Russell Leads USA Past Czechs

#57
#57
US wins by 4 in double OT. Had numerous chances to win the game earlier. One of which was shooting 2 free throws with no time left on the clock in a tie game. Missed both !
 
#58
#58
volnationnj said:
US wins by 4 in double OT. Had numerous chances to win the game earlier. One of which was shooting 2 free throws with no time left on the clock in a tie game. Missed both !
Click to expand...

Who missed them? How did Mercedes do? Can't find anything about game on the internet :-(
 
#60
#60
Russell's opposite was often 5'7".....At times it looked like she was playing against grade school kids...When she set screens at times she had to squat down....

Japan was the better team.
 
#61
#61
GameTime said:
Russell's opposite was often 5'7".....At times it looked like she was playing against grade school kids...When she set screens at times she had to squat down....

Japan was the better team.
Click to expand...

So Mercedes just looked good due to weak competition? All I can get are her scores and rebounds and they look great, can't see anything to compare :-(

I was hoping she had "found" her game.
 
#62
#62
Smallvol#1 said:
So Mercedes just looked good due to weak competition? All I can get are her scores and rebounds and they look great, can't see anything to compare :-(

I was hoping she had "found" her game.
Click to expand...

I just can't get to excited about beating such a small team in the paint....If our guards would have lobbed the ball to Russell more than they did, she could have scored 40...

Russell played fine, but the paint competition was non existent...The refs let them hack away to give some balance, but Japan was very short.

Her game is still a work in progress...Now if we can find some teams in the SEC that have 5'7" centers, we'l kill em.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#63
#63
Smallvol#1 said:
So Mercedes just looked good due to weak competition? All I can get are her scores and rebounds and they look great, can't see anything to compare :-(

I was hoping she had "found" her game.
Click to expand...

I believe it was McCall who missed those 2 in a tie game with no time left on the clock in OT. Mercedes piled up good numbers but as GameTime said, she towered over whoever was guarding her. I thought that she could have fouled the entire Japanese starting 5 out if they passed it to her enough. She needs to be more aggressive.
 
#64
#64
Gametime and volnationnj, thanks for the data...now I'm depressed:blink:

Hope SEC time they all come together.
 
#65
#65
Don't be depressed.....These all star games are not a strong indication of a players abilities....There is little teamwork on our part....It is mostly a one on one game, with a pass or two occasionally thrown in....Standard for these games.

The good news is Mercedes is not running like a Duck anymore....The operations on both of her feet looks like they were both successful...She is coming along nicely. If her road to recovery is a long trip, she has passed half way now, which is very good.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#66
#66
Remember, these are Mercedes' first competitive games in quite some time. You can't expect her to be at the top of her game immediately.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
#67
#67
I've been impressed with Mercedes considering a year layoff from basketball. I think she is going to average around 14 ppg and 9 rebounds next season while shooting over fifty percent.
She needs more work on defense than offense and I expect the way Holly runs camp that is what she will get. No need for a 6'5" player to do a lot of jumping she needs to move her feet and stay in front of players and they will have a difficult time scoring.
Her conditioning seems to be very good as she played close to 47 minutes against Japan.
Cooper will make her a great player give her excellent setups for scores. I look forward to the season and main hope is that every player stays healthy.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
#69
#69
BMvol27 said:
Then why didn't they win?
Click to expand...

On paper it was a size mismatch like I have never seen before.

When your opponent has a 5'7" center and you have a size advantage at every position, and it takes two overtimes to win, that is not a great victory.

The better team does not always win. They played team ball, while we played some form of individual exhibition that was ahead when time ran out the second time..
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#70
#70
GameTime said:
On paper it was a size mismatch like I have never seen before.

When your opponent has a 5'7" center and you have a size advantage at every position, and it takes two overtimes to win, that is not a great victory.

The better team does not always win. They played team ball, while we played some form of individual exhibition that was ahead when time ran out the second time..
Click to expand...

