Tokyo 2020 Wheelchair Basketball: Women's Semi-Final Day Round-Up
Even at the highest level, basketball is some real eye-of-the-beholder type stuff.
Every day throughout the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, I will be bringing you a round-up of the goings-on in the Wheelchair Basketball event. My Bench Units co-host, James MacSorley, is actually competing in the Paralympics and so has better things to do than write up details of the games.
As you may know, the Tokyo Paralympics are taking place in Tokyo. Tokyo is 8 hours ahead of the UK, so some of the games are happening in the dead of the night for me.
I’m making it my mission to watch as many of the games as I can so I can do the best possible write-ups here. If I don’t get the chance to watch a game, I’ll state that up front and my review will be based on the stats, plus any educated guesses I might have, or anything that sounds plausible enough that I can say I heard it from James and blame him if it’s incorrect. I promise I’m not biased for or against any teams.
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Let’s get into it…
Note: If you haven’t done so already, go and listen to the latest episode of Bench Units, where myself and Mendel Op den Orth covered these games. Check it out at benchunits.com/episodes or wherever you get your podcasts!
9/10 Playoff: Republic of Korea 54 - 64 I.R. Iran
4:30am UK Time
Yesterday’s prediction: Iran by 4
And so, Korea and Iran meet to battle for 9th place, or what could be referred to as the We Might Have Had An Outside Crack At A Medal If International Wheelchair Basketball Hadn’t Gotten So Damn Deep In The Last Few Years Bowl.
The fact that these teams are playing for 9th and 10th shows that wheelchair basketball is in a pretty good spot. For reference, Japan finished 11th in Rio and 9th in the following World Championships, and all of a sudden have vaulted themselves into medal contention. Is that kind of leap possible for either of these teams? Iran have the more immediate path to success, assuming they get their guys back for future tournaments. Korea have some good players but haven’t quite showcased the kind of player development that’s boosted Japan. It would be really interesting to see some more of their guys crop up in Europe to play against the top competition.
Outside of those specifics, I’m generally a believer that the progression of wheelchair basketball from a tactical standpoint is something of a facade. The game relies on the same 2 or 3 basic actions, and different coaches have successfully found their own ways to dress them up and use them effectively, but the game isn’t that different from what I remember it being at any other time.
If you want to check out just how wrong I am, go and check out the 9/10 playoff game from London 2012, or even something earlier if you can find it. Japan hadn’t quite found themselves yet, and Italy had been good and were on the down-slope at this point but, seriously, the quality of play here shows how far the game has come. Either Iran or Korea would have crushed these teams.
Anyway, to the game itself. Iran were able to use their size to swarm Dong Hyeon Gim and negate his impact, forcing Korea's secondary bigs to step up. Seung Hyun Cho had 17 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists, while Ho Yong Kim chipped in 12 points in what will presumably be his last Paralympic appearance.
Mohammadhassan Sayari had his usual monster game, dropping 26 points and 11 rebounds to close out his strong tournament. He got some support from Mojtaba Kamali (14 pts/7 reb/8 ast) and Mohsen Tamardash (16 pts/5 reb/8 ast). Look out for Iran at next year’s Worlds.
7/8 Playoff: Spain 43 - 62 Great Britain (Women)
7am UK Time
Yesterday’s prediction: GB by 5
GB’s formula of having only one player reach double-digit scoring finally comes through!
After struggling for scoring power all tournament, GB shook loose against Spain and never let up after a 22-8 first quarter. Special mention goes to Amy Conroy, who has played and trained on minutes restrictions for almost 2 years after an injury, but mustered 22 points on 10/17 shooting to help GB close the tournament out on a win.
Spain got 13 points from Isabel Lopez and 10 from Virginia Perez, but couldn’t match GB’s contributions across the statsheet and never recovered after going down early.
Finishing in this bracket will no doubt be a disappointment to both of these teams, and what the future holds for both of them as they attempt to establish themselves as contenders will be very interesting to watch unfold.
