25 finalists have been announced for the Olympic team: Seimone Augustus Sue Bird Tamika Catchings Tina Charles Skylar Diggins Stephanie Dolson Candice Dupree Sylvia Fowles Brittney Griner Briann January Jantel Lavender Jewell Loyd Kayla McBride Angel McCoughtry Maya Moore Chiney Ogwumike Nneka Ogwumike Candace Parker Danielle Robinson Odyssey Sims Breanna Stewart Diana Taurasi Courtney Vandersloot Lindsay Whalen
Only 12 make up an Olympic team so 13 of those players will get cut. There will be a training camp at UConn from Feb 21 to 23. Some of those players were probably added with an eye towards future NT consideration. Jewell Loyd, for example, was probably added because a hole in her Galatasaray schedule allows her to make the camp and she could be improved enough to be a contender in 4 years. 10 of the players from the 2012 team are returning but it is not a guarantee that all will make the team (Kara Lawson is an example of a 2008 member left off the 2012 team).
I split them up like this. They play multiple positions so this is hardly exact:
I see them taking 3 PGs (Whalen, Bird, and a next-gen trainee), 2 SG, 2 SF (I could easily see them choosing to leave McCoughtry off). Usually they've taken 3 bigs and 2 PFs but the PFs are so versatile that I could see that flipping to be 2 bigs, 3 PFs.
As far as the next-gen trainee, I gotta think Sims has the upper hand there since she was chosen for the World Championship squad. I'm thinking: Whalen, Bird, Sims, Taurasi, Augustus, Moore, Catchings, McCoughtry, Delle Donne, Parker, Griner, Charles. Mostly just same old same old. I personally think they should have more young players on there to prep for the future, but I feel like they want to give some of the vets like a last hurrah for the olympics.
Not sure who you would knock off to give the younger folks a shot: Bird, Taurasi? And replace them with who?
They already have younger folks on the roster: Griner, EDD, Moore, perhaps Stewart and a third PG (both to me are positions 11 and 12). That's 5 of the 12 players. And even though the Olympic team is once every 4 years, the National Team has an event pretty much every year to gain experience with. There is a conceit that the US could go to the Olympics with college players and still win; Canada beat us last year doing that. No, the rest of the world sends their best and we do too and some of those games are challenging. Of the guards, Bird and Whalen are still the best PGs and Taurasi and Augustus the best SGs.I've heard plenty of crap about Bird not having it anymore and I utterly laugh. They are judging her on pure stats - especially scoring - and not the reads that she continues to be superb at making. I watched every Storm game last year and she still amazing. The Olympic team is not some sort of "gee, let other people have a chance" group - they need 10 regular rotation players to weather the grind of two solid weeks of every-other-day play.
In 2004, they had Staley (34) and Johnson (29) running the PG with Bird in training, and they had a 33-year old Swoopes and 30 year old Smith playing SG with Taurasi in training. They had some young players but also Leslie who was going for her 4th. It's really been the same formula for many Olympics and not some sudden "UConn fixation." It just so happens that this time the best players have been the best for 4 Olympics. This is the 2004 team: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketball_at_the_2004_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Women%27s_team_squads#.C2.A0United_States
So let's make a ridiculously early list of 12 for 2020. ;-)
Or even 2018. We know Catch will be out, and I am betting that Bird will as well. Heck, let's say Diana and Lindsay are too. Who will be the next gen guards?
Skylar, McBride have strong cases for SG. Sims, Vandersloot, and January are the most likely at PG. I think DRob is fast but I personally don't like some of her decisions and lack of 3 point threat. Jewell is not ready today but might contend in two years.
