Despite falling 117-109 to Team WNBA in the 2024 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix, the USA Basketball Women’s National Team will try to push that result behind them as they are seeking their eighth straight Olympic gold medal. Days before their trip to France, however, they will get back to work against Germany in an exhibition on Tuesday in London.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!With the WNBA season wrapping up last week and the All-Star Game this past Saturday, the U.S. women will only have this pre-Olympic game on the docket. In contrast, Team USA’s men’s squad had five on its schedule, though it is still the NBA offseason.
While a normal All-Star Game is where there is not as much effort as in a regular season WNBA or an Olympic game, this year’s installment had more bite and tenacity than ever before as both teams wanted to prove a point. Labeled as arguably the biggest snub from Team USA even though she pulled her name out from selection before the Olympic roster was finalized, Arike Ogunbowale scored 34 points in the second half alone and took home the MVP.
Knowing that the theatrics of All-Star Weekend are gone and they will need to come out with more effort on both offense and defense if they want a shot at their 10th gold medal, Team USA aims to make the correct adjustments and see how they fair against a German team that has young talent.
Not playing a game so far in the 2024 season for the Dallas Wings due to a shoulder injury, the reigning WNBA Most Improved Player of the Year Satou Sabally is penciled on the German’s roster for the Olympics and could feature on Tuesday. The two-time All-Star scored 18.6 points, had 8.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists last season for Dallas and has been a major miss for the Wings as they currently sit as the worst team in the WNBA with a 6-19 record.
Another standout in Germany is UCLA forward Emily Bessoir. The Bruins senior has averaged 8.6 points with 5.5 rebounds per game in four years at UCLA and will exercise her fifth year of eligibility next season.
Trying to work the kinks out and see what clicks, there could very well be a change to the starting lineup and rotations of Team USA as a result of the loss to Team WNBA. New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu could replace Seattle Storm’s Jewell Loyd, Las Vegas Aces’ Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray can interchange in and out among other alterations. With so much star power on the roster, coach Cheryl Reeve will have some tough decisions to make about who should play in different situations.
Hosting the All-Star Game in a home crowd environment, the Phoenix Mercury trio of Diana Taurasi, Kahelah Copper and Brittney Griner are going to play on an international stage together for the first time as all teammates. Taurasi will compete in her record sixth Olympics at 42 years old, the oldest player on the team.
The Americans are 3-1 in their last four matchups with Germany, but it was Germany who won the last clash as they claimed a 113-111 upset victory in the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
USA will return back to action against Germany on Tuesday at noon PT and it can be watched on Fox Sports 1. The U.S. begins its Olympic run on July 29 when they go up against Japan.
LeBron James leads Team USA to 92-88 victory over Germany in final exhibition game
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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers ASU Athletics, Phoenix Mercury and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