Do you think it was because they just had not been together very long whereas the Japanese was more established? An "individul exhibition" type game would normally make me think the players were not team players or the coaches were not doing their jobs. But these girls were only together a couple of weeks weren't they?

Also just wondering what you, and volnationnj, think of the coach. I had never heard of him and was surprised a better known coach was not chosen. Of course the best coach in the nation could be at an unknown school. I got to see very little of the games, but the defense and passing (as in assists) seemed weak.
 
#71
#71
Smallvol#1 said:
Do you think it was because they just had not been together very long whereas the Japanese was more established? An "individul exhibition" type game would normally make me think the players were not team players or the coaches were not doing their jobs. But these girls were only together a couple of weeks weren't they?

Also just wondering what you, and volnationnj, think of the coach. I had never heard of him and was surprised a better known coach was not chosen. Of course the best coach in the nation could be at an unknown school. I got to see very little of the games, but the defense and passing (as in assists) seemed weak.
Click to expand...

Our offense was mostly the guards dribble down the court and take a shot.....With our huge height advantage we usually got a second shot...Is it a good strategy, against a short team it seems to work....

We did set a few double high post screens at the top of the key, which was the only semblance of an organized offensive attack I saw....In one of these screens, Russell had to actually squat down to screen her player....I have never seen that before, as a player or as an observer, I actually laughed out loud.

The opponents have had more time together, which was evident by their crisp ball movement, and excellent low post screens that allowed many uncontested drives to the baskets by their very quick guards. Their guard play was magnificent. Ours was sporadic, at best.

I know nothing about our coach....He is undefeated so far, but he remains a mystery to me. His team is playing for the gold, so he is doing something right.

If you have a DVR, set it to record the next game, which I believe is tomorrow morning at 5AM (EST) on ESPNU..If not get up early and watch some of the game....Canada is as big as we are, if not bigger, and will be able to bang on the boards with us.

In closing, the game against Japan reminded me of the old King Kong movie, when Kong was swatting at the planes as they flew by....Their little guards would dart right by us and we would swipe at em....good stuff.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#72
#72
The coach is in a difficult position. He has, what appears to be, a lot of players who think shoot first. Add to that a limited amount of time together and when you play a team that's been together for a lot longer (Japan), it spells trouble. It's difficult to determine if it's the players or the coach who is more responsible for the level of play. My guess, it's the players.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#73
#73
GameTime said:
Our offense was mostly the guards dribble down the court and take a shot.....With our huge height advantage we usually got a second shot...Is it a good strategy, against a short team it seems to work....

We did set a few double high post screens at the top of the key, which was the only semblance of an organized offensive attack I saw....In one of these screens, Russell had to actually squat down to screen her player....I have never seen that before, as a player or as an observer, I actually laughed out loud.

The opponents have had more time together, which was evident by their crisp ball movement, and excellent low post screens that allowed many uncontested drives to the baskets by their very quick guards. Their guard play was magnificent. Ours was sporadic, at best.

I know nothing about our coach....He is undefeated so far, but he remains a mystery to me. His team is playing for the gold, so he is doing something right.

If you have a DVR, set it to record the next game, which I believe is tomorrow morning at 5AM (EST) on ESPNU..If not get up early and watch some of the game....Canada is as big as we are, if not bigger, and will be able to bang on the boards with us.

In closing, the game against Japan reminded me of the old King Kong movie, when Kong was swatting at the planes as they flew by....Their little guards would dart right by us and we would swipe at em....good stuff.
Click to expand...

Thanks. We looked for a replay, but could not find one. Only game we saw so far was China.
 
#74
#74
volnationnj said:
The coach is in a difficult position. He has, what appears to be, a lot of players who think shoot first. Add to that a limited amount of time together and when you play a team that's been together for a lot longer (Japan), it spells trouble. It's difficult to determine if it's the players or the coach who is more responsible for the level of play. My guess, it's the players.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input:hi:.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top