Diana Taurasi on Kaitlyn Clarke’s Possible Missing Paris Olympics
Veteran WNBA player Diana Taurasi talks to Mackenzie Salmon about the USA women’s national team roster and the buzz surrounding the news that Caitlin Clark may not be going to Paris.
The US women’s basketball team has more stars than it has uniforms. Diana Turassi, Brittney Griner, Aja Wilson, Casey Plumand many more, the United States will have a hard time finding an opponent that can hold its own against their rivals. But they are not invincible. After all, they just lost to the WNBA All-Stars.
This team hasn’t played much together. Any competition they play now is a way to learn how to bond before the games start. Last night, it was Germany. Yesterday, the American men beat the Germans 92-88. Last night, the women did the same thing, but in more dominant fashion, winning 84-57.
Here are the highlights of the team’s final exhibition match before the Olympics.
The United States’ next game will be at the Olympics. The first game is scheduled for July 29, at 3 p.m. ET, against Japan.
Other matches scheduled for the United States include a match against Belgium on August 1 and a return match against Germany scheduled for August 4.
- Top scorers: USA, Aja Wilson (19); Germany, Luisa Giselsodr (15)
- Prominent apostates: USA, Aja Wilson (14); Germany, Nyara Sabally (10)
Even with Kelly Plum out of the game, Thomas was the recipient of many of Team USA’s best passes, including this one from Jackie Young:
Ionescu had yet to score, but after a slow start in the fourth period, she got the goal with what she does best: a controversial three-pointer.
Ionescu also secured the fourth and fifth points in the quarter, after scoring two free throws after one minute.
The third quarter was the lowest-scoring quarter for the USA so far, but they still managed to extend their lead to 14. A’ja Wilson dominated the game, grabbing nearly three times as many rebounds (14) as the next closest American player (Alyssa Thomas, 5).
With two minutes left in the third quarter, Plum found a good connection with Alyssa Thomas. The two have been scoring goals of late, including two off of great passes from Plum, who has been the go-between.
The break clearly didn’t do much to slow Wilson down. Wilson got off to a flying start, scoring five points in less than three minutes, capped off a stunning goal off a pass from Brianna Stewart.
Wilson played like the best player on the planet, showing why she is a two-time All-Pro and two-time Defensive Player of the Year. In the first half, Wilson had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Compared to the first quarter, the second quarter looked like a dominant effort from Germany. However, the Germans only gained one point against the USA. Even when the USA is not playing at their best, they are still able to keep up with strong teams.
Brianna Stewart and A’ja Wilson scored 23 points to start the game as Team USA headed into the second half with a big lead.
Germany may have dominated the game from beyond the arc in the second quarter, but the Americans managed to score some good shots. By the end of the quarter, Chelsea Gray had a great goal from deep to keep the USA up by 10 points heading into the second half.
After three quick points early in the second half, Germany attacked the Americans hard, outshooting the U.S. team 5-2 and outscoring them 7-2 in the first three minutes.
While the USA broke the deadlock with a three-pointer, Germany responded with a brilliant pass under the basket to Lena Sonntag for an easy two-pointer.
Leonie Vibich quickly followed with a steal for an easy layup, and suddenly the huge gap between the United States and Australia was cut to seven points.
If there were any questions about this team’s performance after losing to the WNBA All-Stars, they were crushed early in the game. The USA led 22-9 after the first quarter.
At 6-foot-4, A’ja Wilson is a threat to any athlete who comes up against her. That was evident early in this game as Wilson was able to run at full speed past defenders and get some great opportunities near the basket thanks to great opportunities from her teammates. Just check out this video from Chelsea Gray:
Even at age 42, five-time Olympic gold medalist Diana Taurasi wasted no time in scoring. Less than a minute into the game, Taurasi scored the game’s first basket with a three-pointer from the left side of the arc.
Taurasi’s hat trick sparked a 9-2 early-game winning streak for the U.S. team.
USA vs Germany: Time, TV, Live Stream & How to Watch
- date: Tuesday, July 23
- time: 3pm ET/12pm PT
- location: O2 Arena, London
- television: FS1
- flow: YouTube TV, FUBO TV
How to watch: Watch the NBA show with Fubo
Group A:
- China
- Puerto Rico
- Serbia
- Spain
Group B:
- Australia
- Canada
- France
- Nigeria
Group C:
- Belgium
- Germany
- Japan
- United State
- Nafisa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
- Kahlia Cooper, Phoenix Mercury
- Chelsea Grey, Las Vegas Aces
- Brittney Griner, Phoenix Mercury
- Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty
- Joel Lloyd, Seattle Storm
- Casey Plum, Las Vegas Aces
- Brianna Stewart, New York Liberty
- Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury
- Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut Sun
- Aja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces player
- Jackie Young, Las Vegas Aces
- Satu Sabali, Shandong
- Alexandra Wilk, Kilter
- Teresa Simon, Alba Berlin
- Jennifer Crowder, Felicity
- Niara Sabali, USK Prague
- Mary Gilish, Valencia
- Leonie Vibich, Zaragoza
- Sonia Greenacher, Not Available
- Louisa Giselsweder, Landis
- Alina Hartmann, Namur
- Svenja Bronkhorst, Not Available
- Lena Sontag, University of California
The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris will begin on July 24 and run until August 11.
television: Matches broadcast on NBC, USA Network, E!, Telemundo, and CNBC
flow: peacockNBCOlympics.com
Events start on July 29, and the exhibition is held on July 23.
