View previous topic :: View next topic |
Author |
Message |
pilight
Joined: 23 Sep 2004 Posts: 67121 Location: Where the action is
Back to top |
Posted: 07/29/21 8:41 am ::: The 12 best American W players who never played for Team US |
Reply |
|
at the Olympics
https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/31899420/olympics-2021-12-best-american-wnba-players-never-played-team-usa-olympics
Quote: |
Almost all of these players competed or tried out for USA Basketball teams, and some played in the other major hoops competitions such as the FIBA Women's World Cup (previously known as the World Championship). And one player on our list was an Olympian, just not for the United States. |
_________________ I'm sick and tired of the stories that you always tell
Shakespeare couldn't tell a story that well
See, you're the largest liar that was ever created
You and Pinocchio are probably related
Full of criss-crossed fits, you lie all the time
Your tongue should be embarrassed, you're a threat to mankind
|
|
PUmatty
Joined: 10 Nov 2004 Posts: 16382 Location: Chicago
Back to top |
Posted: 07/29/21 11:19 am ::: Re: The 12 best American W players who never played for Team |
Reply |
|
I just don't think you can put players like Vandersloot, Hammon, and Nolan on this list. According to the Olympics, they aren't American players. They intentionally took themselves out of consideration. You can argue they would never have made the team anyway, but I think Vandersloot this year is a clear example of why it is different. Does anything think she wouldn't be on this team if she was eligible?
|
|
Richyyy
Joined: 17 Nov 2005 Posts: 24408 Location: London
Back to top |
Posted: 07/29/21 11:41 am ::: Re: The 12 best American W players who never played for Team |
Reply |
|
PUmatty wrote: |
I just don't think you can put players like Vandersloot, Hammon, and Nolan on this list. According to the Olympics, they aren't American players. They intentionally took themselves out of consideration. You can argue they would never have made the team anyway, but I think Vandersloot this year is a clear example of why it is different. Does anything think she wouldn't be on this team if she was eligible? |
Honestly, Voepel and Ramona Shelburne have been going hard on the Nneka stuff, consistently supporting her and Nigeria's side (and barely even countenancing the arguments against them). This feels like stretching it out to get yet another item out of that topic where they can bring it up again. The rest is just details.
And yes, you get two very different lists depending on whether you count people who switched to other countries or not. |
|
mercfan3
Joined: 23 Nov 2004 Posts: 19828
Back to top |
Posted: 07/29/21 3:44 pm ::: Re: The 12 best American W players who never played for Team |
Reply |
|
PUmatty wrote: |
I just don't think you can put players like Vandersloot, Hammon, and Nolan on this list. According to the Olympics, they aren't American players. They intentionally took themselves out of consideration. You can argue they would never have made the team anyway, but I think Vandersloot this year is a clear example of why it is different. Does anything think she wouldn't be on this team if she was eligible? |
TBH, I see your point, but I do think that also depends on the player.
Hammon very clearly wasn't going to make a team, while Sloot likely would have been on the team this year.
I don't remember with Nolan though, I seem to recall her taking a different country route early on in her career.
_________________ “Anyone point out that a Donald Trump anagram is ‘Lord Dampnut’”- Colin Mochrie
|
|
johnjohnW
Joined: 11 Aug 2020 Posts: 1898
Back to top |
Posted: 07/29/21 6:37 pm ::: Re: The 12 best American W players who never played for Team |
Reply |
|
Richyyy wrote: |
PUmatty wrote: |
I just don't think you can put players like Vandersloot, Hammon, and Nolan on this list. According to the Olympics, they aren't American players. They intentionally took themselves out of consideration. You can argue they would never have made the team anyway, but I think Vandersloot this year is a clear example of why it is different. Does anything think she wouldn't be on this team if she was eligible? |
Honestly, Voepel and Ramona Shelburne have been going hard on the Nneka stuff, consistently supporting her and Nigeria's side (and barely even countenancing the arguments against them). This feels like stretching it out to get yet another item out of that topic where they can bring it up again. The rest is just details.
And yes, you get two very different lists depending on whether you count people who switched to other countries or not. |
This was my first thought.
The only reason they didn't put Chiney on the list was because they knew it would be too obvious.
|
|
GEF34
Joined: 23 Jul 2008 Posts: 14125
Back to top |
Posted: 07/31/21 6:19 pm ::: Re: The 12 best American W players who never played for Team |
Reply |
|
PUmatty wrote: |
I just don't think you can put players like Vandersloot, Hammon, and Nolan on this list. According to the Olympics, they aren't American players. They intentionally took themselves out of consideration. You can argue they would never have made the team anyway, but I think Vandersloot this year is a clear example of why it is different. Does anything think she wouldn't be on this team if she was eligible? |
I think it’s fair to put players like that on the list or at least in the discussion because it’s unknown what types of talks they have had with USA basketball in the past (some the media may actually have some info), and those talks could have played a role in their decisions to switch countries. I’m not sure of Becky Hammon and Deanna Nolan, but didn’t Courtney Vandersloot need to be released from USA basketball, similar to Nneka, so it is possible she was told she wasn’t in Team USA’s future and that’s why she made the choice to switch.
|
|
readyAIMfire53
Joined: 20 Nov 2004 Posts: 7420 Location: Durham, NC
Back to top |
Posted: 08/01/21 6:23 pm ::: Re: The 12 best American W players who never played for Team |
Reply |
|
GEF34 wrote: |
PUmatty wrote: |
I just don't think you can put players like Vandersloot, Hammon, and Nolan on this list. According to the Olympics, they aren't American players. They intentionally took themselves out of consideration. You can argue they would never have made the team anyway, but I think Vandersloot this year is a clear example of why it is different. Does anything think she wouldn't be on this team if she was eligible? |
I think it’s fair to put players like that on the list or at least in the discussion because it’s unknown what types of talks they have had with USA basketball in the past (some the media may actually have some info), and those talks could have played a role in their decisions to switch countries. I’m not sure of Becky Hammon and Deanna Nolan, but didn’t Courtney Vandersloot need to be released from USA basketball, similar to Nneka, so it is possible she was told she wasn’t in Team USA’s future and that’s why she made the choice to switch. |
Given USA's defensive weakness in the backcourt already, I don't think Slooty would have made the cut this year. With Bird and Sloot, we'd always have a defensive weakness to try to hide. Gray gets on the court alongside Bird because her height and reaction time are net positives on defense.
_________________ Follow your passion and your life will be true down to your core.
~rAf
|
|
UK1996
Joined: 03 Sep 2015 Posts: 403
Back to top |
Posted: 08/01/21 10:48 pm ::: |
Reply |
|
If Slooty was eligible and had made the team, it should have been Bird’s spot she took.
|
|
huskiemaniac
Joined: 24 Nov 2004 Posts: 1050 Location: NE CT
Back to top |
Posted: 08/01/21 10:54 pm ::: |
Reply |
|
I'm still waiting for Voepel's column re: Hillsman.
|
|
|
|