End of an excellent adventure

New Zealand saved their best basketball until last at the Olympic games. They were beaten, but far from disgraced, in a 96-60 loss to the USA.

Jillian was a standout performer, a key figure in negating the athleticism of the US with some serious defensive hustle. She had the game-high seven rebounds. She thought, "It was a pretty exciting opportunity. Most of us grew up watching these girls. I think I was 10 years old when Lisa Leslie played in her first Olympics. It was a good experience. We played pretty well, all things considered."

Coach McHugh was delighted with the Tall Ferns' play, "We stood up, we fought and the poise we played with against possibly the best team in the world... I'm just really proud."

Here are the game report and the box score.

Here are some clips from an audio slide show of a Tall Ferns' practice session in Beijing:

and from the NBC game video:

The Tall Ferns did not attend the Olympic opening ceremony, opting instead to prepare for their game against Mali the next morning, but they will stay in Beijing through the end of the games and participate in the closing ceremonies.

So ends Jillian and Clare's excellent adventure!

Next up, USA!

The Tall Fern's final Olympics game is against the USA. They do not expect to win this one.

• Coach McHugh: “I don’t think you’ll find a person in the world who would put $10 on us to beat the Americans.”


• TV New Zealand basketball commentator Tim Neverett: "The way the USA have played over the last several Olympics and with this team they have here this year, I hate to say it but the only way that New Zealand wins that game is if the United States bus breaks down on the way to the gymnasium."

Although it probably won't be a great basketball game, it will at last give Cardinal fans a chance to see Jillian and Clare in the Olympics. The game will actually be played on Sunday morning at 7:15 am Pacific Time.

In Palo Alto, with DirectTV, the game is scheduled to be televised on Sunday from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm on NBC11. To determine when/where you can see it, click Update Localization Preferences at the bottom of that web page and specify your location and service provider.

Tall Ferns lose to Czech Republic

In their third game of the Olympics, the Tall Ferns were defeated 90-59 by the Czech Republic, who monstered them in the size department and outclassed them in the skill one too.

Coach McHugh's assessment of the Czech team says it all: "Too big, too strong, too quick, too good."

Here are game reports, from Stuff New Zealand and from Basketball New Zealand, and the box score.

Although the outcome was never in doubt, there is some controversy about the game, as there so often is about Olympic events. The Czech coach was criticized for running up the score long after their win was assured. Here is a report from TV New Zealand.

You can see the entire game in this video from NBC. Here is a clip from the video of Jillian and Clare during the pregame playing of the New Zealand national anthem.

About Jillian

Ann Killion writes about Jillians's trip from the NCAA title game in Tampa to her Olympic experience in Beijing and beyond, to next season in Maples, in this article from the Mercury News.

This article from the New Zealand Stratford Press reports on Jillian's visit several weeks ago with her New Zealand relatives in Taranaki.

Tall Ferns lose to China

The Tall Ferns lost their third Olympic game, to China, 80-63. China has a big, experienced team, and the loss was no surprise. 

The teams played even in the second half, but New Zealand could not overcome China's strong start. Jillian had another great game, with 14 points and eight rebounds. Coach McHugh says that she's been their best player through the tournament. The second-half performance gives the Tall Ferns a glimmer of hope for a win over their next opponent, the Czech Republic.

Here are games reports, from Basketball New Zealand and from Stuff New Zealand, and the box score.

Tall Ferns lose to Spain

Jillian was outstanding in the Tall Fern's second Olympic game -- she led all scorers with 22 points and had five rebounds, three assists and a steal -- but it wasn't enough to stop a determined Spanish team, who won 85-62. Here are the game report and the box score.

Jillian is a rock as NZ women open with 76-72 win over Mali

Jillian Harmon scored 12 points and had 8 rebounds in 28 minutes helping the Tall Ferns of New Zealand win their opening game against Mali.

Here's a complete boxscore from the official Olympics website

From the Tall Ferns website: Shooter KATE MCMEEKEN-RUSCOE left her scoring run until late, but responded with two of the biggest baskets of her career to present New Zealand with a 76-72 win over Mali in the opening round of pool games at the Beijing Olympics. The Kiwi women led for most of the contest, but found themselves down by three points late in the fourth quarter before McMeeken-Ruscoe, scoreless to that point, struck with a three-pointer to tied the scores. More at the Tall Ferns website.

Here's another article.

Tall Ferns Prep for Olympics + Game Schedule + Video

The NZ TALL FERNS began the final touches of their Olympic preparation with a 63-71 loss to European side Belarus in Beijing.

