Draw For 2012 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament Held

There are twelve women's national teams still in the running for the last five spots in the 2012 Olympic women's basketball tournament.  

Our Canadian neighbors and Puerto Rico are two of those squads.  They discovered during the draw held on February 15 what groups they are in and who they will be competing against in the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament For Women when it tips off in Ankara, Turkey on June 25-July 1.

The four groups ended up shaking out like this:  

Group A:  Japan, Puerto Rico, Turkey
Group B:  Argentina, Czech Republic, New Zealand
Group C:  Croatia, Korea, Mozambique
Group D:  Canada, France, Mali

Top two teams in each group advance to the June 29 quarterfinals.   The Group A winner will face off against the runner up in Group B.   The Group C winner will face the Group D runner up and the Group D winner will face the runner up team from Group C.

The four quarterfinal round winners will automatically qualifying to go to London and the four losing teams head to the semifinals to begin the knockout competition for the final spot in the Olympic women's basketball tournament.

The Loser in the [A1 v B2] game will face the Loser of the [C1 v D2] game.
The Loser in the [B1 v A2] game will face the Loser of the [D1 v C2] game.

The winners in those semifinal games will face each other in a pressure packed July 1 matchup in Ankara with a trip to London on the line.

The victor in that matchup gets the last qualifying spot and prepares to pack for the 2012 Olympic games and all the once in a lifetime experiences that go with it.  Everyone else goes home and begins their preparations to qualify for the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women in Turkey and the 2016 Olympic women's basketball tournament in Rio.

Brittney Griner Named As 2012 USA Olympic Team Finalist

Y'all know I have much love for my Houston b-balling homegirl Brittney Griner who is now a junior center with the number one women's ranked Baylor Lady Bears. 

Was happy to hear that when the 21 finalists were announced by USA Basketball for the 2012 USA Women's Olympic basketball squad that will attempt to fivepeat in London, she will be one of them.

The finalists for the 2012 Women's Olympic squad in addition to Brittney Griner (Baylor University) are:

Jayne Appel (San Antonio Silver Stars), Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx), Sue Bird (Seattle Storm), Rebekkah Brunson (Minnesota Lynx), Swin Cash (Chicago Sky), Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever), Tina Charles (Connecticut Sun), Candice Dupree (Phoenix Mercury), Sylvia Fowles (Chicago Sky), , Lindsey Harding (Atlanta Dream), Asjha Jones (Connecticut Sun), Kara Lawson (Connecticut Sun), Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream), Renee Montgomery (Connecticut Sun), Maya Moore (Minnesota Lynx), Candace Parker(Los Angeles Sparks), Cappie Pondexter (New York Liberty), Diana Taurasi  (Phoenix Mercury), Lindsay Whalen (Minnesota Lynx) and Sophia Young (San Antonio Silver Stars).

Bad news for the rest of you basketball playing nations on the rest of the planet.  Ten of the women on this finalist list were on the number one ranked 2010 FIBA Women's World championship squad.

And yes, do have to point out the USA women have won six out of the last eight Olympic women's gold medals with the last four coming at Australia's expense. 

But back to bragging about my hometown hoopster.

Brittney will attempt to become the first collegiate player to make a USA Olympic women's basketball team since Vicky Bullett and Bridgette Gordon both did so and played on the 1988 squad that won a repeat gold medal in Seoul.

Good luck to Brittney and the rest of the women who have a shot of making our 2012 Olympic team. 

2012 Team USA Women's Olympic Soccer Watch- USA vs Canada Final

The only thing that was settled on Friday night were which two teams were going to represent CONCACAF in the upcoming Olympic women's soccer tournament.   There's still a little matter of determining who will win this 2012 Olympic Qualifying tournament

As the experts and fans predicted before it started, the final will be contested between the FIFA world number one ranked USA squad and the FIFA world number seven ranked homegirls from Canada.

They faced each other in the 2008 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying finals and it took a penalty kick shootout to decide it.   They also faced each other in the Beijing Olympic quarterfinals with the USDA emerging victorious in that instance and know that they will probably see each other again in London.

It's probably going to be just as tight in this one.   Team USA scored 34 goals in this tournament while Canada only gave up two while scoring 16.   Nine of them were courtesy of the tournament's leading scorer in Christine Sinclair.



Who said they didn't have anything to play for?  Team USA has never lost a match on Canadian soil, has played Canada five times north of the border and is 4-0-1.  

The fun will be televised on NBC Sports Network starting at 7 PM CST and looking forward to an exciting a closely contested game. 

2012 Team USA Women's Olympic Soccer Watch- We're Going To London

It was a London or bust game contested against with a team they had never lost to. 

In this critical semifinal CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying match with a scrappy Costa Rica the two time defending Olympic champions had to work for their 3-0 win.  

They were clinging to a 1-0 halftime lead courtesy of a Tobin Heath goal in the 16th minute and the Ticas had two solid scoring chances to tie the game in the 20th minute and the 27th minute.  One was saved by Hope Solo while the other clanged off the crossbar. 

Costa Rica kept up the pressure in the second half and American fans in BC Place didn't get a chance to exhale until Carli Lloyd scored in the 72nd minute and Alex Morgan did so in the 89th minute to clinch their spot in London.

They'll meet Canada in the tournament final who clinched their spot in the Olympics with a 3-1 victory over Mexico in the other semifinal. .

2012 Team USA Women's Olympic Soccer Watch- London Or Bust

It really doesn't matter that so far the FIFA world number ranked Team USA won its group in dominating fashion, outscored its opponents 31-0, have never lost a match in a domed stadium, on Canadian soil or is 7-0-0 against Costa Rica.

All that matters is that 7 PM CST semifinal match they are playing in a few hours against Group A runner up Costa Rica.  

It's simple.  Win the match and you're going to London.   Lose and like the FIFA number 2 ranked Germans you'll be watching the Olympic women's tournament go on without you in a few months. 

In Team USA's case their chance to threepeat as Olympic champions dies with an upset loss.   

No pressure.   But as ESPN's NFL analyst Herman Edwards famously said, that why you play the games.  And when you do, the unthinkable can happen like the Ticas catching the USA on a bad day, beating them and going to the Olympics at our expense.

They already had that nightmare scenario play out during FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying two years ago when Mexico upset them in the semifinals.  They still had a chance to qualify via the two leg playoff against Italy and did so.   

In this Olympic tournament scenario there is no last ditch chance to qualify.  It's either win tonight or you'll be sitting at home this July.


In the other pressure packed semifinal matchup host nation and FIFA seventh ranked Canada takes on Mexico for the other CONCACAF Olympic berth.

Team USA is determined to make sure the upset for the ages doesn't happen and they end that semifinal match in Vancouver with a win and one of the two CONCACAF Olympic berths in their possession.

We'll see what transpires on the BC Place Stadium turf in a few hours.


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