Preview >> USA Women vs. China

USA (1-0)
China (1-0)

TV: Live at 8:00 a.m. on USA, USA HD
*All times listed are Eastern Daylight Time.

In the 2008 Olympics
Host country China withstood a late scoring run from Spain to open its 2008 Olympic play with a three-point victory, 67-64, Saturday at Wukesong Arena. Chinese forward Bian Lan led the way with a 15-point, 12-rebound double-double, followed by 12 points and eight rebounds from China's 6-6 center Nan Chen. China outrebounded Spain 48-35 and shot 40.7 percent from the field, including 5-of-9 from 3-point and just 38.0 percent (19-50 FGs) inside the arc.

Aug. 9: China vs. Spain � Stats

A Little History
Automatically qualified for the 2008 Olympics as the host country, China has placed its medal hopes in the hands of veteran international coach Tom Maher, who piloted Australia to silver in the 2000 Olympics and New Zealand to the quarterfinals in 2004. Looking to improve upon China's ninth place finish in 2004, China competed in the 2007 FIBA World League Tournament, faced several U.S. collegiate teams this past fall and earned the gold medal at the Good Luck Beijing Tournament in April. En route to it's 5-1 record in the Olympic test event in April, China bested a U.S. team consisting of national team and other players in the tourney's gold medal game, 84-81.

Overall, the USA owns a 4-0 record against China in Olympic play, including a 100-62 victory when the two teams met in Athens in 2004. China's best Olympic finish came in 1992 with a silver medal, and the country also medaled in 1984 with a bronze medal finish. The USA last played China at the 2006 FIBA World Championships, recording a 119-72 win.

The Scouting Report
USA assistant coach Gail Goestenkors
What do we know about China?
China beat us in the friendship tournament that we were in this past April, so we have a great amount of respect for them. I think they are a team that just continues to improve over the years, and their sights have been set on this Olympics. I'm sure that they will be focused and ready to play. They have five outstanding players that play really well together. They've trained together over the past four years, and the way they play you can see that they really have a great understanding for one another on the court. They shoot the ball extremely well from the 3-point line, they spread the floor out and they'll also look to penetrate on you. We have a size advantage, and we need to exploit that, especially on the inside. They tend to switch on screens, so we need to recognize those mismatches and take advantage.

Of the five scorers you mentioned, who is the most dangerous?
Well, number 15, Nan Chen, she's their big, left-handed post player, and she's one of their leading scorers. She's hard to defend because she can come out of the paint, she's athletic and she tends to drive left because she's left-handed. She does an excellent job for them, but they have four players averaging in double figures, so it's really a balanced attack. You are never quite sure on any given night who might hurt you.

With a size advantage, do we want to slow the game down?
One of our greatest strengths is our athleticism, our speed and our running game, and I think the greatest advantage we have in the Olympics is our depth. Nobody has 12 players that are as good as our 12 players. In the Czech game you saw our depth. Our bench was such a factor because we just wore Czech down. I think that's the game plan we are going to have with most teams. They might have an excellent starting five or a top seven, but player for player down the roster, nobody can compete with us when we all understand our roles. So, we'll continue to push the ball, play pressure defense, pick up full court and try to wear teams down.

What do we expect out of China defensively?
Defensively they play pressure defense, and they like to switch on screens a lot. The good thing for us is we just played Czech, and they switch on screens as well. You don't see that often, but we're going to see it two games in a row. That should help us because it will give us more of a comfort level having just had to attack a switching defense, and actually, that should play to our advantage.