USA vs France 11 AM Possible Stream Source

[MilfordHusky]

It seems the team lost, for the most part, because Diana and Maya shot for . A combined 4-23 for the pair of them simply won't get it done.

Agreed, but I doubt it happens again.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Ok, Eric, TJI, Cat, CTYankee, and BayArea ... we may have our work cut out for us in Istanbul. The last times I was called upon, I helped the U.S. team come from behind to beat the Aussies in the London semi-finals and also got Misty and Kerri a come-from-behind win over the Chinese in the beach semis. It was tough, but I had faith. And I was in full throat. We may all need to be in Istanbul.

 

[easttexastrash]

Agreed, but I doubt it happens again.

With the addition of BG I don't think any team will play within 20 points of the US. She is that much of a difference maker.

 

[PalPa]

From the few games streamed plus the live stats: It appears to me that NNemkadi and Stewie play well together, a dynamic duo so to speak. Nnemka rebounds, Stewie blocks, both run the floor, and they feed each other. Anyone agree?

 

[EricLA]

With the addition of BG I don't think any team will play within 20 points of the US. She is that much of a difference maker.

And yet Phoenix didn't go undefeated this year in the WNBA. Go figure...

I get your enthusiasm. But BG is not the best center in the world. She may be some day but she's 2 years out of college and growing into her potential. If you were to say that prior to the 2016 Olympics I might be inclined to agree with you, but it's like saying no one will come within 20 points of Australia because Cambage is that good. Griner will NOT be the focal point of the offense. Team USA will be comprised of 12 players who were all pretty much the best scorers on their respective teams, Bird and Whalen excepted as they are PG's.

Griner is really good. I've never wavered from praising her. But to think if she were on the team the other day, USA goes from losing by 5 to winning by 15 over France is way overestimating her impact. I would bet you a lot of money Griner won't be among the top 3 scorers on team USA during the WC in Istanbul. Possibly not in the top 5. But like most, I'm curious to see just how well she does on a team filled with the best players in the world.

 

[PalPa]

With the addition of BG I don't think any team will play within 20 points of the US. She is that much of a difference maker.

I disagree. In the game against France we outscored them in the paint, our guards shot 25%, and France was deadly with the mid range shot. In which of those areas would BG make us better than France by more than 20 points? I think even with BG we are still vulnerable if the guards don't score and we can't defend mid range shots and/or 3 pointers.

 

[UcMiami]

Eric - I am not sure which center in the world is better than Griner today - if there is one it isn't by much and to think having her on this team will not make a major impact is I think to ignore her talent.
I am not sure she will be the top scorer - there are too many other options on the team, but I am pretty sure she will lead the team and the tournament in blocked shots. And her presence will improve the defense on this team significantly - both by allowing the perimeter defenders to be more aggressive and with her own defense against other post players.
The one area that the team may struggle with her is in integration - she is only going to have a few days of practice before the first game and has not had much exposure to either Geno's system or most of her teammates. Hopefully after the first few pool games, that integration will become smoother.

 

[UcMiami]

I disagree. In the game against France we outscored them in the paint, our guards shot 25%, and France was deadly with the mid range shot. In which of those areas would BG make us better than France by more than 20 points? I think even with BG we are still vulnerable if the guards don't score and we can't defend mid range shots and/or 3 pointers.

Gruda was very comfortable taking her 10-15 ft. jumpers over our post players - those shots are a lot less comfortable with the minimum added 6" of height/wing span of Griner. And knowing she is there allows the other defenders to be more aggressive.

 

[PalPa]

Gruda was very comfortable taking her 10-15 ft. jumpers over our post players - those shots are a lot less comfortable with the minimum added 6" of height/wing span of Griner. And knowing she is there allows the other defenders to be more aggressive.

My point was that just by adding Griner we will not automatically win our games by more than 20 points. If we play another game with the defensive lapses we have shown so far and the guards don't score then we are still vulnerable.

