When playing the U.S. women’s basketball team, you have to deal with its star power, size and tremendous offensive talent.
But so far in Paris, playing against this group of Americans has been extremely uncomfortable because of their defense.
The international game is always much more physical, and there’s often a bit of a culture shock for American teams when they enter that playing field. But this version of Team USA has embraced it with both arms and used it as a weapon against its competition.
The U.S. played smothering and relentless physical defense Sunday against a reasonably strong Germany team to win 87-68 in Lille, France, despite not having its best offensive game.
That’s 58 Olympic wins in a row and the No. 1 seed in the medal round, which begins Wednesday in Paris as Team USA goes for its eighth consecutive gold medal.
Jackie Young led the U.S. with 19 points with A’ja Wilson contributing 14 and Breanna Stewart 13. Those offensive numbers are just for the record; they were far from the story of the game.
Team USA coach Cheryl Reeve has gotten her team to totally buy in to its ability to dictate…
