Ever since they added women’s basketball to the Olympic games in 1976, the United States women’s national team has been the class of the world. In their first two attempts at the Olympics the U.S.A. After capturing the silver in 1976, they captured gold in 1984 in Los Angeles and in 1988 in Seoul. They had a disappointing showing in the 1992 games in Barcelona going just 4-1 and finishing in third garnering just a bronze medal. In the following four Olympics, the US Women’s National team was head and shoulders above the rest win four straight gold medals and their average margin of victory in those four Olympics was by 28.6 in Atlanta; 21.7 in Sydney; 23.7 in Athens and 37.6 in Beijing. They finished the drive for five in style on Aug. 11.
In the gold medal game versus France the United States won 86-50 to capture their fifth consecutive gold medal.
With the victory, Team USA captured their seventh overall gold medal in nine tries in the Olympics and it was their fifth consecutive gold medal and their 41 consecutive win in the Olympics. They improved their overall record in the Olympics to 57-3.
They moved themselves into third place all-time in terms of consecutive gold medals in Olympic competition.
In first is the USA Men’s Basketball team who won seven straight gold medals from 1963-1968. In second is India Men’s Field Hockey team who finished at the top six times from 1928-1956. After the US Women’s Basketball team, the Soviet Union Men’s Ice Hockey team garnered four straight gold medals from 1964-1976 and tied with them is Canada’s Men’s Ice Hockey team who also won four gold medals from 1920-1932.
The team was lead by Los Angeles Sparks forward/center Candace Parker who had 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Team USA in the victory allowed no more than 15 points in a quarter to France, which they got in the first. In the final three quarters, the French National team scored just 10 points in quarter No. 3, 12 points in the 3rd period and an unlucky 13 in the fourth and final quarter.
“This is the ultimate goal. To win a gold medal for your country and it means a lot to all of us and to everyone involved in USA basketball. Everyone back at home. it’s a special feeling,” Phoenix Mercury forward/guard Diana Taurasi said to NBC’s Craig Sager after the victory in the gold medal game.
In going 8-0 in the tournament the Women led the Olympics scoring on average 90.6 ppg, averaging 50.5 rebounds per contest and dishing out 23.1 assist per contest. The average margin of victory in the Olympics for the women’s national team in 2012 was about 34 points per contest.
This was the third gold medal for Taurasi, Indiana Fever swing woman Tamika Catchings and Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird.
“Just want to keep that legacy going. The three of us were kind of like the next generation,” Catchings said to Sager after the game.
“The torch was passed down to us and I think we have a big responsibility on our shoulders, but we took care of business.”
It was the second gold medal for Chicago Sky center Sylvia Fowles and forward Swin Cash, Parker and Minnesota Lynx forward/guard Simone Augustus.
Winning their first gold medals were Lynx swing woman Maya Moore and her teammate guard Lindsey Whalen, Atlanta Dream forward/guard Angel McCoughtry and Connecticut forward Aisha Jones and center Tina Charles.
“Winning is fun. It feels good. There’s no better feeling really because we’ve all experienced losing. We did it in 2006,” Bird, who was part of the FIBA team that finished in third in 2006, told NBC’s Craig Sager after the game.
“We didn’t like it. I know I didn’t want to feel like that again and off course the tradition. There’s been many players in the Olympics and kind of set the standard. We did it for them just as much for ourselves.”
To truly understand the standard the kind of team that this edition of Team USA brought to the table here are some jaw dropping numbers of the careers of the 12 players and their careers coming into these Olympics.
Combined the players had won 10 gold medals. Including the team’s head coach Geno Auriemma, who coaches the women’s team at the University of Connecticut, have 22 NCAA championships; 10 Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) titles; 11 Euro League titles; 22 WNBA All-Star selections and three WNBA Most Valuable Player Awards (Catchings, Parker and Taurasi).
On top of that, this team really did not have a whole lot of time to together to prepare for these Olympic games. There biggest advantage that they had was the fact that six of the players on the team Cash, Bird, Moore, Jones, Taurasi and Charles played for Auriemma at UConn and knew what his system was and that wisdom and knowledge came in handy in Team USA’s race for gold.
That helped in the games because they were able to use their individual greatness along with teamwork on both the offensive end as well as the defensive end to win all eight games in the Olympics.
The greatest example of that came in the Semifinals versus the Australian National team.
