It will be interesting to see how this team develops as the Olympics move forward. Nigeria does play a very difficult style that is very physical and they are quick and aggressive. But this is the same USA team who beat Nigeria by 30 not long ago in the exhibition game in Vegas.
We outscored them 27-12 in Q2 and 28-18 in Q3. I couldn't find the +/-, and the starters were in most of Q1 when Nigeria caused all kinds of problems. It took the team a while to settle down.
To Nigeria's credit, the fought hard the entire game. For all the applause for the post players, the number of O-boards the Nigerians got in Q4 was mystifying. While we out-rebounded them, they had more O-bards than USA - 19-16.
Collier looked lost. Fowles and Charles did some good things, but also were a sloppy mess at times. The only guard who played well not named Dee or Sue was Jewell, and she was a pest on defense too. Sure Chelsea Gray had a few nice "contested shots", but as for "running the offense", she was not good at all. Poor entry passes, mostly poor decisions with the ball (except for scoring on a few shots), and not a good back up for Sue at this point.
Not sure what Diggins did, but she didn't seem to be in the game long enough to impact anything. Against a "weaker team" like Nigeria, Collier and Atkins barely got any playing time so it was really 10 deep, and given how Gray and Diggins did, it was just about 8 deep.
The 2016 team was actually guard heavy with Bird, Dee, Whalen as Sue's backup, Angel, Siemone, and then Maya and Elena as well. Angel was tenacious on defense, Siemone had the most wicked midrange maybe ever, and EDD was, well, EDD.
I'm not sure this team necessarily has the "wrong" players as guards, but the lack of experience and inability to fully grasp the TEAM concept, Gray, Diggins, Collier and Atkins simply not bring anything close to what Whalen, Siemone, and Angel did back in 2016. It also doens't help that this team has so many new members who have not had the time to practice with each other.
And by the way, not only were Sue and Dee by far the best guards on team USA (followed by Jewell for honorable mention), but their defense was not a liability one single bit. They might be a step slower than their younger counterparts against a super quick Nigerian team, but let's just put the comments about defensive liabilities to rest once and for all. Anyone who watched the game couldn't have any complaints about Sue/Dee on the defensive end.
I really think Dawn has a ton of work to do. The passing from Gray and Diggins was substandard. It was not helped by butterfingered post players, but even when they tried to pass the ball back out, the guards would often stop moving, or move too late, so there was not an open player to get the ball to.
This team can still win it all of course. They won with great games from Sue and A'ja, good games from BG, Dee and Jewell, and a substandard shooting game from Stewie. Tina and Sylvia had some very good moments, but as i said before, also some terribly sloppy and messy moments. I hope they get it together.
Last comment. I don't mean to sound all "know it all-y" - obviously all just IMHO, and I'm not even one of the smarter hoops minds on the BY. So just my $.02.