Women's Basketball

[brod]

Group A

Australia (World Ranking 2)
Belarus (30)
Brazil (4)
Korea (7)
Latvia (26)
Russia (3)

Group B

China (10)
Czech Republic (9)
Mali (31)
New Zealand (16)
Spain (5)
USA (1)

[Thiele]

Go Opals

[brod]

The will continue to be be plenty of phisicality in Australia versus USA games if their warm up game was any indication.

OPALS star Kristi Harrower has questioned whether the US deliberately tried to knock Australia's best players out of the Games during a spiteful practice match in Shanghai.
Penny Taylor, who was the best player on the court, scoring 19 points, was sporting a black eye yesterday after a collision with muscular American Tina Thompson, whose elbow was raised while setting a screen during the match on Tuesday night.

"It was intentional,'' Harrower said after the Opals squad arrived in Beijing.

"Elbows were raised. I don't know if they were trying to make us injured for the Olympic Games.''

The US won the match, which Harrower called the dirtiest she had played in international basketball, 71-67.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/beij ... 00,00.html

[brod]

Maybe we can say "its not us"

USA internationals Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker and Delisha Milton-Jones of the Los Angeles Sparks were on Thursday slapped with one-game suspensions for their roles in a brawl that broke out earlier this week against the Detroit Shock.

http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/08/oly ... _arti.html

[brod]

THE women's basketball rivalry between Australia and the US has descended into street-level trash talk between two of the game's biggest stars.
Opals superstar Lauren Jackson set the ball rolling when she warned rivals they risk serious injury if they get physical on court with the Australian women's team.

And US veteran Lisa Leslie hit back with a simple: "Okay, whatever.

"This is not NBA, it's definitely much more physical and so we are mentally prepared to play a more physical game."

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/beij ... 81,00.html

[brod]

Preview of Group A

The answer to the United States' three consecutive Women's Basketball Olympic gold medals may lie in group A, with Athens runners-up silver medalist Australia, bronze winner Russia and fourth place Brazil.

The main team to watch in this group is Australia, who has been closing in on the gold ever since winning their first medal, the bronze in the 1996 Atlanta. In the next two Games Australia won the silver just behind the U.S., but the tide may have changed since the last Olympics, with Australia winning the gold in the 2006 FIBA World Championship over a US bronze.

Australia's "Opals" are led by their star center Lauren Jackson, a Sydney-native who currently lives in Seattle and stands tall at 1.95 meters. She may quite possibly be the world's best female basketball player, but she is certainly the biggest Aussie talent ever in this sport. In the 2006 world championships she led all players in scoring at 21.3 points.

Jackson and other Australian players suit up for various teams abroad throughout the year, and recently many have led their teams to their respective championships. Jackson brought Spartak Moscow to the EuroLeague championships in 2006 and 2007, and took the Seattle Storm to capture the WNBA title in 2004, just as fellow Olympic teammate Penny Taylor did for the Phoenix Mercury in 2007. Taylor was also named Most Valuable Player of the 2006 World Championship final.

Besides being league MVP in the WNBA in 2001 and 2007, Jackson has also played professionally in the Republic of Korea, where she was the league MVP in 2007. Basically, Jackson has topped the women's basketball leagues of many of the countries Australia will face during these Games, which puts her team in a very competitive position.

"The strongest Australian women's basketball team ever has been assembled for the 2008 Olympic Games," said the Australian Basketball Federation. "The World Champions have the firepower to topple the United States."

Russia should not be overlooked either, especially with the welcome addition of American Becky Hammon. Although her achievements came close to Jackson's by being a runner-up for MVP in the 2007 WNBA season, Hammon was not offered a place on the US squad and consequently chose to play for Russia, where she already was a member of CSKA Moscow and had been granted citizenship. Russia also placed above the US in the 2006 FIBA World Championships with the silver, so they hope as well to top their 2004 performance and make a run for the gold in Beijing.

Although Brazil lost in a surprising overtime blowout to first-time Olympics competitors Belarus, they were the 2008 South American FIBA champions and fourth place in the Athens Games, so they will be as hungry as Russia and Australia to improve upon their last Olympics standings. Latvia's squad boasts Anete Jekabsone, named the best female basketball player in Europe in 2007 for her performance with the Moscow Dynamo. Latvia's recent Diamond Ball win over Russia, led by Jekabsone's game-high 34 points, is a reminder not to overlook Latvia's team, the only representatives of their country at the Beijing Games.

