3:15pm AEST today

Just a cruisey one to ease into the tournament hey. Nice.

You have two experienced and championship winning assistant coaches yet Butler who has done nothing gets the head gig.... serious questions should be asked, especially after last time under her coaching style

Only player that looked like they should be there was Shelley, they all just play for themselves it seems
How can these girls attend the CofE and be viewed as our "future" Opals when they struggle to catch the ball and have absolutely no organisation on the floor
Let's hope they can finish better than this game fir the rest of the week

Hungary vs Gems today...will need to bounce back quickly.

Watch - Australia vs Hungary

Scanlon 12pts 3reb 1asst 3to. That's your highest scorer. Not sure what the anon clown was referring to her as lost at sea.

Anonymous must have been at a different game
You need to support young Aussies not criticise them
Sometimes in life you don't always get what you think is right
Which no doubt is Anons problem
Go Aussies

Scanlon lost at sea ? Got be fkn kidding me, best defender in the team - she locked up Van Lith. At to top that she led the Australians in scoring, shooting 50% in a game were everyone else shot 27%. Wake up Anon!

Chances that clown is the father of another guard in the team

I just feel like they are missing something. Another big maybe or another defensive presence and perimeter threat in a guard.

They are missing Hannan - she plays really well with Bourne. Not sure what could be an issue with eligibility someone mentioned above. Also way too many guards with a similar skill set so very difficult to play them all. IMO Heal, Scanlon and Shelley should play bulk of the time, which means very limited minutes for Goodchild and D'Angelo. Goodchild is a good shooter but against long and quick defenders she will struggle one-on-one as it happened against USA so she needs some plays run for her as it's done at Duke. But then Potter is there, more athletic wing to take that role and so on...

Someone mentioned Scanlon and her speed - I'd say Americans were just quicker and stronger.

Just saw the game - apologies for the late comment.

Anon751360 writes -
"In the first half apart from one 3 pointer she struggled to get it over half way. Maybe having only 2 outlets hugging the sidelines with no one in the middle with pressure on her caused her a lot of problems. Each time she had to force it through the middle resulting in multiple turnovers off her first pass or the following players pass because the u.s had 4 defenders on the perimeter. Her priority is to run the team first but her mentality is to run and gun."

This is a very good player, who I have seen create no end of trouble to good teams in the past.
The team setup was less than ideal - it made her life difficult, such that her decision to drive to the basket was often the best of a poor selection available.
Too many of our players were stuck on the sidelines; few cut directly towards the ball handler, resulting in float passes directed to the sideline that were hotly contested. The trailing big could have been found more by the guard as an outlet.

Separately, IMO, in offense against a settled US defense, our girls did not set enough on ball screens. Rather they passed and cut directly to the hoop, which the US girls were adept at intercepting/disturbing passes that did come in. Because US girls were intent on quick, aggressive close downs, they were susceptible to being pancaked by on-ball screens; creating space for a better quality shot or drive.
For mine, the big lessons from this game belong to the AU coaching staff, who need to rethink team setups.
The good news is that the form displayed by this US team was far from impressive - they can be beaten.

Talking about u/17s players' looks?? Shame on you.

Shelley is a good player for sure, but hell DeAngelo deserves court time, put the two up against each other and it would be a hard fought match, they need a better coach if they are going to be the USA, if they even get that far, USA are not that strong, Gems just had no organisation

Shelley is a good player for sure, but hell DeAngelo deserves court time, put the two up against each other and it would be a hard fought match, they need a better coach if they are going to be the USA, if they even get that far, USA are not that strong, Gems just had no organisation

I just hate that US coach - f**kin loud SOB. Judging by his over the top berating of US players in reaction to passage of good play by the Gems, I reckon we should target his composure if we get a chance to play the US again. Just do stuff to piss him off.
On the subject of composure -we need to be a lot louder, more physical and show a fair bit more swagger. Our girls looked a bit overawed by the occasion - especially in Q1 and again in Q3.