Team USA trailed Australia 47-43 at intermission. They allowed Australia to shoot 61 percent from the floor and Storm center Lauren Jackson and Tulsa Shock center Liz Cambage combined for 25 of those points on 11 for 16 from the floor. In the second half the United States outscored Australia 43-26 holding them to just 9 for 34 shooting from the field, shooting just 26 percent. Cambage and Jackson went just 2 for 8 from the floor combined in the second half, scoring just eight points. All eight of those came from Jackson alone, who finished with 14 points and 17 rebounds. Charles and Taurasi each led the way with 14 points. Charles also added 10 boards and four assists.
In going 8-0 in the tournament, Team USA made some history in the process.
In the July 30th Preliminary game versus Angola, Parker led the way with 14 points, 12 rebounds and a USA Olympic record four blocks in the 90-38 win.
Aug. 1 Preliminary game versus the Turkish National Team McCoughtry led the way with 18 points, 10 of those points came from the free throw line in as many attempts in the 89-58 win.
In the Aug. 3rd Preliminary game versus the Czech Republic, Team USA had 62 rebounds and blocked eight shots in their 88-61 win. Taurasi led the way with 18 points and Charles had 15 rebounds, which the second most a USA player in Olympic play.
In the Aug. 5th Preliminary game versus China, Team USA tied an Olympic record for them scoring 114 points in their 48-point win. Taurasi led the way with 22 points.
In her first Olympics, Moore joined three of her teammates and some other great women to wear the Red, White and Blue of Team USA.
Moore became the 8th player to win a NCAA title, which she won twice at UConn; a WNBA title, which she won with the Lynx as they captured the title a year ago, trying to repeat this season and a Olympic gold medal. She joins fellow Lady Huskies Taurasi, Bird and Cash along with Kara Walters, hall of famer Cynthia Copper, Cheryl Swoopes and Sky center Ruth Riley.
One of the biggest advantages that Team USA has had over its competition is the fact that a number of the players participate in basketball overseas once the WNBA season is over.
This allows them to get used to the physical play, how the game is referred and the overall play of basketball on the international level.
“So once you have the stage of playing for the Olympics, I think the Women’s team (Team USA) actually does a much better job of adjusting to the rules,” four-time gold medal winner and WNBA legend with the Sparks Lisa Leslie told NBC’s Dan Patrick during halftime of the gold medal contest.
The question now is how much longer can Team USA hold the mantle as the best team in the world? On top of that, will Auriemma coach Team USA in 2016 in Rio.
To answer the first question, it all depends when the world catches up and decides to stand up and beat Team USA.
As far as if Auriemma will coach the team in 2016, history say maybe not.
The first team in 1976 was coached by Cal State-Fulerton head coach Billie Jean Moore and one of the players on the team was Pat Head, who we now know as Pat Summitt. The 1980 team was coached by Stephen F. Austin State head coach Sue Gunter and the assistant coach was Summitt and one of the players on that team was Anne Donovan, who also played on the team in 1984 and 1988. Summitt was the next head coach in 1984. North Carolina State head coach Kay Yow took the reigns in 1988 and one of the players on the team was former WNBA player and an assistant coach on this past summers gold medal team Jennifer Gillom. The 1992 team was coached by Rutgers Lady Scarlet Knights head coach Theresa Grentz and one of the assistant was current Fever head coach Lin Dunn. In 1996 Team USA was led on the sidelines by Stanford Lady Cardinal head coach Tara VanDerveer. In 2000, the team was led on the sideline by Nell Fortner, former women’s basketball head coach at Auburn. The 2004 team was coach by former WNBA head coach of the four-time champion Houston Comets and now the head man for the Louisiana State University Lady Tigers Van Chancellor. Two of his assistant coaches were Donovan and current Lady Scarlet Knights head coach C. Vivian Stringer. Donovan took to the sidelines for the 2008 Olympics and two of her assistants were former WNBA player and coach of the University of South Carolina Lady Gamecocks Dawn Staley.
There are a number of candidates that can take the job if the USA committee decides to not bring Auriemma back. They could go with Gillom or Staley. Whoever gets the chance they will have a task at hand to maintain the standard that Team USA has set and they know what is expected.
“We get along really well. We’ve known each other for a long and its not easy to be put together and expect to win a gold medal, but we find a way to really work together,” Taurasi said to Sager after the game.
Information, statistics and quotations are courtesy of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_women’s_national_basketball_team; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketball_at_the_2012_Summer_Olympics_Women; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketball_at_the_2012_Summer_Olympics; 8/11/12 coverage of the Women’s Gold Medal Basketball Game vs. France on WNBC 4 New York commentated by Bob Fitzgerald and Ann Meyers-Drysdale.
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