FIBA: Wilson, Stewart amongst pillars for U.S.A. getting in 2022 World Cup

The U.S.A. Women’s National Team will start its mission for yet another gold medal on the worldwide phase when the 2022 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup pointers off Wednesday night. Team U.S.A. has actually won gold in the previous 3 World Cups (2018, 2014 and 2010) and will when again be preferred to win the competitors, which includes 12 of the world’s greatest nationwide basketball groups.

Team U.S.A., which ran a week-long training school from Sept. 6 to Sept. 12, revealed its last 12-player World Cup lineup on Tuesday early morning. Included are Ariel Atkins and Shakira Austin of the Washington Mystics, Kahleah Copper of the Chicago Sky, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces, Sabrina Ionescu and Betnijah Laney of the New York Liberty, Brionna Jones and Alyssa Thomas of the Connecticut Sun and Jewell Loyd and Breanna Stewart of the Seattle Storm. Cheryl Reeve (Minnesota Lynx) will function as the group’s head coach.

At initially look, the lineup looks like a healthy one. It’s deep in the frontcourt, athletic on the wing and has a trio of skilled playmakers at lead guard. It likewise has the star power that fans of Team U.S.A. have actually been accustomed to (though maybe not as much as throughout Olympic years), with Wilson and Stewart completing very first and 2nd in 2022 WNBA MVP ballot, respectively.

There’s been a reasonable quantity of lineup turnover, nevertheless. Eight of the 12 gamers on Team U.S.A.’s 2022 lineup (Atkins, Austin, Copper, Gray, Ionescu, Jones, Laney and Thomas) will be contending in World Cup play for the very first time, with Austin not even having actually taken part in a training school at the senior nationwide group level prior to September.

The 2022 World Cup, then, might be considered as the start of a brand-new period for U.S.A. Basketball. With a number of Team U.S.A. stalwarts just recently retiring (Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles) or securely in the goldens of their particular professions (Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles), the program has a substantial space to fill, and while it goes without stating that gamers like Wilson, Stewart, Loyd and Ionescu will be starring for the United States for several years to come, any sort of connection Team U.S.A. can develop in between now and the 2024 Paris Olympics will go a long method.

The supreme objective, however, is another gold medal. Though Team U.S.A. remains in a little a shift year, it’s however fully equipped to make it 4 in a row in World Cup play.

Schedule

The group stage of the World Cup will occur from Sept. 21 through Sept. 27, (keep in mind the distinction in time zones; it will be Sept. 22 in Australia when things tip-off) throughout which Team U.S.A. will play 5 video games, one versus each group in Group A. The video games will be either streamed on ESPN+ or telecasted nationally on the ESPN household of networks.

The group stage will be followed by 4 quarterfinal video games on Sept. 29, 2 semifinal video games on Sept. 30 and first-place (gold medal) and third-place (bronze medal) video games on Oct. 1.

Wednesday, Sept. 21

U.S.A. vs. Belgium; 9:30 p.m. ET (ESPN+)

Thursday, Sept. 22

U.S.A. vs. Puerto Rico; 8:30 p.m. ET (ESPN+)

Saturday, Sept. 24

U.S.A. vs. China; 12:30 a.m. ET (ESPN2)

Monday, Sept. 26

U.S.A. vs. Korea; 12 a.m. ET (ESPN2)

Tuesday, Sept. 27

U.S.A. vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina; 12 a.m. ET (ESPNU)