Luuuc
Two years ago

Opals WC Qualifiers in Serbia

FIBA Tournament Home Page

Thu 10pm AEDT: Opals vs Brazil

Sun 7am AEDT: Opals vs Serbia

Mon 1am AEDT: Opals vs Korea


Live on ESPN & Kayo

Topic #49730 | Report this topic


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Physical first game I bet

Reply #884643 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Sami Whitcomb already showing why she should have been picked for Tokyo. Maybe Sandy is finally learning....

Reply #884711 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

It was a crime to pick Mitchell over Whitcomb for the Olympic team.

Reply #884712 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Rocci was terrible, would rather have Shyla in as back up just for her floor spacing.

Reply #884714 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Rocci and Blicavs a bit shaky. The rest playing well. Hope Wallace gets on the court!

Reply #884715 | Report this post


Luuuc  
Two years ago

Point guard situation is sub-optimal

Reply #884718 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Cut almost half the team.

Reply #884726 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Keep
Whitcomb
Talbot
Allen
Smith
George

Cut / Enter
Rocci < Lavey
Madgen < Nicholson Melbourne
Blicavs < Kunek or Ohea
Garbin < Magbegor
Tolo < Scherf

Wallace and Heal to get more time

Reply #884727 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Cut / Enter
Rocci < Lavey
Madgen < Melbourne
Blicavs < Maley
Garbin < Magbegor
Tolo < Scherf

Keep Wallace
Mansfield maybe for heal

Reply #884728 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

We are in big trouble if this is similar to the squad we take to the WC.

Brazil will either not make the WC or finish outside the 10 at the WC and today they were missing best 2 players in dantas and dos santos.

Reply #884729 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Tolo is not getting cut. Madgen, Rocci and Garbin need to go for Nicolson/Melbourne, Lavey and Ezi.

Reply #884730 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

The bias from sandy towards Madgen and Blicavs has to stop.

Reply #884733 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Tolo had a good game but stamina is an issue

Reply #884734 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Maley would be handy, just for the rebounds

Reply #884735 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

I really struggle to see how madgen brings anthing to the opals she is barely noticeable at wnbl level. Nicholson deserved another go . Whitcomb will play 35 minutes when the games get harder so there are not many minutes for a backup pg . So its either heal or rocci not both ezi has to come back . Melbourne not even close.

Reply #884742 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Lavey over Heal n Rocci, aflw atm.

Reply #884744 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

We will finish 7-10 at WC out of 12

Reply #884746 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Rocci, Madgen and Blicavs gone for sure.
Heal and Garbin hanging by a thread

Reply #884747 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Watching the other games, we are doomed....

Lapena turned Canadas b team into a decent team within 2 months.
Was leading japan into the last 1/4

Reply #884750 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

France new additions loook good too

Reply #884752 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Hopefully in the supposed 15 lead up games, we cycle through some players

Reply #884753 | Report this post


Luuuc  
Two years ago

Someone wants to cut Tolo? lololololol

Reply #884754 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

I would for Scherf. People get caught up in the points too much and forget how bad she was vs fast pace teams. So too George against japan.

Reply #884755 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Sandy had a backup 5 of

Rocci-Madgen-Blicavs-Garbin-Tolo


Is she nuts?



Reply #884757 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Can't believe there is a comment about cutting Tolo for Sherf. Tolo played excellent defence. There were still a lot of issues in the second string players and we should have won by a much higher margin.

Reply #884763 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

No doubt but we are playing inferior opponents.

Reply #884764 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Whitcomb-Lavey
Talbot-Nicholson-Wallace
Allen-Kunek-Maley
Magbegor-Smith
George-Tolo


Can rotate and use different sized lineups.

Reply #884765 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Can Heal ever keep anyone in front of her? She has to be one of the worst professional perimeter defenders I have ever seen.

Reply #884766 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

She has not been good

Pity Mansfield injured and lavey aflw

Reply #884767 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

All teams seem to be missing a few players

Reply #884772 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Opals will look completely different once Liz & Ezi are back in

Reply #884773 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Liz ain't coming back

Reply #884774 | Report this post


ME (he/kangaroo)  
Two years ago

I am no expert on women's basketball but I would have thought a win over Brazil was pretty solid, right? Aren't they usually consistent contenders?

