Inside StoryUnleashing center Lisa Leslie, the U.S. women dominated sharpshooting, but small, Japanby Michael Bamberger
If there is anybody left who thinks NBA basketball is superior to women's Olympic basketball, he or she wasn't at the Georgia Dome yesterday when the U.S and Japan played a quarterfinal game. There were 31,070 on hand, and they saw the U.S. defeat Japan in a scorefest, 108-93. They also saw one of the best foul-shooting teams on Planet Basketball (the Japanese), one of the most disciplined teams (the Japanese), one of the best trey-shooting teams (the Japanese) and one of the most charismatic teams (the Americans). The U.S. women are the real Dream Team.
Japan's Chikako Murakami (5) ran into Carla McGhee and Jennifer Azzi (right) down low.
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Center Lisa Leslie dominated from the opening jump, which she won. She scored 35 points—a U.S. Olympic record and only four points shy of the women's record set by Bulgaria's Yevladia Stefanova in 1988—pulled down eight rebounds and hauled her 6'5" frame up and down the court for 26 of the game's 40 minutes, never huffing, always dishing, often smiling, plainly having the time of her life. When she went to the bench for good with 3:20 left, half the house stood for her.
The U.S. game plan was to win on the inside, and that's precisely what the Americans, undefeated in six Olympic tests, did, outrebounding their opponents 40-24. The Japanese have no inside game to speak of; there's not a Japanese player taller than six feet. But the Americans' next opponent—Australia, in Friday's semifinal—has a post game.
The Australians, who lost to the U.S. 96-79 on Saturday, will get another shot at the gold medal favorite as a result of their 74-70 overtime quarterfinal victory over Russia. The Aussies have six players over six feet, including a center, Jenny Whittle, who is as tall as Leslie and has a wonderful around-the-key touch. Which means that the U.S. starting backcourt, Teresa Edwards and Sheryl Swoopes, will have to put more defensive pressure on the Australian backcourt than they put on the Japanese guards.
Aki Ichijo, a Japanese shooting guard, had 22 points against the U.S., 12 of them on four-of-nine shooting from three-point land. Her release point is somewhere around her right shoulder, and her shot reaches a cruising altitude of about 25 feet before starting down. Mikiko Hagiwara, a forward, also had 22 points, employing about the same method. The Americans had not played the Japanese in any pretournament games, and the U.S. players said afterward they had no idea their foes, who hit 13 of their 32 trey attempts, could shoot that well, especially with that form.
"Once you learn to shoot a certain way, it's hard to change," said U.S. forward Katy Steding. "If you develop a rhythm for the shot, that's the main thing. There are players in the NBA with ugly shots, and they always go in."
Murakami was stripped of the ball by Ruthie Bolton outside.
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The Americans have been shooting poorly from the foul line throughout the Olympic tournament. Yesterday the U.S. was 11 for 17 from the line, or 64.7%; in their six games their percentage is 64.1. By contrast, the Japanese were a gaudy 10 for 12 yesterday and are a tournament-best 80% overall. Their foul-shooting technique barely varies from player to player: three bounces, a look down at the line, a look up at the back of the rim and a ball that floats to a height of 14-1/2 feet before making a beeline for the bottom of the net.
Midway through the second half, the Americans were 28 points ahead of the Japanese, and that's when the U.S. really impressed. They didn't stop running. Find a men's team that keeps running when it is up by more than a dozen buckets.
The Americans' fitness level is extraordinary. You can see it in their sculpted bodies. You can see it when they go to the bench. They're never sucking air. They're never hanging on to the bottom of their shorts. They're looking at their coach, Tara VanDerveer, as if to say, Hey, when am I getting back in? They're having the time of their lives, and it shows.
SI Olympic Dailies
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