesday night illustrated, a motivated opponent can be a dangerous thing, even against a team that's won the last six Olympic gold medals."
As regular readers will be aware, I'm not the biggest fan of All-Star games. The basketball tends to be virtually unwatchable, and the sideshows aren't enough to keep me entertained. This year was a little different. It still wasn't quite a proper game - there were 19 fouls called all night, and only 17 free throws - but the Team USA vs Team WNBA structure made it a contest. Both sides gave a damn, and the fact that it stayed close helped as well. If either side had been up 20 in the final quarter, we might've seen paths cleared for attempted dunks; instead we had both sides battling it out to the finish, until Team USA realized they'd run out of time to bridge the gap.
The loss in and of itself isn't a huge deal for the USA. On a pure talent basis Team WNBA was comfortably the strongest squad they'll face all summer, plus the US are obviously still in the process of trying to coalesce into a team. However, there were some interesting indications of what might be to come, and a few mildly worrying concerns for the US.
Despite the move to add an extra wing player to the squad rather than another post (like, say, Nneka Ogwumike), Breanna Stewart still started the game at the 3. She spent the vast majority of her minutes at that spot over the course of the game, playing as essentially a perimeter player. Stewart can certainly perform that role - she won MVP at the World Cup three years ago as a 3, and played there a lot for UMMC Ekaterinburg this year. She'd be one of the best players in the world as a full-time 3. But it's still not her most effective position, or where she's been playing for Seattle all season. Once Diana Taurasi is healthy maybe we'll see her as a de facto 3 alongside two other guards, sliding Stewart more to the 4, but Wednesday night was an indication that Dawn Staley still seems to view Stewart as a regular wing option. It would be a stretch to call the position a 'hole', but the US haven't really played with a natural 3 at a major tournament since Tamika Catchings retired (and Angel McCoughtry started picking up major injuries).
The other primary element that Wednesday night seemed to highlight about Team USA was their lack of a player like the MVP of the game, Arike Ogunbowale. The US obviously have a lot of people who can get their shot whenever they want. But they have a lot of guards who are willing to sit back and wait, or pick their moments. Jewell Loyd, Ariel Atkins, Sue Bird, Chelsea Gray and even modern-day Diana Taurasi are often willing to play a secondary role offensively to high-scoring teammates - Ogunbowale wants the ball and wants to shoot. This obviously comes with negatives as well - when the ball isn't dropping, that kind of player can shoot you out of games just as easily as they can win them - but Ogunbowale is the sort of player who forces the action. Team USA sometimes feels just a little bit too nice. Everyone recognizes how good everyone else is, and wants to make the extra pass or the 'right' play. Sometimes you just want them to illustrate that they're the best basketball players on Earth and go get a bucket.
Of course, none of this is likely to matter. There are some good teams going to Tokyo, and on a bad night for Team USA an upset isn't beyond the realm of possibility. But typically, talent wins out. And player-for-player, as usual, the Americans are comfortably the most talented team heading to the Olympics. However, as Wednesday night illustrated, a motivated opponent can be a dangerous thing, even against a team that's won the last six Olympic gold medals."