ANGEL COMES HOME
(APOLOGIES FOR THE RATHER LATE POSTING TODAY. IT'S SUPER BOWL MONDAY, YOU KNOW. I SLEPT IN. )
The 12 players that USA put on the court for this one, according to USA assistant coach Dan Hughes, hadn't had the opportunity to practice as a unit that since they reunited in late January, after a two-and-one-half month lay-off and the pros took off against the Cards after a close first quarter that got Louisville's fans hopes up.
It was Louisville with the early 21-17 lead after 10 minutes, rallying with a 10-0 run to go from trailing 13-9 to leading 19-13 over a three minute stretch in the first. Yacine Diop and E. Balogun getting it done offensively in that stretch with eight points . USA had shot just 30% in the first quarter. But, the professionals woke up after that. At halftime, USA had rallied to lead 45-30. There is a truism in basketball which is "the closer you are to the basket, the better the chance the ball has in going in" and USA began their domination inside. A 20-2 points-in-paint advantage for USA. Sylvia Fowles, Breanna Stewart, Angel McCoughtry and Katie Lou Samuelson had donned the hard hat, punched in on the clock and were going to work for Team USA.
This was the pros. They were hard to compete with. It was a challenge and a test.
the fifteen point half time lead blossomed into a 65-48 advantage after three. Louisville had hung in their in the third and USA only took a 20-18 point advantage. But, a squad of Team USA's stature, really has no "reserves" or bench, and while Jeff Walz was getting all of his players some meaningful playing time against the All-Stars in the fourth, those that didn't start for USA were not letting. The 32-6 fourth quarter turned into a event where USA was getting plenty of fast-break layups, A'ja Wilson had four of them, and the final ended up 97-54.
Angel looked happy, relaxed, smiled a lot and spoke in glowing terms of what she's seen happen here in Louisville since she went to find her fortunes in the WNBA. She's a free agent now and will most likely be worth a lot to some deserving WNBA Franchise.
I got the chance to say a couple of words to "Big Syl" Sylvia Fowles as I walked back to the media room for post-game coverage. She had taken a shot-to-the-face during an under-the-boards tussle during the game and gone to the bench with a towel over her face for a bit.
She looked me dead in the eye and said that, despite the score, she thought this Cardinal team was easily one of the top four in the nation and could very well win it all come NCAA Tournament time. And she said it in all sincerity and with a serious look on her face.
(Maybe certain members of the media could fill in as the clowns...)
Team USA showed what being on the same page after a bit of preliminary work could produce. Sue Bird, the veteran ring-master, in control and enjoying all of it.
Here's the thing. We got to see only 12 of the 35 players that make up the 2019-20 USA Basketball Women's National Team Pool. In Louisville, we saw eight of the 12 that'll go to Serbia on Feb 6th. for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade.Brittany Griner, Jewell Loyd, Tifffany Mitchell and Ariel Atkins replace Angel, Skylar Diggins Smith, Kayla McBride and Kelsey Plum. Yesterday, the last four had 33 of USA's points. An example of just how deep this USA team is.
Beloved Cardinal Angel McCoughtry returned to the city where she became famous, played her first game ever in the downtown arena and had a nice afternoon -- with 11 points in 20 minutes. The love affair, all all these years, was rekindled between the Cardinal Faithful and the player who helped get it all started here in the 'Ville.
THE FRED REPORT
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| YABBA DABBA DOO. We bet Fred Flintstone loves TEAM USA WBB, too ! |
FREE THROWS -- The refs let 'em play and that was OK. Only 19 total fouls. Lousville went to the line eight times and hit six of the attempts. Jaz got half the chances. The 75% gets a CAPITAL "F" for our standards
REBOUNDS -- Team USA captured the grabs battle 41-35, but used a 10-3 rebounding edge in the fourth quarter to push ahead of Louisville. Diop had eight to lead Louisville. I'll offer a small case "r" here, Louisville was competitive on the glass when the ball wasn't going through the basket and held "Big Syl" to just nine.
EXECUTION/EFFICIENCY -- 25 turnovers against the best team in the world is expected. 10 assists on 22 made shots maybe a bit low. 36.7% shooting is way below the Cards average, but, consider the competition. USA also had 17 steals. I liked the first and third quarter efforts out of the Cards, but the overall numbers just don't add up to an letter earned here.
DEFENSE -- Louisville looked good at times guarding Team USA, but they allowed USA 53.2% shooting success, 64 points-in the-paint and simply couldn't keep up with USA's speed when they were in possession of the ball. Again, you're playing the best in the world. No letter for defense.
FINAL FRED RECAP: F-r-_-_
THEY SAID IT:
The post game media presser links below:
ASSISTANT COACH DAN HUGHES TEAM USA
ANGEL McCOUGHTRY POST GAME
JEFF WALZ POST GAME
DANA EVANS AND JAZMINE JONES POST GAME USA
HIGHLIGHTS FROM GAME
SOOOOO
It was a wonderful two hours of basketball to witness. That statement will be the only time you ever hear it from me after a 43-point loss. Such a great learning experience for the Cards that'll only make them stronger and more aware of what it takes to be a professional. An incredible experience for the fans. Do not take any of the blasphemous lunacy from certain media who question how much yesterday's loss will affect the Cards the remainder of the season. These types of negative journalism should leave for Serbia along with Team USA.
Negativity has no place in a exhibition such as this one.
That's a pretty good afternoon, readers.
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| Hailey, meets Paulie. Uh, oh.... |
Hailey is an energetic, wonderful and gracious person that will be so fun to watch and have in our community for four years. What Louisville will be "with Van Lith" is such an exciting proposition !
You're gonna love her, Louisville !
(Today's excellence in photography from the incomparable Jared Anderson. Plenty more of the images below these words, too !)
paulie
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Good morning Paulie. So glad u could join us this morning !
ReplyDeleteDamn, they were impressive. Whoever the moron was would kept pressing coach and the Cardinal players in the post game about the severity of the loss and such needs to be horse-whipped after being tied to the whipping post.
This wasn't about scores and comparisons to other games. This was about the beauty of Team USA coming to the Ville and our girls challenging them.
Great write. Send it to that sad old man (if it was who I think it was) who effectively shut up Dana Evans at the end of the presser.
Curtis "Go CARDS Go" Franklin
Nice job Paulie. Great experience for Cards players.
ReplyDeleteOn another note how bout them BC EAGLES! Now 5-5 conference record with Syracuse coming to town Thur. Most Conf wins since 2014-15 (5) and season isn’t near over yet. Turnover city verse Wake Forest and they still won by double digits. Just win baby!!!
Joanna has them believe in Boston what they can do and that's a neat thing to see.
Deletepaulie
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Thank God ACC has a lot of mediocre teams this year. Gives the improving BC a chance against less athletic, slower paced teams like ND Ga Tech and Wake.
ReplyDeleteCan't compare THIS game to ANY other on the schedule. To do so is idiotic. And my opinion is that it is somewhat unfair to the rest of the teams that didn't get to play against them. Playing the best of the best, getting great advice, will pay off come tournament time.
ReplyDeleteAgree 100% and it just shows that if you carry a media badge it definitely doesn't make you a basketball expert.
DeleteThe continual pressing the issue of a bad beat-down by "Mr Tim" was ridiculous. A lot of us in the media room were looking at each other and rolling our eyes.
paulie
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