Going to be very tough with such a short turnaround from such a tough game, but here's hoping.

What would be the rationale of starting the final games at 1pm & 4pm?
Trying to minimise the TV audience in Australia, China and USA?

Which National Team has the better head coach:

The Maple Leafers [Victor Lapena] or The Opals [Sandy Brondello]

How come Basketball Australia did not at least TRY to hire Victor

Lapena or another coach of his stature??? Money is not the reason.

I know for a fact that Canada Basketball is POOR!

Lose to Team Canada tonight and the Opals will not retain their

number three world ranking. The Opals have now DROPPED two games

to lesser ranked National Teams at HOME! The Opals CANNOT afford

to DROP three games to lesser ranked National Teams at HOME!

FIBA World Rankings Women as of September 30, 2022

3. Australia 1. AUS 678.0 0
4. Canada 2. CAN 661.6 0
5. Belgium 2. BEL 651.2 +1
6. France 3. FRA 637.7 -1
7. China 2. CHN 631.8

POSSIBLE FIBA World Rankings Women as of Jan 2023
with a POSSIBLE loss to Canada in the Bronze Medal
game.

3. Canada 2. CAN 670.0 +1
4. Australia 1. AUS 658.0 -1
5. China 2. CHN 652.0 +2
6. Belgium 2. BEL 651.2 -1
7. France 3. FRA 637.7 -1

Canada poor against USA. We at least had very solid moments for almost whole game...opals to shine through.. hoping LJ bigger role...

Anonymightymouse
A few minutes ago

I'm not a huge Brondello fan, but my only real issue with this campaign was the lack of an extra guard, and that's been well discussed. Apart from that this campaign has been a very good one. Hopefully they can finish it off
with a medal, but it will be a huge ask after last night's exertion.

-------------------------------

Luuuc was VERY surprised and CONCERNED that the Opals only had three guards

on the roster. And virtually ALL of his concerns manifested themselves in

this tournament. ANY National Team Program worthy of the name should finish

AT or ABOVE their World Ranking in all major tournaments. And when that does

not happen, someone needs to lose their job. Brondello cough Brondello.


Canada Basketball had Lisa Thomaidis as head coach of Team Canada women's

national basketball team from 2014 to September, 2021. She did not produce

the desired results and as a consequence, the Maple Leafers hired Victor

Lapena in January 2022. From January 2022 to May 30, 2022, Victor Lapena

continued as head coach of Fenerbache. On June 1, 2022 he become Team Canada's

full time Women's Nation Team Basketball coach. He was available for at least

three months Sep 2021-Dec 2021 and his Team Canada contract runs through the

2024 Paris Olympics. How come Basketball Australia did not at least TRY to

hire Victor Lapena or another coach of his stature??? Money is not the reason.

I know for a fact that Canada Basketball is POOR! IF Team Canada wins tonight,

he WILL be given at least partial credit. If Canada lands a Bronze in Paris,

he WILL receive a contract extension.

Some historical perspective just because.

Opals positions in Olympics & World Cups

94 - 4
96 - 3
98 - 3
00 - 2
02 - 3
04 - 2
06 - 1
08 - 2
10 - 5
12 - 3
14 - 3
16 - 5
18 - 2
20 - 8
22 - ...

WC94 - 4 Maher
O96 - 3 Maher
WC98 - 3 Maher
O00 - 2 Maher
WC02 - 3 Stirling
O04 - 2 Stirling
WC06 - 1 Stirling
O08 - 2 Stirling
WC10 - 5 Graf
O12 - 3 Graf
WC14 - 3 Joyce
O16 - 5 Joyce
A17 - 2 Chambers
WC18 - 2 Brondello
A19 - 3 Brondello
O20 - 8 Brondello
A21 - 3 Goriss
WC22 - ... Brondello
A23 - ...
O24 - …

Luuuc
Within the hour

Some historical perspective just because.