Final pool game today versus Korea, live from 3pm AEST.

Watch | Gems vs Korea

"Just on that Shelley vs D'Angelo comment above. They grew up 20 mins apart and their local junior teams were rivals so they would have gone head to head a lot. From what I understand it was a bit of a wash and nothing in it but that was some time ago."

They play a different style, but are of equal standard, as for Butler as coach, that's the million $ question every asks, nepotism at its best nothing else, time they moved most of the BA dinosaurs on, Sterling in particular.

They beat this team in India by 20 the 2nd time right?

What was different in India?

#748 you are a moron, it was an even team performance, much more balanced starting 5 and you are blaming the COE coaches for what is obviously a personal selection decision that went against you made by the non COE coaches. How does it feel to be an Australian barracking against young Australian kids?

Gems got up against Korea 78-59. Will play loser of Columbia Vs Japan match later today in Ro16 stage.

Gems V Korea was (IMO) ugly to watch. Gems committed 32 turnovers yet still won.

There is a serial error Aust junior teams commit when playing Japan and Korea.

Simply - we chronically underestimate the hand and foot speed of Japan/Korean defenders; our guards (notably) tend to think they can slide past a Japan/Korean defender with quick moves. Instead too often they turn the ball over
I think Aust is fortunate to play in the Asian region, against such varied opposition. Got to learn from past experience though....

The 3 current COE kids didn't miss a foul shot and went 3/7 from the 3

LMAO, how long since most of them were at the COE?, it is clearly a chip on the shoulder you are passionate about, one you feel strongly enough about that you barrack against young aussie kids, how sad.
Shelley for instance has played a Big V, WNBL and NBL1 season since leaving but you still blame the COE coaches.

so the current COE kids, which are the ones under the current coaches that you want sacked are 9/21 from the 3 and 14/18 from the line, very strong argument you have going there

Shelley is really good. Often has to intercede in offense with few seconds remaining and has to put up a rushed shot. Very calm - great composure. Heart of the problem is bringing the ball up the court with a minimum of distress. The number of times we see these floaty, slow passes, just asking to be intercepted.

#788 all these kids are more than competing against or playing with seasoned veterans in the NBL1 or in college and out performing all your non COE kids as a side note. Current has everything to do with it, you wanted a clear out of the COE coaches, they are the ones who are Currently coaching those 3 kids. You are trying to blame those coaches for what kids are doing when they are 18-19 compared to when they were 16-17 and at the COE (which by the way was beating the USA in the 17s). How is that reasonable, it is a bullshit tall poppy comment.
Keep digging a hole, you are clearly either a trainer or affiliated with a trainer or someone with their nose out of joint. Move on and just support the kids mate

Anonymous
A couple of hours ago

The u17 gold medal winners were coached by Seebohm...
We won because we were organised not because our fundamental skills were better.
Same exact thing at uni games recently.

Atm, we still have poor fundamentals and a coach that cannot organise a team.
At this u19 level, we need both to win a gold.



Sorry but uni games were a joke, they won because they played a college team not a USA national team lol,

Universiade USA women's team this year was Mississippi State, , a college team not the USA national team

JACKSON,R.
3 MATHARU,A.
10 YOUNG,J.
9 HOLMES,J.
23 SCOTT,B.
1 TAYLOR,M.
2 ESPINOZA-HUNTER
11 WEEKS-WIGGINS,
0 HEMINGWAY,J.
4 CARTER,J.
14 COOKS,S.
20 MORRIS,Y.

Columbia's little guards are making the Aussie girls look pretty ordinary,

Well we have just let a 20 point margin slip to 9 pts over the course of 3Q. Turnovers does wonders for the morale of the opposition. Now all their 3s are going in. We should prevail - but we need to rejig the ball carrier assignments. Hoping a couple of players come good is a poor strategy - you have enough talent on the bench to adjust. Use them.

