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Post by pinotbear on Jul 21, 2024 7:37:01 GMT -5
Like a lot of all-star exhibitions, doesn't seem that defense was a point of emphasis.
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Post by bulkey on Jul 21, 2024 14:38:45 GMT -5
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Post by linkster on Jul 21, 2024 18:59:05 GMT -5
Not unexpected. The all-stars had much more incentive.
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Post by bulkey on Jul 22, 2024 19:00:25 GMT -5
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Post by bulkey on Jul 23, 2024 7:02:47 GMT -5
Beeb News has a nice article on the 1924 Olympics, including: The 1924 Games was the first to broadcast radio commentaries and advances in training, clothing and equipment helped athletes break new records.Olympians also became celebrities in their own right. Swimming superstar Johnny Weissmuller became a Hollywood star after winning gold, and American tennis player Helen Wills became the first woman athlete to become a global celebrity.www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0jq54jv5k7o
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Post by semper on Jul 23, 2024 7:10:36 GMT -5
This is the first of three previews analyzing each group; those will then be followed by an overall prediction article. Each group preview will discuss all four of its competitors in detail, listed in the order of the teams’ seeds from the draw. Note that hyperlinks on players’ names are connected to player pages on our stats site, Her Hoop Stats. The games will start on Sunday, July 28, with certain games being televised on the NBC family of networks and all of them being available on Peacock.
herhoopstats@substack.com
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Post by bulkey on Jul 24, 2024 8:01:03 GMT -5
Following up on semper's post, above, among the teams covered today are Canada and France, so here's their entries edited: Canada
Kia Nurse (Photo Credit: fiba.basketball) Like many other teams at this tournament, Canada has built its reputation with its physicality. Canada frequently ranks near the top in free-throw attempts and closer to the bottom in 3-point attempts, and it surrendered only 60.2 points per game during the group stage while playing in the more balanced pool at the 2022 World Cup. .. .....
Then, Canada has a new generation of WNBA first-round picks in Aaliyah Edwards and Laeticia Amihere actively working to prove themselves at the highest level. Edwards has established herself more at the start of her WNBA career, but Amihere’s length, athleticism, and flashes of ball skills grant her tantalizing potential. Depending on how the exact lineups shake out - Canada only puts out its top-tier roster for global tournaments because of WNBA and NCAA commitments, and Edwards did not make the 2022 World Cup roster - the former WNBA players may well start over the current ones.
On the perimeter, Canada relies heavily on two WNBA wings, Kia Nurse and Bridget Carleton. Both are generally at their best as off-ball shooters, but both players have often been asked to stretch themselves as creators for Canada, Nurse in particular. In fact, at the 2018 World Cup, Nurse averaged twice as many points per game as any of her teammates. Both players have put together absolutely sterling performances, but both have also had struggles creating efficient shots inside the arc. .....
At the last global tournament, Canada qualified for the semifinals of the 2022 World Cup, at which point it was bludgeoned 83-43 by the USA and then 96-65 by Australia in the bronze medal match. It is possible that format peculiarities facilitated this achievement - top-two finishers in each group could be drawn against either the third-placed or fourth-placed finisher in the other group of six, and second-place Canada was allotted fourth-place Puerto Rico rather than a much tougher third-place Belgium. That being said, Canada has clear room for growth, featuring five players aged 23 or younger on its roster. Edwards in particular could break out and push Canada’s ceiling in a major way.
X-Factor: Bridget Carleton
France: Expectations are high for France as one of Europe’s basketball powerhouses competing on its home territory. France took a step backward in its most recent international tournament, snapping a streak of five consecutive silver medal EuroBasket Women finishes…by winning bronze instead. France has two stars the likes of whom few teams can match in Gabby Williams and Marine Johannès. Williams’s much remarked-upon difficulties as an outside shooter are less of a problem when she can orchestrate significant portions of the offense herself, and she did manage to squeak out a 33.8% mark from long range in a limited, injury-shortened sample this past season in the French league and EuroLeague Women. What that means is that Williams can dominate games with her playmaking and lockdown defense.
However, it would be a grave mistake to overlook France’s superb depth. .....
Over the course of the last few years, France has gradually shifted in a quicker, more spaced-out direction. ....
While the EuroBasket Women performance may have been disappointing, competition since has included routs of quality opponents in Latvia in EuroBasket Women 2025 qualifying - again without Williams or Johannès - and an 82-50 drubbing of China at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament. France’s Olympic preparation slate has not been as dense as other countries’ but also includes a 22-point win over Serbia and a 13-point victory over a previously undefeated Japan (with the necessary caveat that most of Japan’s previous opponents had been shorthanded). Between those results and its homecourt advantage, the only foolhardy place to set expectations would be to call them gold medal favorites.