Aside from the previous Olympics' frontrunners, FIBA 2007 Asia champions Republic of Korea is eager to succeed, and Belarus is making its first Olympic appearance ever in this event. Belarus upset Brazil by seven points in a stunning overtime to win the berth during the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women.

http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/sports/he ... 3797.shtml

[brod]

Preview of Group B

Just like the Men's Basketball Olympic tournament, Women's Basketball group B will get lots of attention for containing both host China and the defending champion the United States. While the US team is out for their fourth consecutive Olympic gold, a first for the sport, they are also coming off a third-place finish at the 2006 FIBA World Championships, where a loss to Russia in the semifinals signified their first defeat in major international competition since 1994.

The US women's team is going into the Games a bit shaky because they have had little time on the court as a whole unit due to injuries, overseas commitments and the WNBA season. Instead, the defending champions spread their training over the last two years, holding different camps and tours to narrow a pool of 29 players to a roster of 12.

Still, the team's line-up looks strong, and features seven returning Olympic gold medalists, including three-time champion Lisa Leslie (of the Los Angeles Sparks) and twice gold medalist Katie Smith (Detroit Shock). Delisha Milton-Jones, a member of the Sydney team, returns to Olympic competition after missing the 2004 Games because of a torn knee ligament.

New to the US Olympic team are the 2008 WNBA first and second overall draft picks, Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks and 1.98m center Sylvia Fowles of the Chicago Sky. Parker was also the first female dunker in NCAA (National College Athletic Association) basketball when she played for the University of Tennessee.

"I'm just thrilled to have these players. It's such a great mixture of Olympic gold medalists with some really tremendous young talent," said Team USA coach Anne Donovan.

The United States' fight for a fourth gold may be their toughest yet, as many acknowledge the ever-increasing level of women's basketball competition worldwide. While their main challengers will be Australia and Russia from group B, China is one of the teams that could shake-up any of the top three favorites.

China won a place in the tournament as the Olympic host, but they were also the silver medal team in the FIBA Asian championship and the gold winners at the 15th Asian Games in Doha. Perhaps more impressively, they won the "Good Luck Beijing" tournament this April by beating the United States in the final. This was before the US team had completed their final roster and were missing several key players, but after beating China in their preliminary match 86-61, it was quite a surprise when China edged them out in the final 84-81.

"It's wonderful to beat [the United States]. It's a moral thing, letting us to believe we can play against top teams. They don't lose very often," China's coach Thomas Maher said at the time.

Maher predicts his team will easily advance to the top eight, and even thinks China has a chance of reaching the semifinals.

Another notable group B team is Eurobasket 2007 silver medal Spain, who earned their spot at the Beijing Games through the FIBA Olympic Qualifying tournament, as did the Czech Republic, who finished fifth in Athens while Spain came in sixth. Spain also recently beat medal hopeful Russia 90-73 at the Moscow Tournament, a warm-up event for the Games, although Russia was playing without recently naturalized guard Becky Hammon, who was playing with her San Antonio WNBA team at the time.

The final two contenders in group B are 2007 African Champions Mali, and 2007 Oceania runner-up New Zealand

http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/sports/he ... 8648.shtml

[brod]

August 9

Belarus vs Australia
Mali vs New Zealand
China vs Spain
South Korea vs Brazil
Czech Republic vs USA
Latvia vs Russia

Winners in BOLD

[Tassie Blues]

good win for the girls first game in

[Tassie Blues]

Belarus 64
Australia 83

Jackson got 18 pts and Batkovic 14 Taylor and Summerton 12 each

[Tassie Blues]

Erin Phillips only got 4.08 game time

[brod]

Erin Phillips only got 4.08 game time

She wont get much more...she pretty close to last of the bench with Harrower playing so well

[brod]

Belarus 64
Australia 83

Jackson got 18 pts and Batkovic 14 Taylor and Summerton 12 each

Batkovic would be the most pleasing performance out of that

[Thiele]

Usa 97

defeated

Czech republic 57

[brod]

A couple of uspests in the first round of games with China winning and South Korea holding out Brazil in OT

[hearts on fire]

watched Australia's first match, great viewing, much prefer watching womens basketball than mens.

[Thiele]

Opals play later tonight

[magpie in the 80's]

Opals play later tonight

like 11.30pm

[Thiele]

Opals play later tonight

like 11.30pm

i guess i will find the morning

[Tassie Blues]

Girls off to a good start end of the 1st 29-14 over Brazil