Butler use her bench ... lol

I enjoy watching this team and wish them the best. The girls are real fighters and a credit to the nation.

Agree - we are not playing anywhere near our potential. We have yet to see an inspired performance in this tournament - where they play at an elevated level - that this team is capable of.

But right here, right now - it has to start with the coach making players accountable and addressing our turnover problem.

Bit unclear but your remarks suggest that Hanson has appropriated the word "nation" and therefore can no longer be used in general usage.

Who hasn't improved coming out of the COE? No argument just wanting to know as I’m not too familiar with it all and what injuries have there been lately among the girls?

The COE girls won 6 of their last 9 and were upto their eyeballs in all games but a couple but do play even court time in the name of development. They come down and play triple headers and to the girls and coaches credit won all 3 close games in their last triple header so there is clearly a developmental strategy with how they approach things and clear improvement in learning how to win at that level. The boys won 2 more games and if you look at the spread of minutes they play two to three main kids in order to get them over the line. Injuries is interesting, like any AFL club workloads are determined by sports science not the coaches so you are up the wrong tree. Clearly the assists and post entry FG% numbers are down in this tournament, the team is not dealing with the D collapse well at all, rather than the easy give they try and push through 3 people, so you do have to look at the coaches instruction there

There seams to be a lack of TEAM to their ofence.
Looking to score themselves in non open looks.
Possibly due to coach's substitutions and team structure not suiting the players that are there.
I think though its lack of positional play.
Watch European teams or Japan/Korea usage of space with ball movement.
Maybe COE doesnt do enough work on team offence.
The girls are working hard on defence and rebounding so desire is there.

I agree.
Fast break should be more of an option,you can still get open shots from it aka Japan and early penetration and dish to see what happens before running set offense.
Something is stifling their flow,they look unsure of themselves.

You do have to wonder whether the assistants are being heard, the coach of Geelong has two of his main players in the team and has shown he is more than capable of exceptional ball movement with his team this year; those same two kids are struggling with the current team play

I think they'll beat Mali with their hustle and rebounding and overall experience but Spain will give them a lesson in how to play offence.
Then we'll get the same lesson from Japan for a fourth place finish.
If they find a flow next game we could medal,I hope so.
Doing us all proud but coach needs to settle on her lineup and rotations.

I reckon it will be

02 5'10 J.Melbourne(COE) / 03 5'7 K.Deeble(QBL)
03 6’1 P.Price(COE) / 03 5’10 S.Swain(COE)
02 6’1 G.Potter(COE) / 03 6’1 C.Dunn(NBL1)
02 6’3 O.Pollerd(COE) / 02 5’11 N.Notoa(QBL)
02 6’5 K.Rees(COE) / 03 6’2 M.Prior(COE)

The majority played together in those positions apart from Potter who was with the current 19s, it is a tall, long athletic starting group and the bottom agers Deeble and Swain have some serious speed and all 10 had pretty good numbers last nationals. a lot of kids that can play positionless basketball and have handles so our current weakness on the ball should be overcome with height and length

How does that squad size up to the previous U17s team?

To Anon113 - I generally agree with the selections except...
...with the deficiencies we see in the ball handling department fresh in mind, I think we need to ask - should we not have someone in the team who is a bullet proof ball handler? They may not be the best shot; they may not make the best decisions. The role they fill is to inject that bit of skill and composure so that the ball can move up the court when the team is subject to a press.

I won't mention names - these are still young girls and I anticipate some will read their names in forums such as this and get put off the game by any criticism they receive. Paid coaches/administrators are fair game IMO.

That said, I speak to structure and function. The need to have quality options on the bench that a coach can draw upon to handle a problem the team encounters on court.

As the rapist (and sometime boxer) Mike Tyson once said "Everybody has a plan until you get punched in the face" - ie you can plan all you want for a battle, but once it starts, things get so chaotic so quickly that you better to forget the plans have the capacity to adapt to the situation.

