Surprisingly, the second and final day of my time here in Puerto Montt at the FIBA u19 Women’s World Championships started without rain and fog outside my hotel window facing the harbor. The sun was trying to fight through the winter gray skies but just couldn’t make it as I got out of my taxi and walked into the Puerto Montt Arena.
Inside awaiting me as a surprising halftime score of Italy 32, China 30. With all the inside height of China possessed you would expect an easy win. Not today again. As with yesterday loss against Canada, the Italians utilized a smaller, guard oriented lineup to press and thwart China into 12 first half turnovers. Where the Canadians blew China out, the smaller and less athletic Italians were able to use defense and Chinese lack of a leader on the floor to keep even. Missing 19 free throws in the first half didn’t help China either. Italy was able to outscore them in the second half 38-34 for an ecstatic Italian win, 70-64. This gave a stunned China an unexpected 0-2 record to start the event and elimination in Group A. This sets up tomorrow’s big game of Canada vs. Italy. Expect a Canadian win unless they let Italy be physical to cut down on Canada’s speed and shooting.
Traditionally, today’s game of the USA vs. Russia would have been a battle. Today, it was a semi-whimper. The USA, as expected, was the clear favorite to win this Group B contest and started off scoring first. Six minutes later it was 6-6. At this point Head Coach Jen Rizzotti from Hartford put in a lineup of Breanna Stewart, Elizabeth Williams, Kaleena Lewis, Bria Hartley and Diamond DeShields. With this new lineup in the last 3:56 the USA blew open the game for good with a 17-7 first quarter lead. Ariel Massengale came in the second quarter and hit key shots to extend the lead even more. By halftime, 40-19, it was over except the final score.
“I want them to dictate what other people have to run and I thought they did a much better job today of dictating what Russia did rather than reacting to what Japan did yesterday,” said Rizzotti. “We’re trying to find our identity and our rotation and there’s so many good player and so little separation between one through twelve on this team and it’s really hard to know who to start some day’s and who to bring off the bench first.”
As this was the USA’s second game here in Puerto Montt, you could see how the USA coaching staff was feeling its way around with their starters and substitution patterns. In yesterday game neither Williams nor Stewart, the USA’s most effective tandem inside and on defense, did not start, nor today. When the USA needed to extend the defense or pressure the game this duo was the catalyst for most of the USA’s game-busting scoring runs. The new addition of the youthful DeShields to the mix upped the USA’s athletic pressure giving them a big guard to defend the big Russian guards.
“Kaleen was really ready to go today and Breanna’s been really competitive and phenomenal so I just knew bringing them off the bench would allow us to put some more pressure on their defense but at the same time keep our guys fresh so they can keep up that defensive intensity.”
“Diamond is kind of like that X factor,” continued Rizzotti about the 6-1 sophomore guard who is one of the youngest players her in this 1992 age-dominated tournament. “When she’s is ready and she is on and focused on the defensive end, she can be great for us. It’s just a matter of us getting her to mature to that level where she can keep that consistent effort. I try to get her in there for two to three minute bursts. I thought had a really good game today.”
It is becoming apparent the top 6-8 effective players on this very young USA team which has a great portion of their team from last year’s u17 FIBA Championships in Rodez, France last summer. Overall these teams here in Puerto Montt to not have the firepower or awe of the teams what were in France last summer.
The rest of the day’s competitions has Japan easily defeating Argentina in the other Group B pool game 90-71 after the Japanese dominated the second quarter 20-3. Canada didn’t wait that long, going for a 28-5 first quarter blowout of Egypt, 99-54, in the other Group A game in Puerto Varas.
One of the fun games at this event as host Chile, short and spunky compared to the vaunted and massive Australia team. It was supposed to be a blowout on the scale of the Canada-Egypt game but it wasn’t. Even though it was 23-14 after the first quarter, Chile didn’t role over. They kept hitting three’s while the Aussies played everyone and didn’t play very well inside, as expected, or out. It was only on a opening four possession to start the third quarter that you could see them run their patterns. This sets up one of the best games here in Puerto Montt tomorrow with France facing Australia for the Pool C Championship. The late game in Puerto Varas, Chinese Taipei vs. Spain was to tell everyone if Taipei was a serious competitor or rather they faced a weaker Slovenia team yesterday which has Brazil tonight here in Puerto Montt. It was back and forth until the third period when Spain’s experience crusted them 30-11. Slovenia also put up a good fight for a 19-17 first quarter deficit but Brazil’s athleticism ran them down 67-50.
As noted, the big game is Australia vs. France. Expect one of these teams, including Brazil to challenge the USA for this championship. About 8 US college coaches showed up also on the first day of competition they were allowed to view. Last year they could attend any World Championship, like France in 2010 and there are at least 20-30 coaches there. This time, falling on top of the observation period, the NCAA decided to quietly change the rule again. I guess those who didn’t go last year weren’t happy and got it changed to spite those who did.
I head to DC on Saturday – an all-day travel affair with stops in Santiago, Chile and San Paulo, Brazil in route to a very comfortable and warm DC. I got all the reports of the heat and temperatures. It will be absolute fun go from 40f to 105f in the course of 24 hrs.
