WNBA Wednesday: Rio Olympics Domination

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2016 Team USA Women's Basketbal

Although there’s a break in the action, today is Wednesday, so that means we need to talk some WNBA basketball. Instead of talking about league play, we get to talk about the Olympics and how Team USA is on their way to roll through and dominate the competition.

Preliminary Group Play

Two games into group play and Team USA already looks like a well-oiled machine, sort of like the Men’s team does. They have faced Senegal and Spain so far, and on average are outscoring their opponents 112-59. You read that correctly. They average a scoring margin of over 50 points right now. They also now own the record for biggest point differential in Olympic history with their 121-56 win over Senegal.

Let’s take a quick look at the team individually though. Six players are currently averaging double-digits in points per game, and Tamika Catchings is the only one on the team who has a shooting percentage less than 50%. So far,the co-MVP’s of the team would have to be Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird. They’re currently leading the team in minutes played and they both are scoring and distributing the ball beautifully so far. Taurasi has averages of 14 and 2.5 so far, while Bird is averaging 7 and 6.5. Neither of them have committed a single turnover yet despite playing the most amount of minutes and having the ball in their hands a majority of the time when they’re on the court.

Something scary about Team USA

You want to know what’s scary about this team right now? They could be an even better team with even more talent than they have right now. One big time name that’s noticeably not on the team this year is none other than Candace Parker.Yes, the same Candace Parker that is near the top of the MVP race in the WNBA right now. She’s averaging 16, 7, and 5 currently, and she could add another playmaker/scorer dynamic to Team USA if she was playing.

Another player that would also add another huge dynamic to the frontcourt is actually a teammate of Candace Parker. Nneka Ogwumike is another MVP candidate in the WNBA, and she’s currently averaging 19 and 9 as a starting forward for the Los Angeles Sparks. Her stats this season are all up from last season, which were all career bests for her. Did I mention she’s also averaging over one block per game and shooting above 55% from the floor? Yeah, Ogwumike would definitely make this USA team scarier than they already are.

Respect from the NBA

While over in Rio, the NBA posted a video on their Instagram of Jimmy Butler and DeAndre Jordan. They talked about which women that they wish they played like and the ones that they do play like. Check out the video below:

Bonus video of Kyrie Irving talking about the Women’s team as well:

 

(All stats from WNBA.com and usab.com)

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