SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – SEPTEMBER 24: A’Ja Wilson of the United States looks on after the win during the … [+]
With their 77-63 win over China, the United States has secured a spot in the FIBA Women’s World Cup quarterfinals. The win also makes them the only remaining unbeaten team in Group A. The matchup against China Saturday marked the first time the USA had its full roster due to a tight runway between the end of the 2022 WNBA season and the tip-off for the World Cup in Sydney, Australia.
A’ja Wilson, the final player to arrive, dropped a team-leading 20 points and collected eight rebounds off the bench in the win. Wilson’s Las Vegas Aces teammate and fellow 2022 WBA champion Chelsea Gray took over point guard duties and tallied 12 points, six rebounds, and three assists in her first start.
“It felt great,” Gray said about the win in the postgame press conference. “It was like a moment of like, “Aaah,” being back in the USA Jersey like it feels good. There’s another level of putting that on, and seeing some familiar faces and now not playing against them and able to pass them the ball is wonderful. So it was good, it was good. I loved every second of it,” Gray added.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – SEPTEMBER 24: Xu Han of China competes for the ball against Alyssa Thomas of … [+]
Alyssa Thomas, forward for the Connecticut Sun who tallied two back-to-back triple-doubles in the WNBA Finals, was one of those players. Thomas was the third USA player to hit double digits (12 points) and added eight rebounds and five assists in her team-leading 32 minutes on the court.
With players like Wilson, Gray, and Thomas back with the national team, other players had to make way for their minutes. For example, New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu did not see the court in the third game of her first USA Basketball Senior National Team tournament. In addition, Brionna Jones (Connecticut Sun) and Shakira Austin (Washington Mystics) did not play with Wilson back.
It is hardly a surprise to see USA Basketball focus on its veteran players. However, getting players expected to step up in the knockout stage integrated into the rotation as the tournament progresses is essential. Reeve continues to be very complimentary of her roster and the pool of players who competed in USA Basketball training camp held in Las Vegas ahead of the World Cup.
“Getting this final roster fully together obviously was a bit more of a challenge for us. And I can’t say enough about the group that kind of got us off to the start—the group back in Vegas, you know, the bigger pool. Everyone has been so committed to making sure this was a success for us,” Reeve said.
“Getting all our players here, that means that hopefully, you don’t have to overdo it with minutes, especially as difficult as this number of games in a limited number of days (will be). And so we tried to be mindful of that, you know, today and found different lineups that we liked and just kind of experimenting … we’ll get better and better at that in terms of rotations and making sure that the minutes are spread out,” Reeve added.
Though undefeated, the USA has played three physical games against Belgium, Puerto Rico, and China. With the USA having clinched the first of four spots in the quarterfinals, it will be interesting to see how Reeve and her staff approach the next two preliminary games.
Although China lost by double digits to the United States, they are still a top team in Group A. Coming into Saturday’s game, China tied the U.S with four points in World Cup play. They averaged over 100 points per game in their first two matches against South Korea and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Starting guard Meng Li led China with 21 points in the loss to the United States. New York Liberty center Han Xu added 12 points and six rebounds.
Coach Reeve was asked to reflect on the improvements of China and joked she doesn’t want them to improve much more.
“I’m not on their side, and I’m not there every day in their practices, and I don’t want them to improve that much more,” she quipped before adding, “We have all the respect in the world for China, we’ve seen them grow … this is a great time for the Women’s National Team. It’s a great time. It’s a very, very good team.”
The United States, China, and Belgium will likely be the top three teams to advance from Group A. That leaves an open spot for Puerto Rico, South Korea, or Bosnia and Herzegovina to be the fourth and final team to advance to the quarterfinals.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericalayala/2022/09/24/usa-basketball-secures-quarterfinals-spot-in-fiba-world-cup/