Opals positions in Olympics & World Cups

94 - 4
96 - 3
98 - 3
00 - 2
02 - 3
04 - 2
06 - 1
08 - 2
10 - 5
12 - 3
14 - 3
16 - 5
18 - 2
20 - 8
22 - ...
--------------------------------------------

There is a reason your Opals are NOT playing for a Gold Medal

at HOME for the SECOND time 1994 & 2022. Get back to me when

your Opals EQUAL our International Championship Record. [Number

of GOLD Medals]

Now put that in your pipe and SMOKE it.

Where were the Opals from 1953 through 1992 in FIBA competitions?

We have a SevenPeat at the Olympic Games Women's Basketball Tourna
ment. And after tonight, we will be in a position to pursue a Five
Peat @ FIBA's World Cup for Women. A win by Team USA in the 2026
FIBA World Cup for Women would equal the U.S.S.R.'s run from 1959
through 1975.

2022 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 1st
Qualifying Tournament Washington DC, USA
2021 FIBA Women's AmeriCup 1st
2020 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying 1st
Tournaments Belgrade, Serbia
2020 Tokyo 2020 Women's Olympic Basketball 1st
Tournament
2019 FIBA Women’s Olympic Pre-Qualifying 1st
Americas Tournament
2019 FIBA Women's AmeriCup 1st
2018 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 1st
2016 Olympic Games: Tournament for Women 1st
2015 Pan American Games for Women 2nd
2014 FIBA World Championship for Women 1st
2012 Olympic Games: Tournament for Women 1st
2010 FIBA World Championship for Women 1st
2008 FIBA Diamond Ball Tournament for Women 1st
2008 Olympic Games: Tournament Women 1st
2007 FIBA Americas Championship for Women 1st
2007 Pan American Games: Tournament for Women 1st
2006 World Championship for Women 3rd
2004 Olympic Games: Tournament for Women 1st
2002 World Championship for Women 1st
2000 Olympic Games : Tournament for Women 1st
1999 Pan American Games Basketball 3rd
Tournament for Women
1998 Wheelchair World Championship for Women 2nd
1998 World Championship for Women 1st
1997 Championship of the Americas for Women 2nd
1996 Olympic Games : Tournament for Women 1st
1994 Wheelchair World Championship for Women 2nd
1994 World Championship for Women 3rd
1992 Olympic Games : Tournament for Women 3rd
1990 World Championship for Women 1st
1988 Olympic Games : Tournament for Women 1st
1986 World Championship for Women 1st
1984 Olympic Games : Tournament for Women 1st
1983 World Championship for Women 2nd
1980 World Olympic Qualifying Tournament 1st
for Women
1979 World Championship for Women 1st
1976 Olympic Games : Tournament for Women 2nd
1976 Pre-Olympic Basketball Tournament for 1st
Women
1957 World Championship for Women 1st
1953 World Championship for Women 1st

What would be the rationale of starting the final games at 1pm & 4pm?
Trying to minimise the TV audience in Australia, China and USA?

I need to remember to keep my Opals posts short so there's less distance to scroll past Mr Troll's rebuttals

Luuuc
A few minutes ago

Mr Troll's rebuttals

--------------------

You ran your mouth and the historical

record KICKED your teeth in.

It's so the NBL season opening games tipping off immediately afterwards get the prime viewing window for their millions of overseas fans, duh.

Roy Ward
One of the Canadian players was at the free-throw line and a kid behind starts yelling 'Hungry Jacks, Hungry Jacks'. He's a bit too early but you have to love how popular that HJs deal is. #NBL23 #FIBAWWC

Great start to the bronze medal game for Australia. Wallace looks great!

#5 superb play

Australia 51 Canada 43 HALF

Credit to these two teams for giving us such an entertaining first half after such a grueling World Cup schedule. Blicavs shooting well from outside, Talbot scoring, LJ and Wallace bringing it from the bench. We haven't figured out how to guard Kia Nurse yet but our team offence is carrying us.

Once again not enough rest for Talbot & Whitcomb that half. A lot of tired decisions already being made at both ends.
But that half still went pretty well for the Opals.
Talbot huge. LJ & Wallace important too. Blicavs with some timely buckets.
Need the bench to keep sharing the scoring load.

