Tuesday, September 23, 2014

National Team roster finalized; Jantel Lavender cut

I'll put it in the headline, that Jantel Lavender was the final cut for Team USA today when the roster was finalized to 12. Because USA Basketball again refused to acknowledge the cut player in their news release.

The roster:

Seimone Augustus Minnesota Lynx C/F, 6-0
Sue Bird Seattle Storm G, 5-9
Tina Charles New York Liberty C, 6-4
Candice Dupree Phoenix Mercury F, 6-2
Brittney Griner Phoenix Mercury C, 6-8
Angel McCoughtry Atlanta Dream G/F, 6-1
Maya Moore Minnesota Lynx F, 6-0
Nnemkadi Ogwumike Los Angeles Sparks F, 6-2
Odyssey Sims Tulsa Shock G, 5-8
Breanna Stewart University of Connecticut F/C, 6-4
Diana Taurasi Phoenix Mercury G, 6-0
Lindsay Whalen Minnesota Lynx G, 5-9

Sue Bird is the first player to make four World Championship rosters.

Brittney Griner made the roster without ever showing up.

Game schedule.

Here's how the final 13 did over the course of five exhibition games.

Even more interesting are the stats that Shades got together on this page:

5-game exhibition

Shooting percentages

1. Ogwumike, Nnemkadi 23-34 (.676)
2. Augustus, Seimone 16-26 (.615)
3. Lavender, Jantel 9-16 (.563)
4. Whalen, Lindsay 11-22 (.500)
5. Charles, Tina 22-45 (.489)
6. McCoughtry, Angel 13-27 (.481)
7. Stewart, Breanna 14-33 (.424)
8. Bird, Sue 8-20 (.400)
9. Dupree, Candice 8-22 (.364)
10. Sims, Odyssey 6-17 (.353)
11. Moore, Maya 14-45 (.311)
12. Taurasi, Diana 8-29 (.264)
13. Griner, Brittney 0-0 (.000)

Minutes

1. Moore, Maya 99
2. Taurasi, Diana 90
3. Ogwumike, Nnemkadi 87
4. Charles, Tina 85
5. Augustus, Seimone 84
6. Bird, Sue 81
7. Whalen, Lindsay 79
8. McCoughtry, Angel 74
9. Stewart, Breanna 66
10. Sims, Odyssey 56
11. Dupree, Candice 53
12. Lavender, Jantel 39
13. Griner, Brittney 0

Starts

1. Bird, Sue 5
1. Moore, Maya 5
3. Charles, Tina 4
3. Taurasi, Diana 4
5. Dupree, Candice 3
6. McCoughtry, Angel 2
7. Ogwumike, Nnemkadi 1
7. Whalen, Lindsay 1
9. Augustus, Seimone 0
9. Griner, Brittney 0
9. Lavender, Jantel 0
9. Sims, Odyssey 0
9. Stewart, Breanna 0

As much as I feel like Lavender gets absolutely no respect, I'm not surprised at this cut. I even predicted it Sunday night on twitter, talking with someone: she's not the "star" that the others are. In our celebrity-obsessed United States culture, you've got to be a star to play for America.

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