Germany’s women’s basketball head coach has proved she could be anything but a sore loser. Not only did Lisa Thomaidis’ team face a 68-87 loss against the USA, but seemed to be in a position of complete surrender to their opponent’s three-point shooting proficiency. The interesting aspect of the game, though, was Germany’s lead through the entire first quarter. However, the rotations by Team USA coach Cheryl Reeve turned the tables for them. Impressed by these substitutions, German coach Thomaidis, in a bold claim, declared Team USA as the best team in the world. “The athleticism and the skill level they can bring in off the bench, I mean you’re bringing Brittney Griner off the bench… I mean that’s just, that’s just another level,” she said as per ESPN. Griner is one of the most decorated players in basketball. While she has slowed down a bit with age, she is still averaging 18.6 points, and 7.4 rebounds this season. Now, Brittney Griner may have scored only 6 points against Germany but being among the multiple players coming off the bench and yet putting up these points with 3-on-3 shooting from the field, while also accumulating 4 rebounds and a block for the team only shows the depth this roster has. Against Germany, Team USA’s bench outscored Germany’s 52-13.
“You’re Bringing Brittney Griner Off the Bench”: Germany Coach Makes a Bold Claim About Team USA Roster as Satou Sabally & Co. Face Defeat
In total, the USA’s bench has 34x WNBA All-Star appearances and 8x WNBA championships combined. No wonder the German head coach was impressed by the kind of strength Team USA can call upon from the bench. Apart from lacking a similar level of depth on the roster, however, there was yet another factor that contributed to Germany’s loss on Sunday.
Team USA women’s basketball crushes Germany with its 3-point shooting
Even USA coach Reeve admitted the depth of talent defines the dynasty that the USA has. “We’re not the USA dynasty without it (depth),” she said. It is the very same talent in discussion that displayed USA’s 3-point shooting proficiency. This was despite the USA failing to deliver much in this department during their opening two games at the Olympics. While the 3-point shooting percentage for Team USA against Belgium was 35.7%, against Japan, it came down to 20%. But something changed against Germany as the shooting from beyond the arc reached 42.8% (9-21) for coach Reeve’s players. Or is it a weakness of Satou Sabally & Co. that Team USA seems to have exposed? Notably, prior to the team’s 3-point shooting struggles against Japan and Belgium, the USA still had an impressive percentage (42.31%) against Germany in the exhibition game. Now, it’s to be seen if France tries exploiting this alleged weakness in its favor during their upcoming quarterfinal matchup. The USA will go up against Nigeria on August 7.
