The U.S. ladies’s basketball roster was formally introduced Tuesday, and in six weeks, the 12 gamers will go after a report eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal. With seven gamers who’ve already appeared on Crew USA (and a further two who had been on the three-on-three group, often called 3×3, the final time round), that is an skilled group that enters the Video games as the favourite.
Expertise and maturity are solely heightened contemplating the roster skews towards gamers of their late 20s; the youngest gamers are 26 and Diana Taurasi at 42 is the oldest. Not like earlier iterations of Olympic rosters, no latest school grads had been included. Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark’s exclusion from the roster has been the topic of a lot debate, and reigning WNBA Rookie of the 12 months Aliyah Boston additionally wasn’t chosen.
The subsequent chapter in The Best Dynasty Ever.
The 2024 USA Girls’s Nationwide Crew is right here.
🇺🇸 #USABWNT x #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/BdDki5De5O
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) June 11, 2024
With 12 versatile, barely older gamers, coach Cheryl Reeve has loads of flexibility with lineups and rotations, just like how the defensive-oriented coach operates along with her Minnesota Lynx squad. She is thought for getting essentially the most out of her gamers, orchestrating the Lynx’s run within the 2010s to 4 WNBA titles in seven seasons. This shall be Reeve’s first time on the helm of the nationwide group on the Olympics. She was named the pinnacle coach for this cycle in 2021 after being an assistant for each Geno Auriemma (2016) and Daybreak Staley (2020).
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Get to know the gamers who will symbolize Crew USA in France this summer time.
Collier, 27, was the eleventh or twelfth participant on the Tokyo roster, however for this Olympics, she’s a possible starter alongside Chelsea Grey, A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart. Her recreation has continued to evolve (which is not any shock contemplating Reeve is her coach with the Lynx) — she’s taking pictures 40 p.c on 3-pointers this WNBA season. Collier confirmed in an Olympic qualifier recreation earlier this yr that she doubtlessly can turn into a statistical chief, after tallying 23 factors, 7 rebounds and three steals in a tightly-contested recreation towards Belgium.
Copper, 29, is taking part in the very best basketball of her profession in her first season with the Phoenix Mercury, averaging 24 factors a recreation whereas taking pictures 39 p.c from lengthy vary as a high-volume 3-point shooter. Not like many different gamers on this Olympic roster who got here up by way of the youth system, Copper’s first time within the Crew USA pool was in 2021, and her recreation has solely gone up. Her versatility is accentuated on protection, the place she will be able to guard a number of positions, each matching up with bigger, extra bodily gamers and protecting step with perimeter guards.
We’re turning up the warmth with this trio.
From the Valley to Paris @kahleahcopper @brittneygriner @DianaTaurasi 🔥
🇺🇸 #USABWNT pic.twitter.com/pZc6ZhatAh
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) June 11, 2024
Grey, 31, has but to play this WNBA season after struggling a leg harm through the 2023 WNBA Finals. Nevertheless, Crew USA stated it had been in common communication with Grey and her medical group and really feel assured she’ll be capable to compete in France. Assuming that holds true, Grey would be the group’s greatest passer and its engine. For the Las Vegas Aces, she has been a dynamic scorer-facilitator, but when her function from the 2022 World Cup repeats, count on Grey to settle in additional as a main facilitator, particularly as a result of there’s not one other pure level guard on the roster. Reeve will want a high-assist, low-risk flooring common, and that’s Grey.
When Griner, 33, returned to the U.S. from her 10-month detainment in Russia, she stated she’d solely go abroad once more to play for her nation within the Olympics. Now, that’s occurring as Griner makes her third Olympic roster. She not too long ago returned to the ground within the WNBA after recovering from a toe fracture, however even in two video games, she appears to be like nice, averaging 17.5 factors, 6.5 rebounds, 3 assists and 1.5 blocks a recreation (in half-hour of play). She began all six video games in Crew USA’s 2021 run in Tokyo (averaging 16.5 factors and over 7 rebounds a recreation whereas taking pictures practically 70 p.c). At 6-foot-9, she’s the tallest participant on the roster, offering Crew USA an on the spot mismatch towards any opponent.
A younger function participant the final Olympic cycle, Napheesa Collier now steps right into a extra distinguished place for Paris. (Dirk Waem / BELGA MAG / AFP through Getty Photographs)
Ionescu, 26, is one other potential backup ballhandler who doubtless will cut up duties with different guards, however her versatility as a scorer and rebounder will turn out to be useful. Like Alyssa Thomas, Ionescu can go off for a triple-double. Together with her lengthy vary and fast launch, she may very well be used off the bench to assist construct a lead, or in shut video games, she may very well be inserted for her dependable free-throw taking pictures (over 90 p.c for her WNBA profession).