Reply #884776 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Brazil haven't been contenders for a very long time, a win against them means nothing.

A win against a top 8 side means something.

Reply #884781 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Serbia and Korea shouldn't be a challenge either.

Reply #884783 | Report this post


ANON  
Two years ago

Cut / Enter
Rocci < Lavey
Madgen < Melbourne
Blicavs < Maley
Garbin < Magbegor
Tolo < Scherf

Cue FOJ Mr Melbourne coming soon

Reply #884784 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

It's either Nicholson, Melbourne, maybe Wehrung. As Madgens replacement.

Reply #884786 | Report this post


ANON  
Two years ago

Nicholson is so far in front of those two it isn't funny

Reply #884790 | Report this post


ANON  
Two years ago

Nicholson is so far in front of those two it isn't funny

Reply #884791 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Great in wnbl but has not translated in fiba, much like Madgen.
Probably deserves another shot but no guarantee.

Reply #884792 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

loz had avg about 6-3-2 in 25 mins in asia

Wehrung 4-3-2 in 18 mins
Wallace 4-2-2 in 14 mins
Melbourne 3-1-1 in 8 mins

Reply #884793 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Shelley 4-2-2 in 13 mins

Reply #884794 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

My pick

Lavey1-Mansfield1
Whitcomb2/1-Wallace2/1
Talbot3/2-Kunek3-Maley3/4
Allen4/3-Smith4/5
Magbegor5/4-George5-Tolo5


Reserves
Reid1
Wehrung2
Nicholson3/2
Garbin4
Scherf5

Reply #884796 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

In the fiba game you need speed, good d(ability to move feet and focus), good perimeter shooting and the ability to penetrate and Madgen can not do any of those at a high enough level.

Blicavs also way too slow, like a wounded gazelle. Offers nothing more than Maley except an extra 1.5 inches in height, shooting on par these days, defense, running the floor, rebounding, scrappiness all way behind Maley.

Reply #884800 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

2022

Whitcomb 88 34y.o
George 89 33y.o
Tolo 89 33y.o
Madgen 90 32y.o
Allen 92 30y.o
Blicavs 93 29y.o
Talbot 94 28y.o
Garbin 94 28 y.o
Wallace 96 26y.o
Rocci 98 24y.o
Magbegor 99 23y.o
Heal 01 21y.o

Reply #884813 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Wish sandy would stop harping on about being a defensive team and then choose players who can't defend.

Reply #884887 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

This is a meaningless tournament for the opals to see how a few young players go with some vets. People need to stop reading too much into it.

Reply #884892 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Young ones like Madgen, Blicavs, Allen, Talbot, Tolo, Garbin, Whitcomb, George, smith, Wallace. So 10 of 12 / 26 or older.

Reply #884894 | Report this post


Luuuc  
Two years ago

There's not really much value in sending a 100% n00b team though is there.
Seems to me like Heal & Rocci are there to see how they fit in, Garbin has earned a spot with 12+ months of good form, and Madgen was selected for the purpose of... umm...

Reply #884914 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

So why not pick Maley, Scherf, Melbourne if we've already seen Blicavs, George, Madgen many many times.

Why not actually play heal or Rocci or Wallace ore than just a few minutes ....


Truth is sandy sees things differently.
Others (most really think differently to her)

Look on Insta, Facebook, teitter etc and it’s clear most want Nicholson or a Maley, Scherf, bishop over those that sandy has chosen.

People forget she chose both Madgen and Blicavs for Mercury training camp

Reply #884923 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

As someone has stated earlier she's only going to find replacements for Mitchell n Ebzery.

Reply #884924 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Garbin a late replacement for Ezi, saminreplaces mitchell and 3 guard choices to replace Ebzery in heal, Rocci or Wallace.

