Three key factors: Tussle at the top between Australia and Germany

BELEM (Brazil) - The first gameday of the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belem featured a pair of nailbiters. 

The action at Arena Guilherme Paraense was full of drama across both games, with both Germany and Australia completing gutty wins within the final minutes. It’s often said that the devil is in the details, and with the difference between victory and agony so small, the dynamics that tipped the scales had an outsize importance. 

 

 

Those details will be important as the teams will be set to take the courts again on a super Sunday in two important games. One of those important games will be the one between the victors from day one, Australia and Germany.

Here are three key factors from the opening day that will affect the outcome of their second game:

Australia vs Germany

1. THE SABALLY SISTERS ARE THE REAL DEAL

Sisters Satou Sabally and Nyara Sabally are a force to be reckoned with.

After missing the 2023 FIBA Women’s EuroBasket, they rejoined the national team for this event and quickly made their mark.  What’s even more fascinating is how complementary their skills are, making them capable of doing damage in a variety of ways.

Power forward Nyara plays more like a big and dropped a huge double-double (14 points and 17 rebounds) with 3 blocks. She went to the free throw line 10 times and was instrumental in keeping Serbia to just 26 points in the paint.

Meanwhile, Satou acts more like a wing and flashed an interesting perimeter game. Despite going 0-6 from downtown (and 6-20 overall), she had a well-rounded line that included 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals, on top of her 18 points. She was perfect at the charity stripe (6-6) and her ball-handling and self-creating chops were clutch as she generated a pair of tough layups in the final minutes.

Australia will need to make stopping the Sabally sisters one of their top priorities.

2. AUSTRALIA KNOW HOW TO “WIN UGLY”

Despite missing key veterans like Alice Kunek and Stephanie Talbot, Australia showed they can both play excellent basketball and, when needed, dig deep and prevail in unfavorable conditions.

After leading by double digits at the end of the first half, the Opals found themselves caught in an avalanche as Brazil, boosted by an incredibly loud crowd, erased a big deficit and took a late lead in the 4th quarter.

But that’s exactly when 34-year-old Cayla George, 33-year-old Tess Magden and 31-year-old Bec Allen took over. George’s three-pointer broke a 55-55 tie on what ended up being the game-winning basket, while Allen and Magden also provided buckets in a rock fight of an 11-8 fourth quarter.

 

Australia has a great talent in Ezi Magbegor and a pair of young stars in Isabel Borlase and Jade Melbourne, but the team’s veterans provided the right measure of poise to defeat Brazil on the road.

Seeing how tightly contested the games have been so far, experienced veterans will provide any team a much-needed advantage.

3. GERMANY ARE NO CINDERELLA 

“After a terrible first quarter and first half, we can say this is not the way to play against a team like Germany that already had a lot of quality, but with the addition of the Sabally sisters from November this is a totally team,” said Serbia head coach Maljkovic.

Serbia were clearly overwhelmed by Satou and Nyara Sabally, who gave Germany a whole different level of intensity and oopmph.

And if they could lead Germany to a win despite shooting a combined 10-32, it’s scary to think what they might be able to accomplish on more efficient performances.

In the meantime, Leonie Fiebich had a casual 20 points on 10 shots for a 29 EFF rating, giving Germany a full starting 5 capable of dominating inside and out.

Australia are the more proven team heading into this matchup, but it certainly will not be wise to think of Germany as the clear-cut underdogs.

FIBA