Tag Archives: Phoenix Mercury

Diana Taurasi Named to U.S. National Team for Upcoming Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament

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Diana Taurasi is getting back in the international game…

The 41-year-old Argentine American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury, a five-time Olympic champion considered one of the greatest players in WNBA history, has been selected as part of the U.S. national team that will play in a pre-Olympic qualifying tournament in Belgium this week.

Diana TaurasiTaurasi is one of seven former Olympians on the roster.

She’s joined by Ariel Atkins, Napheesa Collier, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum, Breanna Stewart and Jackie Young.

Additionally, 2022 World Cup champions Kahleah Copper, Sabrina Ionescu and Alyssa Thomas will be part of the team.

Aliyah Boston and Rhyne Howard round out the squad. Both players will be making their debuts with the senior national team.

Former Olympians A’ja Wilson, Brittney Griner and Chelsea Gray are unavailable to play in Belgium this week.

The U.S., which has already qualified for the Olympics thanks to a gold-medal finish at the 2022 World Cup, will open play against host Belgium on Thursday. More than 14,000 tickets have been sold for that game, and coach Cheryl Reeve expects a loud crowd that will be rooting for the home team.

“We’re expecting to go over there and be in a really tough environment,” the U.S. coach said on Sunday at the end of a three-day training camp in New York. “There’ll be 14,000 people rooting against us. It’s obviously a really good team as we open it, open the tournament. I’m hoping to experience that adversity in a way that helps prepare us for the next step.”

Reeve also feels potential adversity will help the team get ready for the Paris Olympics, where the U.S. will be trying for an eighth consecutive gold medal.

“It’ll be illuminating as far as maybe what we need to do as a coaching staff. How we can better utilize players,” she said. “Those challenges are what we are looking forward to.”

The Americans will also face Nigeria and Senegal. The top two teams other than the Americans will qualify for the Paris Games.

There are three other qualifying tournaments in Brazil, China and Hungary being played at the same time to help round out the 12-team Olympics field. France also has already qualified as the host nation.

The Americans will have another training camp at the Final Four in Cleveland in April before getting together right before the Olympics in Phoenix for a few days.

is getting back in the international game…

The 41-year-old Argentine American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury, a five-time Olympic champion considered one of the greatest players in WNBA history, has been selected as part of the U.S. national team that will play in a pre-Olympic qualifying tournament in Belgium this week.

Taurasi is one of seven former Olympians on the roster.

She’s joined by Ariel Atkins, Napheesa Collier, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum, Breanna Stewart and Jackie Young.

Additionally, 2022 World Cup champions Kahleah Copper, Sabrina Ionescu and Alyssa Thomas will be part of the team.

Aliyah Boston and Rhyne Howard round out the squad. Both players will be making their debuts with the senior national team.

Former Olympians A’ja Wilson, Brittney Griner and Chelsea Gray are unavailable to play in Belgium this week.

The U.S., which has already qualified for the Olympics thanks to a gold-medal finish at the 2022 World Cup, will open play against host Belgium on Thursday. More than 14,000 tickets have been sold for that game, and coach Cheryl Reeve expects a loud crowd that will be rooting for the home team.

“We’re expecting to go over there and be in a really tough environment,” the U.S. coach said on Sunday at the end of a three-day training camp in New York. “There’ll be 14,000 people rooting against us. It’s obviously a really good team as we open it, open the tournament. I’m hoping to experience that adversity in a way that helps prepare us for the next step.”

Reeve also feels potential adversity will help the team get ready for the Paris Olympics, where the U.S. will be trying for an eighth consecutive gold medal.

“It’ll be illuminating as far as maybe what we need to do as a coaching staff. How we can better utilize players,” she said. “Those challenges are what we are looking forward to.”

The Americans will also face Nigeria and Senegal. The top two teams other than the Americans will qualify for the Paris Games.

There are three other qualifying tournaments in Brazil, China and Hungary being played at the same time to help round out the 12-team Olympics field. France also has already qualified as the host nation.

The Americans will have another training camp at the Final Four in Cleveland in April before getting together right before the Olympics in Phoenix for a few days.

