The USA Basketball team is in Las Vegas for a training camp, but not many of the program's best players are there.
Team USA stalwarts Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi are not on the floor with the rest of the gold medal winning team. Not even A'ja Wilson or Breanna Stewart are currently with the team.
There is a mix of up-and-coming stars and more established players competing for a spot on the World Cup squad.
"It's difficult because there are voids all over the place," said Cheryl Reeve, who took over as national team coach.
The first major international tournament at the helm will begin on Wednesday with a game against Belgium. The first glimpse of how one of sports' most successful dynasties will handle a massive changing of the guard will be shown on the first show of the day. A single player in her 30s is on the final roster, along with five holdovers from the 2020 Olympics. Do you think it's at stake? There have been four World Cup medals in the last five years.
Despite a sometimes rocky performance in Tokyo, USA Basketball has a long winning streak at the Olympics, with just one loss over the past six World Cups.
Stewart said that they were in a transition. It gives young players an opportunity to show what they can do and help take USA Basketball to the next level.
"We don't want to win gold." Our goal is always to win the whole thing.
This year in particular, the group has been navigating tremendous uncertainty due to roster and late arrivals. Bird and fowles retired this year. The WNBA season ended with a quad injury. She felt like she had done her job. No one could have predicted the absences of Griner and Diggins-Smith, both first-timers in Tokyo. The former left the Mercury for personal reasons and the latter is still on maternity leave.
The only players who have competed in the previous World Cup are Stewart, Wilson and Loyd. Wilson, Gray and Plum will be in Australia after winning a title with Las Vegas. The runners-up of the Connecticut Sun will arrive late as well.
The USA Basketball debut of Jones, Thomas, Ionescu, Laney, Copper and Austin will be celebrated in Australia.
The heirs apparent of the USA Basketball dynasty are Stewart and Wilson. They were the only ones who averaged double-figure scoring in Tokyo.
Almost immediately, the baton was passed.
"After we won gold, Bird was like, 'All right, it's your turn now,'" said Wilson, who won her second WNBA Most Valuable Player trophy. "Huh?" I'm asking. I and Stewie are the ones who think about it. Everyone has left.
Stewart and Wilson used to look to Bird, Taurasi, Fowles and others as the veteran leaders, but now they are in charge of Australia.
Wilson wasn't sure who would be talking in the timeouts. We will figure it out. It's a good thing. They have laid the groundwork for us to carry the torch in the future.
I am excited to get back out there with other greats. Let's grab this gold.
The most experienced player left is Stewart, who arrived in Australia a few days after the majority of Team USA. She averaged at least 20 minutes per game in the World Cup for the Seattle Storm.
Stewart is aware of her leadershipresponsibilities.
She said that it was important to make sure everyone was comfortable and learning. It's kind of selfish if you don't talk and if you don't use your experience to help others, so I just really want to make sure that I'm taking advantage of that and helping the team as best I can
The Aces had a historic season, led by A'ja Wilson and her teammates.
They won't have to do it on their own. The backcourt will be shored up with the help of Gray and Loyd. With Bird's retirement and Diggins- Smith's absence, Gray will be looked to as a floor general.
She wants to be part of the team that holds up the legacy. I think we can keep going. There will be new people in that place. That's exciting because it's always forming and fluid.
It will be a little different. People have different learning styles. We're not stuck by ourselves. We've learned from our vets and are ready to go.
Atkins is taking on extra reps at point guard until Gray arrives. During her time in Tokyo, she saw some of the leadership she wants to bring to Australia.
"Just their ability to calm people down or hype people up, that's what I absorbed from the greats," she said. It was cool for me to learn how to get us going and how to help us score. Being a point guard for us in the US. Their ability to catch the wave of the team is what makes them special.
There are a lot of voids on the squad and it's an opportunity for new people to fill them. The experienced players expected to do that are Jones, Thomas, Copper and Laney. The national team should have more strength on the perimeter and down low.
Stewart said that it was time for them to take advantage of their experience. It shows how things carry over on the court when they're in the NBA.
Thomas, Jones, and Copper all played in the World Cup Qualifying Tournament in February. She was the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player with the Chicago Sky and the EuroLeague regular-season Most Valuable Player with the Perfumerias Avenida.
It's the best of the best, that's what I love about it. It isn't about one person or two people. I do what everybody has to do. It's nice. I haven't been a part of it. The highest level for me is this one. I'm thankful to be here.
Rhyne Howard, NaLyssa Smith, and Austin were the top three picks in the NBA draft, as well as Aliyah Boston, who was the national collegiate player of the year. Only Austin and Ionescu were under the age of 25.
Ionescu said it was cool to see so many young players. It's exciting because I feel like the game is just changing and it's continuing to be at a really high level, and that's starting in Year 1, 2 and 3. All of us will be better because of that. It will make USA basketball better.
After winning three gold medals with USA Basketball, the New York Liberty point guard was drafted in the NBA but missed time with Team USA due to an ankle injury. She earned her first All-WNBA nod after a strong season in the WNBA, and is an option to fill the void left by Bird, Taurasi and Diggins- Smith.
"I think having a healthy season and continuing to grow as a point guard and as a guard in this league, I kind of understand what it is that I need to do day in and day out and how I can continue to elevate my teammates and also learn from them", Ion I understand that and want to take on that role as well as continuing to listen and learn from a lot of the veterans that have won gold medals and that have been in the position that I've been.
She knows how she wants her team to play. They can dictate the pace by controlling the glass and getting after it defensively.
Players said that Reeve told them when they screwed up. She admitted that she taught her current group as they waited for the rest of the team to join. Her first big test will be how quickly she can get the team to jell and how she can help players learn how to accelerate the process.
Knowing the little details that make a big difference is the first step.
You need to do it." It's not easy, but you have to do it. Constant repetition is what it is. Even when you're tired, it's locked in.
The players are familiar with each other from the league. It doesn't mean that you mesh on the same team. Even with significant turnover, many new faces and rising teams elsewhere on the international stage, the program's championship tradition will be unaffected.
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You understand the tradition is the most important thing. At the end of the day, it's about details and always putting our best foot forward. I don't think the tradition will change, but definitely the faces and the personality of the people will. We have to wait and see.
Five of the 10 players who earned all-WNBA nod this season, including first-team picks, will represent Team USA.
Stewart said, "We're all going to be at this point where we're playing our best." We are only going to get better as we have more time on the court with USA Basketball. It's going to be a lot of fun, we're going to have a lot of experiences, and hopefully we'll get a lot of gold medals, and it's just a bond that will last a long time.
This isn't the first time that USA Basketball has had a change of guard. She remembers when people were concerned about the next generation after the 2004 Olympics. Sue and Dee came in.
Someone is going to take over. It's going to continue. The thing is going to look different. They are never going to be Sue and Dee in any way, but in their own way. It's always.
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