Not sure you should ever have jacko, George, Blicavs, Madgen on at once, very slow.

Tonight shows sandy should have played jacko more v China.

LJ vs Han Xu was a very different matchup than what she has been up against here.

Classic LJ in the third quarter. Some great feeds too.

This is amazing

Han xu wasn't on all the time and they had George on her, Tolo mainly on li.

Weedy Slug
Today

Tonight shows sandy should have played jacko more v China.

-------------------------------------

LJ @ 41 is just EMBARRASSING the front line of Canada.

LJ is also EMBARRASSING Ezi MAGBEGOR and the REST of

the Opals front line.

LJ has just win a Bronze Medal for the Opals.

GOAT

10 minutes. Don't go passive, Opals. Let's go!

"Han xu wasn't on all the time and they had George on her, Tolo mainly on li."

Xu had like 7 points in the 2 minutes Jackson was defending her. It was a bad matchup for LJ at both ends.

Luuuc
Today

10 minutes. Don't go passive, Opals. Let's go!

----------------------

Luuuc, you have NOTHING to worry about, Canada does not have

a FRONT line worthy of the name. China's front line defeated

the Opals.

Time to use your ten best offensive sets. It is time to play the

clock and shoot with between 5-2 seconds on the shot clock on

every play.

Stick a fork in it. Canada is DONE.

Steph Talbot you legend

Put the bench on, Sandy!

Wow ESPN

LJ checks out with 30. What is this - 2004???

ESPN can't handle the GOAT

An utter and total collapse in the 2nd half.

The Canadians have now suffered a 40 and a 30 point blow-out

in consecutive days of the tournament.

However, do not think for a MINUTE the Opals can take this

line up to Paris in 2024.

The Opals need to carry LJ off the court on their shoulders.

Well done to all concerned (except ESPN) - excellent result!

Top 3 for Aus this tournament

#1 Talbot
#2 Tolo
#3 Whitcomb

Been rubbish all along. Every 3-4 minutes the sound cuts out for 2 seconds and comes back on with an annoying buzzer sound and now this disgraceful effort.

Agree, Weedy

Great game all round, much better shooting %




Since 2017 (under Brondello, Lange, Chambers, Goriss)
60 games
40 wins - 66.6%
20 losses - 33.3%

Sandy as HC (no Lange, Chambers, Goriss filling in)
45 games
30 wins - 66.6%
15 losses - 33.3%

Australia 95 Canada 65 FINAL

Opals saved their best game till the last game of the tournament. That second half was perfect and watching LJ dominate one last time on the international level was excellent. Great tournament from the Opals and hopefully they can build on this for the 2024 Olympics. The culture appears to be back, it's time to tinker with the roster makeup and offensive strategy.

Rose Gold, baby!

We seem to absolutely love rose gold throughout history.

Bloody incredible effort Opals!

Came in with most people expecting a battle for quarter finals and end up with Rose Gold!

Somehow some people will still complain. Ignore it. This was a mighty effort!

Really good effort, they should be bloody proud. The seas parted for us in this tournament and the girls walked through on the back of a lion-hearted defensive effort all the way through and a fairly talented 41-year-old in the bronze medal game!

Blicavs gives good interview lol. She played well tonight and if she can hit outside jumpers consistently, I think a 2024 Olympics roster spot will be well deserved. The defensive improvement is also noteworthy.

Bit early, we've seen many fall off the radar after horrible wnbl seasons or being overtaken by newcomers.

Blicavs did exactly what we needed but you'd hope the younger players coming through would make her spot in the team more difficult to keep

It took the final few hours of the tournament but they finally found a use for the split screen

Locks
Whitcomb 88
Wallace 96
Talbot 94
Allen 92
Magbegor 99
Tolo 89

Maybe
Maley 98
Blicavs 93
Garbin 94
George 89

No more
Madgen 90
Jackson 81 - has stated last game.

I'm assuming AUS take over the #2 ranking from ESP now.

Is it still an 8 year cycle>
If so, Opals replace a bronze with a bronze, and Spain replace a silver with a fat F.