It's funny because 2 of the ones you mentioned are ones I'd replace. Bird's best years are behind her. As are Augustus's. But if they want to give them one more year, that's fine. They haven't gotten to the point yet where they can't play. They're still pretty good. Doesn't really matter anyway. We could send the end of the bench players from the WNBA and probably still take gold. Lol
Post by theflyesthoopa on Jan 29, 2016 0:59:48 GMT -5
I think it would be a major step in the right direction if Whalen, Augustus and Fowles were left off. In my opinion, there's more talented players in the pool than them and it would show that it's about who can bring the most to the table not whose spent the most time with the team. I honestly wanted to add Parker/McCoughtry/Charles to the list but they all stepped up big time in one way or another in the last Olympics and have Geno's trust so I can deal with their inclusion
It's funny because 2 of the ones you mentioned are ones I'd replace. Bird's best years are behind her. As are Augustus's. But if they want to give them one more year, that's fine. They haven't gotten to the point yet where they can't play. They're still pretty good. Doesn't really matter anyway. We could send the end of the bench players from the WNBA and probably still take gold. Lol
And that's where I disagree. The European game is not that bad that we could send any combination of WNBA players and win. That's insulting to the rest of the world which actually can field a competitive national team. The semifinal against Australia last time, for example, was quite hard fought. As for Bird, her best days may be behind her but she's still a better point guard than the rest of the field with what they ask her to do on the team which is lead on the floor and find the open player (not score).
I think it would be a major step in the right direction if Whalen, Augustus and Fowles were left off. In my opinion, there's more talented players in the pool than them and it would show that it's about who can bring the most to the table not whose spent the most time with the team. I honestly wanted to add Parker/McCoughtry/Charles to the list but they all stepped up big time in one way or another in the last Olympics and have Geno's trust so I can deal with their inclusion
If they decide that they want to take EDD, Parker, and Stewart I could see them choosing to go with 2 centers and Griner/Charles is a younger duo. Parker frustrates me because she doesn't seem to give the same effort in the WNBA as she does for the National team. They are always raving about how good she plays during their camps. My main concern with both Augustus and Whalen is injury at this point. I also ask, though: who would we take instead of Augustus? If Diggins is healthy, she'd probably be a good option.
It's funny because 2 of the ones you mentioned are ones I'd replace. Bird's best years are behind her. As are Augustus's. But if they want to give them one more year, that's fine. They haven't gotten to the point yet where they can't play. They're still pretty good. Doesn't really matter anyway. We could send the end of the bench players from the WNBA and probably still take gold. Lol
And that's where I disagree. The European game is not that bad that we could send any combination of WNBA players and win. That's insulting to the rest of the world which actually can field a competitive national team. The semifinal against Australia last time, for example, was quite hard fought. As for Bird, her best days may be behind her but she's still a better point guard than the rest of the field with what they ask her to do on the team which is lead on the floor and find the open player (not score).
And who would you replace Augustus with?
Let me remind you that the end of the bench players in the WNBA were still college stars. Some even All Americans. Many of them are some of the better players in the overseas leagues they play for. I'm not saying they would dominate the other countries but would still have a chance to win gold in my opinion. But as far as this pool of players, it really doesn't matter at all. If you drew them out of a hat by position they would win imo.
As far as replacement for Augustus. Even though I think she's highly overrated (but still a solid player), maybe Diggins. Or McBride.
Last Edit: Jan 29, 2016 14:00:31 GMT -5 by Deleted
I think it would be a major step in the right direction if Whalen, Augustus and Fowles were left off. In my opinion, there's more talented players in the pool than them and it would show that it's about who can bring the most to the table not whose spent the most time with the team. I honestly wanted to add Parker/McCoughtry/Charles to the list but they all stepped up big time in one way or another in the last Olympics and have Geno's trust so I can deal with their inclusion
If they decide that they want to take EDD, Parker, and Stewart I could see them choosing to go with 2 centers and Griner/Charles is a younger duo. Parker frustrates me because she doesn't seem to give the same effort in the WNBA as she does for the National team. They are always raving about how good she plays during their camps. My main concern with both Augustus and Whalen is injury at this point. I also ask, though: who would we take instead of Augustus? If Diggins is healthy, she'd probably be a good option.
Honestly, I personally would take Diggins, Loyd or McBride ahead of Augustus mainly because they went to Notre Dame and played in a system where the focus was ball movement. All three have the ability to affect the game without the ball in their hands. Augustus doesn't give you anything if she's not scoring. To be frank, she's always used the same crossover so having lost a few steps to injury I would've passed on her in the pool completely. Plus the future is bright and deserves that look. They've alienated folks like Bonner and Lillard on the men's side and it'd be unfortunate for that to become a trend.