Australia vs USA game report

Saturday 15 April 2006

After eight years and a multitude of games, we have finally done it again.

The first quarter saw Australia jump out of the blocks quicker with a 7-0 run in the first two and a half minutes, but the US responded with a 11-3 run, fueled by tighter D and aggressive moves to the basket from Thompson, Parker and Smith. The rest of the half saw the teams settle into their respective offensive styles: the US looked to pound it inside and post up their interior players, while Australia ran a motion-type offence, looking for the open jumper or cutter. The US threatened to break away several times, with Parker, Thompson and Davenport causing problems in the paint, but Australia hung on due to some strong outside shooting and Lauren Jackson’s persistence down low. Jan Stirling’s bizarre substitution patterns didn’t help the Opals either - running Grima, Whittle and Hibbert at the same time? In +/- terms, it was a -6 for the Opals. The US went into the half-time break up, 38-34.

The third quarter saw the Opals come out with a big adjustment: they switched to a zone defence. This seem to bamboozle the Americans and they struggled to adjust to the zone and Australia upping the defensive intensity. It also didn’t help that their starting guards were having a bit of a shocker and that nobody could seem to shoot from beyond 10 feet. In contrast, the Opals were unbelievably hot from outside. They shot 6/8 beyond the arc with four different players hitting the treys (LJ hitting three of them). The Americans managed to keep in touch with Australia for most of the quarter until the final minute. With the US down by 5, Beard picked up her 4th foul and was sent to the bench, replaced by Cappie Pondexter. After another LJ three which stretched the Australian lead to 8, Belinda Snell stole the ball from Pondexter and drove the length of the floor an easy layup, and was fouled in the process by Seimone Augustus. Snell completed the 3 point play and suddenly the lead had ballooned out to double digits. Augustus made up for her silly foul with a gorgeous slicing floater at the other end, to reduce the lead to 9 at three quarter time.

The final quarter saw both teams initially trade baskets. The United States had figured out the Australian zone and were pounding it inside to Thompson and Parker, who dominated Hollie Grima and Jenny Whittle with ease. The problem for the Americans was that their D was breaking down as well and the Australians were repeatedly finding the open player and converting. Still down by 9 with 4:36 to go, Anne Donovan called a time-out to try and break the stalemate. It worked, with the Americans going on a 8-2 run, sparked by a rare three pointer from Katie Smith (the only American one of the night). Within this run though, was an interesting incident that had a strong effect on the endgame.

With 2:55 to go, Jenny Whittle got called for a tech for tussling with Parker in the post on an inbounds, after the two of them had been issued a warning by the officials. A chorus of boos followed the tech and this, with the tech, seemed to rattle Parker. She nailed 1/2 free throws from the tech and in the following possession, was fouled again. This time, she missed both free throws badly and disappeared for the rest of the game.

With the margin down to 3 with about 2:11 to go, Jan Stirling called a time-out to regather and plan the endgame. The resulting offensive sequence was messy, due to frenetic defence from the Americans, but Belinda Snell got a good look from three and true to form, swished it. The Americans panicked at this point and the result was a Lawson misfire from deep. Australia got the rebound and Jenni Screen hit a shot clock beating three to finish the Americans off. Donovan called a time-out but it was all academic, America’s 59 game international game winning streak had come to an end.

I think there were two keys to Australia’s victory: superior guard play and their torrid three point shooting. Bevilaqua frustrated Beard all game and took her out of the equation. Lawson and Pondexter had to play more minutes than they would have had to ordinarily and they weren’t effective. More surprisingly, Snell and Screen both did a good defensive job on Katie Smith on D and shot very well from the perimeter. Australia took care of the ball reasonably well (10 turnovers) and that prevented the US from getting a lot of transition opportunities. Another positive thing from this game was how the Australians managed to withstand a comeback from Americans and finish out the game with a couple of clutch shots.

It was an encouraging sign that Australia shot well (mainly because they usually shoot poorly against any American lineup), but 58% three point shooting is a rare occurrence full stop and it reinforces the fact that the offence needs diversification. I don’t think it’s solely a talent thing; it seems like the offensive structure is designed around perimeter passing and shooting. Australia does have several players who can drive (Taylor, Phillips, to a lesser extent Snell, Harrower and Bevilaqua) and post up (LJ, Batkovic) and they need to be encouraged to do so.

Something else that needs to be worked on is interior D. The Americans are usually just too good down there but there are several things that can be done to limit the damage. Firstly, appropriate matchups - Whittle on Parker is ridiculous. Then again, Whittle on any American post player is generally ridiculous and she should be playing very limited minutes against the Americans. Secondly, there should be more pressure on the feed. Bevilaqua did this several times during the games with some success but the Australians usually let the American guards feed the post without any pressure and by the time they get the ball, too late. Thirdly, I don’t think they utilised the double team very well, especially with the Americans’ poor shooting and indifferent ball movement.

