PARIS — From a small, fluorescent lit gym just north of Paris, Team USA coach Cheryl Reeve was asked about her team’s biggest advantage in the Olympics.
Depth, she paused. No, size.
“1A, 1B,” she decided.
Reeve isn’t wrong. With three players taller than 6-4 and a bevy of guards in the 6-foot range, Team USA will have a height and length advantage, one through five, on nearly every opponent that takes the floor during these Olympic Games. And when it comes to depth, though other countries have continued to build talented rosters over the years, which might be able to compete well for an extended time with the States’ starting five, the real gut punch for opponents comes when Reeve rolls out her backups and rotational players, for whom no opponents’ six through 10 can hold pace. It must feel something like, Oh, you thought those five WNBA All-Stars were tough to guard? Well, how about you try five more? And then, for good measure, another two?
There’s also the fact the Americans have the two best players in the world, A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart, the most experienced Olympian, Diana Taurasi, and four members of the two-time defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces (including Wilson).
So, yes, per usual, Team USA has more than a few advantages in these Olympic…
