Hoops

Opals set to debut in Asian Cup in India

What irks me is Olaf isn't named anywhere or given official credit. WTF? Sexist!

Olaf might know Brondello coaching style, but all coaching g is subject to,change depending on the opposition, unless he had a Brondello in his ear the whole time, the decisions he made were his own.

Where is he listed as the official coach, surely FIBA would require him listed somewhere, if so why is he not listed on BA site as official coaching staff

And why have assistants if you just going to over ride them, let's hope he is down as official somewhere,

What irks me is Olaf isn't named anywhere or given official credit. WTF? Sexist!

So why not have BA name Brondellolaf as co-coaches if that's what is what? And if an assistant coach can't pick up a head coach's "system" and have the confidence to lead them to a top 4 finish in a weak region, what does that say about confidence in those assistants? And really, what does that say about the possibility of players picking up the system after the (probably) two week-long training camps before Spain?

That's all well and good, except that Olaf was a very ordinary WNBL coach and he has an excellent one sitting next to him in Cheryl Chambers. We were sold Brondello, Chambers, Gorriss, in that order and then we somehow end up with Olaf???

World Cup teams for next year...

Hosts
Spain

Olympic winners
USA

Eurobasket
France
Belgium
Greece
Latvia
Turkey

Asia Cup
Australia
Korea
China
Japan

Likely
Ameri Cup
Canada
Brazil
Argentina

Likely
Afrobasket
Mali
Senegal

If every country is able to bring a full strength side.
Australia would fall behind the USA, Spain, France, Belgium and possibly Canada, Japan and turkey.

That's all well and good, except that Olaf was a very ordinary WNBL coach and he has an excellent one sitting next to him in Cheryl Chambers. We were sold Brondello, Chambers, Gorriss, in that order and then we somehow end up with Olaf???

Seems kind of straight-forward to me that once the Brondello for coach rumours started bouncing around, and then there was the long delay while details were finalised, that the discussions would have centred around the balancing of her existing commitments to Phoenix and Ekaterinburg.

Also seems kind of straight-forward to me that Olaf would have been a part of the agreed remedy to those issues.

Personally that sits just fine with me. It is basically his system that she is running anyway. They have co-coached together in both the WNBA and Euroleague. There's literally no better person to run with her system when she is unavailable than he is.
So once they decided on Sandy, then the only thing I would have questioned would have been if they had picked anyone *other than* Olaf to fill in in her absence.

Then again, I don't think the sky is falling every 5 minutes, so I know that I'm in the minority around here much of the time.

"I would be interested in hearing an explanation for hiring a part time coach for a full time position, and how she was later able to appoint her husband and mate after BA made assistant appointments, and how he ended as the main guy on the bench..."

Think so would the rest of the population that follow women's basketball, their should be an inquiry into just how that has been allowed to happen.

Took Gorris out of un19s to be assistant for Opals and he was basically the water boy.

and look how well that just panned out!

Actually I take that back. They should have conceded fewer buckets.

They should have made more buckets

Yes Hogwash, the U19 went "$h!t" and so you want the senior opals coaching group to be sacked after their first 4 months in the job...........Go for it.

It would seem that's being spoken by someone who has never successfully represented their state or the country either as a player or a coach, but I'm happy to be proven wrong.

The group that went to the Asian cup did well, they did not win the Final, and while on 'reputation" they should have, that "reputation" was built by the (generally) 12 of the 16 best players in the country, over the last 20+ years, in world , Olympic and WNBA not the best of the rest left after you take the best 15+ or so out, and after you have seen the recent retirement of one of the two best players the country has ever had in PT..

They did well,we qualified and that's what was required.

What was also required IMHO was a real world reality check on some fringe ( or not considered fringe) players In that respect it was a very successful "shakedown" of a number of hopefulls , who either furthered their case for selection consideration further down the track, or had their somewhat suspect prior selections put under pressure that made it clear that without a significant lift in their current or future potential performance, they are probably done.

None of that would have happened if we had sent out top 12/15 and had a thundering victory in every game. That would have been pointless.

CEO hasnt got the game on TV

What was the #1 propriety from the Asian Cup?

Agree Hogwash. Pathetic really.

Tissue princess? Maybe get a grip lol

Lavey - doesn't really make meaningful things happen.

The goal was to qualify for the world cup with our B team. They achieved this. Move on, nothing to see here.

Opals on top whenever Snell is out there, +14!

