Buekers wind mvp.
...courtesy of SkinsHoops86
#FIBAU19WC All Star 5 + MVP:
Billie Massey (Belgium)
Alex Fowler (Australia) - University of Portland 2019 signee
Lola Pendande (Spain) - University of Utah 2019 signee
Paige Bueckers (USA) - '20 UConn commit
Rhyne Howard (USA) - University of Kentucky (rising sophomore)
MVP - Paige Bueckers
Portland went after Fowler when she was a bit under the radar. Good move for them.
Massey, whose sister Becky, is also a 6'1" forward, plays hard. Wonder if they're locked into Belgium clubs?
Oregon has had success landing some bigs from down under, but, you have to be willing to rack up the airmiles.
...and this year, they have a guard from England. All the internationals have now helped them land a slew of U.S. girls from the midwest, border states and the East.
The assistant coach you see in a lot of the international photos is fairly young and obviously puts in the miles. Just have to commit to getting to the AAU equivalent of prospect events, which are down under and in Europe. In fact, Blue Star organized such a camp for Euros in the Spanish Islands. Blue Star oversees the Blue Belles, which the Irish have recruited from (Mik Vaughn, Danielle Cosgrove, Alli Campbell, maybe more [Olivia Miles, Amari DeBerry]}. So, have an assistant take a wild to the Euro side. Or hire a younger person to assist Niele. Young people like to travel (at least I did).
but I wonder why Muffet doesn't get involved in coaching some of these teams. Has she coached any of these national teams in the recent past?
don't know why. My guess is that she wants to devote all of her energy to ND basketball.
that being out and about like that ala Walls @ L-Ville, Staley@ S Carolina, and of course Geno would be good for recruiting.
Belgium came back from halftime deficit to take the lead, but U.S. hung in there. 6'1" Massey sisters created havoc on the boards for Belgium, with each grabbing 11 rebounds, with Becky scoring 10 and Billie 13.
Scoring-wise, Belgium was led by Maxuella Lisowa Mbaka, with 21 PTS (9/16 FG) and she also has 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals. These three have led Belgium most of the tourney.
For the U.S., Pistol Paige Bueckers had 13 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals, while Rhyne Howard (Kentucky) had 14 points. South Carolina's Aliyah Boston (14 points) and Michign's Naz Hillmon-Baker (12) points scored inside, but didn't have as many rebounds as the Massey sisters.
Caitlin Clark played in the first half (5 minutes+) but didn't appear to get off the bench in the second, primarily due to Coach Walz sticking with (mostly) his starters in the second half. Celeste Taylor, incoming frosh to Texas, appeared to get most of the off-the-bench time at guard. She's had extensive National Team experience.
The U.S. will play Australia in the finals.
did she not try out? Did but didn't make it?
...and chose instead to concentrate on getting ready for college/college basketball teams. (And Anaya had just played for Walz the prior year.) A number of other players chose to do the same.
Would love to catch the final 2.
more minutes, not to mention her three steals. My guess is that she was the Mystery Top Five Recruit Who Visited in June and that she'll announce her decision by Labor Day.
...from Iowa's Lisa Bluder and Iowa State's Bill Fennelly both of whom are in Thailand. Maybe an Irish coach will arrive for the semifinal vs. Belgium and the subsequent final, if the U.S. wins. (BTW, nobody has seen Oregon or Oregon State, either.).
BTW, a source close to the ND WBB program says that the mystery visitor was, indeed, Ms. Clark. Encouraging sign. His guess -- and my druthers for what it's worth -- is that her decision gets down to in-state vs. ND.
Hopefully, she'll make up her mind sooner rather than later, so ND can see where they stand and make the next appropriate move.
In the meantime, I think Clark has started to catch Coach Walz's eye (good defense seems to, as Anaya can attest from her stint of playing for him), so here's to seeing her play against the next U.S. opponent, Belgium.
in Thailand with no ND coach present. Perhaps ND has a silent commitment from Caitlin in its pocket. If not, then ND could be losing ground. If her recruitment goes beyond Labor Day, then that would be a bad sign because the memory of her ND visit would begin to fade and the encouragement to choose an Iowa school would increase.
Silent commitment or not, if we want her at ND, someone from the coaching staff should be there. As long as ND is on her short list, we should be there.
...the "silent commitments" are always a spectral element to me: sound/maybe look good, then poof! (And since they're silent, never hear if they existed or not.
Once again, the sooner this can be resolved (preferably with a thumbs up), the better.