In their first competitive outing since early June, the Kiwi women got out to a bright start to lead through the opening quarter, but fell behind during the second period and could not wrestle back the initiative. Here you'll find the complete story. You will find the upcoming Olympic game schedule here.

Here's a video of the team's arrival at the Great Wall in June -- you'll catch both Jillian and Clare in the video.

Clare & Jillian enjoy a cuppa

The Tall Ferns may not have the greatest women's basketball team in the world, but they will have their own Olympic barista who expects to serve up to 500 cups of coffee a day in Beijing.

Will that give the Kiwis a leading edge?

Not for Clare and Jillian -- they both are partial to a cuppa, but Clare refrains before a game, and Jillian prefers tea.

Read more ...

Not this time for Candice

The final three members of the U.S. women's Olympic basketball team were announced yesterday by everyone except USA Basketball, which finally did that this morning. They are Tamika Catchings, Kara Lawson and DeLisha Milton-Jones. Candice will have to wait until 2012 to be an Olympian.

Here is the official announcement and the complete roster.

Clare & Jillian will be Stanford's 3rd & 4th Olympians

There were no box scores published during the Beijing Good Luck Tournament, so we had little idea of how Jillian was doing and none at all about Clare.

Information about their performance during the tournament has now been published, and it's very impressive.  Jillian averaged 11.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Clare, who started all six games, scored 5.7 points and 1.7 rebounds per game and hit 50% of her 3-point attempts.

No wonder they were named to the New Zealand Olympic team  yesterday!  They'll be the 3rd & 4th Olympic players in Stanford Women's Basketball history. Read more...

Clare & Jillian on NZ Olympic team

The New Zealand Olympic committee named the Tall Ferns Olympic team today for Beijing 2008, and both Clare and Jillian made the final cut! Here's the full story and a brief report from Radio New Zealand that highlights Clare and Jillian. The team faces a really tough Olympic schedule. Only their first game should be an easy one -- against Mali on August 9. Then they will play Spain, China, Czech Republic and the USA. Before that the Ferns are playing a "domestic series" in July (no details published) and an unspecified pre-Olympic tournament in China

Hot shots, secret weapons, dinkum kiwis ...

In anticipation of the announcement of the Kiwi Olympic team on Monday,  New Zealand TV3 introduced Stanford University hotshots Clare and Jillian with this story and video.

Clare & Jillian competing for spot on Olympic team

Clare and Jillian are on the 14-member squad of Tall Ferns that are competing for the 12 places on the Olympic team. The squad is being evaluated this weekend during a three-day camp in Christchurch. Read more...

Jillian's chances are good, according to this article.

Tour ends with another disappointing loss

The Tall Ferns ended their European tour with another very disappointing loss to the Czech Republic, 46-73.

Of particular concern to Cardinal fans is whether Clare and Jillian will continue to be Tall Ferns. The tour has thrown the Olympic selection wide open -- the players left at home are still very much in the running. No box scores of these games were published, so we have little idea of Clare's and Jillian's standings.

Jillian should be OK -- she was the top scorer and rebounder twice, and her averages per game in the Good Luck Beijing Tournament were 25 minutes,  11.7 points and 6.3 rebounds.

We know less of Clare, and nothing at all about her performance as a point guard in ways that don't show up in box scores.

The Tall Ferns will be back in New Zealand until the pre-Olympic games in China the first week of August. Read more...

Not-so-tall Ferns lose to tall Czech beauties

I love the hyperbole of Kiwi sports reporting -- or maybe it's just coach Mc Hugh.

The Tall Ferns' 51-72 loss to the Czech Republic was described as a "Brain Explosion". Sounds worse than an ACL, but  apparently just means that their basketball intelligence last night was not very good.

The Ferns were also height-challenged.  McHugh said, "They're all 6' 5" beauty queens who can shoot the three. What are we doing to do about it?"  Actually only three of the Czech players are 6"5" or 6"6"; I know nothing of their shooting ability; you can judge their beauty yourself. Read more...

Czech National Team

Jillian and the Ferns rebound

The Tall Ferns rebounded from their prior two games with another win (69-60) over Angola. Jillian contributed ten rebounds to the victory.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find box scores for any of these friendly FIBA games, so don't have any additional information about Jillian's or Clare's performance.

The Ferns complete their European tour with two difficult games against the ninth-ranked Czech Republic on  Wednesday and Thursday. It's a fairly short trip (about 1000 miles) from Madrid to Brno, so jet lag will not be a factor. Read more...