- July 23 – USA vs. Germany: 3pm ET on FS1 (Gallery)
- July 29 – Women’s Group Stage, Group C: USA vs Japan: 1 p.m. ET on USA Network, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
- August 1 – Women’s Group Stage, Group C: Belgium vs USA: 3 p.m. ET on USA Network, Peacock and NBCOLympics.com.
- August 4 – Women’s Group Stage, Group C: Germany vs USA: 11:15 a.m. ET on USA Network, Peacock and NBCOLympics.com.
- August 7 – Women’s Quarter-finals: Games start between 5 a.m. ET and 3:30 p.m. ET on Peacock and NBCOLympics.com.
- August 9 – Women’s Semi-Finals: 11:30 p.m. ET or 3 p.m. on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
- August 11 – Women’s Bronze Medal Match: 5:30 a.m. ET on USA Network, Peacock and NBCOLympics.com.
- August 11 – Women’s Gold Medal Match: 9:30 a.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
For the men, here’s how the early matches are going.
- July 28 vs. Serbia, 11:15 a.m. ET
- July 31 vs. South Sudan, 3 p.m. ET
- Aug. 3 vs. Puerto Rico, 11:15 a.m. ET
Since women’s basketball was introduced to the Olympics in 1976, the United States has won medals in every Olympic Games in which it has competed (it did not compete in 1980 due to a nationwide Olympic boycott).
In total, the U.S. women’s basketball team has won eleven medals—nine gold, one silver (1976), and one bronze (1992). The U.S. women have won seven consecutive gold medals since the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
Indiana Fever forward Caitlin Clark is not on the U.S. women’s basketball team. This is likely due to two reasons: Clark lacks international experience, and spots on the U.S. women’s team are typically given to veterans, and/or Clark’s participation in March Madness for Iowa this year prevented her from attending U.S. training camp. Her absence likely played a large role in the selection committee’s decision not to select her.
The US Women’s National Team will play Germany at the O2 Arena in London.
While the team went 3-0 in the February playoffs, Team USA has only played in one exhibition game so far, a 117-109 loss to the WNBA All-Stars. Ariake Ogunbowale led the scoring with a WNBA All-Star Game record 34 points on her way to being named the WNBA All-Star Game MVP.
While this may seem alarming, the WNBA All-Star Game has seen this format before (2021). In that game, the All-Stars also won 93-85. Ogunbowale was the MVP of that game as well. Still, Team USA won the gold medal.
Aja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces player
Wilson is one of the most dominant players in the WNBA today, having won the MVP award the past two seasons, been named Defensive Player of the Year each of the past two seasons, and has never finished lower than eighth in MVP voting in any of her six full seasons.
Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury
Even at 42, Taurasi remains one of the best players in the WNBA. A leader in every sense of the word, she has been part of every women’s Olympic team since her first season in 2004.
Brittney Griner, Phoenix Mercury
Taurasi’s teammate, Griner, is a force to be reckoned with on the court. At 6-foot-9, Griner can be unguardable in games. Despite being nearly 7 feet tall, she has still made over 30 percent of her career three-pointers.
Lena Sontag, University of California
That’s right. The Germans have a college athlete on their national team. Sonntag helped the UCLA Bruins reach the Sweet 16, and while she’s not the most prolific scorer, she’s a pretty good rebounder, grabbing more than two rebounds per game during last year’s Pac-12 tournament while playing less than 15 minutes per game.
Satu Sabali, Shandong
Sabaly is a prodigious three-point shooter, hitting 34.7 percent of her shots from beyond the arc for Shandong. Although Sabaly has struggled to find her groove in two games with Germany (shooting 1-of-11 from three), that means she deserves to perform well when the time comes.
Although she has played for Shandong recently, Sabally is also a forward for the Dallas Wings during the WNBA season, but has been sidelined all year so far with a shoulder injury. She will, however, be playing for Germany at the Olympics.
Travis Pulver, wireless sensor network: USA wins gold medal in Paris
“There is no need to worry about the tough match against Belgium in the qualifiers,” writes Pulver. “The team had only been in training for a few days before the qualifiers, and they were able to open their campaign against the hosts (who were excited and ready to make a statement in front of their home fans). Once they had overcome the problems in that match, they crushed Nigeria (100-46) and Senegal (101-39).”
Rusty Gorlick, Beit365: USA beats Germany
“Eight of the top 10 WNBA players in points per game — A’ja Wilson, Kahlia Cooper, Jewel Lloyd, Nafisa Collier, Sabrina Ionescu, Brianna Stewart, Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum — are on Team USA’s 2012 Olympic roster,” Gorelick notes. “Wilson leads the WNBA in points, rebounds and blocks per game, and is the only Team USA player in the top 20 WNBA players in 3-point percentage. Wilson, Collier and Stewart are the top three players, listed in order, in defensive win percentage in the WNBA.”
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