Snell - more than justified her selection IMO. Shooting was off in the final, but she makes good decisions, and at 36 is out-hustling players virtually half her age. It's good for them to see that.

Hit the mark?
Going in, most people were saying that it was a crap tournament because we would breeze through.

Personally I think bringing in snell and hodges was a mistake. Taking away Experience from the young,up,and comers. Wallace and Scherf deserved spots.
I was also not a fan of laveys selection when Clydesdale was available.

2/3 players showed promise but the other 1/3 will,never represent Aus again in my opinion.

Mansfield, cumming, Ebzery, Garrick, Blicavs, Griffin, smith, Tolo
5 of these could play until the 2020 Olympics, 2 until 2024.

Lavey, snell, Kunek, hodges last time putting on the green and gold.

I think the Opals hit the mark in this tournament.

They went to within a whisker of winning, but more importantly qualified for 2018 World Cup.

Some big things to come out of this include the emergence of:

- Kelsey Griffin
- Alanna Smith
- Lauren Mansfield
- The Blicavs' sisters (in-law)

I would have preferred to see someone like Kristy Wallace in the team in place of Snell who will not be around for 2020.

I think the clock is on Hodges, Lavey and Garrick, while Kunek will struggle to make the World Cup team if everyone is available for selection.

means nothing...

I'm pretty sure BA and the players don't think that.

It also helps with points for world rankings which gets you better seedlings in the World Cup. Do you want to end up facing USA or Spain in the group stage?

We are currently ranked 4th. Drop a few more points and we will be facing USA, Spain or France in the first round.

As suggested only had to make top 4. Nothing else mattered. They made top 4 without a sweat.

"So was this tournament a successor failure? For me it was a fail."

I thought it went exactly to script.
Top 4 was always going to be fairly safe as long as we sent a decent team, but winning it was never going to be a sure thing.
In terms of what we saw from the players, there were few surprises to me either. The quality stood up, and the newer players at times showed why they were good enough to be selected, but also why they've got a way to go to cement a place in the full strength team.

Well actually the Asia cup was just as important because if they didn't qualify they wouldn't be taking their "A" team anywhere, and I think this has shown they can no longer rest on their laurels, and need to take these tournaments seriously, which means those "A" team p,ayers need to make themselves available in future.

Japan and China are both on the rise with their women's basketball, NZ found out the hard way, that can quite easily be Australia in years to come.

Australia need to start developing their younger players now, get them on the courts in WNBL, stop over playing the older players in the likes of SEABL, or they will end up like NZ.

Not like this team

And what's our A team look like?

Success at Worlds. Who cares about winning the meaningless Asia Cup. Now we select our A team for Worlds. Whats more important, winning Asia or winning Worlds? The answer is easy

What's the big picture?

The goal was to qualify for the world cup with our B team. They achieved this. Move on, nothing to see here.

Anyone who thinks this group failed is narrow minded and doesn't have any idea about the big picture.

Option 1
Mitchell/Mansfield
Ohea/Cumming/CG
Talbot/Allen
Blicavs/Smith
Cambage/Tolo/Bunton

Option 2
Mansfield/Clydesdale
Whitcomb/Cumming/CG
Talbot/Allen
Blicavs/Smith
Cambage/Tolo/Bunton

Option 3
Mansfield/Clydesdale
Ohea/Cumming/CG
Talbot/Allen
Griffin/Blicavs
Cambage/Tolo/Bunton

Think it showed clear,y the weaknesses within the opals squad and selection process

So was this tournament a successor failure? For me it was a fail.

Olympics 2016 top 5

Points
C Cambage 23.5
SF Taylor 13.2 (retired)
PG Mitchell 11.3
C Tolo 7.2
SF Jarry 5

Rebounds
C Cambage 10.3
SF Taylor 4.7 (retired)
C Tolo 4.5
PG Mitchell 3
PF George 2.2

Assists
SF Taylor 5.5
PG Mitchell 4.5
SG Phillips 3.2
PG Lavey 2.5
SF Jarry 1.7


Basically the only decent contributers for the whole Olympic campaign were Cambage, Taylor and Mitchell.
Taylor is now retired.

How many points can we get out of the new 2/3/4s?
The only person capable of putting up big points other than Cambage is probably Whitcomb.

She's also going to be in her 30s in 2020 , think Australia needs some young blood

averaged 13.5 points 2.5 assists 3.5 turnovers in spain last season starting for a .500 team.