With no true backup level guard on the roster, Loyd, 30, doubtless shall be referred to as into some backup ballhandling duties — a activity Crew USA in all probability will tackle by committee. Loyd may very well be thought-about for the ultimate starter, a spot that is still a little bit of a query mark and could be decided by game-specific matchups. She’s a tried-and-true scorer and a very good rebounder who can get Crew USA out on the break and both distribute or rating. One of many many perks of this roster is the variety of gamers who’ve proven they will catch fireplace even after a droop, and Loyd is a kind of.
A member of the inaugural 3×3 squad, Plum, 29, may discover herself in that beginning two-guard spot, or she may very well be a burst of power and on the spot scorer off the bench. She’s a high-volume 3-point shooter for the Aces, however she will be able to additionally get downhill and end by way of contact. With Grey out, the Aces have shared facilitating duties, and Plum is averaging practically 5 assists a recreation. Her familiarity with Wilson, Grey and Jackie Younger is a vital profit for potential taking part in time, and that unit may very well be used as a “reset” at instances, particularly early in pool play, when Crew USA must get on the identical web page.
An opportunity at historical past 🥇🥇@JackieYoung3 & @Kelseyplum10 look to turn into the primary athletes to win Olympic gold in each 3×3 & 5×5 basketball! pic.twitter.com/WesRhIXVcj
— USA Basketball 3×3 (@usab3x3) June 11, 2024
Breanna Stewart, F
At 29, Stewart will play in her third Olympics. In tandem with Wilson, Stewart gives versatility and steadiness on each ends of the ground. Her 3-point taking pictures has been down this WNBA season, however Stewart is a three-level scorer with a knack for making defensive performs. Count on Stewart and Wilson to begin whatever the matchup as Reeve makes use of them as centerpieces and builds out from there.
Diana Taurasi, G
This shall be Taurasi’s sixth Olympics. Her first got here in 2004 in Athens, the place at 22 she was the youngest participant on the group. Her eldest teammate that yr? Then-34-year-old Daybreak Staley, who — 16 years later — would coach Taurasi on the Tokyo Olympics. Taurasi’s deft passing and sharp taking pictures shall be useful, however her expertise is irreplaceable in comparison with every other participant within the Crew USA pool. “We knew Diana’s basketball capacity can be clutch for us in so many moments, however we additionally knew that her management was one thing this group didn’t have,” U.S. ladies’s nationwide group committee chair Jen Rizzotti stated.
Diana Taurasi, a staple of the U.S. nationwide group for 20 years, will go for her sixth Olympic gold medal. (Gregory Shamus / Getty Photographs)
Alyssa Thomas, F
Referred to as “The Engine” within the WNBA, Thomas, 32, is a triple-double menace each night time within the league. She’s not the tallest on any court docket, however she could be the strongest 6-2 participant within the league. The frequent storyline for commentators in regards to the 10-year vet is that Thomas has two torn labrums (cartilage in her shoulders) so she makes use of an unconventional taking pictures type. Nevertheless, that hasn’t stopped Thomas from being so efficient that Reeve truly requested her to return to the Crew USA participant pool earlier than the 2022 World Cup after Thomas spent a number of years on the skin wanting in.
A’ja Wilson, F
The 2-time WNBA MVP has been profitable in Olympic and worldwide play. As an Olympic rookie in Tokyo, Wilson was a standout, averaging over 16 factors and seven rebounds a recreation whereas taking part in for Staley, her former coach at South Carolina. She’ll once more have a consolation degree in France from being surrounded by three of her Aces teammates. She additionally has added a 3-point shot to her offensive arsenal. Wilson — and Stewart — are the brand new faces of Crew USA in a changing-of-the-guard period, a brand new problem for each. Wilson, 27, has dealt with that very same duty on and off the court docket for the Aces, and he or she seems primed for the event.
Jackie Younger, G
Younger, 26, was a member of the Tokyo 3×3 squad. She was referred to as into preparation on the final minute after preliminary 3×3 group member Katie Lou Samuelson examined constructive for COVID-19 earlier than the group’s departure. Younger has been one of the improved gamers by way of the latest Olympic cycle, changing into a extra prolific scorer and passer. She’s a tricky perimeter defender and dependable scorer who, like the opposite guards on this roster, may discover herself filling Grey’s sneakers when she’s not on the ground.
(Photograph of Breanna Stewart, Kelsey Plum, A’Ja Wilson and Sabrina Ionescu celebrating their gold-medal win on the 2022 FIBA World Cup: Kelly Defina / Getty Photographs)