I think Deeble in that squad is your bullet proof ball handler from the bench as a go to in the current side; worked her way up from the bench in Oceania u15 to be the main point guard and she doesn't take that extra bounce or the little bit of me time dribbling that the current guards are doing.
IMO watching the games the guards are allowing opposition D to get back and organised and 2. running down the shot clock resulting in crap shots and reduced fg% that everyone is talking about and 3. not doing this but being assertive gives you the transition that the team is currently lacking and exactly why Japan are so good at it.
Teams with international height guards don't struggle as much as they can actually see over the small guards IMO and from what i saw at Nationals i reckon Hanafin is the best option once they go to 12, she is nearly 6ft and anyone who plays guard in Vic will encounter a press every single game and is conditioned to it.Agree that either Puoch or the similar girl from NSW (not sure of her name)would be outside chances

To Anon 129 - I am not suggesting you are writing anything out of order. I just outlining my personal code that's all. IMO being named on a BA list does not alter the fact that the people behind the names are minors.

And - unfortunately social media being what it is, and the idiotic behavior it attracts...'nuf said. Let's just agree to disagree on this point and move on.

To Anon 133 - yes, I agree that it is a process to develop bullet-proof ball handlers, which is hard to engineer. I expected a comment that beating a press requires good passing. Of course.

What strikes me about the current U19 team, is the strong overlap of player type between the 1s and 2s. I would like to see more diversity in player capability in the team. Get the ball up the court with modest stress, you will halve the rate of turnovers we have recently seen, and deny our opponents those motivational moments that take place when a turnover occurs. Not all play action on the court has equal consequence. If your #1 buckles to pressure and turns the ball over - it gives rise to serial correlation - in other words, it tends to spark a run against you, as we saw in 3Q in the Colombia game.

And - unfortunately - we have seen 1v1 pick pocketing in this tournament against Aust, which reflected deficiencies in ball handling technique. That's why I focus on ball handling here because I think we have players who would not let that happen.

The starting five for the U19s has basically been the starters for the U17 World Cup. Would anyone just start that whole 5?

I thought Palmer just didn't get selected. Wasn’t aware she was injured.

Everyone of the ball handlers has been picked off numerous times, guards from NBL, NCAA and NBL1.
I am not a coach of anything more than domestic but why isn't the coach recognising this and getting a big to the middle or whatever else you do to combat these things.
I think some including our main guard at the U17s have had their papers stamped by the coach after the USA game.
Palmer is a huge out, she backs herself and has a drive through gaps mindset, but they are winning ugly so that is a good sign

If Amoore and Palmer were considered maybe our defense would be better do you think??!

What was the issue with eligibility? Not a citizen???

One of the anon posts did not rate Hannan highly but I watched her play along Bourne and they worked really good together. The same thing we see now with Fowler and Bourne.

It is really surprising that D'Angelo is getting very minimal or no court time. Not sure why Butler does not rotate them all in the first half, seems like she keeps sticking with the same group.

how was Hannan not eligible? what are the rules that make a kid ineligible? i thought she must have been required by her college

Injury maybe?

And Amoore is definitely one of the best ball handlers in this group, I think she has been injured too.

Locandro will need plenty of time to get back to where she was 2 years ago. Watched her play in NBL1 and she wasn't ready, hope she finally starts playing injury free.

Better offensively, really?

I'm disappointed that we can’t see the Heal and Palmer combination. They work well together. Along with Nnopu.

Get rid of Butler as coach, that would be the best starting point.
IMO we shouldn't need the CofE as a place a few select athletes chosen by individual preference or their connection to certain surnames , spend their junior years, some even hang around for years after, it should be used purely to hold camps that can encompass a larger selection of athletes from every state.
Increase the selection pool, as it stands now their are better athletes sitting at home that won’t ever get selected into a national squad because they have not had the opportunity to live at the CofE.
It doesn’t benefit these kids, they have only each other to play against, their main activities are shooting and strengthening, so many young athletes have been injured physically and mentally with the institutes fixation on things like skin folds and strength for some, yet others are over looked.
It’s not a healthy environment, but it’s a guaranteed lock for National squads.

