As expected by the head of the Puerto Rico Women’s National Basketball Team, the results of the first day of the pre-Olympic tournament in China will be decided by whoever wins the match between New Zealand (0-1) and Puerto Rico (0-1) this Saturday, the second day of the calendar. Paris will be the second of two qualifiers for the 2024 Olympic Games.
There will be no action in China this Friday.
“The important game”, as the national leader called it, Jerry BautistaThis Saturday between New Zealand and Puerto Rico at 7:00 a.m. Puerto Rico time will effectively give the winner the second qualifier available in China, as that position is expected to remain unchanged for the third and final calendar. A day of expected wins for France over New Zealand and China against Puerto Rico.
“France is already classified as the host (for Paris 2024). And China is up here. So, the important game for us is New Zealand,” Bautista said in a conversation with Primera Hora this week.
The China-Puerto Rico match on the third and final day will also be educational if the Puerto Ricans beat New Zealand on Saturday and the Oceanic team falls again on the third day against France. That scenario would eliminate New Zealand 0-3 and ticket Puerto Rico (1-1) regardless of the result against China.
Indeed, as France celebrates its historic Olympic pass to Tokyo 2020 in the pre-Olympic dressing room, the atmosphere will remind the national team of Brazil’s loss against Australia at that Olympics and their match against France before that. This guaranteed the ticket for Puerto Ricans.
France (1-0) defeated Puerto Rico (0-1) 88-40 and China (1-0) easily beat New Zealand (0-1) 94- on the first day of the qualifiers in China. 47.
New Zealand will face Puerto Rico on the second day of the tournament on Saturday, with both teams getting a chance to see their opponent in person during their matches on the first day and documenting the additional data they have already gathered from evaluating the videos.
Bautista said that based on what was seen Thursday and what has been documented in the past, Puerto Rico needs to combat the height of the so-called tall ferns.
“It’s a very tall team. Seven of the 12 players are between 6’1 and 6’4. The rest are 5’10, 5’11, so it’s a big team. We’ve taken everything they’ve done in the Oceania and Asian Championships. We have captured the trends and we have an x-ray of what they did with us,” Bautista said.
New Zealand finished fourth in the 2023 Asian Championships behind China, Japan and Australia. The team appears to be the 23rd ranked team in FIBA.
According to New Zealand press reports, Tall Ferns arrived in China with major injuries, as did point guard Charlize Leger-Walker, who plays in the NCAA. Their other players are Stella Beck, McKenna Dale, Tayla Dalton, Bhils Hokianga, Lauryn Hippolyte, Ezra McGoldrick, Tera Reid, Zoe Richards, Sharn Robadi, Ridoria Tamilio, Amy West, Lauren Whittaker.
Against China on Thursday, New Zealand grabbed 10 offensive rebounds. He was 2-for-21 from three-point range and 16-for-38 from two-point range. Starters Ezra McColdrick and Reed led the way with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
“This is a team you have to play well to win. They traditionally play well. They move the ball well. Because he’s so big, they dominate the paint and get a lot of offense. They’re good shooters. “How we’re going to attack them, their strengths. How are we going to expose their weaknesses instead of imposing them,” Bautista said.
Puerto Rico, for its part, had its best period against France in the fourth quarter yesterday, which they only lost 20-18. As Batista had hoped, Puerto Rico did not show its strength and proved that it could not defeat France yesterday.
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