For Napheesa Collier, who led Team USA in scoring as they delivered a record-setting 108-56 dismantling of Hungary, one of the most impressive aspects of the performance was not the margin of victory or the scoring. It was the team’s 31 assists. For her, that number speaks to something deeper than just good basketball. It speaks to a group that is beginning to genuinely find each other.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
“I think the assists, having 30 assists, really speaks to the game,” Collier said in a postgame interview with TNT Sports that Women Hooping shared on YouTube.
“The way that we’re moving the ball. It’s not one-on-one basketball. We’re playing as a team. Multiple people are getting touches. We’re finding the best shot, not just a good shot.”
“And so that reflects that. I feel like each game, we’re improving with that. Just getting our chemistry. This team has never played together with this group of people, and so sometimes it takes a while to come together, but we’re taking advantage of each practice, each game that we have and getting better.”
As Collier pointed out, this is one of the more uniquely assembled Team USA rosters in recent memory. Head coach Kara Lawson is managing a blend of seasoned veterans who claimed gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics alongside a younger contingent, including Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, who are navigating their first senior FIBA World Cup experience. In fact, seven of the 12 players on the roster are making their senior World Cup debut in Berlin.
The fact that the WNBA paused its regular season just days before the tournament on August 31 means the squad had only a brief window to hold any shared practice time in Berlin before the opening tip, and that makes their run so far even more impressive. Veteran and Liberty forward Breanna Stewart even pointed that out on the Game Recognize Game podcast ahead of the tournament.
“The crazy part is like we have no time. I’m heading out on Sunday. Some people are leaving on Monday, which means games start on Friday. You know, there’s like two days of practice and then games.”
“I think once we get there, we just, we’re literally like locked in. Got to get into it and know that we all have to be on the same page. For us, the pressure’s on. The moment we step on soil in Germany, pressure is on for what we need to do. So excited about that.”
Despite veterans A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum withdrawing just four days ahead of the World Cup, the Americans have kept improving. Following their lowest points total in over 40 years in their 55-52 win against Italy in USA’s second group stage game, they’ve only been more dominant in the following two games.
Napheesa Collier and company’s margin of victory against Czechia was 41 points, before they achieved the second-largest margin of victory in World Cup quarterfinal history against Hungary at 52 points.
That said, even after a historic win over Hungary, the team is not operating at its ceiling yet. And Kara Lawson was candid about that in her own postgame remarks.
“There are some things that we need to continue to grow in on both ends. And we’ve talked about some of those during the game as it was happening, and I’m sure when we look at the film we’ll find some more and talk about where we can improve.”
Yet, despite making it to the semifinals, the road ahead is only going to get tougher for Team USA. With Spain defeating Australia 89-66 in the quarterfinal, the women of the USA will face a team that has lost only one game so far in the tournament.