VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France — As Team USA and Japan took the floor, the most obvious thing was the most obvious thing: Team USA’s significant height advantage was potentially overwhelming. Japan didn’t have a starter over 6 feet tall, and the five Team USA starters averaged 6-2. And when that felt suffocating enough, just remember that 6-9 Brittney Griner comes off the bench.
But every coach worth their mettle will tell you the great equalizer in basketball is the 3-point shot. It can make up for a lot. Even 6 inches. And Monday night, that’s exactly what Japan did. It hit 3-point shot after 3-point shot to hang with the Americans through the first 20 minutes.
From the bench, Team USA coach Cheryl Reeve looked remarkably relaxed for a coach leading a team with a 55-game win streak. But Reeve will be the first to say that neither she nor her team has been part of that streak, so they’re only focused on their six games in France. They want to go 6-0. If and when that adds up to a 61-game win streak, great. But until then? Don’t talk about it.
So, forget about the fact that the Americans held a 16-rebound advantage at the half or that they were shooting 55 percent inside the arc. The great equalizer had allowed Japan to keep it to an 11-point game.
But at the half, Reeve…
