Thats really dissapointing. I was looking forward to seeing the girls have a run and likely get a much needed confidence boost ahead of their tricky pool games.
No easy games ahead of this young group, hopefully they find the confidence they need to get them through.

that is amateur.

France 83 def Brazil 47.

Results
Australia - Mali(forfeit)
France 83 beat Brazil 59
Nigeria 93 beat China 88
Canada 88 beat Portugal 49
Spain 68 beat Argentina 47
Japan 65 beat Czech Republic 50
Hungary 86 beat Israel 82
USA 134 beat Korea 53


What's surprising about this tournament is that some players + teams have prioritised other competitions.

Spain > U18 euros (now in the final vs Finland)
France > partly u18 euros
Hungary > partly u18 euros
Israel > partly u18 euros
Zhang > senior n.t asia cup

Somfai/Hall could have played too..


Only really 2 teams, USA + Canada have chosen the best available and will probably end up In the top 3.

France 83 beat Brazil 47'

Next rd
China vs Portugal
Canada vs Nigeria
Brazil vs Australia
Japan vs Spain
Argentina vs Czech
South Korea vs Israel
Hungary vs USA


Gems not making top 4 would be a failure imo.

With USA, Canada and France?

Any dark horses, Weedy?

No dark horses imo, Nigeria probably the biggest riser.
Spain missing about 5-6 players so they are no chance for gold but still in the medal hunt. No Fam, Okeke, Garcia etc
Australia missing 3 imo (Shiels, Hall, Somfai) which has hurt our chances of a medal.

Ryan, triple bottom age and Fagan double bottom age players are dominating for Australia. They are the future for Australian basketball

Ryan, triple bottom age and Fagan double bottom age players are dominating for Australia. They are the future for Australian basketball

No doubt, Ryan and fagan look the standouts early.

Williams all at sea in the first half, doesn't know where to go or what to do. Puoch has been the better option.
Notoa also doesn’t seem suited to the fiba game.

Haven’t seen dakic who should be playing decent minutes or hinder yet.

Team looked great. Well done.

Next game v France is a really big one.

From what I can establish.

The loser will likely play home team Czechia in the 1/8 finals. However they would then cross with USA in the quarter finals.

If Gems can beat France then likely play Argentina in the 1/8s, then perhaps Hungary in quarters, leading Canada in the semis.

weedy -

"Australia missing 3 imo (Shiels, Hall, Somfai) which has hurt our chances of a medal."

is that because they weren't selected, injured or ?

Is Shiels injured?

Shiels unfortunately ankle surgery out for another 6 months or so.

Hall > playing/nbl1 - healthy
Somfai > pre season/Stanford - healthy

Inj
Shiels
Finney I think too had some troubles

If we can beat France tomorrow morning, it should be an easier path to the semi finals/final (top 4 likely)

Argentina > 1 of Israel/Hungary/Portugal/Nigeria > Canada > USA



Lose and its gonna be tough... (5th-8th finish likely)

1 of Czech/Japan/Argentina > USA > Spain > 1 of Canada/France

Not a bad start, down by one point at the end of the first quarter. Fous hurt us early.
I like the coaches rotations, good feel for the game and made a positive impact on the game

Puoch has been great in her minutes, so too Deas.

Less Williams, Notoa, Hinder
More Harvey, Dakic, Russell

Agreed, I'd like to see Pouch in the starting 5.
We're looking more settled in the 2nd

Shows how important wnbl exp is before these tournaments.

Fagan looks like a player with the weight of the world's expectations on her shoulders. She's so young, but has an enormous amount of pressure on her. Hopefully she finds a way around those mental stresses moving forward.
Big second half coming up. So much to play for, a win here and we're a medal chance and a loss puts us down the line a long way

Fagan looks like a player with the weight of the world's expectations on her shoulders. She's so young, but has an enormous amount of pressure on her. Hopefully she finds a way around those mental stresses moving forward.
Big second half coming up. So much to play for, a win here and we're a medal chance and a loss puts us down the line a long way

Fagan + Ryan still a future u19s to go to.


Another good pool of players to choose from..

Fakalata(09)-Sherrington(09)-Hocking(09)-Halwala(08)
Smith(09)-Olechnowicz(99)-Bond(08)-Bobongie(08)
Nousis(08)-Anticevic(08)-Crase(08)-Angus(08)
Ryan(09)-Gardiner(08)-Juffermans(08)-Richardson(09)
Fagan(08)-Smith(08)-Manyok(09)-Johnson(09)
Etc etc

Excellent 3/4 from the gems.
France missed about 8 layups.

59-50

Really need this win or we will face the u.s

France dominated the First few minutes of the 3rd, but didn't capitalise on the scoreboard. Australia made the most of their moments.
Bobongie strong and making a big impact

Puoch has been a monster on the boards.

