Girls moving the ball well and getting good looks but it will not go through the hoop. Time to revert to plan A and just give it to Cambage every time down the floor.

Cambage not so cocky now is she, and Australia undone because they have relied on one player too much, who when finally faced with decent opponents falls to bits. And the crowds animosity wouldn't be helping either for some of the other players

Smith is certainly a shinning light for the future ,Magbegor too

Just like the match against spain, most
refereeing decisions go
against Australia.
Very biased refereeing.

Ezi should be getting more playing time

terrible refereeing.

Unfortunately Liz brings her own negativity, Opals did well to get a medal especially a silver one ,those blaming the refereeing need to be not so blind , the refereeing all tournament was probably the best around , they took no crap from players and seemed consistent in all games, can't ask for more. Belgium possibly a better team than Opals considering their game against USA,but USA have too many good strong players , well drilled and a cohesive unit for any team Staley has them on point
A well deserved win for USA and a pleasant surprise for Opals, as few gave them a chance at a medal .

Opals had a great tournament and fell short against the deepest and most talented team in the competition. I am proud of their efforts.

USA got up and in and did not allow the 3 or the pass inside.
The difference was we were not used to that level of defence.
They had a great game plan and unlike the Euro teams we don't use pick and roll well or the drive and dish.
We should have run more though.
Great game plan US.
Great experience though for next time

Tough night putting the ball in the hoop, but they did well to hang around as long as they did. Liz might have struggled offensively, but she was great at the other end, and I felt that her attitude throughout the game was fine given how frustrating it must have been.

Great effort to get the silver. Hopefully they can find other avenues to the basket over the next two years and have a red hot crack in Tokyo.

Congrats Opals:-)

Congrats to the Opals from me too. Silver is a tremendous achievement considering our recent string of international results and the way the competition is so fierce in this level below the USA.

Pity it had to end *that* badly though. Realistically a lot had to go right for the Opals to win tonight, but even things that normally do go right for us decided not to in that game.
No doubt the team feels disappointment, but hopefully they also feel a heap of motivation and belief for 2020. There are plenty of positives.

I don't usually watch women's basketball but I watched Opals v China and most of today's game and I thought the intensity and standard was actually pretty good. The top end of women's international basketball is always pretty good, when you're getting the 12 best players from each nation. But I find WNBA and WNBL, where the talent is a bit more diluted, to be insufferable and full of airballs. But either way, I'll always give the Opals a watch. They've really thrown the gauntlet down to the men.

Ezi is a superstar in the making by the way. Big fan of how she goes about the game. And yeah, Cambage is too easy to sway with emotions and she will probably always fall short of true greatness with that.

I don't think there is the need for the negativity, you can acknowledge what a good effort it was to get silver while pointing out areas for improvement. The Olympics will probably be a significantly tougher tournament than this, but the Opals have clear room for improvement.

For all the negativity about the Opals their record in major tournaments is outstanding:

2018 5-1
2016 5-1
2014 5-1
2012 6-2
2010 7-2
2008 7-1
2006 9-0
2004 7-1
2002 7-2
2000 7-1

That's 65-12 this century, and if you take out the 0-8 record against the USA, who let's face it are a level above, the Opals are 65-4 against the rest of the world. That's unbelievable!

Thanks for those numbers Paul. That is pretty incredible.

The Opals have been a true standout for the last 20 years in terms of national team performance. Its a shame they don't get the attention they deserve. If the Matildas got to a world cup final the hype would be big. Is it just that people take the Opals for granted?

It'll be interesting to see if the Opals can stay a world class team in the next 10 years. With more opportunities available for Aussie women to play the more traditional Aussie sport (AFL, NRL, sevens) at a high level professionally/semi pro, hopefully basketball can retain these athletes.

Congratulations to all involved in the Opals, well done girls, you should be proud of yourselves!

Future remains bright...

A fantastic achoevement to make the final and to win silver after missing out on a medal at Rio is a huge effort.

There was no Penny Taylor this time, no Lauren Jackson.

The future is looking bright for the Opals.

Love or loathe her, Liz Cambage is is a superstar. She is also still young and Tokyo is realistic.

Alanna Smith and Ezi Magbegor are rising stars and should both be picked up in the 1st round of the WNBA Draft in 2019.

Ebzery was good, especially against Spain, but in reality we were weakest at the point guard position.

I really think a fit Kristy Wallace is a key piece moving forward. Really hoping she can get back on deck fully recovered from her ACL.

if a player gets 27 ppg at the tourny gets 7 ....ya gonna lose by 20....
arithmetically speaking

..and griifin worth 12points ... 17points when cambage is quiet...

Well done, girls, and I love that success rate for this century

wouldnt she get more than smith...

I'm sharing those stats Paul!

Which Olympic and World Cup games are you suggesting don't count?

So...they're winning the ones that do count and losing the ones that don't, then. What's the problem?

Incredible stats Paul. Thanks.

Personally I wouldn't put Asia Cup in the same class as the other results.
It's ultimately meaningful, but doesn't say that much about the Opals because it is usually going to be an Opals-lite team that competes in it.

Not really what I meant. Yes we had some unavailable players, as did plenty of other teams, but it's not like the Asia Cup where our entire WNBA group was unavailable on top of whatever injuries and not-interesteds there were at the time.

The uncomplimentary comments about Steph Talbot are questionable. Talbot was a consistent performer over the tournament with her rebounding and assists, particularly the significant number of assists to Cambage.
It was apparent that the opposing teams' rate of scoring increased when Talbot was not on the court.

"The uncomplimentary comments about Steph Talbot are questionable."

The entire post is questionable IMO.
The Opals did a great job considering who was available and how much time they had together. There's plenty to build on.
But yeah the Talbot comment in particular is odd considering how much she has improved in the past 12 months.

It's no huge revelation that the Opals aren't blessed with international-calibre scorers, and it really doesn't help the situation when our 2 best ball distributors go down on the eve of the tournament.

IMO they were the correct picks for the Opals. Who would you have gone with, nameless critic?

My recollection of Talbot in the past was being a slasher, and a poor shooter. From what I've seen of her more recently, ie WNBA, she's working on her shot.
With the Opals it's a mindset thing IMO. Allen, Whitcomb & Smith were the only ones (other than Liz obviously) who weren't excessively tentative when it came to calling their own number. Ebzery started to get the hang of it, and it's always toughest to balance it when you're the PG so I give her more than a pass mark overall. For a converted 2-guard she has come a long way in a short time. I would have liked to see more Ebzery-Whitcomb together the backcourt but I get why Sandy did what she did with Sami off the bench, because our bench scoring would have been zero. Much less of an issue if Wallace gets healthy and into the side.