 

[easttexastrash]

I disagree. In the game against France we outscored them in the paint, our guards shot 25%, and France was deadly with the mid range shot. In which of those areas would BG make us better than France by more than 20 points? I think even with BG we are still vulnerable if the guards don't score and we can't defend mid range shots and/or 3 pointers.

Griner's presence allows the guards to extend the defense. That's how it worked at Baylor and that's how it works in Phoenix.

See Phoenix vs. Chicago in games 1 and 2 vs. game 3. Phoenix won game two by 29 points and when BG was out in game 3, Phoenix won by 5.

 

[easttexastrash]

My point was that just by adding Griner we will not automatically win our games by more than 20 points. If we play another game with the defensive lapses we have shown so far and the guards don't score then we are still vulnerable.

I disagree. Griner's presence is worth about 20 points, if not slightly more.

 

[UcMiami]

My point was that just by adding Griner we will not automatically win our games by more than 20 points. If we play another game with the defensive lapses we have shown so far and the guards don't score then we are still vulnerable.

Agree about the point spread - but you did ask the question 'In which of those areas would BG makes us better ...' If two or three of Gruda's first shots in the second half had been blocked instead of swishing, and the blocks led to run outs and transition scores, who knows. Certainly the French momentum would have taken a hit, and the rest of the team might not have started hitting everything they threw at the basket as well.

 

[PalPa]

Agree about the point spread - but you did ask the question 'In which of those areas would BG makes us better ...' If two or three of Gruda's first shots in the second half had been blocked instead of swishing, and the blocks led to run outs and transition scores, who knows. Certainly the French momentum would have taken a hit, and the rest of the team might not have started hitting everything they threw at the basket as well.

No my question was "In which of those areas would BG make us better than France by more than 20 points?"

 

[easttexastrash]

No my question was "In which of those areas would BG make us better than France by more than 20 points?"

Did you watch any of the Mercury's games this past season? She changes EVERYTHING that opposing teams are able to run on offense. Everything that these other National teams do will have to change. Everything they have been practicing to run on offense since they assembled their teams. By the time they make adjustments the US will be up by 20.

Even the mindset of a shooter changes when they know that they cannot drive to the basket and the pressure to make outside shots is greater.

 

[wallman]

Just like "Mio".

 

[EricLA]

Eric - I am not sure which center in the world is better than Griner today - if there is one it isn't by much and to think having her on this team will not make a major impact is I think to ignore her talent.
I am not sure she will be the top scorer - there are too many other options on the team, but I am pretty sure she will lead the team and the tournament in blocked shots. And her presence will improve the defense on this team significantly - both by allowing the perimeter defenders to be more aggressive and with her own defense against other post players.
The one area that the team may struggle with her is in integration - she is only going to have a few days of practice before the first game and has not had much exposure to either Geno's system or most of her teammates. Hopefully after the first few pool games, that integration will become smoother.

Well, Tina Charles for starters. Even at only 6'3" she was a beast all season and had better stats than Griner. Candace Parker is another, but because she's so mobile, many consider her a 4. Cambage is another - 6'8" and stronger than Griner.

 

[RadyLady]

Never allow a website to "update Java/Adobe Reader/Flash" or whatever. If you get such a message, go to java.com or adobe.com and do the update from there. If you don't know what the author/owner site is, just Google the software name. The right site should be pretty obvious.

Or, go to majorgeeks.com, softpedia.com or techspot.com and look for the software to download. These sites (as of this moment) only download the software you have requested.

Other sites, like download.com, filehippo.com, tucows.com and many more, by default use a "download manager". All the "download manager" does is offer to install software you DID NOT request. If you blindly click "next", "next", "next" throught the installs, you end up with crapware and adware on your computer. You can use the sites in this second group, but ALWAYS read what you're agreeing to when you click "next" or "accept" buttons. Also, these sites usually have a "direct download" link somewhere on the page, much less prominently than the "DOWNLOAD NOW!" button that brings in the "download manager".