We looked vulnerable with her on the bench. Garlepp making the right call, Pouch back on

* Renae Camino

Yup, silly taking Deas off.

Perkins/Deas near the end, much safer handling the ball.

Pouch with the denial!
Well done girls!!

Good win but that France shooting % is diabolical.

Got to be using dakic alot more, on d and rbding alone.

Big big win !!!!

Thought the coaching was excellent. Kept playing the girls who were playing well, time outs - good. Seems like good chemistry between Renae and Jack. Good bench energy.

Some great competitive basketball. Well done team.

Sets us up with Argentina next, then Hungary or Nigeria. Both Winnable games.

It looks as if we're in the easier bracket.

Spain got a very easy run, no rd 16, auto 8, came from a weak pool and has only israel or Portugal to beat to make the semis. Didn't even have bring the Ateam which won the u18euros.

And we all know, as Bogut told us so emphatically, where FIBA's interests and power lie.

weedy - maybe our defence was enough to keep them out of their shooting groove ?

Nah mate, they missed about 15 layups, half of them had no defender present.

Yes, it felt like Aus played well, but got France on a bad night. A few girls in their squad missed the unmissable baskets on more than one occasion.
Argentina next, I'm pretty sure they havent won a game this tournament, so hopefully our girls can make the most of the game and go on to face either Nigeria or Hungary.

Canada in our pool will be very difficult.

The poor French shooting reflected disruption of their favoured offense plays specifically looking for drives, dishes or floats down the split line, with bigs rolling off screens to present for inside passes. Our coaches scouted the French very well - Harvey and Deas gave key French guards at the top of the key little space to work with - while our forwards denied easy inbound passes to French bigs rolling down to the mid bloc and charge circle. Structurally, in the first half the French did not fully rotate the ball, they usually paused at the split line to test for drives and inside passes to bigs, which were well defended, resulting in disrupted passes and drives into multiple defenders. In the second half, surprisingly (to me) the French appeared to run out of ideas with Angolia (?) given license to play iso. A lot of crashing the boards and swamping of 3 French players onto a Gem when they got a defensive rebound. And yes, French shots went up - but many were rushed and arose from chaotic play. As for the many layups they missed when not under pressure - well pressure is in the head is it not? This French team went into this contest with a high opinion of itself, that has carried all before it in the Euro's and was not up for a knife fight.

The French should learn from this contest and will probably offer a more compelling, competitive performance against the Americans, when they meet in the Qtr Finals. I don't like playing any French team that seeks to redeem its reputation. Australia's win overnight makes a French upset win over the US more likely.

Australia in full control at halftime, 43 - 20.
So here's my question, how much of a lead is needed against a team unlikely to beat you, do you run your bench with long minutes?
Dakic has just been put on which is great, still no Hinder. Maybe injured?
I guess what i'm asking is, during a long tournament, is it better to give your starting 5 a break whenever possible and run the full list of players you have with you, or keep the group to 10 and run them to keep consistency.
Also, i'm not knocking the coach, I think she's doing a great job.

Yup, rest some players, bring in dakic/hinder and get more minutes into those that haven't played well so far this tournament.

1/4s

USA vs France
Portugal vs Spain
Hungary vs Australia
Canada vs Japan

Hinder's selection was a surprise, not coming from the usual SPP-NPP pathway. This is okay by me - I think selectors need to be flexible and be able to take advantage of opportunity when it presents itself. That said, it is concerning that the cupboard appears to be bare when it comes to developing quality bigs. Perhaps they are out there and some worthy prospects are being overlooked - I do not know. Hinder's role will be to offer size and strength to blunt the offense of US bigs should we encounter them in the final and relieve Puoch, who will likely get into foul trouble.

picked without being truly tested here in Aus, u.s high school ball can be a mix of good and bad. Think Waite would have been a better option with her wnbl exp, Nightingale unlucky aswell imo.

Could probably take 12 of the players below that did not make the squad and still be just as competitive at worlds. It's unfortunate we could put together the best 12.

Eg

Bond
Lehmann
Hall
Hodges
Finney
Bijkerk
Shiels
Petrie
Somfai
Nightingale
Hanson
Bird
Crook
Waite
Portlock

That is a pretty reasonable list.

Was there a reason Somfai wasn't selected? I haven't seen her of late, but didn't she get an all-star at a previous tournament?

Somfai withdrew from selection.

Not cool, the U.S and Canadian freshman players have made themselves available for the u19 WC.

1 sometimes 2 chances to play at a u19 WC and to turn it down when offered never looks good. Country at any level should always superseed club or college imo.

How strange, I wonder what the reasoning was.