This group certainly has some talent but poor coaching and not using alll the players is making it harder than it should be

Now that's the best idea I've heard today!!!

BUT

Would they then be funded by state associations?

I think BA should pay for that.

Imagine the depth we'd then have and kids should not be missed if they're good enough by this system.

Ridiculous. If the CoE is such a bad concept then why are countries all over the world trying to replicate it? Why have the NBA invested so heavily in the CoE if it isn't a success. Maybe your own kids just aren't as good as you think they are?
Kids make Nationals teams over kids from the CoE from time to time - look at the recent Emus with Leupepe and Macdonald.
The CoE isn't about trying to develop Gems - it's about trying to develop Opals so from time to time a kid who is not as advanced skill wise will be selected to the CoE due to potential. That's the whole point of the program.

I think it is interesting that people on this forum say that these kids go backwards, i would be willing to bet that they are one of the following.
1.Parents of kids not chosen
2.Trainers who are losing $ by these kids going and also the social media use of that kids image
3. People who have a gripe with someone at the COE whether it is coach or otherwise or who have been sacked by them at some point.
4. Coaches or clubs who lose that player from their system even though the majority of clubs and coaches i am sure would see it as a badge of honour.
In other words it is always someone or somebody who has something to lose from these kids going up there.
The kids go from competing against other kids to seniors who quite often are current or ex imports, Opals and Opals squad members in the blink of an eye and get judged like they are still playing juniors by people with an axe to grind.
One of the current COE kids played in the classic against her own age group and absolutely dominated, it is a load of crap what jealous or disgruntled people come up with

So they are playing badly in your opinion at a World Cup which by definition is the best in the world. You then judge these kids playing against the best in the world as if they were playing rep on a friday night. Can you see my point?
All these kids dominate nationals and not all of these kids are COE currently and the ones that were never COE are also missing shots etc so it makes no sense it is not a fair comparison. The USA kids have nearly all committed to High Major NCAA Programs but you commentate and compare them to u18 kids on a friday night.
Makes NO sense. Maybe the team just aren't the best in the world, maybe the will be, it is irrelevant you are not comparing apples and apples

what is your definition of any good? most Aussie NBA and WNBA players have been through there, Most kids going to high majors have been through there, of course there will be good players who miss, 15 doesn't fit into 12, like any side from Aust down to kids at rep level. Stewie McGill behind Warney comes to mind, wrong place wrong time sometimes, that is life

It is not constructive to paint criticism of current CoE system as reflecting malevolent motives which can be discounted. "Move on folks, nothing to see here"

I have no ax to grind. I am open to the idea of state based CoE teams competing in state leagues because I am open to any idea that improves performance.

A state based system should widen the net, allowing late bloomers to be spotted. Potentially it could expand opportunities for competition at an elite level. Good for revealing players but also needed to test coaches and their strategies.

I study decision science with a particular interest in why do smart people make dumb decisions.

Organizational dysfunction is amplified by centralization - because it provides fertile ground for strong personalities to dominate. And egos, unfortunately, can be immune to evidence.

What would appear to be a great strategy and setup that may work at regional level but may fall apart when exposed to a higher level of competition.

It is a test of temperament - does the failing coach double down, or have the judgment and flexibility to adjust?

Having a CoE in every state still results in...centralization in each state. Just with lesser talent levels. The current National CoE women are competitive in the State competition. I wonder how state based CoE would go in each respective state based competition....

Yep - that's what I'm telling you.

I'm sure there are data points that can help us assess - for example - practice games - say a junior metro team vs a state league team. Last month I witnessed a game where NSW metro (U16, yes U16) beat the leading Waratah state league team in a practice match by 1pt.

Thanks Random who writes - "Having a CoE in every state still results in...centralization in each state."

This point is pedantic - when you define a geographic region and state that one club exists in that region, you are centralizing.