X-Factor: Marine Fauthoux
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Post by bulkey on Jul 25, 2024 8:53:16 GMT -5
U.S. today on site semper referenced above: Just the meat of the article:
As for stylistic adjustments, it seems unlikely that Breanna Stewart will start at small forward, as she did at the Tokyo Games. However, as it stands, between Stewart, A’ja Wilson, Alyssa Thomas, Napheesa Collier, and Brittney Griner, the USA still seems especially star-studded in the post. What such simplistic analysis may elide is that Griner is the only traditional back-to-the-basket player of that grade, and even she has been steadily extending her shooting range over the years. This makes the USA seem well-suited to continue to take the up-tempo approach it favored at the 2022 World Cup. On the perimeter, it features advanced playmakers and shooters at every position, with Kelsey Plum being the only one listed shorter than 5-foot-10. Plum and Jewell Loyd played the most minutes at that World Cup, but Sabrina Ionescu and Kahleah Copper have both reached another gear in the WNBA since then. Meanwhile, Jackie Young and Diana Taurasi join the team after being off that World Cup roster, and Chelsea Gray rejoins the team as she rounds into form after recovering from the injury she suffered during last year’s WNBA Finals. All signs point to a wide-open system with lots of ball movement, but the particular wrinkles that unfold over time will be compelling.
There is no obvious path to the USA losing.
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Post by bulkey on Jul 25, 2024 10:31:41 GMT -5
Opening Ceremonies in The City of Lights: I took this with my modest iphone 11 in April (sorry, I can't seem to turn it around) ![](//storage.proboards.com/6136932/thumbnailer/QdRFWalANKkGJOFROLhx.png) will be tomorrow at 1:30 pm EDST. Promises to be really amazing.... www.bbc.com/sport/articles/c728e504xego
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Post by semper on Jul 25, 2024 11:50:24 GMT -5
Last night in the gym I found out that it is possible to watch the O's on the screens provided on the machines. That is so great!
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Post by bulkey on Jul 25, 2024 19:41:51 GMT -5
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Post by bulkey on Jul 26, 2024 7:30:41 GMT -5
Skipping the very long (and free) analyses of how the teams will fare against one another in today's Her Hoops just to give the predicted results. Maybe the only point to transmit is that USA is so stacked with talent that not only is it unlikely to lose a game, but that none of its players will stand out against the others.
USA
France
China
Australia
Japan
Belgium
Canada
Spain
Serbia
Germany
Nigeria
Puerto Rico
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Post by bulkey on Jul 26, 2024 8:01:16 GMT -5
The world has long known that Rhode Island has an outsized influence. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) Here's the Lil' Rhody angle, from the Globe's Rhode Map: Jovana Nogic Women’s basketball The former Providence College women’s basketball player is competing for Serbia at this year’s Olympics. She graduated in 2019 as the fourth-leading scorer in Friars’ history, and the all-time leader in three-pointers. Serbia tips off against Puerto Rico on Sunday. Tammi Reiss Women’s basketball The University of Rhode Island women’s basketball coach is an assistant on Team USA’s 3x3 women’s basketball team. The team’s first game is against Germany on July 30.
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Post by semper on Jul 26, 2024 8:24:24 GMT -5
herhoopstats@substack.com
Also reported in this story are a couple of recent injuries that have changed the situation, especially for Belgium, who lost its star player.
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Post by bulkey on Jul 26, 2024 13:46:18 GMT -5
Kelly Clarkson and Payton Manning must be the absolute worst set of lead announcers in pageantry history. What possibly possessed NBC to select those two vacuous celebrities to introduce the Olympics? Manning, at least, has the sense to (finally) stay quiet.
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Post by bulkey on Jul 26, 2024 14:59:14 GMT -5
Nice shout out to the American women's team and Stewie on the screen, raised, as they said, in--semper, what for this!--Syracuse NY.
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Post by bulkey on Jul 26, 2024 16:35:54 GMT -5
Well, that last hour was maybe the most spectacular hour of TV I've ever seen. Makes the amazing Beijing opening look like a high school play. I'm sure it's going to be shown again or maybe on-demand on Peacock or on YouTube. They broke so many traditions and yet it was so very traditional. Under practically any circumstances, Paris is the most beautiful city in the world. But tonight it was completely hors categorie. What a valentine to the City of Lights.