Diana Taurasi Headlining USA Basketball’s Upcoming Exhibitions Against College Teams

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Diana Taurasi is ready to play ‘ball…

The 41-year-old Argentine American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury, considered to be one of the greatest players in WNBA history, and Brittney Griner will headline USA Basketball’s roster for its upcoming exhibitions against college teams as well as November training camp.

Diana TaurasiUSA Basketball is eyeing its eighth consecutive gold medal at the 2024 Paris Games next summer.

The exhibitions — against Tennessee on November 5 (SEC Network/ESPN App, 6:00 pm ET) and Duke on November 12 (ACC Network Extra/ESPN App, noon ET) — and training camp (November 7-9) are held in preparation for the Games and to evaluate the program’s player pool.

The U.S. will also participate in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in February before holding another training camp at the Final Four. The team is coached by the Minnesota Lynx‘s Cheryl Reeve, with Mike Thibault and Curt Miller serving as assistants.

Griner and Taurasi, who turned 41 in June and is a five-time Olympic gold medalist, will join Kahleah Copper, Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard, Sabrina Ionescu and Azura Stevens on the roster for both college exhibitions.

It will be the first USA Basketball competition for Griner, a two-time Olympian, since her nearly nine-month detainment in Russia last year.

WNBA Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston, Ariel Atkins, Betnijah Laney and Jackie Young will suit up in the exhibition vs. Tennessee, while Dearica Hamby, Natasha Howard, Arike Ogunbowale and Kelsey Plum are on the roster in place of those four for the Duke matchup.

Young and Plum recently won the 2023 WNBA title with the Las Vegas Aces.

Two-time Olympian Angel McCoughtry will join the group at training camp in Atlanta.

Skydance Sports & Meadowlark Media Developing Project That Highlights the Life & Career of Diana Taurasi

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Diana Taurasi’s life story is getting the Hollywood treatment…

Skydance Sports, the sports content division of Skydance Media, has agreed to a partnership with Meadowlark Media for the production of unscripted sports content, including a special project dedicated to the 39-year-old Argentine American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).

Diana Taurasi

The project is billed as the definitive, authorized chronicle of the life and career of Taurasi, considered one of the greatest female basketball players of all time.

Taurasi, the most accomplished player in the history of women’s basketball, whose accolades include three NCAA titles, three WNBA titles, five Olympic gold medals, multiple European League championships and numerous individual honors.

 

Her penchant for scoring in crucial situations has earned her the nickname “White Mamba“, coined by Kobe Bryant.

The companies are also co-producing Good Neighbors, a docuseries on what is arguably the world’s greatest soccer rivalry—that between the U.S. and Mexican men’s national teams. It’s currently in production and will debut in front of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Skydance Media is a diversified media company founded by David Ellison in 2010, which is active across film, television, Interactive, Animation, New Media and Sports, with studios in Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, Spain and Canada. Recent releases from the company include The Tomorrow War and Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse for Amazon Prime, each of which became the streamer’s number one film on the week of their release.

Meadowlark Media is a content studio and creator network founded last year by Skipper and radio and podcast host Dan Le Batard that develops premium content for third-party buyers across audio, video and digital.

Diana Taurasi Becomes Oldest Player in WNBA History with 30-Point Game

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Diana Taurasi is making sports history once again…

The 39-year-old Argentine American professional basketball player, who became the first Latinx basketball player with five Olympic gold medals at the 2020 Tokyo Games, scored a playoff career-high 37 points to lead Phoenix Mercury to a 117-91 victory over the Las Vegas Aces to even their WNBA semifinal series at a game apiece.

Diana Taurasi

At 39, the 17th-year WNBA veteran has become the oldest player to record a 30-point game, regular season or postseason, in league history. And Taurasi accomplished the feat despite an injured left ankle that has limited her mobility and non-game-day availability.

“As you get older, you want to be in practice and you want to be in rhythm, but that’s when you’ve really got to lock in and kind of lean on your experiences that you’ve had in this league for a long time,” said Taurasi, who was 10-of-13 from the field, including 8-of-11 from 3-point range.

“When you have games like this, you just enjoy them and they feel a lot better when you come out with the win.”

It was also her record eighth 30-point playoff game.

“When you get long in the tooth, like I am, you have to take advantage of these situations,” she said. “And I don’t mean go out there and try to get 40 or 35, but be really locked in and be in the moment, and that’s what I’m trying to do every single time we get together right now. Because these moments don’t come very often.”