What you miss is that 5 CoEs means a close look at a wider set of players (around 80 vs 14-16 now); and a close look at 5 sets of coaches. There is competition at 2 levels - within the state leagues, and between the state CoEs.

Do consider the situation of talented country athletes. I would wager that our loss rates of talent in the country regions are probably higher than in metro, and that one reason for that is lack of opportunity. Sure they can play for a regional club and be ignored. But play for a state CoE, which everyone knows will be looked out - that will prove much more attractive. And moving from say - Kalgoorlie to Perth is more doable for many than say Kalgoorlie to Canberra.

The best players aren't always chosen because the coe players are a given

The COE should consider all good players not just the coe
Make everybody earn their place!

they say a win is a win, but that was abysmal, they should have beaten that team by a huge margin if you want to hang a hat on the fact Australia has the CofE that "other countries want to have" that was nothing short of terrible.
But is it a player issue or coaching, I'd say the latter, potter kept them in that game , why is a player like D’Angelo getting splinters on the bench, Butler standing on the sideline with her hand over her mouth like she hasn’t got a clue, and looks like Herbert and Brassard have lockjaw, I have yet to see them even look like they have any input.

I only saw the last half and I thought they played alright. Interesting that it was Potter's 3s that kicked us clear in 3Q. Potter just relishes an open 3 look.

I think we dribble and drive too much; and when we drive, we overdo it, bring on an unfavorable size mismatch, or have the ball swiped away. I know it is the fashion - but I don't like it. Yet to see a pick and pop. Always rolling.

The boomers academy is a money maker, but better than nothing at all for girls, so many camps are purely for boys, I'd say this initiative is needed.

So when's the next game and is it against Spain

What tournament are the missing Spanish girls playing, 445?

Belgium and Us, we have no injuries

Anyone have the link for today's game

Go via pickandroll they have link or via YouTube fibaun19 womrn

D'Angelo no minutes still

"The uploader has not made this video available in your country."

What is this shit??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5XxTWYiKaw

Why take these players away and not use them, shooting % is terrible

Awesome effort to get to final,well done.

When is Fox showing the finals.

Looks like on Fox between 10-12 in the morning

No notice from FIBA or BA is poor form.

The Pick and Roll had a Facebook Live post scheduled for game time as arranged directly with FIBA and without advice it appears to have been removed, while YouTube stream was geo-blocked.

I posted a thread on how to get Kayo free for three months:

https://www.hoops.com.au/forum/45558-2019-fiba-world-cup-how-to-watch-for-free-legall/

Perhaps consider using a VPN. Pipe the feed through Asia, you should pick up the game on youtube.

it's on Foxtel.

To the private trainer above, that is the biggest load of crap i have ever heard. The kids that were either starting or in rotation against these COE kids in NBL1 this year got absolutely chewed up and spat out when playing 1 v 1 in isolation against these girls. How can you compare the kids doing PT to competing against the best in the world, most of the kids using PT didn't even make the squad and if they did they didn't make the side. All the girls here are either COE or playing NBL1 or a similar standard or NCAA; where all of them have coaches who train them at the club or college, beware of these snake oil salesman, anyone who has to be negative or hate to get a sale isn't worth a pinch of salt.

Great win against Spain - credit to players and coaching staff.
Good to see the following adjustments to game style since opening game:
(1) Reordering the ball handling assignments + greater support from bigs
We will be tested by US in full court press. Expect the US to target particular Gems players who they suspect will cough up the ball. So our subs and assignments need to be well thought out
(2) Greater preparedness to shoot the ball. Opening game it was either a layup or a 3 pointer. There are open 2s out there - take them.

IMO - out to do task against this US team. The good news is that the US team looks vulnerable.

