3 key questions as Crew 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 workforce faces Australia at present at 11:30am ET. The Opals — who received the bronze medal within the 2022 World Cup — have been thought-about to be one of the formidable groups within the discipline 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 workforce have what it takes to overhaul one of the 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 workforce 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 important position in key moments all through this Olympic run.

It’s truthful to count on a dominant U.S. victory — each U.S. sport has been a blowout up to now, in any case. However ,no different workforce within the discipline boasts as many WNBA gamers as Australia, so if anybody is positioned to place up a battle, it may be the Opals.

A few questions will assist decide Australia’s possibilities:

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

When the U.S. girls’s basketball workforce takes on Australia in Olympic semifinals at present, it will likely be a reunion of kinds. 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 Photos

Subsequent week, Brondello can be again in New York with Stewart and Ionescu, and the trio will work intently to compete for a championship this fall. However, on this matchup, Brondello will undoubtedly do every part she will be able to to attempt to reduce Stewart’s injury.

To this point, 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% capturing, and her and Wilson have mixed to kind a frontcourt that no Olympic workforce has been capable of handle. Brondello is as intimately conversant in Stewart’s sport as anybody. Given Stewie’s greatness, which may not make a distinction. However, she’ll definitely strive.

2. Can Crew USA cease Sami Whitcomb?

Sami Whitcomb has been Australia’s main scorer by 4 Olympic video games, averaging 14.8 factors on 50% capturing. Whitcomb shouldn’t be 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 can be key — she’s been one of many main facilitators of the Olympics, averaging 6 assists per evening.

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

Photograph by Gregory Shamus/Getty Photos

3. Which model of Australia will Crew USA face?

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

However, to Crew USA coach Cheryl Reeve, these preliminary obstacles could in the end show useful for Australia.

“They went by a tricky stretch within the pool however I feel they realized rather a lot about themselves,” she stated, per Olympics.com. “From a training standpoint, rotations, and so on, that’s essentially the most priceless factor that you just study. They’re on the uptick, and it’s going to be a really tough sport for us.”