Good Luck tourney: Table set for back-to-back USA v. China at Summer Olympian

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Good Luck tourney: Table set for back-to-back USA v. China

Posted April 24, 2008 at 08:08 AM by Os Davis

Section: Events, Basketball, Featured Writers, Os Davis

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Just two more days’ worth of action – technically it’s three calendar days until the championship game, but two days of actual play – await followers of the Good Luck Beijing 2008 women’s basketball tournament and folks get the matchup this tournament has been about from the go in prime time tonight. (China time, that is.)

Team USA (3-1) vs. Team China (4-0) is the marquee matchup tonight as the six-team tourney ends its round-robin stage. Should the US win this match, identical 4-1 records would automatically put the teams in the final game, with no tournament bracket in effect. If China defeats the world’s no. 1 overall and Team Australia wins, the Opals would advance to the final match by dint of their Day 1 defeat of the red, white and blue. If Oz somehow finds a way to lose to New Zealand after a US loss, Teams Cuba and USA would be left as the sole 3-2 teams; presumably the US would still advance based on its victory over the islanders.

(As of this writing, only the day’s first result – Cuba 78, Korea 66 – is in.)

As a measuring stick for potential success at the Olympics, New Zealand and South Korea have got to be exceptionally unenthused about their squads’ chances in the Games. South Korea was a particular disappointment, as FIBA’s top team could not compete when even the half-complete squads on the court in Beijing, especially in first two quarters.

Team Cuba, on the other hand, has got to like their chances. Typically in the media glare of USA (and to some extent, Canada) basketball in North America, the Cuban ladies stood tall as the shortest team in the competition. The home crowd, too, should be pleased with their women; the hype on this team may be well-deserved and Olympic home court could well put China on the podium come August.

Most disappointed? Australia, to be sure, although this is probably more concern than disappointment: Oz just wouldn’t be the same without Suzy Batkovic.

Wait a minute, what time is it? Sorry, must dash: Got the game fired up on the IPTV right now, and the CCTV guys are taking us to tipoff. (At least I think they are; my Mandarin’s a bit rusty…