Courtney Range will be on the USA team. Game starts at 6pm (PST) on ESPNU. There are a bunch of Pac-12 players on the team. Link to roster http://www.usab.com/womens/world-university-games/roster.aspx

Thanks, OB073, for the "heads up" on this wonderful holiday. I'll record it on my DVR and watch it later tonight. GO BEARS!

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OBear073akaSMFan;842512111 said:

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Courtney Range will be on the USA team. Game starts at 6pm (PST) on ESPNU. There are a bunch of Pac-12 players on the team. Link to roster http://www.usab.com/womens/world-university-games/roster.aspx

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Good luck to Courtney and the USA Women! Go Bears!

After a slow start (thanks to an active Italian team raining three pointers), USA got its act together, rebounded a whole bunch, shot pretty well, and beat Italy, 80-68. They played 24-second possessions, so the game just sped by, but USA did fine as they adapted to the pace.

Range only played 4 minutes: 1/1 baskets, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block, along with 2 TOs; there were comments about her solid play. C.R. had a hunk of brace on one leg, so I hope she's not feeling terrible.

Speaking of turnovers, Team USA managed THIRTY-THREE of them, 9 of which came from Canada, who had a good, but sloppy game.

http://www.gwangju2015.com/athletes/ (It's a rather enigmatic site. The game was played 7/5, Korean time; click on "finished" for the box score.)

The next game is Monday at something like 1:30 in the morning, PDT, against China.

The USA had not found their groove when Courtney was substituted midway through the first half. Courtney immediately grabbed a defensive rebound and passed-out to start a fast break leading to a hoop. That seemed to wake-up the USA to use their speed to attack the Italians. On a subsequent sequence Range got her only score on an offensive put-back. That all occurred during Courtney's only four minute stretch in the game.

Yes-Courtney Range deserves an A- for her 4 minutes & 12 seconds on the floor in the 2nd quarter. She served as a complementary and team player when she played. The team went from a 6 point deficit, forging into the lead. She made a beautiful assist pass for a layup immediately. She scored a layup running the court on a fast break. On defense she made a steal and blocked a shot. She grabbed two defensive rebounds. On one, she could not pass the ball to a guard so she simply dribbled the ball up court easily. Range (#13) was an energizer bunny out there. She was the tenth player into the game. It appears that three Pac 12 players are at the bottom of the depth chart: Courtney Range (4:12), Sydney Wiese (2:48) & Katie Hempen- DNP. Jordan Canada & Erica McCall never came out, playing 32 1/2 minutes each. The big surprise of the game was the play of Stanford's 6-3 power forward McCall (from Bakersfield) who was tied for high scorer w/ 22 points and grabbed 18 rebounds (including 10 offensive). She was NOT a force on the court last season in the Pac 12 but appears to be breaking out to a new level on the international scene. She even hit a fade away bank shot from approximately 15 feet out that I've been hoping that a Cal post would learn to develop...Only Ashley Walker could do that to the best of my recollection.

One last comment-Courtney appeared bigger and stronger to me. She is not skinny anymore. She appears to have put on perhaps 10 pounds of muscle on her frame. Did anyone else notice the physical change? Range is listed as 170 lbs. Impressive. GO BEARS!



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puget sound cal fan;842512175 said:

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The USA had not found their groove when Courtney was substituted midway through the first half. Courtney immediately grabbed a defensive rebound and passed-out to start a fast break leading to a hoop. That seemed to wake-up the USA to use their speed to attack the Italians. On a subsequent sequence Range got her only score on an offensive put-back. That all occurred during Courtney's only four minute stretch in the game.

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OK, am I the only one disappointed. The Italy team were, well, lets just say low level, except they could knock down 3s

McCall got to play against some smaller players where she could out athlete them. Good for her. Not so impressed with Canada, poor decision making and a ridiculous number of turnovers to be given that many minutes. USA has to get a handle on making players play team ball. With an embarrassment of riches, the fact that they are allowing such selfish basketball makes us look really bad.

Clay keeps harping on how kids don't practice, and I agree with him. Kids need to get out there, practice shooting, passing, study the game, learn the importance of TEAM over me.

Schroeder71;842512307 said:

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Courtney appeared bigger and stronger to me. She is not skinny anymore. She appears to have put on perhaps 10 pounds of muscle on her frame. Did anyone else notice the physical change? Range is listed as 170 lbs.

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At the post-season banquet I was surprised by how much bigger and stronger our players look close up than they do from the seats at Haas. I thought Reshanda, Courtney, and Gabby looked particularly strong.

I was curious to see how Courtney would be used by Team USA, and it appears they deployed her as a PF/Post in her short game stint though Italy had no size to match the USA. I hoped to see Courtney get a chance to shoot from the perimeter, as well as take the ball to the hoop off the bounce. Unfortunately, she wasn't in the game long enough to really get comfortable.