Nothing changes from Tokyo imo under brondello.
Lavey n Ohea will make it back in

Reply #884926 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

'Sandys brain'

WC 22 / Tokyo 21

Whitcomb / Mitchell*
Talbot / Talbot
Allen / Allen
Magbegor / Magbegor
George / George

Heal, Rocci or Wallace / Ebzery*
Madgen / Madgen
Ohea / Ohea
Smith / Smith
Tolo / Tolo

Lavey / Lavey
Blicavs / Blicavs


*retired from international ball

Don’t think 2 additions will save this team.
We aren’t going from 8th in Tokyo to medal at WC with just Whitcomb and a new inexperienced young pg.

We need significant change, especially to the backup 5 and some potential positional changes facing smaller more mobile sides or sides with athleticism, possibly Whitcomb, Talbot, Allen and Magbegor playing primary wnba positions at 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Eg S5

PG 5’8 Lavey (maybe)
SG 5’10 Whitcomb - New York
SF 6’2 Talbot - Seattle
PF 6’2 Allen - New York
C 6’4 Magbegor - Seattle

Or

PG 5’10 Whitcomb - New York
SG 5’11 Wallace or 5’11 Nicholson (maybe)
SF 6’2 Talbot - Seattle
PF 6’2 Allen - New York
C 6’4 Magbegor - Seattle


We would be better defensively and more mobile, that’s for sure.

Reply #884977 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Even

Whitcomb
Talbot
Allen
Maley
Magbegor

I'd like to see

Reply #884978 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Korea beat Brazil by 2, looks like Brazil are out of the WC.

12 Through to wc

Australia
Belgium
Bosnia
Canada
China
France
Japan
Korea
Serbia
USA
Nigeria or Mali - could be either
Russia or Puerto Rico - likely Russia

Reply #885006 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Australia at full strength could only realistically beat Korea at the WC, the rest of the teams will be very tough.

Reply #885007 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Rocci ... just so far off opals level.

Reply #885009 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Dumbest team ever...

Reply #885010 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Several boneheaded plays by us

Reply #885011 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Smith went to Stanford.... But her bball iq….

Reply #885012 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Madgen should be nowhere near this squad, way too slow for this level.

Reply #885014 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Goodbye sandy asap

Reply #885016 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Inbounds passes from pgs to centres lol.

Reply #885017 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Entertaining game. The bald polish ref was on a mission from the start. The ejection was ridiculous.

Not much new was really learnt.

Point Guard required.

Rocci not even at Opals camp level.
Smith and Blicavs cant be trusted, having them both on the same team is just asking for dumb plays to happen.
Heal way off it, too small and not quick enough to run the point.

Maley would have been really handy to guard Anderson. Good game to see what can happen when two bigs get into foul trouble early, ejections injuries, who can you rely on when the pressure increases.


Allen, Talbot, Whitcomb, Tolo, Garbin, Madgen, George plus Ezi should all get selected.

Madgen is slow and steady and actually the best point guard in that current squad, she plays solid defence, makes smart decision, can hit the open shot and is steady with the ball.

Whitcomb, PG (Lavey/Reid), (Wallace or Melbourne as defenders up tempo guards)
Talbot, Madgen
Allen, (Maley)
Garbin, George
Ezi, Tolo, (Scherf? o)

Team will need more defensive speed against the smaller quicker teams. Cant rely on Whitcomb and Allen having to play 35 minutes.

Reply #885024 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Madgen lol
Worst I've ever seen George

Reply #885025 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Stanford has great PR.

Agree with 024s roster w/ Wallace other than Lavey: what does she bring to the team or is it a case of what else do we have?

Love Scherf although wears out quickly. Bishop would have been handy.

Reply #885026 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Any post that mentions Melbourne should be instantly regarded as nonsense.

Reply #885029 | Report this post


jjj  
Two years ago

Missing a point guard with composure. Made no sense to run with whitcomb a combo guard, and two rookies in Rocci and Heal. Most of the problems seemed to stem from the lack of a PG... oh and Sandy.
This game looked like one the Opals should have won but let slip. Thankfully it will not stop us advancing to the next level of the competition. At the end of the day Serbia wanted it more and their crowd support lifted them when it counted.

