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Closer than expected U.S. women need to maintain intensity
SYDNEY, Australia -- Before the U.S. women took on Russia Wednesday afternoon here, the Americans' Dawn Staley delivered her scouting report: "This is just pool play. Usually the Russians don't bring their full game to pool play. Wait 'til the medal round. That's when you'll see the real Russia." Staley could be forgiven for sounding like someone who was confident she'd doped her opponent out. The U.S. women know the Russians well, having defeated them in the final of the World Championships in Munich two years ago after trailing by nine points. But if the "Ovas" have an A game they're saving for next week, the U.S. had better start worrying. Russia looked pretty good for much of its 88-77 loss to the Americans at the Dome in Olympic Park. Shooting 60 percent in the first half, changing defenses, feeding their post players with discipline, the Russians pushed out to an eight-point lead and held a 47-44 edge at halftime. But in the second half, as Ruthie Bolton-Holifield began to find her range and Yolanda Griffith, Lisa Leslie and Natalie Williams all brought their size to bear inside, the U.S. decided to defend the perimeter and obstruct Russia's Natalia Zassoulskaia and Elena Khoudashova when they turned to sight the basket.
"I don't remember them missing a shot in the first half," Nikki McCray of the U.S. said afterward. "At halftime we said, 'Hey, we've gotta not let them get open looks!'" The problem for the Americans is that they waited a half to bring their own A game. "We have so many offensive players on this team, scoring isn't our problem," said Sheryl Swoopes. "Where we have to step up is on defense. We have to play it for 40 minutes, and I don't think we did that today."
Tip-insNext up for the Distaff Dream Team is New Zealand on Friday afternoon. ... The Tall Ferns don't ordinarily appear in elite international competitions, because the lone bid for the Oceania zone always goes to Australia. But with Oz qualifying automatically for these Olympics as the host country, the Kiwis had an easy time of it, punching their ticket when American Samoa failed to show for the zone qualifying title game. ... The Aussie women have dealt with the pressure of homestanding much better than their male counterparts. After their drubbing by Yugoslavia last night, various Boomers bemoaned the high expectations here. (They would, what, prefer that these Olympics were in Beijing?) The Opals, by contrast, have used energy from the home crowd to run, shoot and generally whup up on Canada, Brazil and Slovakia. ... The Horde, that posse of Connecticut journalists who obsessively document all things Husky, has mercifully passed up these Games, and therefore missed the latest installment in the Bruce Willis-Cybill Shepherd relationship between U.S. assistant coach Geno Auriemma and Russia's Svetlana Abrosimova. "Svet!" Auriemma, who coaches Abrosimova at UConn, said upon spying her in the tunnel after the game. "How ya doin'?" "Not so good," she replied. "Thought that one-three was gonna make the difference!" Sports Illustrated senior writer Alexander Wolff is in Sydney covering the women's basketball competition for the magazine and CNNSI.com. Check back daily to read Wolff's behind-the-scenes reports from Down Under.
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