So glad that LJ wasn't wasted in the second half against China. She obviously wasn't needed in that game.

USA 43 China 33 HALF

China were pretty solid for most of the first half except for a 2-3 minute sequence in the second quarter where they had turnovers and the US transition game ran riot.

Good to see China finally going with a Li Yueru/Han Xu post combo. Hope we get to see more of it in the second half.

Love watching Chelsea Gray play. One of my all time favourites.

USA 83 China 61 FINAL

Dominant win for the US. The Las Vegas Aces trio of Wilson, Plum and Gray were the standouts for the US today. Li Yueru was great down low but Han Xu struggled (why couldn't she have struggled last night) and China's outside game also struggled with no Li Meng. This is the next big global basketball rivalry and I'm sure China are already thinking about what they can do better for the 2024 Olympics.

Congrats to the US for the World Cup win and to all participants of the World Cup for an enjoyable tournament.

SP
A few minutes ago

USA 83 China 61 FINAL

Dominant win for the US. The Las Vegas Aces trio of Wilson, Plum and Gray
were the standouts for the US today. Li Yueru was great down low but Han Xu struggled (why couldn't she have struggled last night) and China's outside game also struggled with no Li Meng. This is the next big global basketball rivalry and I'm sure China are already thinking about what they can do better for the 2024 Olympics.

Congrats to the US for the World Cup win and to all participants of the World Cup for an enjoyable tournament.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Fixed this PART of your post.

Congrats to the US for the World Cup FOURPEAT and to all participants of the World Cup for an enjoyable tournament.

Very happy to see Steph Talbot rewarded with a spot in the tournament all star 5.

Luuuc
Today

Very happy to see Steph Talbot rewarded with a spot in the tournament all star 5.

---------------------------------

Tournament MVP A'Ja Wilson with Alyssa THOMAS as part of the tournament all

star 5.

Mr. Cam
A few minutes ago


Tournament MVP A'Ja Wilson with Alyssa THOMAS as part of the tournament all

star 5.

---------------------------------


"part" must be the part that got left on the CUTTING ROOM floor

Mr.Cam

Be gone now or DO BETTER IF YOU COME BACK.
?

Mr.Cam

Be gone now or DO BETTER IF YOU COME BACK.
?

Luuuc
A few minutes ago

Mr. Cam
A few minutes ago


Tournament MVP A'Ja Wilson with Alyssa THOMAS as part of the tournament all

star 5.

---------------------------------


"part" must be the part that got left on the CUTTING ROOM floor

---------------------------------

You seem to have missed the Opals PATHETIC attempt to win a finals berth.

Too bad your semi finals loss was not GOOD enough to make the CUTTING ROOM

floor. And the Opals 2006 title was a FLUKE!!! Team USA's FOURPEAT proves

it!!! So again, put our 2010, 2014, 2018, & 2022 FIBA Women's World Cup

Title run in your PIPE and SMOKE it.

So who was in the All Star Five?

Fixed your Post.

Big Ads
A few minutes ago

Opals

Be gone now or DO BETTER IN Paris IF YOU COME BACK?

Great to see Talbot get the recognition she deserves. She did everything she was asked to do while playing out of position (including being the point guard on offence at times), always took the toughest defensive perimeter assignment and maintained a high level of play in spite of her workload and the tough tournament schedule. Hopefully her workload will be less ridiculous in the future (more guards, Opals selectors).

Is there a known computer virus that limits forum posts to two lines

before it automatically spaces down in order to continue the same

sentence and the next two lines of a
post?

lol at Mr Cam thinking that US basketball dominance means that his opinions are worthwhile. Everybody knows the US is really good at basketball. It's not the great insight you think it is. Then the attempts to pass off trashtalking Australian basketball as meaningful basketball discussion lol. You really need to learn how to interact with people properly if you want actual discussion.

