Women’s basketball World Cup news: Patty Mills speech helps inspire Opals

When Patty Mills speaks, people listen. Go inside the Australian star’s inspiring speech to the Opals and find out how they plan on heeding Mills’ lessons at the World Cup.

A Patty Mills talk about culture and handling pressure has the Australian Opals primed to seize the opportunity at this year’s home World Cup in Sydney.

Mills spoke to the entire Opals squad during the team’s training camp in New York in July.

Opals centre Cayla George says there wasn’t a stray eye in the room as every player locked in on the Australian Boomers and Brooklyn Nets guard.

“I don’t think there was any noise in the room or anyone even blinking or breathing,” George revealed to News Corp.

“It was just everyone’s eyes on Patty and waiting on every word he spoke.

“He was so engaging — it was really amazing.”

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Mills focused primarily on culture, specifically how he helped the Boomers break the men’s medal hoodoo with bronze in Tokyo on the back of building identity and understanding heritage within the playing group.

His story resonated with the Opals, who have long been the benchmark for international success having won countless silver and even a gold medal.

Boomers and Brooklyn Nets guard Patty Mills spoke to the Opals squad, including centre Cayla George. Picture: Basketball Australia.

George concedes cracks had appeared in the Opals’ culture in recent years, especially through dramas associated with star centre Liz Cambage.

Cambage is no longer part of the Australian program, and the culture has returned closer to its past glory years.

“It (Patty’s talk) was more about reconnecting with that Opals culture than the one we’ve just come from, which was more accepting of a few items that we shouldn’t have been just for the betterment of a superstar,” George said.

“Whereas in fact it was probably tearing up our culture without us realising while we were in it.

“And then on reflection we go, ‘damn, we probably should have handled that better’, but we are here now, and we’re excited to move forward.

“Our Opals culture, as long as I’ve been in the program, hasn’t been as strong as where it is at now.”

George also asked Mills a question about how he manages the bright lights of the NBA, and the pressure to perform that comes with the big stage.

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— Lauren Jackson AO OLY (@laurenej15) July 28, 2022

The Opals will face significant expectation as the host nation at this year’s World Cup, and the players are keen to nail the moment.

“The higher level you play, the higher pressure there is to perform,” George said.

“We’ll be on home soil at this World Cup and there will be expectation and now we’ve also got Lauren (Jackson).

“In Rio and Tokyo we weren’t able to meet that expectation.

“Patty spoke about how he deals with pressure, and it was a really insightful look into a small part of Patty’s world.”

The Opals open their World Cup campaign against France at Qudos Bank Arena on September 22 from 8.30pm.