WNBA Shootaround: Guide to Team USA women’s Olympic basketball in Tokyo

The WNBA season has paused to make room for Olympic basketball. Here’s everything you need to know about Team USA and their hunt for Gold.

Though COVID-19 continues to ravage Japan, the Tokyo Olympics are underway with softball, soccer and other sports already competing. Basketball will start next week with Dawn Staley’s Team USA squad beginning its group play on July 27 at 12:40 a.m. ET (look, I’m not happy either).

If you’re just catching up here — you’ve missed a lot. The Americans are chasing a seventh straight gold medal, but went 1-2 in exhibition play, losing consecutive games to the WNBA’s All-Stars and Team Australia without its best player, Liz Cambage.

A 31-point routing of Team Nigeria has eased some minds, but the losses are unusual for a program that’s won its last 49 games in the Olympics. (Note: Diana Taurasi did not play in any exhibition game due to a hip injury. She expects to be healed by Olympic play.)

In case you’re very new, here’s the roster:

• Ariel Atkins
• Sue Bird
• Tina Charles
• Napheesa Collier
• Skylar Diggins-Smith
• Sylvia Fowles
• Chelsea Gray
• Brittney Griner
• Jewell Loyd
• Breanna Stewart
• Diana Taurasi
• A’ja Wilson

Now let’s talk about how they’ve played.

The loss to the WNBA All-Stars was understandable

The WNBA tested a new All-Star Game format that worked to perfection. In a win-win-win, Team USA played a competitive game against debatably the next-best players in the world, the dozen All-Stars got to avenge their Olympic snub or open eyes for a 2024 selection, and fans got to witness it all.

Team WNBA won, 93-85, which is respectable for Team USA considering the group had just one practice prior. They were also up against Arike Ogunbowale, Candace Parker, Jonquel Jones, DeWanna Bonner, Courtney Williams and more.

The biggest story from that game was…

Arike Ogunbowale got her revenge

Yes, 2016 WNBA MVP Nneka Ogwumike was Team USA’s headline snub, but 2020 WNBA scoring champion Ogunbowale also has reason to feel slighted. Though she downplayed the game’s significance before and after, she was clearly going full-speed in this one.

Ogunbowale scored a game-high 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting (five 3-pointers) to win MVP.

https://twitter.com/WNBA/status/1415503165550649346

Team USA’s loss to Australia was less amusing

Australia is the American’s biggest threat to a gold medal on paper, but that was before 6-foot-8 center Liz Cambage removed herself from the games. Citing mental health reasons, Cambage did not play in the exhibition game and won’t be traveling to Tokyo. (Days later, Basketball Australia announced it was investigating her for circumstances surrounding an incident that occurred during a Nigeria-Australia scrimmage for “a breach of the integrity framework and code of conduct.”)

Still, Australia has WNBA talent like Leilani Mitchell, Ezi Magbegor, and Stephanie Talbot. This game should’ve been competitive… but a 70-67 defeat didn’t feel good for the U.S.

The team shot an ugly 37.3 percent from the field and made just two 3-pointers, turning the ball over 13 times. Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson were the only players to score in double figures.

Yikes!

Team USA blew out Team Nigeria

With both Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike sitting this game out, a 93-62 win was expected but still felt good to see.

USA had its rhythm back, sinking 9-of-16 3-pointers, and shooting 53.8 percent from the floor. Wilson double-doubled with 16 points and 10 boards, and Stewart scored 14 with six assists and four rebounds. This game was a preview of how the team will win: by getting the ball in their hands.

What’s next for Team USA?

The real games!

Here’s the schedule:

July 27: Group Stage Game 1 vs. Nigeria at 12:40 a.m. ET
July 30: Group Stage Game 2 vs. Japan at 12:40 a.m. ET
August 2: Group Stage Game 3 vs. France at 12:40 a.m. ET
August 3 and 4: Quarterfinals
August 6: Semifinals
August 7: Bronze & Gold Medal Game

A few other Olympic women’s basketball notes:

Nneka Ogwumike and Elizabeth Williams won’t compete for Team Nigeria

Ogwumike and Williams both lost their appeals on Monday and won’t compete in the Olympics due to playing for Team USA in FIBA events in the last three years.

There was hope that since Team USA released the WNBA stars upon their request, and because there is a provision that allows FIBA’s secretary-general to grant special permission in the interest of growing the game of basketball that they’d be able to play.

Williams was able to compete in the exhibition game against the U.S. but that’s it. It stinks.

Katie Lou Samuelson is out of the 3×3 competition.

Samuelson tested positive for COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated and announced on Monday that she wasn’t flying to Tokyo to compete in the 3×3 competition. She’s been replaced by Las Vegas Aces guard Jackie Young.

Sue Bird is a U.S. flag bearer

Bird, along with speedskater and baseball player Eddy Alvarez, were chosen by their peers as flag bearers. Bird’s the first basketball player to have the honor since Dawn Staley in 2004.

Now, let’s talk about what else you might have missed

Candace Parker is the first woman on the cover of NBA 2K22

It’s long overdue, but the WNBA champion, Finals MVP, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and two-time MVP is getting cover honors on the most popular basketball video game franchise in the country. This is a huge step for NBA 2K, which long overlooked the women’s game, and a huge honor for one of the game’s best players.

Here’s a look at how accurately they have her signature stare down:

https://twitter.com/mellentuck/status/1417504030792851462/photo/1

Crystal Bradford can SING

Here she is singing Proud Mary. WOW!