The All Star Five was:


Bridget Carleton, Han Xu, Steph Talbot, Breanna Stewart, A'ja Wilson

any news on the shoulder injury to ? Thomas

She returned to the game and played fine, so hopefully nothing too serious.
(Well ... nothing much more serious than she is already dealing with, which is a lot)

Brilliant tournament by the Opals

With special mention for LJ the GOAT

Announced 2026 WC

-16 teams, up from 12
-No more than 2 games in a row without a rest day
-more time gap between club/league games and WC tournament.

-also will be held in September 2026

Most attended FIBA Women's World Cup ever apparently. According to a FIBA press release:

"The confirmed number of attendance at the end of the Final and Third-Place Game is 145,519 accumulating the attendance from all games played at both the Sydney SuperDome and the Sydney Sports Centre throughout the duration of the competition."

Much better than I thought when you consider we are not attached to another country and have a small,population.

Having it inna country with high population or in europe where it's easy to cross borders should be the aim for 2026.

It is an amazing result considering the tournament in previous editions has always been split between more than one city.

Imagine the attendance figures if Sydney had shared the load.

Hopefully this aids Australia in the not too distant future in winning hosting rights to the men's World Cup.

Melbourne WC 2031....

Australia 2031*

World Cups are hosted by countries, not cities. Olympic Games are the opposite.

I believe Sydney-only in 2022 was a precaution against COVID.

Announced 2026 WC

-16 teams, up from 12
-No more than 2 games in a row without a rest day
-more time gap between club/league games and WC tournament.

It was impressive how the Aussies did it by committee. The highest scorer was Whitcomb who was 19th highest scorer in the cup

Jackson in hindsight clearly deserved more minutes, but the other 3 big girls were also huge throughout the tournament.

Talbot does everything. She was consistently good, as was Tolo and Whitcomb, with Jackson, Magbegor and George all having huge games at different points

Without a clear goto scorer (except LJs epic performance for the ages last night), it was great to see them sharing the ball, using back cuts and motion, a bit reminiscent of Boomers under Lemanis with Whitcomb 3 point shooting the closest comparison to Patty, although she's more a shoot off the dribble type rather than off screens

Aussie women's basketball really punches above it's weight, like men's cricket. Awesome tournament. Well done

(Google translated)

Medical part: Rebecca Allen
News Image
10/10/2022
After the latest tests to which Rebecca Allen has been subjected, it has been confirmed that the injury suffered by the player while playing the World Cup with the Australian team, is more serious than initially transmitted. The international has two broken ribs and her recovery will take her off the slopes for approximately two months.

While I'm here ....



https://www.fiba.basketball/rankingwomen

I get Spain dropping back to 4.


China though

2018 WC - 6th
2019 Asia - 2nd silver
2020 Olympics - 5th
2021 Asia - 2nd silver
2022 WC - 2nd silver
2023 Asia - ?
2024 Olympics - ?

WR-631 points to 676...


Asia counts for Jack shite so I'm not sure how they skyrocket from 7th (Feb) to 2nd.(oct)


Australia
2018 WC - 2nd silver
2019 Asia - 3rd bronze
2020 Olympics - 8th
2021 Asia - 3rd bronze
2022 WC - 3rd bronze
2023 Asia - ?
2024 Olympics - ?

WR-678 points to 668…

Meanwhile Spain only drops 20 after 6th in Tokyo and a no show at the WC.
Dodgy.

It's an 8 year calculation window.
China just replaced their 6th place finish in 2014 with a 2nd place in 2022.

The last up to date change was February.
Any results prior mean nothing.

Look at wiki before they update it
12.24pm oct 11

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIBA_Women%27s_World_Ranking

7th to 2nd within 7 months of results.

I don't think you're understanding how it is calculated.
Points don't accumulate indefinitely. Old points are discarded after 8 years.
A team can catch up to another team even if they finish lower in a recent tournament, if they finished lower by a greater margin in the same tournament 8 years prior.

I've read the new system, the truth is although it says updated february 15th in the previous update to October, not all the points were added from the previous years results.
I had China between 650-660 after the WC and sitting in 5th and was surprised when the update was 676-2nd. Maybe I miscalculated but 'update’ and ‘current’ don’t seem to match.