[TV Alert] Team USA in Beijing

[Monty'sBiggestFan]

Alrighty...since we will not see our first round draft pick Laura Harper OR Kara Lawson next weekend at the open practice, we might as well watch them in the wee hours of the morning on tv, no? Harper is with the team now, Kara, who is still honeymooning, will join the team on Monday.

Below is the TV schedule (all times PDT)

Team USA vs Cuba April 19/20 11:30pm Live/1pm Replay NBA TV

Team USA vs China April 24 5am Live/1pm Replay NBA TV

Team USA vs TBD (Gold Medal or Bronze game) April 26 12:15am or 5am Live/1pm Replay NBA TV


Team USA played today and lost to Team Australia 74-60. Harper had 4pts/6rebs.

 

[6th]

Thanks, MBF!!

 

[Monty'sBiggestFan]

Here's a story from Debbie Arrington about Kara Lawson and Laura Harper in Beijing. Kara rolls onto the Team USA roster and drops 6 assists. Harper against Team S. Korea had a nice day at the office.

Team USA also in their recent two games proved that they could reach the 92 point plateau, beating Cuba 92-60 and S. Korea 92-56 in what had also become the Sylvia Fowles extra crazy double-double-a-thon.

Thankfully both Kara and Laura will be back in camp on Tuesday.

 

[Monty'sBiggestFan]

Team USA vs Team New Zealand

Another game, another win for Team USA. Their streak of 92pts was broken, winning 78-60 over New Zealand.

Noteworthy stats? not really anybody, it was a quiet sorta game with everybody contributing something to the good of the order.

Game story

Box Score

TV Reminder: USA vs China on 5am on Thurs, replay at 1pm on NBA TV.

Gold/Bronze Medal games on Saturday.

 

[Monty'sBiggestFan]

Team USA vs China

If you haven't seen the game this morning but recorded it for later viewing, the results are in the spoiler.

Spoiler

More post dominance, between Leslie and Fowles who combined for 46 of the 86 pts Team USA scored in their 86-61 victory over Team China. The dynamic duo also combined for 23 rebounds. Yikes! (memo to selection committee: dump Milton-Jones and Snow and take Fowles back to Beijing in August)

Kara scored 8 and had 4 assts, and the only blocked shot not swatted by someone named Leslie or Fowles. Harper had 5pts and 6rebs.

Story

Box Score

 

[Monty'sBiggestFan]

Gold Medal Game USA vs China Saturday morning at 5am PDT on NBA TV

Then Kara and Laura head to Sacramento..woohoo...

 

[creAtivetfh]

Gold Medal Game USA vs China Saturday morning at 5am PDT on NBA TV

Then Kara and Laura head to Sacramento..woohoo...

what a disappointing game

 

[creative one]

Since Dawn Staley retired and Nikki McCray fizzled out, Team USA has REALLY struggled to find guards who can consistently excel on BOTH sides of the ball. I don't think it's a secret that USA Basketball's program has gone down by a significant amount since 2000, and lack of guard play is a huge reason why that's the case.

While I'm fully aware that our starting guards weren't available, it's not as though they're the answer to Team USA's malaise anyway. Our guards are routinely getting beat off the dribble by their international counterparts, be they smaller and quicker (China, Australia) or bigger and stronger (Russia). It's true that Anne Donovan's coaching is nothing to write home about, but the committee has to do a better job of getting better guard prospects AND getting a guard coach who can relate to these better guard prospects. Dawn is a good coach, but she's inexperienced at the international level...and she can't work miracles.

Regardless of their past USA Basketball pedigrees, we should've been sucking up to Deanna Nolan, Kelly Miller, and Katie Douglas YEARS ago. Lindsey Harding and Lindsay Whalen aren't the answer now or in the future. They're short, can't hit threes, and are incapable of guarding international guards off the dribble. I don't think Kara is an answer for international basketball, but at least she can hit the three.

 

[Monty'sBiggestFan]

You have GOT to be kidding me....I saw all of maybe a quarter's worth of this game since my body revolted the idea that I need to be up watching basketball at that hour and made me go back to sleep. It vaguely sounded like Team USA was sorta winning during the time I was watching or fading in and out of sleep but I apparently needed to check the score instead of assuming what the result was. But I guess team USA did not seal the deal eh?...

I've never been enamored with the point guard who was annointed to take the reigns from Staley, and that same guard seemed to also be at the helm when we were laying an egg in Brazil in the Worlds. Maybe when Nolan find citizenship with some other country and kicks our butt playing for somebody else, USA Basketball might find her number in their rolodex. Douglas's probably will be found under "L" for lost to Lithuania.

It can't all be Donovan, but she's an easy target and goodness knows she drove me nuts with her weird substitutions (or non-uses of players in the Worlds).

Beard should be a good defender at the guard spot now that she's healthier than she was last year, but she's not a pg. Staley should be sufficient enough as a coach, as much experience she has playing international ball, she should be able to relate. But laying the blame on the selection committee I think is spot on. But for this tournament? This team was what it was, I said in another thread that I found the selection of players in the pool of 30 interesting (as in curious). It won't get much better if some players are still banged up when August arrives.

 

[NothinButHoops]

Was that the former Moanarch player that dropped 26 points on teamUSA?
What a dissapointment coming in with the Silver again.
Maybe a wake up call? Not even the queen of hoops (LL) could bail us out

 

[6th]

They had better wake up and choose the best players for each position that can play together as a team. Basketball around the world has really improved and while, I believe, we still have the best players, the committee needs to do a better job with their selections.

 

[Monty'sBiggestFan]

To rub more salt in the wound, if you want to see the numbers from the game, here they are....

84-81 China over USA

Yes indeedy, it was our good friend Miao who dropped the big 26 against Team USA yesterday.

Kara went for 9pts/5ast/6reb/1stl. Laura had an interesting stat line that should be encouraging for fans here, in 3 minutes of play, she went 2-5 for 4pts and grabbed 3rebs (all offensive). It might be a negative that she also had 3 personal fouls in that same span, but it appears that her cameo occurred during the time that everybody who was in the paint for USA got a foul for breathing.

Game Story

Box Score

Photo gallery of sightseeing tour of China