I think most people are talking about Courtney. But you are right, the rest of the team didn't look so great. Difference was rebounding. Didn't matter how many shots we missed, we got the rebound and eventually scored. I think Courtney's game is more structured and the way the played wouldn't help here. If Italy borrowed a couple of our post persons, they would have won the game.

Kind of looked like a runaway AAU game.

You got that right.

What to do when you don't have to get to work at 8AM Monday? Watch the USA-China game!

USA 49, China 44 at the half. Canada and McCall have played most of the half; Range, Wiese, and Hempen just a few minutes each. McCall is looking good against a small China team. The USA is playing pure man defense and allowing a lot of penetration, possibly because the refs aren't calling moving screens (but they are calling traveling). We might do better with a zone, though I doubt we've had time to practice it.

So far Range has a couple of rebounds, an inbound pass deflection for a turnover, and an air ball on a three attempt. She's played outside.

Final USA 90, China 75. One of China's better players fouled out, our defense picked up a bit, and China could not handle Russel.

Range played about a minute in the 3rd quarter and about half a minute at the end without doing much. Wiese hit a couple of threes and had a nice hustle play causing China players to miss 3 or 4 consecutive layups then stealing the ball.

Thanks for the recap! I taped the game on my DVR so I'll watch it today. I'm surprised at the USA cannot beat these teams more easily. Cal's next opponent, Czech Rep?, crushed China.

http://www.gwangju2015.com/info/
I finally watched the USA-China game last night. Courtney Range hardly played but stood outside the three point line 75% of the time on offense. She shot one trey that was a airball. I gave her an A- grade in the opener vs Italy. She gets a C- mark for the Chinese affair. She was matched up with small, quick guards. The guard with a white face mask was from the Chinese top national team and scored three baskets against Range. Range couldn't get around the screens set and yielded a couple of outside shots (one three) to her. Then when the Cal star got more aggressive to defend the outside, the guard drove by her to the basket for a layup. Courtney Range was only near the basket for maybe 25% of her court time.

Btw, Team USA's defense was abysmal against China. Both teams scored at will against the other. China also rebounded roughly even to the United States. If star Chinese PG (#4) did not foul out in the middle of the third quarter, I believe that the game would have remained close. She was matched up vs Jordan Canada and really bothered her...The only outside bomber on the US
is Sydney Wiese from Oregon State. All the other international teams seem to use the three-pointer as the 'ole equalizer when they are outsized or out-athlete.

Schroeder71;842512520 said:

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Cal's next opponent, Czech Rep?, crushed China.

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No TV for the Czech Republic game, but USA won 92-54. [URL="http://www.gwangju2015.com/info/"][COLOR="#0000FF"]Stats here[/COLOR][/URL] if you click Basketball on the left, click the date you want on the top, and click Finished on the right of the game you want.

Courtney got 15 minutes in an early blowout but didn't put much on the stat sheet. I don't think she's at her best as a traditional post, and whatever defense we're playing doesn't seem to take advantage of her skills.

A couple of key team statistics were more lopsided than the score:
FG% USA .548, CR .265
REB USA 68, CR 30

USA sneaks by Japan in double OT to advance to the finals against Canada.

http://www.gwangju2015.com/IRS/eng/bk/engbk_basketball_results_women_w400_2_02.htm

Range only grabs an O-board in just 2:23 of action. Still good experience for her and an honor to represent USA.

Mercedes Russell was getting ripped apart on the UConn message board, yet she finished with 25 & 14. 3 other with double-doubles, inckluding Stanford's McCall. Nice to Russell, who looked like the next Lisa Leslie or Brittney Griner-lite for the U16 team some years ago, back from injury. South Carolina, Tennessee and maybe Notre Dame the only programs that could challenge UConn next year. If McCall keeps this up and Kaylee Johnson adds some offense, Stanford could be an improved team in the Pac-12 despite having graduated a lot since they still have a nice nucleus of perimeter weapons.

I don't see it Kat. Compare the height of the Japan team to team USA and explain why they had so much trouble?

califan;842514030 said:

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I don't see it Kat. Compare the height of the Japan team to team USA and explain why they had so much trouble?

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Didn't watch the game but the Japanese were apparently very quick and played great team ball.

Japan deserved to win the game. They outplayed the USA and played harder, too. The US defense has been weak in other games, too. They cannot defend the three nor the drive to the basket. They screen off and wait for rebounds while the faster Japanese get to the ball first. Guards, Canada & Wiese, were really outquicked again in this game. Jordan turned over the ball quite a bit, again, today. I think that Cal needs to pressure her and Wiese next season. Courtney Range played well for the 2 minutes that she was in the game. She grabbed one rebound with great hustle and was in position for another offensive board when a foul was called...

