3 key questions as Staff USA and Australia face off within the Olympic semifinals

A visit to the gold medal sport is on the road when U.S. girls’s basketball crew faces Australia at the moment at 11:30am ET. The Opals — who received the bronze medal within the 2022 World Cup — had been thought-about to be one of the vital formidable groups within the area heading into the Paris Olympics.

However, Australia stumbled early on, kicking off Olympic play with a loss to Nigeria. They’ve since vastly improved their play, however the query stays: does this Australia crew have what it takes to overhaul one of the vital dominant Olympic applications in all of sports activities?

Towards Australia, USA Basketball will search a sixtieth consecutive Olympic victory (and, this weekend they’ll hope for an eighth consecutive gold medal). The crew will undoubtedly proceed to closely depend on A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart, who’ve anchored the frontcourt, whereas benefitting from contributions from gamers like Jackie Younger, Sabrina Ionescu, Brittney Griner, and Alyssa Thomas — every of whom have performed a vital position in key moments all through this Olympic run.

It’s honest to anticipate a dominant U.S. victory — each U.S. sport has been a blowout to this point, in spite of everything. However ,no different crew within the area boasts as many WNBA gamers as Australia, so if anybody is positioned to place up a struggle, it might be the Opals.

A few questions will assist decide Australia’s possibilities:

1. Can Sandy Brondello make Breanna Stewart’s life harder?

When the U.S. girls’s basketball crew takes on Australia in Olympic semifinals at the moment, it is going to be a reunion of types. Australia’s head coach Sandy Brondello faces two of her Liberty star gamers, Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu.

Photograph by David Dow/NBAE by way of Getty Pictures

Subsequent week, Brondello will probably be again in New York with Stewart and Ionescu, and the trio will work carefully to compete for a championship this fall. However, on this matchup, Brondello will undoubtedly do all the things she will to attempt to decrease Stewart’s injury.

Thus far, nobody has had a solution for the two-time MVP’s two-way impression. Stewart has been USA’s second main scorer, averaging 18.5 factors on 63.8% taking pictures, and her and Wilson have mixed to kind a frontcourt that no Olympic crew has been in a position to handle. Brondello is as intimately acquainted with Stewart’s sport as anybody. Given Stewie’s greatness, which may not make a distinction. However, she’ll actually strive.

2. Can Staff USA cease Sami Whitcomb?

Sami Whitcomb has been Australia’s main scorer by 4 Olympic video games, averaging 14.8 factors on 50% taking pictures. Whitcomb is just not a significant contributor in Seattle — she averages simply 5.4 factors per sport on 15.8 minutes per evening — however in Australia, she’s been the focus of the offense. Containing the 36-year-old will probably be key — she’s been one of many main facilitators of the Olympics, averaging 6 assists per evening.

It’s probably that Jackie Younger will probably be tasked with maintaining with Whitcomb, however a number of different guards, together with Chelsea Grey and Kelsey Plum, will probably additionally take a stab on the matchup.

Photograph by Gregory Shamus/Getty Pictures

3. Which model of Australia will Staff USA face?

Heading into the Olympic video games, Australia was thought-about one of many high groups within the area. Then, they fell to Nigeria within the opening sport of pool play, and simply barely squeaked out a win towards Canada.

However, to Staff USA coach Cheryl Reeve, these preliminary obstacles might finally show useful for Australia.

“They went by a troublesome stretch within the pool however I believe they discovered quite a bit about themselves,” she mentioned, per Olympics.com. “From a training standpoint, rotations, and so on, that’s probably the most invaluable factor that you just study. They’re on the uptick, and it’s going to be a really troublesome sport for us.”