RIO DE JANEIRO (2016 Rio Olympics) - The 2016 Olympic Test Event was staged over the weekend in Rio de Janeiro's Arena Carioca 1 and there were plenty of conclusions to be drawn following games involving Australia, Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela.
Chief among them is that Opals coach Brendan Joyce, after watching his team blow away Argentina and Venezuela and beat Brazil, is going to have a selection headache when it comes time to naming his Olympic squad. Several Opals did not travel to Rio for the competition while those that did distinguished themselves with outstanding play on both ends of the floor.
I'm pretty happy with our performance overall. It was a long flight for the girls and we had little preparation but by the time we got to our first game, the whole team was playing with confidence. There are areas we still need to improve but a number of these girls could definitely go to the Olympics, with the experience in the venue they now have. - Joyce
Another conclusion? Players will bond on tours. That was the case for the Opals.
Argentina were also all smiles as they set off for Brazil. The time together may prove to be invaluable.
What is evident is that all of the teams will need to put in some long practice hours to get ready for the Olympics. That includes Brazil, who looked out of sorts in their clash with Argentina on Day 2 and trailed 23-13 after the first quarter before getting to grips with the game. They ended up winning, 66-52.
"We gradually began to correct our mistakes and overcame Argentina," said Brazil's Clarissa. "Errors are normal in a preparation phase and we will get better as we train on a daily basis."
As for Argentina and Venezuela, sides from the FIBA Americas that will take part in the 12-team FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament (WOQT), the test event was a reminder that come June, they need to be ready from Day 1 if an Olympic berth is to be theirs.
The Argentinians beat Venezuela on Day 3, 83-38. While Argentina played at the last WOQT in Turkey and know how difficult it will be to claim one of the five spots for Olympics, Venezuela are in unchartered territory. They are preparing for their first WOQT.
Venezuela will be underdogs at the WOQT but they should be more potent when the likes of Daniella Wallen, Ana Garcia and Mariana Duran are in the squad. None of the three players were able to play in the test event.
The team that had the longest trip to Rio to take part was Australia, the No. 2 side in the FIBA World Ranking Women. They'll be glad they participated.
The Opals won their opening game against Argentina, 87-37. They also cruised against Venezuela, 104-24, on Day 2.
In their last game against Brazil on Sunday, Joyce's side had more of a fight but still prevailed, 77-67. Steph Talbot played the sort of defense that will give her a real shot of making the Olympic side while Erin Phillips, forced out of last year's FIBA Oceania Women's Championship because of injury, looked as good ever.
Leilani Mitchell, Rachel Jarry and Natalie Burton also performed well, just as they did in 2014 when helping Australia reach the podium of the FIBA Women's World Championship.
We had some outstanding performances in Leilani and Steph who shut down Brazil’s main scorer. Rachel Jarry and Nat Burton both played outstanding defence as well, helping to shut out their main offensive weapons. - Joyce
"We played pretty good basketball aside from our turnovers which kept Brazil in the game," Joyce said. "We made adjustments at half-time though, it could have been a 20-point margin I think if we controlled our mistakes."
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