GO BEARS!

I can't watch these games. They play too much one on one with grabbing missed shots as part of their offense. A player like Courtney who is used to playing in a team atmosphere is lost here. The first game I watched we turned the ball over something like 35 times. Wow!

I agree 100%. USA needs to get a handle on this. No team play, no team defense. It just shows that you cannot keep winning with just athletes. You need skilled, smart players who are willing to buy into a team concept.

One other thing you need is practice time as a unit ...

In many other countries, there is a very small pool of elite players, and they play together quite a bit from a young age. The advantage of having players who have worked with each other longer than a 10-day training camp can become substantial if there's a decent talent level. The American system simply doesn't work that way because it makes little sense to try and identify the top 15 or 20 players in a particular age group because there are just way too many candidates, and it's impossible to predict which ones will be the real deal at age 22. After all, you don't want to cut someone at age 16 who later develops while you wind up keeping a player who's maxed out as a freshman in college.

If you knew who the 20 American 15-year-olds would be candidates for the Olympic team at 25, then you could do what other countries do. Since you can't, you won't have the team play advantage other youth programs do.

califan;842514030 said:

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I don't see it Kat. Compare the height of the Japan team to team USA and explain why they had so much trouble?

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Japan's roster has only one player over 6' (at 6'0) but she didn't play.... 1 player at 5'9" and everyone else 5'8" or less. That's a huge difference from Russell (listed at 6'6"), McCall & Jones (6'3" -as is Range) - and only Canada & Williams got significant minutes that are under 5'9".

That might help explain Japan's quickness advantage. Along with what Clay said, it looks like the core Japanese players are about 24 years old and only two who played are as young as 21 while the U.S. is mostly 19 & 20 year-olds, with only two who are 21 that played much.... So there's even more time to play together and develop skills and team concepts within the national system.

On the other hand, Japan also had 18 TOs (to 22 for U.S.), got out-rebounded 63-39, shot 4-23 from 3pt after the 1st Quarter, and only made 10-16 FTs (63%, to 71% for U.S.)....

Anyone else think Kristine is getting shafted on the U19 team. She had 6 rebounds in 8 minutes and is playing the least, of course Cox is getting more and guess what she is being recruited by both Staley and Walz. I talked to some of the pundits that were at the try outs and they said Cox was out of shape and struggling to get up and down the floor but was picked over other players who did better than her. Just read on another board that Slocum is also being added to the team and we know she dumped WA and now has Staley on her list.

califan;842514792 said:

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Anyone else think Kristine is getting shafted on the U19 team. She had 6 rebounds in 8 minutes and is playing the least, of course Cox is getting more and guess what she is being recruited by both Staley and Walz. I talked to some of the pundits that were at the try outs and they said Cox was out of shape and struggling to get up and down the floor but was picked over other players who did better than her. Just read on another board that Slocum is also being added to the team and we know she dumped WA and now has Staley on her list.

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Interesting about Slocum. I guess she's replacing Katie Lou who went home for family reasons?

I sort of doubt Cox chooses either L'Ville or South Carolina lol, though I know she visited L'Ville and seems to like it. Of her options, I wouldn't mind UND landing her. Slocum, OTOH, I could easily see going for one of those previous two.

It's unfortunate but probably unavoidable to have college coaches involved in USA Basketball teams. Clearly, coaches favor their own players, and their potential recruits, and they would be foolish not to. After all, they make $500,000+ from their college and not very much, if anything, from USA Basketball.

But unless you limit the coaches to D2 and below, or high school, I don't see an easy solution.

ClayK;842514923 said:

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It's unfortunate but probably unavoidable to have college coaches involved in USA Basketball teams. Clearly, coaches favor their own players, and their potential recruits, and they would be foolish not to. After all, they make $500,000+ from their college and not very much, if anything, from USA Basketball.

But unless you limit the coaches to D2 and below, or high school, I don't see an easy solution.

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Good point. Hopefully, Lindsay is working her way up in the coaching hierarchy, and will eventually get one of these assignments. Hope she can end up with one of the younger teams full of potential recruits.

I agree Clay and I think it is wrong. As you say there are other coaches out there who would not affect the opportunities of the players from other colleges, or elite recruits, which is what I believe is happening here. I hear there are chemistry issues also going on resulting from Staley hanging so much with her own player etc that there is little respect from the others on the team and then of course Walz doing the same with Moore. Apparently they just lost a scrimmage against France and probably would have lost to the Australians if they had made their free throws. USA lose in U16s, lose in 3 on 3, they didn't look cohesive in WUG and there seems to be issues and now U19. Something has got to give.

I think LG has more class than both Staley and Walz.