Can we just put all the Caitlin Clark should have made the women’s Olympic team” comments away.
That’s yesterday’s news, along with the fact Team USA isn’t packing the arenas in Lille or Paris.
Can we just celebrate the fact the women’s senior national basketball team is toying with the competition again, winning all of their games by double figures and they have now won 60 straight games in Olympic tournament play.
The Americans eased into the gold medal game against host France Sunday cruising to an 85-64 semi-final victory over Australia Friday at Bercy Arena.
As was the case in the 2022 World Championships in Australia, Team USA just keeps getting better.as this tournament progresses, playing a near perfect game against Australia. Team USA — which has the two best players in the world– 6-5 A’ja Wilson and 6-4 Breanna Stewart– over whelmed the Opals, shooting 51 percent and contributing 31 assists in a show of unselfish brilliance. Defensively, they limited the Opals–a team with six WNBA players– to just 33 percent shooting at half when they roared to a 45-27 lead.
Stewart, the most versatile player in the world, led the Americans with 16 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Wilson had 10 points and 8 rebounds to go with four blocks and two steals while guard Jackie Young, who has had a breakout tournament since being moved into the starting lineup, finished with 14 minutes. No Team USA player played more than 24 minutes, which should give the team sufficient rest.”
“It speaks to the journey that we’ve been on that they don’t care who gets the credit, they just want to win,” US coach Cheryl Reeve said. “And we said that we could reach our greatest heights if we could be that. And we’ve done that, so I’m really proud of us for that.”
This may go down as the greatest passing team in Olympic history.
The Americans had 31 assists on 34 baskets. At one point, they had 27 assists on 28 field goals. Three of the starting five had five assists each– Stewart, point guard Chelsea Gray and Young. Every player but Diana Taurasi scored. No defense in the world can challenge this team when they move the ball like this.
“We know what the standard is for USA basketball,” Young said. “We just want to keep that going.”
It has been beautiful to watch for those in attendance.
“I think we’re moving the ball really, really well,” Wilson said. “I’ve never been on a team that can move the ball like this. We’re always looking for good shots to become great shots.We preach it, but sometimes we don’t always uphold it on some teams. But I feel like this team, we’re trying to find the best shot on the floor, and I don’t think i’ve ever been on
a team that’s like that.”
In five games so far, the Americans have had 155 assists on 173 field goals. They are averaging 31 per game, and their feel for where each other is going to be and their collective willingness to share the ball make it seem as if they have played together for years. That’s why USA basketball puts a huge emphasis on senior team experience when they select their Olympic team
“This may look easy, but this is anything but easy,” Reeve said. “And I’m super proud of us, the evolution that we’ve made as a team, and I’m excited we got to the last stand.”
France, which defeated Belgium in overtime during its semi-[final, has a former UConn star Gabby Williams leading the way, but Team USA is still a 15.5-point favorite.
“USA, they’re an incredible team, they’re the best of the world for a reason,” Australia’s Cayla George said. “It took us a second to settle, and I think in that moment, we weren’t able to stay close with them and the lead just kept growing. We allowed them to get out and run, what they really like to do, what they are really good at. We didn’t get them bogged
down i in an offense as much as we would have liked.”
