RebKell's Junkie Boards

[beeball]

I've been reading a lot of the talk from this team regarding the Olympics and it seems like they are all on the same page. From what I have heard, that wasn't the case during the World Championships, which they lost. Apparently, that team was a bit immature and didn't understand or really care too much about what that competition meant. There were young players on that team that were upset with their playing time or lack thereof. There were players on that team that took the loss at that tournament lightly, not realizing how meaningful these competitions are to their predecessors or how important is is for their positioning in future competitions. Some of those players have made this Olympic roster and now understand their roles and the importance of this tournament to women's basketball and the USA. I think that is why you see a player like Kara Lawson make the team over someone else more popular or even more skilled. She won't rock the boat and will contribute in ways that may not show up on the boxscore. (I was curious about her selection, but with the info that I have about that World Championship team, I understand why they went with her instead.)
But yeah, I am just happy to see that this team is more focused now and that the thought of losing the Gold medal would not only be embarrassing but unacceptable. That's not the same attitude that group had in Brazil.

[norwester]

I almost think that that loss in Brazil makes it more likely that we will be successful now in the Olympics. For reasons you brought up, but it will also help us guard against a let down against teams like Russia, who typically only play really hard when it counts, and just hard enough prior to that.

_________________
Don't you know the plural of "anecdote" is "data"?