Opals get back on track with win
Opals coach Sandy Brondello has compared the officiating at the Paris Games to “rugby” as her Australians rediscovered their physical edge to defeat Canada and keep their Paris Olympic podium dreams alive.
Brondello praised her charges for responding against the Canadians after “getting smacked in the face” in a shock opening loss to Nigeria.
The New York Liberty W N B A coach also weighed in on the officiating in Lille, with 37 fouls called in their 70-65 win over Canada.
“Do I get fined here? Oh my god. Some of the calls though. Are we playing rugby?” Brondello reasoned post-game.
“It felt like it was a rugby game out there. I don’t know if the men’s games are like that, but we came ready to play and ready to play rugby with the best of them.
“We got smacked in the face against Nigeria, but we just had to remember ourselves so I’m proud of the girls. We were backs against the wall, so it shows a lot of character.”
The Australian women must now beat host nation France on Sunday to secure their position in the second round.
Fortunately they’ll head into the French clash full of confidence after reviving their campaign with a dramatically improved performance compared with their forgettable display against Nigeria.
WNBA guard Sami Whitcomb was the best player on the floor. Whitcomb put on a scoring show, dropping eight of her team-high 19 points during a first quarter blitz.
She was also brilliant for the Aussie women as the team’s creator with 10 assists, regularly finding bigs Cayla George (11) and Marianna Tolo (11) for points in the paint.
Brondello revealed she made a pre-game decision to put the ball in Whitcomb’s hands to capitalise on the 36-year-old’s experience.
“She (Sami) was bloody amazing, hey,” she said. “What a little ripper.”