Taurasi missed the Mercury’s Round 1 playoff win against the New York Liberty with the ankle injury and scored 14 points in Phoenix’s Round 2 overtime win against the Seattle Storm.

She added 20 points in the Mercury’s Game 1 loss to Las Vegas despite being obviously hobbled. But Aces coach Bill Laimbeer insisted after that game that she was not hurt — in a manner of speaking.

“This is the playoffs — nobody’s hurt,” he said at the time. “I’ve been there and done that. All my friends have been there and done that. There’s no sympathy factor in the playoffs.

“And she will not give any quarter, either. Make sure of that one, OK? She will cut your heart out in a second. So, she’s not hurt. We’re going to play her as though she’s full speed and ready to go and everything like that. That’s how we do business. If we think otherwise, we put ourselves at a disadvantage.”

It did not matter in Game 2, not with center Brittney Griner dominating early — 16 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks in the first quarter — and Taurasi putting on her shooting clinic late.

While Taurasi’s eight 3-pointers were the second-most made in a playoff game in postseason history, she was also 7-of-8 (5-of-6 on 3-pointers) on contested field goal attempts.

Taurasi was 6-for-6 and scored 20 points while guarded by WNBA Sixth Player of the Year Kelsey Plum and 3-of-5 for 10 points while guarded by Chelsea Gray.

Game 3 is Sunday in Arizona.

“She’s not 100 percent, but she hasn’t gotten worse, and that’s the most important thing for us right now,” Mercury coach Sandy Brondello said. “Just get her ready for the next game. And what makes Diana special, we know she’s mentally tough, and I don’t think there’s any other player built like her in that department.

“She still has pain. … She just plays. It says a lot about her as a player, doesn’t it? I’ve seen many great games from Diana, but none as big as this one in the situations where she hasn’t been able to train and is not 100%. So, credit to her, and it’s fun to watch.”

Marta Xargay Leads Spain to Women’s EuroBasket Title

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Marta Xargayhas helped her country earn a special repeat…

The 28-year-old Spanish professional basketball player, who has played for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and Spain’s women’s national basketball team, led her team with 23 points to give Spain an 86-66 win over France in the Women’s EuroBasket championship on Sunday.

Marta Xargay

It was Spain’s fourth title overall in the biennial event, as the Spaniards previously won in 1993, 2013 and 2017. Spain is the first country to win this title back-to-back since the Soviet Union’s run of 17 championships in a row from 1960 to 1991.

Xargay’s teammate Astou Ndourhad four points Sunday but averaged 14.8 for the tournament and was named MVP..

New York Liberty guard Bria Hartley, a former UConn standout, had 17 points and four assists for France. Hartley is among several current WNBA players who’ll be headed back to their teams now that EuroBasket has concluded.

Former WNBA player Sandrine Gruda, who was part of the Los Angeles Sparks‘ 2016 WNBA championship team, led France with 18 points.

With their results at EuroBasket, Spain, France, Serbia, Great Britain, Sweden and Belgium earned the right to represent Europe in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournamentsfor the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Taurasi & Team USA Win Gold in Women’s Basketball at the 2016 Rio Games

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2016 Rio Games

Diana Taurasi is still golden…

The 34-year-old half-Argentinean American basketball player and Team USA defeated Spain in the gold medal game Saturday, 101-72, to give the US its sixth consecutive Olympic gold.

Diana Taurasi

Taurasi, who led the way with a team-high 17 points, two rebounds, three assists and two steals, is now a four-time Olympic gold medalist.

The United States is now a perfect 5-0 against Spain in Olympic play.

This was the first Olympic gold medal for Taurasi’s Phoenix Mercury teammate, Brittney Griner. The reigning WNBA MVP, Elena Delle Donne, also won her first Olympic gold.

The other Team USA star veterans Sue Bird, who sat out with a sprain knee in the semifinal win over France, and Tamika Catchings added another gold medal to their career — matching Taurasi with a fourth in Rio.

Diana Taurasi

This could be the final Olympic appearance for the three WNBA icons.

With the loss, Spain finished with the silver. Serbia won bronze after defeating France earlier Saturday. This marked the first time on the podium for the countries in women’s basketball.

The U.S. women’s basketball Olympic play win streak was improved to an unmatched 49 games.