Agonizing loss to Japan

The Tall Ferns suffered what they describe as an agonizing 67-71 loss to Japan in the third outing of their European tour. Jillian seems to be recovering from her jet lag -- she scored 10 points.

The team gets to rest on Sunday, except for coach McHugh's promised intensive video session, before a short trip back to Madrid for another game against Angola. Read more...

Tall Ferns lose to Spain

The Tall Ferns lost the second game of their European tour to Spain, 77-58.

Jillian, who is reported to be suffering from fatigue, was able to contribute only 15 minutes and two points to the effort.

Here is the game report from the Tall Ferns and another from New Zealand TV3.

The Tall Ferns stay in Valencia for their next game tomorrow against Japan. Coach McHugh thinks they can win that one.

European tour off to a good start

The Tall Ferns defeated Angola 63-55 in the first game of their "friendly" tour of Europe. Jillan and Angela Marino led the scoring with 14 points apiece. Jillian also had nine rebounds.

Next up -- a daunting match against juggernaut Spain (who defeated Angola by 30 two nights ago). Read more...

Tough road trip for Ferns

Coach Mike McHugh and the Tall Ferns are off on a tough road trip to Spain and the Czech Republic. They'll play six games in nine days against teams that will be competing the following week for the final five Olympic positions:

May 28 v Angola in Madrid
May 30 v Spain in Valencia
May 31 v Japan in Valencia
June 2 v Angola in Madrid
June 4 v Czech Republic in Brno
June 5 v Czech Republic in Brno

Read more...

What next for Jillian and Clare?

Jillian and Clare are on the squad that will tour Spain and the Czech Republic May 28 - June 5 to play Angola, Spain, Japan and the Czech Republic, as reported by the Tall Ferns. 

Those four teams are among those who will be competing for the final five Olympic positions, as explained by USA Basketball. That competition will take place in Madrid June 9-15. If you don't know how Jillian and Clare became Tall Ferns, or would  like to read about it again, here are two accounts of the whole saga, beginning with Clare's email to "Whom it may concern":

• From the New Zealand Herald 
• From the San Francisco Chronicle

Jillian & Clare visit the Great Wall

A report from Candice

Candice tells us a bit about her experiences in  China and what it's like being a  Team USA rookie in this WNBA blog.

USA team tours Beiing "must see" spots

Members of the USA team took some time after the Good Luck Beijing Tournament to tour the Great Wall and Tian'anmen Square. Here is the complete photo gallery.

Two close losses

USA Basketball and New Zealand both lost their final game in the Good Luck Beijing Tournament by just three points.

New Zealand led most of the game, but succumbed to Korea's 3-point shooting in the third quarter for a final score of 67-70. Jillian led all scorers with 20 points, and had six rebounds. Here is the game report and the box score.

Although the Tall Ferns  won only one game in the tournament, coach McHugh was impressed with what they accomplished. He feels that the experience was of tremendous benefit to them in their preparations for the Olympics in August.

Both Clare and Jillian made valuable  contributions throughout the week.  

Clare started all five games and played an average of 19 minutes per game.  She averaged 5.7 points per game and  led the team in 3-point percentage (50).

Jilllian  played an average of  25 minutes per game.  She was the team's second-best scorer (11.7 points per game) and rebounder (6.3 per game).

---

China was determined to win the gold medal and defeated the USA 84-81. Quotes from the USA tell the story:

Anne Donovan:  "They played a tremendous game  ... really attacked us."
Katie Smith: "They were really aggressive."
Lisa Leslie: "They were all over us in the post."

Here is the game report and box score.

In spite of the unexpected defeat by China, the USA is still favored to win its fifth gold medal in the upcoming Olympic Games. The loss, as Lisa Leslie said, "... is enough motivation to drive me to be even better for the Olympics and be totally focused ... It's a reality check."

The primary strength of this USA squad was their post play -- Sylvia Fowles averaged the team-high 17 points and  10.5 rebounds per game; Lisa Leslie averaged 14.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game . 

Candice played a fairly modest role in the mostly very experienced group of players. Although her statistics are not impressive, she contributed a lot to the team effort. She played an average of 21 minutes per game, scored 5.3 points per game, and led the team in steals (7).

---

On Saturday afternoon, between the bronze and gold medal games, FIBA  conducted the draw for the Olympic men's and women's basketball competition.  The USA and New Zealand women will play each other again in Beijing on August 17th. Here is a full report  and a video of the draw ceremony.

