It's her speed in transition, her athleticism and 1 on 1 defence apparently.

Don't worry, with Francis being signed in the wnba and bishop having a killer season...
Expect the rio front court to look like:

Jackson/Francis/bishop
Cambage/tolo

If there's an injury, which is a good possibility...
Batkovic, hodges, burton, bunton, mijovic are the only other real options.

They have many 6'2 and 6'3 sized power forwards in the wnba, so her height shouldn't be an issue like he says. Dupree is only 6'2, ogwumike is 6'2-6'3 and don't forget our very own starting 5 had hodges at pf who is only 6'3.

Would you consider hodges better than bishop?

You expect Jackson as the starting 4 in Rio?

It's a possibility...

Joyce has a fascination with thinking he discovers talent.
Burton was out played at COE even in SEABL. Can't believe she gets the run she does with opals.

Agree - Bunton, Mijovic and Sherf are better options than Burton. Forget Batkovic she is to old and too cranky.

Great to see Boomers beat Rangers. Wright was great rotating only two bench players and clearly out coached even with two WNBA All stars.

Keep up the good work Mark we all love watching you choke come business end of every season.

I believe Guy had more players on the court that will be playing in the wnba in 2015.

You can't rule batkovic out. She's solid, tall, good post defender and has range on her shot. All the other options are one dimensional.
What is she like 2nd in points and rebounds atm in the wNbl?
Yeah she's old, but she is still far better than hodges, mijovic, bunton, burton and scherf.

Guy had young players who have never stepped foot on NBA court.
10 times less budget and 10 times better coach, person and developer of players.

End of story.

MacLeod is a significant out for the rangers. Quality player. They have a real weakness in the middle though.
Awesome game by the boomers. Good talent and excellent coaching.

I agree with the above about Suzy for the Opals. An automatic inclusion when you look at the alternatives.

If batkovic is to return...
I think tolo would be better at pf. Quick feet, good defender and has the mid range shooting. Her rebound count though is poor. averaging only 5-6 a game. Better to put big rebounders like cambage and batkovic with big bodies in the centre.

So if there's major doubt over burton and supposed size/speed issues with bishop and hodges age and versatility.

Could we possibly see a huge front court of:
6'5 Tolo 4/5
6'5 Jackson 4/5
6'4 Francis 4/5
6'8 Cambage 5
6'5 Batkovic 5/4

It seems almost certain now that the rest of the team in rio will consist of:
Phillips(wnba?), madgen(mercury) Mitchell (mercury), Taylor(wnba?), Allen(Liberty), Ohea (wnba?), jarry (wnba?) and most likely Talbot. (Mercury?)

Who then, kunek?

Blicavs perhaps?

We need a bigger front court. That's for sure.

You would think griner, Fowles, Parker and della Donne will all be in rio along with maybe a Charles, Dupree or ogwumike.

OMG Blicavs ! Please no.

Lol, most say no jarry...
But they can't add would replace her?

Jarry will need to play some basketball in order to make the Rio team.

Imo there's no competition in the guard/forward positions really. Looking at the list of Sg/sf's, apart from this the girls listed, theres no one else worth looking at. We basically know who will be the pg's and the pf/c's, filling 8 of the 12 roster spots... Which means 4 to choose from the list below. Based on form, the first 4 will go without question. Taylor and Ohea in the guard positions as they can both handle the ball well and Allen and Talbot in the sf spots, both of whom are great defenders and bring something extra to the table.

Taylor 2/3
Ohea 2/3
Allen 3/2
Talbot 3/2
Kunek 2/3
Jarry 3/2

Lock it in...
1/2 Phillips/ 1/2 madgen/ 1 Mitchell
2/3 Taylor/ 2/3 Ohea
3/2 Allen/ 3/2 Talbot
4/5 Jackson/ 4/5 Francis/ 4 bishop
5 Cambage/ 5/4 tolo

(Injury in the pg/Sg spot = 2/1 ebzery or 2/1 cole call up)
(Injury in the guard/forward spot = 3/2 jarry or 2/3 kunek call up)
(Injury in the front court = 5/4 batkovic or 5 bunton call up)

Kunek? All she can do is shoot a decent 3pt shot and whinge on fouls against her.

Ball handling/attacking the rim is poor.

Griffin would be great but I just don't think its gonna happen.

Would be a killer team for sure...

Pg/sg 5'8 Phillips (sparks?)
Pg/sg 5'10 madgen (Mercury)(-5'7 Lavey)
Pg 5'5 Mitchell (Mercury)
Sg/sf 6'1 Taylor (Mercury?)
Sg/sf 6'1 Ohea (storm?)(-5'11 snell)
Sf/sg 6'1 Allen (Liberty)
Sf/pf 6'2 griffin (sun)(-6'1 jarry)
Pf/c 6'5 Jackson (storm?)(-6'3 hodges)
Pf/c 6'4 Francis (Mercury)
Pf 6'3 bishop (storm?)(-6'4 burton)
C 6'8 Cambage (shock?)(-6'2 Richards)
C/pf 6'5 tolo (sparks?)

