OK. Opals got off to the worst start possible with the US taking a 10-0 lead after 4 minutes, dropping two 3s and the Opals throwing up bricks on their first 7 trips down the court.
Surprisingly the Opals played better when Cambage was subbed with 2:30 left in the quarter, helped by the US starting to miss shots. Whitcomb was handy in this run with defensive rebounds, upbeat offence with 2 assists and a 3pt dropping. The Opals had got it back to 5 pts at the end of the 1st even with poor shooting of 10%.
US 20 - AUS 15
Once again a slow start in the 2nd quarter with our first 5 scoring attempts coming up short and we finally scored after 2 minutes. Luckily the US were only slightly better extending their lead by 2.
Magbegor came on with 7 mins left and made an immediate impact with defensive rebounds and scoring on 2 layups getting us to within 4pts, the closest we would be for the rest of the game.
A couple of 3ās missed late in the quarter resulted in us being 8pts down at the half with woeful 3pt shooting of 8%, general poor decision making/passing and Cambage on only 4 pts.
The start of the 3rd was a repeat of the previous 2 quarters, but this time the US shots were dropping.
The first 4 mins was a mix of terrible turnovers and general poor vision with passing to poor shooting areas when more obvious easier options were missed. During this time the US jump out to a 17 pt lead and basically ice the game.
The US were definitely the better performed team but it was just one of those games where a lot of their 3ās would end in a long rebound to them, resulting in multiple opportunities and their 50-50 shots would drop whereas ours wouldnāt.
The lead would extend out to a 23pt lead at 3/4.
Apart from two nice 3s from Smiith not a lot to get enthused about in that 1/4. 61-38
The final quarter was basically the US taking care of business.
Scoring was slightly better due to more inside shots, but the 3pt attempts didnāt get much better.
The US winning 73-56
18% 3 pt shooting on 4/22 was just poor shooting again as a lot were open looks.
Our front court were good, with both Allen and Smith having solid tournaments.
Magbegor has a big future as a 19yo.
The back court were disappointing, with both shooting and distribution and considering most are nearing 30 we should be looking at blooding young guards ASAP.
One of those tournaments where it was there for the taking but we unfortunately never really got out of 2nd gear. USA worthy winners.
Kings were good, Clippers had to play their starters to win itā¦ Randel was great, I think he knows Beverley as those two hugged a lot and had a lot of interaction. Bogut is still better than Gortat, his passing and blocking is still elite, just to many stupid foulsā¦ Clips have to many guards, Robinson who was a lottery pick only came on at the end of the game. I donāt know why they signed Bradleyā¦
LeBron has a massive uphill battle. The Lakers, other than him, are bad. I like the young guys, but canāt see them performing consistently enough this year. The vets theyāve picked up arenāt good, except in flashes.
This is a worse roster than the one he left in Cleveland.
The Lakers are clearly aiming towards next year.
The roster is loaded with 1 year deals.
The biggest problem is outside shooting. The best shooter is Svi Mykhailiuk and heās just a rookie. Kuzma is okay but Iām not sure where he fits in the team with Lebron and Ingram.
Lonzo and Rondo are terrible shooters and terrible from the free throw line.
Ingram is a streaky shooter but heās more of a āScottie Pippenā style who is a slasher to begin with and his midrange will be good enough. I donāt think heāll ever be anything better than an average 3 point shooter.
Defensively, they are bad. Not terrible, but bad. McGee will be okay, Lonzo is a good defender but Kuzma and Ingram need to step up their defensive game. Lebron can defend, but heāll need to do just as much offensively as he did with the Cavs.
I know they are being talked up as a top 4 seed and could make Western Conference Finals, but I donāt see it.
I think a 7th or 8th seed is about right with maybe a conference semi finals series if Lebron goes nuts during playoffs like last year.