SF1: Germany 42 - 52 Netherlands (Women)
10:15am UK Time
Yesterday’s prediction: Germany by 2
Well, my Germany by 2 prediction looked well and truly in play when the game was tied at 39 with 6:35 to go. Germany had matched the Netherlands blow-for-blow the entire game, and had never let the Netherlands get established outside of Mariska Beijer (30 points, 19 rebounds)’s metronomic output.
Maybe the Netherlands took a blink-of-an-eye gap year to Bali during the subsequent time-out because, my days, did they ever find themselves.
From that 39-all tie, the Netherlands ended the game on a 13-3 run, with every single basket coming from close range. Bo Kramer had had a relatively quiet individual performance, but suddenly became the key to a revitalized defense that relentlessly turned crucial German possessions into turnovers and layups. Kramer finished with 14 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists.
For Germany, Mareike Miller and Katharina Lang brought it like they have done all tournament, and gave the Dutch bigs everything they could handle for 33.5 minutes. Lang had 18 and hit just enough big shots to never let the Netherlands get momentum, while Miller had 14.
Germany did try Mendel’s suggested tactic of doubling Mariska, and it worked in short stints, but there’s a limit to how much even two defenders can do when the biggest player on the floor can go through extended stretches of sinking shots from anywhere.
Netherlands advance to the final, where they face the only team that’s beaten them in this tournament…
SF2: USA 36 - 41 China (Women)
12:45pm UK Time
Yesterday’s prediction: USA by 1
My goodness, was this an unpleasant viewing experience.
The fact that this was a 5-point margin of victory feels unfathomable, given that the game seemed to move at a rate of fractions of a point per quarter.
China ascending to legitimacy in wheelchair basketball theoretically could bring an influx of new interest into the sport. Let’s just say that, for that hope to be realistic, they’ll have to tempt those new fans in with one hell of a halftime performance.
China did what they’ve done since the tournament started, and gradually eroded their opponent down to dust in a truly dispiriting fashion. I’d called the USA to win this one after having learned some lessons against China in the pool stage, but maybe this Chinese defense goes beyond lessons learned and in-game adjustments, and can only really be broken down by some combination of superiority in speed or chair skills, or maybe teams not wanting to get caught up against the shot-clock and so just settling for shooting from inside their own half.
To give the USA credit, at no point did they ever stop trying to break down the wall, and even nearly stole the game with a late 6-point burst (for context, 6 straight points against the Chinese women is the equivalent of a 22-0 run in most games). Rose Hollermann led the USA with 13 points, but again was heavily chaperoned everywhere she went on the floor. Lindsey Zurbrugg (10 points) stepped up and made some important shots, but also struggled to get free in her shooting range against the switch-heavy Chinese defense.
The reigning Paralympic champions will no doubt be disappointed, but should be proud of their effort given the difference in their roster between Rio and now, especially with the continued improvement from within the women’s game. The Americans will still get a chance to claim a medal against Germany.
For China, they guarantee themselves a medal and also give themselves a very real chance to go undefeated on their way to winning the whole damn thing. I think my words in the Paralympic preview podcast were “I just see them as a tier below the teams that have already proven it”. If you didn’t already have good reason to take in a word I say, then there you have it.
Up Tomorrow… Men's Semi-Final Day!
Borrowing an old Bench Units gimmick that myself and Ben Fox (also in Tokyo - really need some colleagues who aren’t too good for me) used for the World Championships in 2018, I’m going to list out tomorrow’s schedule and my predictions for the results, based on almost nothing at all.
4:30am - Men’s 7/8 Playoff - Germany vs Canada - Germany by 11
7am - Women’s 5/6 Playoff - Canada vs Japan - Canada by 17
10:15am - Men’s SF1 - Spain vs USA - Spain by 4
12:45pm - Men’s SF2 - Japan vs Great Britain - GB by 7
Another day closer to this being over, and to me using my days to do my real job. Thanks for reading!