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Here is a summary report of the entire tournament from Beijing.

Opals lose their lustre

Here's another article about New Zealand's historic defeat of Australia yesterday in the Good Luck Beijing Tournament.

Remember how exciting it was when the Cardinal defeated Tennessee last December for the first time in eleven years?  The Kiwi's defeat of the Opals was the first time in thirty (30) years! How thrilling for Jillian and Clare to be part of this momentous event!

USA defeats China

USA's powerful post play, primarily from Lisa and Sylvia,  overwhelmed China who lost today  86-61. 

Candice contributed two points and one steal  to the victory.

Here is the game report from USA Basketball and the box score.

This completes the preliminary rounds of the Good Luck Beijing Tournament. The USA and China have each won four and lost one. They will meet again on Saturday in the Gold Medal game.

Go Ferns!

The New Zealand Tall Ferns defeated Australia 63-59 in the last preliminary game of the Good Luck Beijing Tournament!

The Kiwi's historic victory over their rivals in sport, but their allies in battle, happened on ANZAC Day:

The term ANZAC originated as an acronym for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, an army corps of Australian and New Zealand troops who fought against the Turks in 1915 at the Battle of Gallipoli during World War I. Within Australasia, ANZAC came to stand not just for the troops in World War I, but for Australian and New Zealand soldiers in time of war more generally. Anzac Day is observed annually in memory of those soldiers who died in war. It is commemorated each year by both countries on April 25, the date of the first landing at Gallipoli in 1915 on a beach known as ANZAC Cove. (Thanks, Wikipedia)

Coach McHugh observed, "... we just hung in there through pure guts and determination." 

Sounds like Jillian, doesn't it?   Jillian led the Tall Ferns to their first-ever victory over Australia. She had a double-double: the team-high 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Here is a the game report from the Tall Ferns and the box score.

New Zealand will play Korea on Saturday in the 5th/6th place playoff match of the tournament. <

Good Luck Beijing, Day 5

Although the USA cut down the Tall Ferns 78-60, coach Mike McHugh was delighted with the Kiwi's performance against their much bigger and more athletic rivals.

The Kiwi's were outrebounded 55-35, but outscored the USA by eight points in the second half.  Anne Donovan  admired their just not quitting  and said, "They certainly made it an interesting game there at the end."

Candice contributed seven points for the USA, including two free throws.  She is not drawing fouls  driving to the basket like she did as a Cardinal (these were her first in the tournament).  I wonder if Jillian is the one who committed the fouls.

Here is more information:

• Game report from Tall Ferns 
• Game report from USA Basketball
• Box score

JIllian's Dream

Here's a great story from the Oregonian  about the chain of events that led Jillian to the fulfillment of her  childhood dream of playing in the Olympics.

(Here is a refreshingly candid report of yesterday's loss to China from the Tall Ferns website.)

Good Luck Beijing, Day 3

Anne Donovan was really pleased with USA Basketball's defensive effort against South Korea. I guess! They won 92-56 against a team that averages almost 80 points a game.

Candice shot 62.5% for eleven points. She added eight rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Here is the link to the game report from USA Basketball, which includes links to the box score, postgame quotes and a photo gallery.

New Zealand had a disappointing third loss (99-73) against China.  There is no report of the game from New Zealand, but here  is a brief report and the box score from the Good Luck Beijing website.

USA and New Zealand play each other on Wednesday after a day of rest. When asked what it will be like playing against Jillian, Candice replied, "No, there hasn't been any [trash] talking, but it's going to be weird. I've never played against Jill ... I think they're really excited, they've been playing really well so it should be fun."

Good Luck Beijing, Day 2

As they had anticipated after yesterday's loss, USA Basketball played better and won over Cuba 92-60. Sylvia Fowles had a monster game: 25 points, 18 rebounds and six blocked shots.  Candice contributed  seven points, five assists and three rebounds. Katie Smith said of Candice, "[She] got a couple looks, got a couple shots to go down to get her confidence going."

Here is the game report from USA Basketball, with links to the box score and postgame quotes.

New Zealand played a high-scoring game against Korea, but lost 78-90. Jillian shot an impressive 57% and scored 18 points, as well as seven rebounds and four assists! Coach McHugh said,  "Harmon had a super game for us tonight and will be a real asset to this team."

Here is the game report from the Tall Ferns, with a link to the box score.

The Good Luck Beijing website has statistics and photo galleries (as of this blog posting, there are no galleries yet for the Day 2 games, but there should be later today).