There's 5 very capable sg's on that team... Why would you need more?
If there was a change I'd take ebzery before I'd take cumming. Ebzery has speed on her and also can play the 1 if necessary. I'm sure that's why she was brought into the Coe to refine her skills.

Ebzery is the Same height as cumming...

The trouble is both Allen and griffin or allen and Talbot don't have great ball handling at the 2 and will get picked off quite easily.

Taylor and Ohea have run the show in the past. Both descent ball handlers compared to the others. Both can penetrate and shoot the 3. Allen is more of a spot up shooter and griffin more of a banger, the 1 per centers. Much like Talbot but with much more experience.

Ebzery 177cm, cumming 178cm.

I've thought about it also. But now I realise you have to be able to do more than 1 thing well. Snell is a good 3 point shooter but she offers nothing else. Cumming is primarily a mid range spot up shooter. Taylor does it all, Ohea is basically at 2/3's the level of Taylor. Allen is a great shooter near or far, gets steals... Rebounds.. Etc. griffin has mid range but her defence and tenacity on the boards is what makes her great. she always has a Nice balance of stats.

current averages wnbl.

Allen 15 ppg 6.2 rbd 1.8 ast 1.9 stl 0.9 blk 40.6 fg% 82.9% ft 34.6 3pt%
Griffin 16 Ppg 9.1 rbd 1.6 ast 1.4 stl 0.6 blk 51.1 fg% 78.8 ft%
Talbot 12.6 ppg 7.5 rbd 3.2 ast 0.9 stl 0.4 blk 43.5 fg% 76.6 ft%
Kunek 13 ppg 3.9 rbd 0.8 ast 0.4 stl 0.3 blk 42.7 fg% 90.6 ft% 39.2 3 pt%
Blicavs 12.1 Ppg 4.8 rbd 1.4 ast 1.4 stl 0.5 blk 46 fg% 76.1 ft%
Cumming 11.2 ppg 2.8 rbd 2 ast 0.6 stl 0.3 blk 41.8 fg% 82 ft% 34.8 3pt%
Snell 14.8 ppg 4.5 rbd 3 ast 1.1 stl 0.5 blk 45.5 fg% 95.1 ft% 39.1 3pt%

Who would you take Paul?

You can't be serious? Jarry ok.. Maybe. But snell and Lavey?

What do you think Lavey brings to the table?
Speed and 1 on 1 defence?

I'd like to see Lavey play some minutes in the wnbl before making an Olympic team.

not sure if she is contracted to Bendigo next year although if not she probably needs to move on.

How is defensive speed tested? Is it different to nfl players getting their 40 yard dash tested?

There's a huge problem here..
She may be a great defensive guard, putting a lot of pressure on there court leader. She has excellent footwork + speed. But, you can only really use her if you have another descent ball handler that can provide offense on the floor. We know she can't shoot, she doesn't use her ability to pass players and score on the offensive end. And although she has good vision, she still hasn't shown her passing abilities. Shes a descent ball handler in the open floor, but under pressure she is terrible. I think she is a great prospect for the future but she needs a lot of work. No doubt after 2016 she will get her chance. With Phillips being a terrific defender and madgen getting better, I don't think she will be required. Can you see a wnbl bench player beating out 3 wnba players?

Its a socceroos selection criteria that their players are getting consistant weekly gametime in a reasonable league.

Whether Lavey makes the Rio team or not she needs to be playing minutes in actual games of basketball to develop her game, whether its SEABL over the winter or somewhere else in the wnbl next season.

I'm not the coach although I'd be hesistant to take too many players who haven't been playing any minutes (either injury or dnps) in a decent league to any major tournament. You could see the rust in Jarry's game at Tukery. Missed layups, bad passes, bad reads within the offense, etc. You could see the talent, hustle, motor and effort on defense although almost everything she had to do with the ball wasn't pretty.

It didn't show with Lavey, she pushed the ball, passed to Penny or Erin to start the offense and played D full court. 80% of the tournament was junk time, and she played the junkiest of those minutes. Potentially with the perceived risk Brendan took in making the selection I don't think he was going to put her in a position to look bad.

I remember, There was one game later on in the worlds comp where she had like 3 turnovers in a row near half court which resulted in the other pg getting lay ups. I think it showed she was not the right choice. I think it was against Belarus. Fundamentally her handles are good in the open, but she doesn't protect the ball very well.
Also, Has any one noticed when madgen takes the ball up, the ball bounces to about shoulder height sometimes? Phillips is clearly our best number 1. And the best young pg coming through is Wallace without question.

