Opals vs China game 3 report
Sunday 20 June 2004
The game that drew the largest crowd out of the three nights... was also the most uncompetitive. China was tired and it showed. The Opals on the other hand, exploded out of the gates and never looked back for the entire first half. While the Opals were hitting almost everything they threw up, the Chinese were just very slow on defence (Australia scored a bunch in transition and went to the line because the Chinese were too late on help defence) and missed a lot of shots they normally would (due to tired legs). Penny Taylor was outstanding in the first quarter with 11 points - a fresh Chinese team couldn't stop her so imagine what she did to a tired Chinese team. The score was 36-14 at the end of the 1st quarter (it was 38-all at the half yesterday!). More of the same in the second half and the second unit was getting a good run. 64-30 at the half.
The third quarter was plain ugly as the Opals lost focus (probably due to having a ridiculous lead). For about 3-4 minutes, it was just two teams running up and down the court, bricking shots. The Opals were also getting sloppy with their passing. China had their chances to pull back the lead but this was just not their game. Both teams scored 10 points for the third quarter. It was back to usual for the fourth with China resuming their foul-a-thon and the Opals finding some rhythm again in their offence.
I'm not sure what excuse China has because Australia has played an equivalent schedule and while they weren't too flash in the second half, they were still playing defence and putting in the hard yards. If this is what China is going to be like at the Olympics with its rigorous schedule, they may not even make it out of the group stage.
Despite their fatigue though, they still found the time to make it a VERY physical game. The refs were at a bit of a loss in this one - these refs must ref in the WNBL because hacking Shelley Hammonds repeatedly is apparently not a foul (poor Shelley - she has to endure crap refs biased against her everywhere!). Also holding people in an attempt to "box out" is not a foul. And apparently travelling is not called anymore. To be fair, there was a dodgey call or two the other way. Suzy Batkovic's bear hug on Chen Nan is apparently a jumpball *snicker* The refs heard it all game (mainly from Chinese fans funnily enough) but they deserved it. There were also two incidents - one involving Michelle Musselwhite and Miao Lijie and the other involving Jacinta Hamilton and Wang Ling where there was a bit of push and shove and words were exchanged. The return series in China should be a good one.
Players
Penny Taylor: 23 points (8/9 FG), 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, a block in 22 minutes. 33 VGM points if anyone was interested ;) Penny could not be stopped in the paint and her only miss was a wonky looking three point attempt (where has your three point shooting gone, Penny?) I think my nickname for her, P-Money, is most appropriate...
Sandy Brondello: Her shooting form has been AMAZING this series. She went 15/21 from the field for the series (71%) and almost all of them were 15-18 foot jumpshots. Any doubts I had about her have evaporated. However she showed today that PG is not really her position (4 assists but had 5 turnovers).
Belinda Snell: Yes, the jumpshot has returned! Snelly had a cool game today - 14 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists.
Hollie Grima: Was an effective target in the paint today. I was impressed with her D.
The rest: Suzy didn't have much to do but rebound and play some D which she did fine. Poto was ok at the point but I'd still rather take Tully over her as backup point. Hammonds got some quality minutes but looks like she'll miss out on an Athens spot - not named on the tour squad to China. Nat Porter's stats don't look impressive but she did a fine job.
The Chinese: Frankly they all sucked. Nothing more to say really...
Other notes:
* Crowd was officially 1801. Once again, a lot of China fans but they were a bit subdued. Well after a first quarter like that, what can you do?
* Laura Summerton was sidelined with a corked thigh. She and Kristi (broken nose from elbow) were on the bench. Rachael Sporn nowhere to be seen though.
* "The Voice Squad" (a vocal quartet) did the national anthem and halftime entertainment. They were ok (bad group name though) but having their CD mentioned twice and emphasised was a bit tacky. As a sidenote, the Australian national anthem is one of the most uninspiring songs in the whole world.