Olympics 2024: Opals run rampant as Alice Kunek, Isobel Borlase, star in thumping of China
If Sandy Brondello considered leaving Alice Kunek or young gun Isobel Borlase out of her final squad for Paris, the Opals coach might face a swift rethink after the pair combined to rock China in a 28-point demolition job in the lead-up to the Olympics.
If Sandy Brondello was thinking of leaving scoring machine Alice Kunek or teen young gun Isobel Borlase out of her final Olympic squad, the Opals coach might be facing a swift rethink after the pair combined to rock China with a 28-point demolition job.
Duking it out for precious few seats on the plane to Paris, Australia’s WNBL and Europe-based ballers sent a shockwave through the Olympic build up of a near full-strength China, stunning the world No. 2, 94-66 at Melbourne’s John Cain Arena.
With seven likely first team members in the US on WNBA duties and the GOAT Lauren Jackson — the best performer in the team’s training camp, about to embark on a remarkable fifth Olympiad, aged 43 — almost certain to travel, on-the-cusp Opals Kunek, Garbin and Borlase each staked claims on the four or five spots up for grabs in the final Olympic 12.
“Sometimes we expect the Lauren Jackson of the bronze medal game (Women’s World Cup), but I think she’s the fittest she’s ever been, it’s crazy,” said Opals coach Cheryl Chambers.
“Sometimes when you have someone at the caliber of Lauren, everything can go through her but I thought we flew around her and we got to score.
“She’s great on the offensive rebounds, she got some rebounds and taps, so she had a really good performance.”
Kunek, the Caulfield Grammar product, who won the 2022 Hungarian league title with Sopron alongside star forward Ezi Magbegor and spent last season in the WNBL with Townsville, might have punched her ticket, hitting on 8-10 shots for an equal game-high 19 points.
The 26-year-old displayed her full arsenal, singeing the net from deep to draw out the Chinese defenders, then switching to using her strength and length to put it on the floor and muscle her way past them for easy lay-ups.
Not to be outdone, 19-year-old Borlase, drafted by Atlanta with the 20th pick in this year’s WNBA draft, produced a similar efficient mix of inside-outside scoring to emulate her teammate’s 19 points, three assists indicative of the playmaking panache that has underpinned her steady rise with Adelaide Lightning in the WNBL.
There’s a school of thought that the teen has plenty of time to wear the green and gold, which could count against her, but Wednesday night’s effort might make that a moot point for selectors.
“It’s super exciting. Being only 19 I never would’ve thought that an Olympics would be so close and within my reach,” Borlase said post-match.
“I know there’s a lot of time for me to make an Olympic team, but the fact that’s right there, I hope it comes true.”
“I was at the World Cup in 2022 and I looked up to all these girls and was so amazed with what they could do.
“I can’t believe I’m in this environment, I’ve loved being able to travel with all the girls and I’m getting to know them, I’m coming out of my shell as well so it’s really nice.”
And Garbin, the tough, understated tall, who, like Kunek, owns a Hungarian league title, won this year with Diósgyőri VTK, produced a timely reminder of the hustle and skill she can bring in her first game on home soil in two years.
The 30-year-old, whose sister Sophie owns netball World Cup gold with the Australian Diamonds, punched in three triples on her way to 15 points and grabbed five rebounds and two steals — playing pretty much exactly how she described her role, pre-game.
“My role — and it will be the same if I’m selected in the final team — is to come on, I know that I can lock down on D, I can switch on the on-balls if they need me to, I can come down and knock in a three if they need me too and I can rebound,” she told Code Sports earlier this week.
“So I think those are the things I need to bring and stay super aggressive in that, make sure I can control where I am defensively and when I’m open, make sure I knock down those shots.”
Objective achieved on night one.
They might have been pitted against each other for higher honours but that didn’t stop the trio from sharing the rock. On one play in the third quarter, Kunek ran the break, finding Garbin in the paint, who kicked it out to Borlase in the corner, allowing the young gun to blow by her defender for an easy lay-up.
China returned almost a full cast from the team that broke the Opals’ hearts by two points in the semi final of the 2022 World Cup in Sydney, relying heavily on veteran clutch queen Wang Siyu (21 points) and intimidating 211cm giant Han Xu (11 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks).
Whether coach Zheng Wei showed all her cards is up for debate, but there’s no doubt the monster result will have some in the red camp nervous.
UNBELIEVABLE GOAT
Jackson’s radar was a little off on Wednesday night — 13 points on 3-10 shooting — but her performances in camp have been incredible, Garbin told Code Sports.
Asked who had distinguished themselves, Garbin did not hesitate: “Is it cliche to say LJ?”
“It’s unbelievable, I have no words,” Garbin said.
“Before one session, I was sitting in the hotel lobby waiting to leave for somewhere and she’s rolled in, she’s been at work for a couple of hours, come back to the hotel to be a mum to two very active boys and then she’s on the court just absolutely getting buckets.
“I think she scored 11 points in a row for her team to get them the win in one scrimmage.
“As someone who grew up watching her, to now to be on the same court as her and watching her be just as good as she’s ever been is so surreal.”
YOU DON’T MESS WITH LJ
It got physical between China tall Sun Mengran and Jackson late in the first half.
Clearly aware of the GOAT’s gravity, Mengran decided to wrap Jackson up in a bearhug as she prepared to launch for a rebound.
Jackson was having none of it, flinging Mengran’s arms away with disgust and scowling over her shoulder as she stormed back down the court.
A short time later, Opals point guard Maddie Rocci was unceremoniously dumped in a heavy collision with Yang Shuyu.
It might have only been an exhibition game, but it was played with the intensity of a gold medal battle.
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