And, finally, sadly, even if you only download the installer for the software you want to install, IT may try to install things you don't want. Both Adobe (virus scan) and Java (toolbars) will install things you aren't be interested in (you already have a good anti-virus program installed, right?) if you just click through the install.

Finally, if you can't remember to do these things, PLEASE make a restore point before installing any software or updates. It's really easy though it may take a minute or two depending on the speed of your computer (but may save you hours if something bad happens.) Here's a link to a video and text instructions on how to create a restore point. Microsoft claims a restore point is created each time you install software, but that is not the case.

If something bad happens and you need to restore to an earlier point in time, here's what you do.

Note that Windows DOES create restore points automatically. The default is once a week though, so you may lose up to 6 days of updates to systems files if you rely on the automatic restore points.

Hi,
Thanks for all of this information. I wish I had read it before having yet another very expensive call with Dell to finish cleaning up the mess. I am computer savvy, but not enough to get me out of trouble when I get into it.

I was wrong to click that link and what really makes me mad at myself is that I know better, and I own the fault. I am pretty sick of the phone right now, simply because of the length of time I have been on it with Dell (although they have been really good) and I am still on it because we are discussing SSL activation on Google Chrome (but I really, really want to get off and get SOME work done today), but at some point I would love to discuss the sandbox tool and so forth with you if you are a mind.

 

[UcMiami]

Well, Tina Charles for starters. Even at only 6'3" she was a beast all season and had better stats than Griner. Candace Parker is another, but because she's so mobile, many consider her a 4. Cambage is another - 6'8" and stronger than Griner.

Were talking about Tina who shot .462 from 2 and Parker that shot .494 vs. Griner at .578? Tina had 9.4, Parker 7.8 and Griner 8.0 in rebounds, TOs/Assists for Tina and Griner were about a wash while as one would expect with a player that plays away from the basket, Parker certainly had twice the assists as TOs. Big difference in blocked shots with Griner at 3.8, Parker at 1.4 and Tina a 0.9. Parker and Charles both averaged more ppg but they also played 2 more minutes per game. And of course BG was voted Defensive POY in the WNBA. Liz didn't play and I really haven't seen her play since the Olympics when she was good. Hard to judge and unfortunately she isn't going to play in the WC but I suspect her strength vs BG's speed would have been entertaining to watch - I think BG would win the match-up, but we will have to wait to see that for 2 more years.

If you were putting together your dream team of active players for a one year season would you really select Tina or Candace as your center over BG? Maybe I select one or the other for my #4 but I think a healthy EDD probably wins out over either and I might even go with Maya at my four as I think with BG in the center I can go a little smaller and add another pure shooter at wing.

 

[Zorro]

Never allow a website to "update Java/Adobe Reader/Flash" or whatever. If you get such a message, go to java.com or adobe.com and do the update from there. If you don't know what the author/owner site is, just Google the software name. The right site should be pretty obvious..

Being in Guatemala and none of the stations here being at all interested in women's basketball, not even UConn, the only way I have found of watching any of the games is through a site called ILive. When I first starting using it, I experienced no end of problems. It would give me messages such as requiring me to update java or shockwave, or offering to speed up my computer, or whatever. I did not fall for that, but the trick was that even if you clicked the x to close them, or chose "not at this time", or whatever, the damn thing would open anyway. Because I did have pretty good virus protection, I never had any serious problems, but it was damned annoying. I have learned that if I just ignore all of these nuisances they will eventually just go away, and mostly the reception is pretty good. I guess ILive makes their living from advertising by these shady sites. It is a shame, but that is the way it is.

Incidentally, if anyone can advise me of a better alternative to ILive, it will be greatly appreciated

 

[PalPa]

With the addition of BG I don't think any team will play within 20 points of the US. She is that much of a difference maker.

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