Reply #885041 | Report this post


Luuuc  
Two years ago

Missing a point guard with composure

Yep, it's pretty much that simple. What a world of difference it makes to reliably get the ball into the front court and initiate some proper offence.
(Maybe certain people might now comprehend why we clung to Mitchell for so long)
Sami is a legend for being able to top score while also having the PG burden on her in this game, but we need to share some of that load so that she can be the weapon we need her to be.

Not that we don't have issues elsewhere on the court as well. No shortage of awful decision-making in that game, and I thought we really let ourselves get physically bullied instead of attacking the pressure. We could have fouled half their team out had we played more proactively. Often feels like we're a team of robots with very little savvy for sucking opponents in.

Credit to Serbia for keeping the pressure on for the majority of the game. Ours was a lot more sporadic. Pressure team D is only as good as the weakest link. Huge win for them especially considering the players they were missing.


Is Wallace ok? Odd that she got zero game time especially after Talbot got tossed out.


Brazil Boxscore


Serbia Boxscore



Reply #885050 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

We are fine at the pg position, just that the average person and selector is an idiot.

Lavey was great in Tokyo, but sandy stuck with broken Mitchell and played 2 sgs as pgs in Ebzery n Madgen bulk minutes. 1 of the reasons we were so poor defending guards

The other pg should be Mansfield, criminally underrated. Was the pg selected for the WC in 2018 to backup Mitchell before injury. Was never selected again even though she was good in the previous asia cup.

Another option is Reid. But with no hype behind her because she is blue collar, doesn't get a look in.


Reply #885072 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

George to backup c

Reply #885073 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Serbia ,issuing 4-5 players, opals kissing 1 in Ezi

Reply #885074 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

No jovanovic, dabovic, dugalic or stankovic

Reply #885075 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Two years ago

Too much pressure on Sami playing big minutes and the pg position


Mansfield 1
Lavey 1
Whitcomb 2-1
Wallace 2-1
Nicholson 3-2
Talbot 3-2
Allen 4-3
Maley 4-3
Smith 4-5
Magbegor 4-5
George 5
Tolo 5


Still not completely sold on George or tolo
Like to see bishop n Scherf get a chance


Reply #885080 | Report this post


Luuuc  
Two years ago



Not much gained out of the last game other than more minutes than usual for the bench.
I liked Wallace's defence, and thought Garbin did well with her extended time. Not much intensity in the game though so hard to read too much into it.
Mostly I'm just glad that Talbot is ok.

Reply #885107 | Report this post


Weedy Slug  
Two years ago

Think by the way things have panned out in the qualifiers, it's clear sandy will just continue with the Tokyo squad. Mitchell replaced by Whitcomb as the primary pg and likely 1 of those 3 guards tested(Rocci, heal, Wallace) becomes the third string pg. Lavey upgraded from 3rd pg to backup.


From the comments, most people would have several changes but brondello seems to see things differently, shelikely sees the squad as


Whitcomb/Lavey/(1 of Rocci, Heal, Wallace)
Talbot/Madgen
Allen/Ohea
Magbegor/Smith/Blicavs
George/Tolo


Personally I think this squad is way off and I think they will fail miserably.
7th finish at best but could be as low as 11th.

Reply #885118 | Report this post


Weedy Slug  
Two years ago

WC qualified
Current world rank

#1 usa
#3 australia
#4 Canada
#5 France
#6 Belgium
#7 China
#8 japan
#10 Serbia
#12 Russia
#14 Korea
#15 Nigeria
#27 Bosnia



Power rankings and WC predicted finish

#1 usa -1 / -
#7 China -2 / +5
#8 japan -3 / +5
#5 France -4 / +1
#4 Canada -5 / -1
#6 Belgium -6 / -
#10 Serbia -7 / +3
#3 australia -8 / -5
#27 Bosnia -9 / +18
#12 Russia -10 / +2
#15 Nigeria -11 / +4
#14 Korea -12 / +2

Reply #885164 | Report this post




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