A 108-56 quarterfinal demolition apparently wasn’t enough to convince head coach Kara Lawson that Team USA has everything figured out. Yes, they have just delivered their most dominant performance of this tournament, but with the level of competition only getting tougher from here, Coach Lawson knows Team USA will need to be even better in the semifinals if it wants to keep its gold-medal hopes alive.
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Speaking in the post-game press conference, a video of which FIBA Media shared on their YouTube channel, Kara Lawson admitted that the team definitely still has some flaws to improve on, despite their record-breaking 108-56 victory over Hungary. However, when she was asked about those specific areas, she held back on sharing them.
“There are some things. I probably won’t share them with you, to be honest. But yes, 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.”
“Absolutely, you are already playing the world’s best, and now that we are in the semifinals, I mean it is going to be something. The competition at this level starting on Saturday. So we are excited for it, and we know that we need to be better than we were today to win.”
It is quite understandable why coach Lawson held back from sharing the details of those areas and whatever plans she had in mind. The team is now heading into the more serious stages of the tournament, where they will face either Spain or Australia on Saturday. And beyond that, they could also end up facing a team like France, who have also secured their place in the semifinal, for the title in the final. Revealing the team’s plans and tactics ahead of such a crucial contest would be tantamount to handing over ammunition to the opposition.
Looking at the quarterfinal game against Hungary from a very general perspective, it does feel like Team USA definitely had a perfect game against Hungary. They erupted for the most points all-time in a World Cup quarterfinal game and recorded the highest-scoring first half in tournament history with 59 points.
They displayed breathtaking ball movement, recording 31 assists on 40 made field goals. The U.S. shot a blistering 59% from the field and knocked down 12 three-pointers. In fact, at one point in the first half, they were shooting 77%, making 20 of their first 26 shots.
In the defensive aspect of the game, they were also dominant. They held Hungary to just 34% shooting and completely neutralized Minnesota Lynx center Dorka Juhász, holding her to just 2 points on 1-of-12 shooting. They also recorded 17 steals, which is more than twice Hungary’s eight, and were able to convert those turnovers into a staggering 44 points.
Despite the blowout, Team USA still had moments of loose play, especially during the second quarter when Hungary managed to put up 18 points by capitalizing on temporary U.S. lapses, and perhaps also in the last quarter, when Team USA only managed to register 15 points.
However, this is not the first time not the first time Lawson has hinted at, but hasn’t elaborated on, the improvements that Team USA needs to make in this tournament alone. Following their worst offensive performance in 42 years, in their 55-52 loss, Lawson revealed that she was a lesson they learned from.
“Sometimes it’s good to be tested like this. You see where your weaknesses are, and we know exactly where we need to improve,” Kara Lawson told TNT Sports reporter Allie LaForce.
Whatever those lapses are, there is definitely a need to address them and improve on them. In fact, even if there are not many obvious flaws to point to after such a dominant performance, this attitude of constant improvement is certainly the attitude the team needs to have if they are going to eventually defend their World Cup title.