The best possible team for Rio

Starters

1. Leilani Mitchell
2. Jenna O'Hea
3. Penny Taylor
4. Lauren Jackson
5. Liz Cambage

Bench

Erin Phillips
Bec Allen
Tess Madgen
Abby Bishop
Cayla Francis
Marianna Tolo
Carley Mijovic/Steph Talbot/Sara Blicavs/

Surprised you would start Mitchell over Phillips after how she played at the worlds.
And mijovic/Blicavs has no chance...atm. It's going to come down to griffin or Talbot.

Does griffin play sf or pf at Connecticut?

What I can't understand is that Lavey stays at Bendigo. They have given her nothing over the years and still she is there. Perhaps she was lucky to make the Opals but hell she never will again if she never plays at WNBL level. I watched her on TV and felt sorry for her when she came on she seemed lost and so out of the game as she has played so little at this level.

The best possible team for Rio

Starters

1. Leilani Mitchell / Erin Phillips
2. Tess Madgen / Belinda Snell
3. Penny Taylor / Jenna OHea
4. Lauren Jackson / Abbey Bishop / Cayla Francis
5. Liz Cambage / Marianna Tolo

Emergencies In Order

Kelly Wilson (Proven Combo)
Nat Hurst (PG with toughness)
Gabe Richards (If Lauren cant make it, she's in)
Stephanie Talbot (look to the future, rebounds)
Rebecca Allen (cant have in front of any above)
Sarah Blicavs (Plays harder than most,size,defends)
Carley Mijovic (Another scorer, would stretch D)

Others to stop wasting time with;
1. Natalie Burton (Why even comment)?
2. Stephanie Cummings (Backwards fast, SEABL champ)
3. Katie Ebzery (Syd golden girl, not hard enough)
4. Suzy Batkovic (Old, lost movement in right hand)
5. Laura Hodges (Time to move on, great servant)
6. Alex Bunton (Cant run a play, fouls fouls fouls)
7. Alice Kunek (Embarrassing)
8. Rachel Jarry (UFC reason only)
.
Youth Kids Worth Looking at Seriously.
1. Lauren Sherf (Could be the next best big)
2. Alana Smith (If Stanford develop??)
3. Froling

I'm happy to take any criticism, but this team is the easiest to select and hardest to coach. Joyce will have fun with Cambage and Jackson, if Griffin can be selected I'd shift O'Hea out for attitude.

Allen will be there. no doubt.

Live it when people name 11 players for a team of 12.

My pick:

5'8 Phillips / 5'5 Mitchell / 5'10 madgen (ebzery if injury)
6'1 Taylor / 6'1 Allen (jarry if injury)
6'2 Griffin / 6'1 Ohea (Talbot if injury)
6'5 Tolo / 6'4 Francis / 6'3 bishop (burton if injury)
6'8 Cambage / 6'5 jackson (batkovic if injury)

Starting 5.
Phillips works on both ends of the floor. Simply works harder than Mitchell.
Taylor well there's nothing she can't do.
Griffin offers a bit of everything. Points, rebounds, defence. Etc etc.
Moved tolo to pf due to speed in transition, footwork and mid range shooting. Not a great rebounder... But great defender.
Cambage starts big presence in the paint. Nice balance of points and rebounds. Jackson getting older.. Better in the paint at this point during career, still can step outside. Solid body, excellent rebounder and shot blocker. Limited minutes due to ageing body.

20-30 y.o roster. After rio... Leading up to 2019.
5'10 Madgen/5'10 ebzery/5'10 Cole or 5'7 Lavey(no more Phillips or Mitchell)
6'1 Allen/6'2 kunek or 6'1 jarry (no more Taylor)
6'2 Talbot/6'1 ohea
6'4 Francis/6'3 bishop/6'2 griffin (no more Jackson)
6'8 Cambage/6'5 tolo

The future prospects u20 top 3 per position:
5'11 Wallace/5'9 antoniadou/5'9 tupaea
6'1 sharp/5'10 Seaton/6'0 Horvat
6'1 Maley/6'2 k.froling/6'2 brown
6'3 Smith/6'3 a.froling/6'2 hellessey
6'5 Scherf/6'3 mckay/6'3 fareo

Live it when people have a crack and stuff up themselves. Great Job.
LIVE your WORK!

LOVER or HATER

Anyone who lists a team that doesn't have Phillips as a starter automatically has a big question mark on their credibility

Joyce's picks were definately odd considering who else was available. But overall he did pretty good. Brondello would be the best choice imo.
Most people seem to think that Lavey, burton, Richards, hodges are out.
snell and jarry are doubtful.
Which leaves 6 spots open...
The consensus is Jackson, cambage, bishop, ohea, griffin(if possible) and madgen will join with Phillips, Taylor, Mitchell, Allen, Francis and tolo.

I thought I was watcing Sky Racing. He talks about the girls like they are racehorses.

He's obsessed with lavey and it's not good