The Opals were trailing 10-2 in the opening minutes of their World Cup match against Mali on Friday night at the Sydney Superdome.
It was a worrying start, but that all changed in the blink of an eye when Lauren Jackson and Marianna Tolo came into play.
The two Opal veterans showed their teammates how to compete and be absolutely relentless, and it all started when Jackson was fouled under the basket and sported that legendary twinkle in her eye as she stood up for herself.
From that moment on, you just knew Jackson meant business.
That look on Jackson’s face – one of the absolute best efforts for a win for the Opals – has been seen for decades when she previously led Australia to medals on the world stage, but seeing it in 2022 was something given her forced retirement of six very special years due to debilitating knee problems.
The presence of Jackson and Tolo at the post changed everything for the Opals and as the team found success moving the ball in and out they never looked back and played beautiful basketball for much of the game resulting in a furious 60- Points win led , 118-58.
After dropping eight points early on, Australia put on a game-changing 19-point run and it was Jackson, Tolo and Steph Talbot who led the attack as they upped the pressure on defense and crucially got to the free-throw line.
Tolo is the perfect no-nonsense player to move on with the task at hand and together with Jackson they calmed things down for the Opals when things could have quickly gotten out of hand.
Before the tournament, there was much talk about the impact Jackson would have. Well, this game showed exactly why she’s the greatest of all time.
When Australia was in dire need of a ride, she walked in and wouldn’t be turned away – Jackson made those around her stand taller and her nine minutes of action was as impactful as one could have wished.
Jackson (8 points and 4 rebounds) led from the front and the rest of the team followed. She didn’t play in the second half; Your work was done.
The difference in ball movement and offensive sets the Opals used in this game compared to the France game 24 hours earlier was stark. It was clear they had learned from their mistakes against France and were able to implement these changes, albeit after a slow start.
Instead of being sluggish on the halffield, waiting for someone else to dive to the basket, cut hard, or look for a teammate, each player seemed to understand their role much better and the offense flowed accordingly.
Already with the opening tip one could sense a change in Australia’s offensive behavior. Even if the shots didn’t come in the first few minutes, the offensive focused on moving the ball and passing good shots for great shots. It didn’t pay off immediately, but after just a few minutes of action, the opals found their reach.
Sami Whitcomb wasn’t busy trying to initiate the offense with every run on the ground but after 10-15 seconds of really solid ball movement got good views from across the arc coming from well-adjusted screens. Mali’s defense just couldn’t keep up.
After scoring just 57 points against France on 26 percent shots from the field and 21.7 percent from deep, Australia completely flipped the script and, as all Opals fans were hoping, the law of averages came to the fore when Australia caught fire from the deep and expended 18 triples at 55 percent shooting from beyond the arc to finish just one point short of an Opals team’s highest score at a World Championship.
While it was Australia’s three-point shooting that propelled them to victory, it was the work done by the greats on the inside that primed the sharpshooters to make it from deep. Tolo and Jackson, absolute bullies in color, wore Mali’s bigs down and robbed them of all confidence. Mali’s defense had to focus on stopping Jackson and Tolo on the inside and struggled to fan out to the Australian shooters on the perimeter.
That’s what good teams do; They have versatile weapons with different strengths that work together to wear down opponents and leave them unable to protect every option at once. Australia had far too many arms for Mali as seven players scored in double figures, led by Ezi Magbegor on 15 points.
Every player had a moment; Players like Kristy Wallace grabbed a big rebound on one end and took it the length of the floor, shooting past several defenders and finishing with a classic layup. Whitcomb broke Djeneba N’Diaye’s ankles with a nifty crossover before kicking him out to Cayla George for a corner three, captain Tess Madgen and George each scoring four threes, Anneli Maley making her World Cup debut and impressing, and Darcee Garbin, who demonstrated her class at both ends of the court.
Importantly, coach Sandy Brondello was able to limit the minutes of all key players as Australia strangled the game in the second quarter. Sara Blicavs (14 points and 8 rebounds in 22 minutes) was the only Opal to play over 20 minutes.
Yes, it must be said that Mali is a notch below France and the Opals’ positive steps forward will have to be tested against stronger resistance. But you can only beat the team in front of you that day and Australia did the best job possible.
The Opals have a rest day today ahead of the all-important game against Serbia on Sunday. After failing the test against France’s pressure on Thursday, the Opals have another chance to see how they fare against a physically strong side and the Serbs will be full of confidence after posting a surprising 69-64 on Friday -Have won against Japan.