The Americans can be reasonably happy with the way they played and in the end, it was this incarnation’s personnel limitations that were exposed; they were over-reliant on their post players and didn’t have the perimeter depth to counter Australia’s guard play. I don’t see any long-term ramifications for the United States team from this defeat and they’ll probably be the better for it. The ease with which Thompson and Parker dominated is particularly worrying and they’re only a taste of what’s to come. I was a bit surprised that Donovan didn’t try harder to get good outside shots for her guards, especially during the third quarter.

Finally, it was great being there in person. It was a veritable emotional roller coaster, with the sense of anticipation building in the third quarter; the edge-of-your-seat nerves of the 4th; the fist pumping adrenalin whenever clutch shots were nailed and the explosion of excitement after the final siren. Yes, it wasn’t the best US outfit and the game was meaningless but any time you beat the best nation in the world in women’s basketball, it is an experience to remember (especially when you consider the various win/lose streaks).

Australian player reviews - the good

Lauren Jackson: The best game she’s played against the US for a while. Her D was quite solid, with a couple of nice blocks and forced Thompson and Parker into a lot of tough fadeaway jumpers (which all seemed to go in, but it happens). The only thing I’d like to see her do is demand the ball more in the paint because few can stop her once she’s found her rhythm down there (and she was feeling it)

Belinda Snell: Yes I’m biased, but I thought she was the best player on the floor last night and possibly the best player of the tournament. She came alive in the second half and nailed clutch three after clutch three. The biggest improvement in her game has been her D. She helped to shut down Katie Smith and she had three very impressive steals at the half court, which resulted in three easy scoring opportunities (though one of them ended up being the Candace Parker block). Given the chance, I think she will shine in the WNBA this year.

Jenni Screen: She gave Smith her infamous brand of defence (i.e borderline legal) and Smith struggled under the physical pressure. She also knocked down a couple of important three pointers. I think she’d be frontrunner for backup 2 guard. She’s shown more than Wilson, Hibbert or McInerny.

Tully Bevilaqua: Last night and tonight, Bevilaqua has won the mental battle with the opposing point guard and has shown why she was voted onto the 1st All-WNBA defensive team. Tully owned a player seven inches taller than her. Beard was held to 2 points, 5 turnovers and 5 fouls in 16 minutes. There is no way Tully can be left off the team.

Erin Phillips: She was surprisingly aggressive off the dribble. Jan even played her at the 2 for a while and she held her own there. Thibault will be pleased to see his young charge put in a solid performance against a WNBA-calibre backcourt.

Jacinta Hamilton: A brief appearance but she played some good D in Thompson in the third quarter. Why isn’t she playing more? Injuries/illness or just the dodgy rotation?

Australian player reviews - the bad

Katrina Hibbert: I repeat, why is she on this team again?

American player reviews - the good

Candace Parker: Once again, she was spectacular. She was a ESPN highlight reel in the paint and the fast break block on Snell was the most spectacular play of the night.

Tina Thompson: Like Parker, she dominated inside and played great interior D on LJ.

Jessica Davenport: She caused problems down low in the second quarter but her inability to shoot free throws hurt the team.

American player reviews - the bad

Katie Smith: She seems to have left her jumpshot up in Cairns (with the koalas maybe?). As mentioned above, Snell and Screen did a good defensive job her and reduced her to shooting wonky looking jumpers. In addition to her offensive woes, she frequently lost Snell and Screen on D.

Alana Beard: Atrocious night (thanks to Tully) but she is being played out of position. She did not look settled at all during the game. This should dispel any “Beard at the point” discussion.

Ruth Riley: The Jenny Whittle of Team USA? Granted, she’s more talented than Whittle (though Whittle had more of an impact in this game than she did) but she’s in a similar sort of position.

Kara Lawson: Played the majority of minutes at the point when Alana was out and showed that she’s not a particularly strong point guard either.

Other notes

• The officiating - one of the officials seemed to like charges a lot but they let a lot of off-ball stuff go. It felt more like a WNBA game than a FIBA game.

• The Canberra Times said the crowd was about 3500. I’m not good at estimating crowds but I’d say they’re about right, maybe a bit less. The crowd was certainly better than the game against China.

• It’s sad that three point baskets, time outs and half time have naming rights? “Price Attack Three Pointer”?

• Way too much cheap drink bottle merchandise being thrown at the crowd but the kids loved it.

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