Team USA is 2-0 in the FIBA Women’s World Cup, but all is not well with the American women’s team.
The Kara Lawson-led squad barely got by Italy on Sunday. Team USA topped Italy, 55-52, on Sunday. Caitlin Clark was benched late in the contest. No one on the roster played very well.
Lawson remains optimistic, though.
“Let this be the last time that a team plays with more passion than us throughout the course of the game,” Lawson said postgame. “Let this be the last time that all 12 don’t show up to compete at a high level. And then let this be the last time that we lack a resilient mindset, because we’re so upset that we’re not scoring the way we’re normally scoring. That to me is what we’ve gotta grow and mature in moving forward.”
Lawson added, “Your contribution is not limited to how well you score the ball. Your contribution has to be your effort, your passion, your energy, your intensity that you play with, all right? We gotta be the hardest playing team in this tournament. We will not win on our talent, even though our talent is awesome. But we will not win on it.”
But in the wake of Sunday’s close game, Team USA is being urged to make changes, especially with France looming.
France set a FIBA Women’s World Cup record on Monday, making 22 3-pointers in a 111-56 victory over Nigeria.
“Migna Toure’s 3-point shot with 5:45 left was her team’s 21st, breaking the three-day-old record of 20 set by Japan on Friday for 3-pointers in a single contest in World Cup history. Dominique Malonga notched the 22nd. Gabby Williams led France with 25 points and 6 rebounds. The Olympic finalists were already assured of their place in the quarterfinals,” PHL 17 reported.
Team USA needs to make changes
Team USA remains a favorite, but if the Americans are going to get past France, they’ll need to make changes.
“Team USA needs to figure out the best lineups fast to stand a chance against France,” Robin Lundberg shared.
One fan added: “Solid chance that the best lineup doesn’t include Clark. Can you stomach that for the sake of the country?”
“You’ll also note that vs Italy, although the whole team had a horrible shooting performance, another big issue was not giving Clark the ball when she was PG1. Italy guarded her well at times, but there were other times when she was wide open and her teammates forced bad passes.”
“They’ll get exposed by France if they don’t,” one fan aded.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens with the lineup moving forward.