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Post by bulkey on Jul 26, 2024 19:24:02 GMT -5
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Post by bulkey on Jul 27, 2024 7:37:07 GMT -5
Today's "Her Hoops" discusses 6 games to watch during the Group Stage. Here's the one involving USA (on Monday). July 29 - USA vs JapanOn the first day of group play, we have a rematch of the Tokyo Olympics gold medal game.There’s not really much to say about Team USA at this point. It's a stacked roster featuring the best players in the world and the clear favorite to win gold again. The United States has nine gold medals in women’s basketball and hasn’t lost a single game at the Olympics since 1992. There isn’t much intrigue here.What I am interested to see is how Japan looks. In Tokyo, the team faced Team USA twice, losing 86-69 in the group stage and then 90-75 in the gold medal game, but those were the team’s only losses in those Olympic games.The team hasn’t had that same success since, but its fast-paced offense is a lot of fun to watch. Can they run it up and down the floor and negate the U.S.’s huge size advantage? Maybe! Not enough to win, but Japan could keep this one close if it can hit shots in transition and if Rui Machida continues to be an assist machine at point guard. She averaged 12.5 assists per game last Olympics.And nice long article in ESPN today: www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/40632728/team-usa-womens-basketball-paris-olympics-2024
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Post by RoyDodger on Jul 27, 2024 8:48:25 GMT -5
Kelly Clarkson and Payton Manning must be the absolute worst set of lead announcers in pageantry history. What possibly possessed NBC to select those two vacuous celebrities to introduce the Olympics? Manning, at least, has the sense to (finally) stay quiet. Not only were Clarkson and Manning awful, but the ceremony, as original as it was, was overkill. Watching the rooftop runner go on and on in the rain gave me a headache. And, despite watching for amost two hours, we never got to see the USA athletes. I believe NBC also missed the boat for at least one major country, Australia. After I wrote this, I managed to see a replay of the end of the ceremony and found that the US and Australia were at the end since they are hosting future Olympics.
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Post by bulkey on Jul 27, 2024 9:56:05 GMT -5
Kelly Clarkson and Payton Manning must be the absolute worst set of lead announcers in pageantry history. What possibly possessed NBC to select those two vacuous celebrities to introduce the Olympics? Manning, at least, has the sense to (finally) stay quiet. Not only were Clarkson and Manning awful, but the ceremony, as original as it was, was overkill. Watching the rooftop runner go on and on in the rain gave me a headache. And, despite watching for amost two hours, we never got to see the USA athletes. I believe NBC also missed the boat for at least one major country, Australia. After I wrote this, I managed to see a replay of the end of the ceremony and found that the US and Australia were at the end since they are hosting future Olympics. Thanks, Roy! I didn't mind the lack of American athlete focus, since it was the opening ceremonies and it was a chance to see different groups. In retrospect, I agree that the ceremony was overkill. Certainly the first 3 hours! I managed to get a fair amount of work done with the TV on! But I very much liked the amazing final hour, though the "rider on the Seine" took far too long. But the lighting of the "torch" was amazing. And the inclusion of so many folks of diverse nationalities and ways of life was inspiring. Although there's already been a big push-back against such inclusion voiced by the French right, had Macron held the election after yesterday, his party would have won in a landslide.
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Post by bulkey on Jul 27, 2024 17:44:35 GMT -5
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Post by knightsbridgeaz on Jul 27, 2024 21:20:33 GMT -5
Not only were Clarkson and Manning awful, but the ceremony, as original as it was, was overkill. Watching the rooftop runner go on and on in the rain gave me a headache. And, despite watching for amost two hours, we never got to see the USA athletes. I believe NBC also missed the boat for at least one major country, Australia. After I wrote this, I managed to see a replay of the end of the ceremony and found that the US and Australia were at the end since they are hosting future Olympics. Thanks, Roy! I didn't mind the lack of American athlete focus, since it was the opening ceremonies and it was a chance to see different groups. In retrospect, I agree that the ceremony was overkill. Certainly the first 3 hours! I managed to get a fair amount of work done with the TV on! But I very much liked the amazing final hour, though the "rider on the Seine" took far too long. But the lighting of the "torch" was amazing. And the inclusion of so many folks of diverse nationalities and ways of life was inspiring. Although there's already been a big push-back against such inclusion voiced by the French right, had Macron held the election after yesterday, his party would have won in a landslide. You summarize it well, I found it a bit too long, but fantastic when it was fantastic. Just looking forward to the WBB, we have been watching select competition all day, I taped everything we might watch, but of course not enough time to watch it all. We were away for 9 days in Chicago, so I wasn't thinking about it, but this was very relaxing TV to return to. Go USA.
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Post by semper on Jul 28, 2024 7:56:19 GMT -5
Good for Dee
Diana Taurasi addresses ageism at Paris Olympics: 'I'm here to win a gold medal and that's it.'
CT Insider, probably has a paywall. So glad she called this out!
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Post by bulkey on Jul 28, 2024 8:20:15 GMT -5
Upcoming women's BB games: USA 5x5 vs. Japan 7/29 at 3:00 pm EDST USA 3x3 vs Germany 7/30 at 11:30 am EDST (team is 2-0)
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