Romeo

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hLiXgt2vta4

I feel like Romeo flies under the radar because she's constantly hidden away in Europe and no one ever hears of her. I wish she'd come back to the WNBL so we could see how she stacks up against the Aussie point guards.

hahaha yes it has been nice to have them here

Been a busy week for the Mangakahia family.

Been a busy week for the Mangakahia family.

@ Koberulz I think we might be thinking of different fouls - I thought Cumming was the one who twice fouled 3pt attempts. I really felt bad for her, to let it happen once - okay, but twice in a row was inexcusable. iirc Mansfield's 4th foul was on a fast break just under the basket.

Think Mansfield was unlucky to pick up that fourth foul, if you watch the tape, she literally just has a hand up, Japanese p,Ayer jumps forward as Mansfield jumps up, it's the downward action after the shot where you can see Mansfield finger tips almost touch the arm of Japan's shooter,
Crap call, but they are the ones you have to wear

What are people's thoughts on Romeo?
Having a good seabl season.

Great thoughts Luuuc, I think it will be interesting to see how these players who starred in the Asian style of play translate into playing against European/USA styles. Hopefully we get plenty of warm up games/tours heading into Spain next year to test out those on the cusp of selection.

In terms of the WC, as good as Griffin has been, I think we need Mitchell to be that naturalised player. Lavey and Mansfield are too unpredictable, I feel they could get burned if we went with that combo against full strength teams at the WC. That naturalised spot will definitely be the toughest call to make on that WC 12 next year.

Mansfield's 4th foul was very, very soft IMO - didn't seem like there was much contact, and if there was it looked after the shot & a whisker in it.

My take on the 12:

Griffin - obviously awesome. These opponents suited her strengths perfectly. I so wish more players had her desire to win.

Tolo - quality as usual. Delivered exactly what she should have.

Smith - maybe the biggest positive of the tour for me. Not super quick, but she seemed composed and proactive. Bright future ahead.

Snell - more than justified her selection IMO. Shooting was off in the final, but she makes good decisions, and at 36 is out-hustling players virtually half her age. It's good for them to see that.

Mansfield - played herself to the starting PG spot and did well. Some of her play is do-or-die, but she will benefit from this experience and I hope she gets more.

Blicavs - I liked her mindset - she attacked the game. Looking ahead I'm just not sure her ability will stack up against better opponents, nor am I sure what position she can play against them, but playing her is how we find out.

Hodges - she was used as a backup 5 and that was weird. Never really stood a chance. I get why she was in the 12, but not at that position.

Ebzery - earned good minutes and was one of our better players. I like that Olaf tried her at the 1, but I'm not sure she quite works there. I'll be watching with interest this WNBL season.

Lavey - steady & safe is a positive but also a negative. Would be a better fit if surrounded by more scorers, but isn't, and doesn't really make meaningful things happen.

Cumming - Overdue inclusion in green & gold. Needs to find more than just spot-up shooting to succeed at Opals level, but I think earned herself further consideration.

Garrick - I liked her aggression so she was a positive IMO. Has always struck me as too streaky of a shooter, but we'll see what she can do this season.

Kunek - rarely touched the court, so hard to judge. Is she quick enough to play internationally as a 3 though? I'm dubious.


The great thing about experience like this for our WNBL players is that it highlights areas they need to work on. So we got our spot at the worlds, and we got some motivation for some players. The WNBL will be a strong comp this season so let's see who can elevate their game.

What happened with pg hay?
Thought she was going to Colorado state last season.
Now kickin ass in some community college.

Mansfield's 4th foul was very, very soft IMO - didn't seem like there was much contact, and if there was it looked after the shot & a whisker in it. A couple of the calls were a bit soft to me, and a few missed ones too but nothing we can do about that.

To me, it seemed that when Jap set a screen, our second defender was pretty slow on helping out and switching which resulted in a lot of their open threes. I mean it was happening almost every play in the second half, you'd think the coaches would've said something - or the players pick up on it.

Who's Reid?

Hurst done?

Mansfield's job isn't really to score. Foul trouble is what killed her game last night. She'll learn from that. Lavey's injury was unfortunate timing because she was looking ok out there at the time.

Snell took a lot of shots because no one else was willing/able to. That's another problem in itself. We need some more proactive scorers on the wings.
To me it's all part of getting international experience into these players. Players new to the team like Cumming are naturally going to defer to the others, but in games like this they can't afford to. Everyone needs to look for their own shot (within their own limitations obviously)