USA Women's Basketball- Lessons From Biden, Serbia, and LeBron

I realize on a sports centered blog people don’t want to read about politics. I have an analogy to share, so relax and stay with me.

"Until you get old, you don’t understand how tough it can be..."

Joe Biden had been in government for over 50 years. He had been a loyal Democrat for over 50 years. He thought it was his turn to run for President in 2016, but backed out when Obama suggested it was Hilary Clinton’s turn. He beat Trump in 2020. He made it to the top of politics becoming President of the United States.

After a bad debate performance and as the 2024 election got closer, it appears fellow Democrats encouraged him to not run again. Until you get old, you don’t understand how tough it can be to admit to yourself that maybe you are not as capable as you used to be. Some would argue that after 50+ years of service, it was Biden’s decision to make. 

Whether you are a Democrat, a Republican, or politically disinterested- you have to acknowledge it is not always an easy decision for older people to accept they need to retire. And regardless of your politics, one must acknowledge that the switch from an older to a younger candidate has brought a different energy to the political race.

Diana Taurasi came into the Olympics at 42 years old and with 5 Gold medals. I don’t know what role she played behind the scenes in practice and in terms of team leadership, maybe with intangibles she was invaluable. It was obvious as the Olympics went on, at 42 years old, Taurasi could not on the court contribute what the team needed.

With her years of service to USA Basketball, did Taurasi deserve to play “one more Olympics,” and to “go for a record 6th gold medal?” Maybe it is open to debate. If people feel she deserved thru her experience to be on the roster, the question is when does she no longer deserve to be on the team? At 46? At 50? At 54? I know in the championship game when USA turned the ball over 14 times in the first half, if I was the coach, I would have liked to have looked down the bench and had another option at the point guard position.

I don’t think Taurasi learned anything from Joe Biden. I fully understand her desire to be part of the Olympic team, but as the Olympics went on, her decision seemed selfish. 

"They could flat out shoot the ball."

The Serbia men’s team had three players who could flat out shoot the three in Bogdanavic, Dobric, and Avramovic. Athletically Serbia did not have the athletes that the USA Team had. Serbia could not get up and pressure on defense. Serbia did not have players who could play both inside and outside like the USA men’s.

Ultimately you get points for putting the ball in the basket. Serbia is a little bit of “old school basketball.” They had some players who were not the greatest athletes, but they could flat out shoot the ball.

It seems like college women’s, college men’s, WNBA, and NBA- coaches and GM’s are in love with “long and athletic” players. It seems everyone wants the same thing in players. In men’s, they want the player who is 6’6”-6”8” who is athletic, can pressure on defense, and attack the rim. In women’s, they want the player who is 5’10”-6’2” who can pressure on defense and can play inside and outside.

In the Olympic Men’s Championship was Steph Curry the “best basketball players?”Whether he was the best player or not, he was clearly the best shooter on the floor. If we went back 20 years, how many colleges today would have an interest in Steph Curry. It seems like in American basketball we don’t place the same value on great shooters that the rest of the world does.

"The best teams have someone who sets the table."

I don’t care if it is YMCA grade school league, HS basketball, or the Olympics- teams need point guards. I realize basketball has evolved into “position-less basketball,” but that is part of the only recruit “long and athletic” players mentality. The best teams have someone who sets the table and controls the tempo. Teams without a point guard don’t fastbreak as well and they are not as efficient in half-court offense.

The USA Men’s seemed disorganized early in the Olympics. The USA Men’s became strong and organized when LeBron James firmly took the role as point guard. Late in the Championship game, they went with Steph Curry as point. It was LeBron as point guard who got them to the championship game as a stable point guard.

The USA Women’s for much of the Olympics acted as if they did not want to use a point guard. In the Championship Game it was when they put Kelsi Plum and then Sabrina Ionescu on the floor and had them act as point guards. If I were the coach, I would always have had one of them on the floor, and probably would have had both on the floor most of the time.

“In 2028, have a great young player on your roster who has Olympic experience.”

So it is hard to argue about a team that just set Olympic records for wins in a row and for Gold medals in a row in a team sport. I would argue the USA Women’s organizers should have learned from Joe Biden’s example and taken one more young player. I would argue the USA Women’s organizers had shooters like Loyd, Ionescu, and Plum on the roster but they sat a lot.

The USA Women could have and should have added a 22 year old phenom to their roster. She could have helped them in these Olympics but even more importantly in 2028, you would have a great young player on your roster who has “Olympic experience.”