Hard Luck Beijing

Day 1 of the Good Luck Beijing Tournament didn't go well for either of "our" teams.

USA lost to Australia 60-74. Coach Anne Donovan was of course disappointed with the result, but thought the team did a nice job after four days of practice. They know that they are going to continue to improve and play better throughout the tournament.

The game was even until the last nine minutes. Then Australia went on a 13-3 run, and the USA never caught up.

The USA struggled with its outside shooting, to say the least. They made just 2-0f-19 from beyond the arc. Candice played 26 minutes and was 0-8 on 3-pointers.

Here is the full game report from USA Basketball. It includes a link to the box score.

New Zealand's loss to Cuba 71-75 was perhaps even more disappointing. New Zealand have come close to beating Cuba (ranked eighth in the world) several times over the past three years. They were ahead after three quarters, but couldn't hold them off down the stretch.

Clare started, played 18 minutes, scored seven points and had three steals. Jillian came off the bench, played 23 minutes, scored six points and had two rebounds. Here is the game report from the Tall Ferns and the box score from Beijing.

There is additional information on the Tournament website:

• The home page has a game report and quotes from each of the day's games.
• The results page has cumulative statistics for each team, which will be interesting as the tournament progresses. Star List apparently will have individual player statistics. The box score for each game is linked to from the game result.
• The gallery page has a gallery of photos from each of the day's games. There's another photo of Jillian here.
• The video page includes a video of the NZ/Cuba postgame interview. Each participant speaks in their own language, but about all you can hear is the Chinese translation. The videos do not play on a Mac.

Good Luck Beijing schedule

Good Luck Beijing, the international invitational tournament, starts tomorrow (April 19). For those in the Pacific Time zone, it actually starts very late tonight.

This is the schedule (PDT) of the preliminary round games for our Cardinal Olympians:

4/18, 11:30 pm, NZ vs Cuba
4/19, 1:45 am, USA vs Australia
4/19, 11:30 pm, USA vs Cuba
4/20 1:45 am, NZ vs Korea
4/20, 11:30 pm, USA vs Korea
4/21, 5:00 am, NZ vs China
4/23, 7:15 am, NZ vs USA
4/24, 5:00 am, USA vs China
4/24, 7:15 am, NZ vs Australia 

This is the complete schedule from the tournament website.

The USA vs Cuba and USA vs China games will be televised live by NBA TV. I haven't found any Gametracker coverage of the games -- we'll just have to wait for the results of the other games to be published.

Jillian is a warrior

The Tall Ferns were encouraged by their narrow loss to China in a friendly game before the Good Luck Beijing tournament. It was one of their best international performances in four years.

Jillian was a "warrior" in her international debut. She played 22 minutes and grabbed the team-high seven rebounds. Clare contributed five points, two assists and three steals.

Here are the full story and the box score.

Jillian and Clare have settled in well

Tall Ferns captain Aneka Kerr reports that Jillian and Clare have settled in really well.

The centimetre-disadvantaged centre (she's 5'-11.7" tall) should really welcome Jillian's defensive skills.

Photos from USA Basketball training in Chicago

This is Candice in her USA Basketball uniform. It's from a SportsPage Magazine photo gallery of the team training in Chicago. If you look through the photos carefully, you can catch a few more glimpses of Candice.

New Zealand vs USA

The Good Luck Beijing Tournament is an international invitational tournament which will be held April 19-26 in Beijing. The New Zealand vs USA game is scheduled for April 23. Here is the full schedule.

To convert the times shown in that schedule to Pacific Daylight time, subtract 15 hours. For example, the NZ/USA game is at 22:15 in Beijing, which is 7:15 a.m. PDT.

Candice is training for Olympic test event

Candice is one of the USA Basketball Women’s National Team members members who is training in Chicago for the Good Luck Beijing Tournament. Read more...

Clare & Jillian Are Tall Ferns

The Tall Ferns is the New Zealand national women's basketball team. Clare and Jillian have been selected to the squad that will play in the Good Luck Beijing Tournament.

Clare was named to the squad after attending a Tall Ferns training camp last week and playing in two games against the Australian Opals. She scored two of two three-pointers in the second game. Here is an article about Clare and her New Zealand connections.

Since Jillian was busy in Tampa, she was signed to the squad sight unseen based on her performances for Stanford. She joined the Tall Ferns in China this weekend. Here are two articles about Jillian from the Tall Ferns website, written just before the NCAA championship game: Twice as Nice and Calm Before the Storm.