NEW YORK — Mention the Olympic Gamesand Sabrina Ionescu can’t help but smile.
It’s a small, private smile, she said, reserved for those who know how much the 26-year-old has invested in her first senior Team USA team. She helped Americans bring home an unprecedented eighth consecutive gold medal.
But other actors in the WNBA Finals do not hesitate to hide their joy. Ask Alanna Smith about it and the forward Minnesota Lynx smiled from ear to ear, eager to talk about what it was like to compete in her second consecutive Olympics.
The Liberty-Lynx championship series, where Minnesota leads 1-0 after a come-from-behind victory 95-93 in overtime in the first game Thursday at Barclays Center, features seven Olympians who played in Paris this summer representing America, Australia, Canada and Germany. (Include the semifinal teams and you get 14 Olympians representing six countries.)
While it’s easy to focus on the Olympic accomplishments of superstars like Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, who both started for Team USA throughout the Games, it’s the non-superstars who could have benefited the most from their turn on the world stage: players like Ionescu, Smith, Minnesota guard Bridget Carleton and New York forward Leonie Fiebich.
“I think I take a lot from my Olympic experience and even my Olympic qualifying, not only during the Finals but throughout the WNBA playoffs,” Carleton told USA TODAY Sports. “With qualifying, it’s three high-pressure games in four days, you’re playing against very good teams and for me, I’m in a position to be a key player for Canada. It’s intense – and I think any experience at this level will bode well for you.
Liberty coach Sandy Brondello agrees. Brondello has been Australia coach since 2017 after a 17-year career with the Opals. She coached Smith in Paris as Australia won a surprise bronze medal, its first Olympic medal in 12 years. She said the benefits of Olympians competing for a WNBA championship cannot be overstated.
“It really helps them a lot because in the Olympics, every game is important, every game is like a (series) finale,” Brondello said. “And that’s how they live this experience in the big moments. »
Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve — who led the Americans to the gold medal in her first stint as Team USA head coach after two Olympics as an assistant — spoke candidly of building a team in Minnesota that wasn’t made up of standout individual talents, but rather a group of solid players who excelled together. Two key pieces on this roster include Smith, who signed as a free agent after playing in Chicago last season, and Carleton, who has been with the Lynx for six years.
Carleton earned 15 of 67 votes for Most Improved Player after more than doubling her number of goals and assists and increasing her field goal percentage by more than nine points. Smith, who is athletic enough to guard players inside the paint and on the perimeter, earned second-team All-Defense. She averaged a career-high in blocks and steals and had the second-best rebounding season of her career.
“It sounds very American of me, but (the) WNBA is (the) best league in the world, talent-wise, so when they are exposed to that and play against it, (then) come play in the league , it helps to grow the game individually and in their country,” Reeve said.
Ionescu is having a career year for the Liberty, but has played more of a supporting role in Paris. She only played 10 minutes in the final and didn’t score. But she delivered three perfect passes during her third-quarter substitution, which her teammates each converted into buckets in their 67-66 win over France.
The Olympics are a good reminder, Ionescu said, that hard work always pays off, even if it takes longer than expected. It also reinforces the importance of every contribution, no matter how small.
However, some players aren’t as quick to draw a line between national team success and WNBA success.
Fiebich, a Liberty star, said she tried to separate her national team responsibilities from those she did for New York because her role on each team was very different.
In Paris, Fiebich averaged 10.3 points and 3.5 rebounds for a German team that managed to reach its first knockout round in its Olympic debut. A 24-year-old rookie — she was drafted in 2020 but only signed a contract to come to New York this season — Fiebich finished second for Sixth Woman of the Year. She was also named to the All-Rookie team.
Smith said the biggest difference between the Olympics and the WNBA is that FIBA ball is punishable, requiring players to finish through contact.
“As a foreigner and not growing up in the United States – I went to college and that gave me a taste of American basketball – being able to play the American way and then “To compete in international games really helps you learn to adapt to different styles,” said Smith, who was named a FIBA five-star in Paris averaging 11.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists.
It is also inspired by the Olympic Games.
Smith knows that most people drool over a big 3 or crazy mid-range at the buzzer. But true to her defensive roots, Smith’s favorite Olympic moment came in the bronze medal game, when teammate Steph Talbot – a member of the Los Angeles Sparks – blocked what would have been a game-tying 3-pointer. Belgium late.
“It sticks in my mind so much,” Smith said. “It was a huge play that kept our momentum going.”
That’s the type of impact Smith plans to have for his team. And if she can’t do it in the Olympics, she’ll just do it in the WNBA Finals.
Email Lindsay Schnell at [email protected] and follow her on social media @Lindsay_Schnell
This article was originally published on USA TODAY: WNBA Finals: How the Paris Olympics experience helps the players
