When playing the U.S. women’s basketball team, you have to deal with its star power, size and tremendous offensive talent.
But so far in Paris, playing against this group of Americans has been extremely uncomfortable because of their defense.
The international game is always much more physical, and there’s often a bit of a culture shock for American teams when they enter that playing field. But this version of Team USA has embraced it with both arms and used it as a weapon against its competition.
The U.S. played smothering and relentless physical defense Sunday against a reasonably strong Germany team to win 87-68 in Lille, France, despite not having its best offensive game.
That’s 58 Olympic wins in a row and the No. 1 seed in the medal round, which begins Wednesday in Paris as Team USA goes for its eighth consecutive gold medal. Next up for the U.S. is Nigeria, the first African team to ever make it that far at the Olympics. The draw was announced late Sunday night.
Against Germany, Jackie Young led the U.S. with 19 points, with A’ja Wilson contributing 14 and Breanna Stewart 13. Those offensive numbers are just for the record; they were far from the story of the game.
Team USA coach Cheryl Reeve has gotten her team to totally buy in to its ability to dictate the game flow with defensive energy. Whether it was Kelsey Plum and Young at the point of attack, Wilson and Stewart blowing up pick-and-rolls or Napheesa Collier and Alyssa Thomas’ active hands, the U.S. ran a clinic in team defensive basketball.
“We’re not the USA dynasty without it,” Reeve said of the depth. “I think it’s what defines the dynasty is the depth of talent that the USA has.”
Germany (2-1 in pool play) led after the first quarter and was within single digits several times early in the second half, as the Americans continued to struggle from long range early in the game.
With the starters struggling a bit, Reeve turned to the next five players that included Sabrina Ionescu, Jewell Loyd, Brittney Griner, Thomas and Young.
“I mean, I think that’s what makes our team special. We have a lot of lineups, a lot of things that we can do,” Thomas said. “We didn’t have the best start and did a line change and jump-started the game.”
The U.S. had a margin for error because of an endless string of steals, deflections and energy. It harassed Germany into a shocking 23 turnovers and generated 12 steals — with Young grabbing four and Wilson three — that resulted in 28 fast-break points. In its three pool play games, Team USA racked up 27 steals.
Germany shot 43%, and the Americans’ opponents are shooting just 40% so far in France.
Team USA came into the game shooting just 26% on 3-pointers in the Olympics and made just three of its first 12 attempts Sunday. But then the Americans started to warm up as they extended their lead, thanks mostly to Young, who made five 3-pointers off the bench. Kahleah Copper made two more from long range.
“The athleticism and the skill level they can bring in off the bench, I mean you’re bringing Brittney Griner off the bench,” German coach Lisa Thomaidis said. “I mean that’s just, that’s just another level. So yeah I mean they’re the best team in the world for a reason. But it was a great game for us. I thought we showed some good things and flashes and some other things that we need to really clean up and be better.”
Satou Sabally, who plays for the WNBA’s Dallas Wings, led Germany with 15 points. She entered Sunday’s action as the second-leading scorer in the Olympics, averaging 25 points per game.
The other quarterfinal matchups are Spain against Belgium, France against Germany and Serbia facing Australia. The winners of Spain-Belgium and France-Germany will meet in the semifinals on Friday. The Nigeria-U.S. winner plays the Serbia-Australia victor.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