1. Beat the US press. It will be Game over if we buckle.

2. Our bigs need to man up aggressively. Too much room given to the US posts in game 1. Looking at the US v Germany and US v Belgium; these teams did quite well against the US. If Belgium had put away a couple of get-ible shots in the last 2 mins they would have won. Both teams had size and prioritized disrupting the US passes to high and low post. From time to time Germany shrunk the zone defence; manned up on the bigs and forced the US guards to shoot outside. It was only in the last 2 mins that US guards capitalized on this.

3. Our guards need to hit 3s! Hard to see Australia unless one of guards/forwards steps up.

Good luck Gems!!

Who's Tim?

need to read when to pass in under the basket better - couple of times there we put up shots that should have been kick outs and subsequently blocked - only go under in iso.

Need to reign in Bueckers as well - needs to be closely guarded.

Is it our touch or the rims?

On further viewing it's our touch - that put back ouch.

OT

The US can't hit a free throw.

looks like Anstey inherited her dad's sharp elbows

?

Anstey elbow call was ok. We just lost fair and square. Love our girls.

Did the elbow really cost us the gold?

Anstey got fouled and it was called while the elbowing occurred and the ref changed his call. Shouldn't both fouls stand and if in the bonus (can't remember) at least we get foul shots before the USF to the US? Doesn't feel right.

Unfortunately....yes

Yeah Fowler! Hard worker! Selfless! So well deserved!

4Q 00:15 left AUS 66-63 USA with full shot clock Anstey gets fouled by Howard. Ref calls foul on US while Anstey elbows Howard and changes his call. No elbow we win as they needed to foul us while we run the clock down.

the usa player fouling on purpose - unsportsmanlike?

The elbow was the nail in the coffin. Missed shots under the basket, free throw shooting percentage low, 2pt and 3 pt percentage low. If we can improve those stats we would be medaling and winning consistently. Unfortunately today our offence went stagnant late in the game. We seemed to struggle to have dribble penetrators today or a true pg. Great effort by all involved.

Girls did well to get to where they did. They need to be stop being so individual and play as a team instead of attacking the basket and hoping to get fouled and end up on the floor. Heal and Scanlon are both guilty of this. If you are a PG, do your job and create for others.

Epic match. A world championship at stake. Local girls taking on the might of the USA. And do you think these events could attract some modest interest by the Age and other mainstream media? A big fat no. Not a word.

Zion's shoe sponsorship deal is apparently more important. And the doping saga surrounding that young female swimmer. Basketball is one of the biggest participation sports played in melbourne - yet the Age and ABC continue to treat it as if were as important as 2 up. And spare me all the bullshit attention AFLW gets.Staggering given how small sre the numbers playing.

Great effort ladies. Did our country proud. Izzy was outstanding all night. Hope she doesn't blame herself for the unsportsmanlike foul. It didnt cost us the game. Poor shooting did. Go Gems!!

Yes poor shooting killed our opportunity to wrap it up earlier, but ultimately the unsporstmanlike did cost us the game. I'm sure she's blaming herself, but that's sport.

Not sure why Heal was off in OT when Scanlon wasn't up to it. Anstey’s actions did cost Australia the gold. Tough lesson to learn. Great effort nonetheless.

Heal was off because Van Lith hit a 3 on a slow close out and back cut on her on a set play and Van Lith also made that basket; that was what allowed USA to actually get that close. Anstey was awesome but most Victorians who follow that age group would know that move on repeat and is fobbed off in VJBL as a regulation foul.it is true though once Heal went off we missed her reliable 3 pt shot on Offense

https://twitter.com/DamianArsenis/status/1155625780505804802

Bloody good effort girls, silver is nothing to sneeze at and you were almost there for the gold, bag luck on that one but congratulations to all concerned on a wonderful tournament!

....bad....

So after that, who in this age group are we expecting to see in future opals teams?

Yes, Anstey's elbow was dumb but the game was still 90% won at that stage. The microscope needs to go more on Heal who had one of the dumbest defensive plays I've seen in that situation.

You are cruel man (I presume) Perthworld

https://twitter.com/matthewdelly/status/1159339655935848450