Team USA recorded the second-most dominant victory in FIBA World Cup history against Hungary in the quarterfinal. One game removed from the historic night, they are struggling against Spain on both ends in the semifinal game. The Spanish team has come with a fight in the contest. However, Team USA head coach Kara Lawson’s choice is yet again being questioned.
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“It is so glaringly obvious Team USA’s reserves are significantly better than the starters. The coaching staff has to know it,” the Indiana Fever writer and SiriusXM host Robin Lundberg wrote in his post on X after the first half.
The starter vs. bench debate has been associated with the US team since their opening game against China. While the Americans won the game comfortably, Caitlin Clark’s stats provoked a conversation about Lawson choosing to go with her veterans in the starting lineup. After yet another poor show by the starters, Lawson’s choice was bound to be questioned.
The Americans started the game with a 5-0 lead, but the Spanish team surged and built a 16-9 lead with 4:21 minutes left in the first quarter. The tide finally began turning after Lawson subbed in the young players, starting with Aliyah Boston. Paige Bueckers gave Team USA the first lead with a fast-break layup for a 17-16 score. Angel Reese, Bueckers, and Caitlin Clark accounted for Team USA’s last six points as they ended the quarter with 21-18 in USA’s favor.
However, there was still resistance from Lawson to giving more minutes to the young core. Clark has been Team USA’s best point guard and the most beneficial player for her team when she is on the court. She leads her team with +23 in plus/minus. Despite her recorded impact, Lawson played only six minutes in the first half, and her absence was all over the stat sheet.
“Obviously, Spain is a much different opponent, but notably USA has only 4 assists so far today, one game removed from a record 31 in the quarterfinals. USA has scored half of its 36 points from the free-throw line today,” ESPN’s Alexa Philippou pointed out right before the end of the first half.
While Clark has come off the bench for all of Team USA’s games in this World Cup, she leads her team in minutes too. However, on Saturday, it was clear that Lawson did not have Clark as her primary option to run the USA’s offense. The Americans didn’t play well in the third quarter, and Spain tied the game at 58-58 to enter the fourth quarter, outscoring the Americans 22-19 in the third.
Although the Americans won the game, Lawson has a bigger problem to solve. Her bench unit has been impactful and has brought energy. The top three players with the best plus/minus are Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, and Aliyah Boston; all of them are bench players.
Moreover, there is a difference in the way the starters and the bench players approach the game. The former plays a half-court-centered game with half-court defense and structured execution. On the other hand, the bench players, led by Clark, play with more energy and score a lot of points in transition.
Yet Lawson has refused them the starter’s role. A decision that some believe would be costly against France.
“You do not evaluate Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and Paige Bueckers against reserve units on really inferior rosters in the second half of blowouts and then pretend you just saw the World Cup,” former columnist Jason Whitlock said on his ‘Fearless’ podcast.
“You evaluate them against the opponent that nearly stole gold when A’ja was still on the team.”
France has been the most dominant team in this World Cup. Not only did they top the power ranking entering the knockout stage, but they also topped most categories in the stat sheet. Lawson is now presented with a big conundrum. Trust her veterans with international experience but who often lack dominance, or go with her young stars with little to no international exposure.
On Saturday, the veterans dominated the stats. The top four scorers were all veterans, with Breanna Stewart leading the charge with 16 points. Kaheah Copper and Jackie Young scored 13 and 12 points, respectively. Caitlin Clark played 16:50 minutes and scored just 1 point while missing all of her three-point field goals.