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SAITAMA, Japan – The Japanese women’s basketball team came up with a smart and effective game plan, executed it to such perfection that instructional videos could be made from the changes and presented a list where everything everyone could shoot, dribble and pass.
It was a brilliant demonstration of basketball. But it was not a game for Team USA.
It is the state of play and has been for decades now that the Americans won their seventh consecutive gold in a 90-75 victory on Sunday.
Two of the women who built and grew this dynasty, Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, got their hands on their fifth gold, the first international female basketball players to achieve this feat. It’s a flawless tour of Athens, Beijing, London, Rio and now Tokyo as they showed an overall desire to win and longevity that defined the program.
Playing their last game with the national team, the 55th consecutive Olympic victory, they won the first two baskets and then symbolically handed it over to the younger generation to take home. Brittney Griner capped a memorable Olympic streak with her best game in Tokyo, scoring 30 points on a 14-on-18 shot to lead the offensive attack.
Japan have a balanced scoring team and every player is a capable 3-point shooter. They averaged 13 3-pointers per game with 41% shots, numbers any team in the world would envy. They spread the ground, move, cut back and slash their way with fundamental genius.
But no team on the planet can match America’s size, and the Japanese are particularly challenged. They had no answer for the presence at the post of Griner and A’ja Wilson, who finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Or Breanna Stewart, who had 14 points, 14 rebounds and five assists.
Team USA coach Dawn Staley played long minutes for Bird and Taurasi in their farewells and it was tiring as the Japanese offense really forced the opposing guards to cover a lot of space. But Taurasi was very effective in feeding the post and had eight assists with seven points and eight rebounds.
Despite all of this, Japan lost just six points at the end of the first quarter and headed below 10 in the third quarter. The size of the U.S. team hampered Japan’s airspace outside and they weren’t able to generate as many good exterior looks as usual.
Japan, who entered the tournament ranked 10th in the world and were happy with their silver medal, were led by 17 points from captain Maki Takada.
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