VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France — In a textbook example of “that aged poorly,” a Japanese fan turned up Monday with a sign aimed at the U.S. women’s basketball team: “You need Caitlin Clark to beat us.”
Nothing could have been further from the truth. Despite a dreadful outside shooting performance, the Americans pressed their interior size advantage to dismantle Japan, 102-76, at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in their Olympic opener Monday. The two countries, who played for gold at the Tokyo Olympics, were in entirely different classes. The Americans, led by WNBA MVPs A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart, churned out paint points with ease against their undersized opponents. Japan, scrappy and focused on launching three-pointers, could only stay close for a half.
While the U.S. women have more than enough firepower to win their eighth straight Olympic gold medal without Clark, the Indiana Fever rookie who became a national sensation during her record-breaking college career at Iowa, they found it much harder to win hearts and minds during their opener. The manic fan excitement and intense media coverage that Clark has generated in WNBA arenas was nowhere to be found during the U.S. women’s opener, which tipped off at 9 p.m. local time about an hour north of Paris.
Indeed, the Americans played to a crowd that was considerably smaller and less engaged than those that greeted France and Spain in women’s games over the past two days. In the cavernous arena, which seats 27,000, entire sections of the middle tier and upper bowl were empty for United States-Japan. There were plenty of open spots in the media tribune; only two dozen or so reporters stuck around for postgame interviews. The fans in attendance favored Japan throughout — Japanese flags easily outnumbered American flags — before scattered “U-S-A!” chants broke out late in the fourth quarter.
“I was rooting for Japan, too,” quipped U.S. guard Diana Taurasi, citing its energetic style and underdog status.
Wilson, who also took note of the pro-Japan crowd, gave the American fans plenty to celebrate in a statement-making victory. The 27-year-old center scored eight of the United States’ first 10 points, including an end-to-end sequence in which she made a jumper, blocked a shot and then hit another jumper. Wilson finished with a team-high 24 points to go with 13 rebounds, four assists, and four blocks, looking very much like the best player on the planet.
Stewart enjoyed similar success, posting 22 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks. All told, the Americans outscored the Japanese 64-22 in the paint and dominated the rebounding battle 56-27.
Thanks to those wide margins, the United States was able to survive a 4-for-20 (20 percent) shooting night from outside, while Japan shot 15 for 39 (38.5 percent) from deep. U.S. guard Sabrina Ionescu said Coach Cheryl Reeve instructed the players at halftime to “not get bored” with what was working inside.
“We tried to punish them,” Wilson said. “Points in the paint and controlling the paint are going to be huge for us going forward. If we can continue that, we’re going to be in good shape.”
With two days of games in the books, it has become increasingly difficult to determine which international opponents will be able to slow Wilson and Stewart, much less stop them. China, Australia, Canada, and Belgium lost their Olympic openers despite being in the top seven of the FIBA world ranking. France looked very good while blowing out Canada on Monday, but its talent base still looks badly overmatched compared with the U.S. women.
Perhaps that helps explain why Clark’s towering presence continued to loom over the Olympic proceedings: The limited tension on the court pales in comparison to the uproar over USA Basketball’s announcement in June that she wouldn’t make the 12-player roster.
While that decision spawned weeks of debate given Clark’s status as the sport’s most popular player, Reeve has repeatedly stood by the selection committee’s choices. However, South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley, a member of the selection committee, said this week that Clark’s recent WNBA play could have changed their calculus.
“If we had to do it all over again, the way that she’s playing, she would be in high consideration of making the team because she is playing head and shoulders above a lot of people,” Staley said.
Clark, 22, and Angel Reese, her fellow rookie sensation, got their shot against the U.S. women’s team during the WNBA All-Star Game. When the newcomers came out on top, with Clark dishing assist after assist, the veteran-dominated national team had to lick its wounds and quickly regroup before embarking on its Olympic journey.
Even after a transatlantic flight, the U.S. women couldn’t escape Clark. A pair of German fans, Felicia and Judy, wore matching Iowa shirts bearing Clark’s name and No. 22 to Monday’s game. Both said they had a good time and were impressed by the U.S. team’s performance, but they rued Clark’s absence and laughed at the suggestion they could travel to Los Angeles to watch her in the 2028 Olympics.
“Of course we wanted to see her play,” Felicia said. “We’ve been following her since high school.”
The gap between the consistent greatness of the U.S. women’s players and the appreciation they receive remains vast. Media coverage and fan attendance will pick up once the tournament shifts to Paris for the knockout round next week, but Staley shouldn’t be the only person of influence to have second thoughts.
The U.S. women’s team was as dominant as its men’s counterpart again while receiving a fraction of the attention. Clark, ascendant on the court and unmatched when it comes to fame, surely would have made a difference.
