Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Andrew Bogut on Liz Cambage, Opals’ basketball medal hopes

Liz Cambage is a world-class talent, and her absence will be a huge loss for the Opals. But they can still win a medal without her if they do one thing, writes Andrew Bogut.

Australian's pivot Liz Cambage (L) fights for the ball with Puerto Rico's wing Sofia Roma (R) during the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament match between Australia and Puerto Rico, on February 8, 2020, at the Prado stadium in Bourges, Center France. (Photo by GUILLAUME SOUVANT / AFP)

Liz Cambage is one of the world’s best players, but I think the crossroad has come where the Opals just might be better off without Liz from a team culture standpoint.

Liz’s off-court issues, including the altercation in the closed door pre-Olympic practice game against Nigeria, really started to have a negative impact on her teammates and coaches.

Of course, we must respect her mental health issues, and we send our best wishes, but her withdrawal means the Australian girls will now have a team who has fully bought in to their cultural standards and embrace the Opals legacy.

With the sole focus being back on basketball this will only benefit the players and coaches.

As much as the Opals can successfully move on without Cambage and play a small-ball style with the team’s shooting talent, it can’t be denied that Liz’s absence will be a huge loss at least on the court.

Liz is a world-class talent, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, so I have no doubt that they are going to feel the hit of that regardless of whether it is game one, two, three or four.

She is a WNBA MVP candidate in the last couple of years, so when you lose that off a roster it is definitely going to hurt you.

Could the Opals be a better team without Liz Cambage?

With the loss of Cambage, a player like Ezi Magbegor has the ability and potential to become the leader and presence in the paint.

I’m expecting Ezi to have a big tournament and for the Opals to have a chance, she needs to step up in Liz’s absence, but in saying that not one person can replace Liz on the court. This means the Opals will need a true team effort. Everyone will need to step up their games collectively to shoulder the load.

I believe the Opals’ exhibition win over the USA in Las Vegas was largely built off the emotion of week and I think this could galvanise the group moving forward.

I think they bounced back really well given the circumstances of Liz withdrawing from the team less than 24 hours earlier.

That whole situation had a really draining impact on the Opals players and staff, so to come out and beat the USA for the first time in 11 years was a fantastic effort.

Ezi Magbegor (left) will have to step up in the absence of Liz Cambage.

But the Americans, who are gunning for a historic seven straight gold medals, were also without star guard Diana Taurasi, who is one of the best female players in history.

Taurasi has helped the US win four gold medals while her record for America since 2000 is a remarkable 131-7.

So, let’s be honest, the all-conquering Americans will be even stronger in Tokyo as they look to create history with another gold and we cannot over evaluate lead in games to the real thing.

The Opals will need to find another gear to beat the US, and other teams, to win a medal without Cambage.

Andrew Bogut says the Opals could be better without Liz Cambage long-term.

Move forward I truly believes the Opals’ culture can be stronger without Cambage.

Off the court, you want the culture to reign supreme on a national team, and if that means you have to move on from a star player who is causing issues, then the team has to come first as hard as it would be because you are losing your most influential player.

It’s always a tough decision, especially when it is your BEST player.

It’s easy to cut or send a player home who is causing problems for your team, but is a role player and not a star.

I saw comments from Opals legend Michele Timms during the week basically saying that it is time to move on from Cambage.

Whether that is something that Basketball Australia will look it, and whether they have the strength to do that, is another thing.

But you can’t turn your culture upside down for anyone. I’ve seen it throughout my career in the NBA.

You tweak your culture a little bit for certain players, even when they still screw you over at times and it sets a horrible example for everyone else, more notably the younger players on the team who would see that and think that behaviour is OK.

For all the Cambage drama and disrupted preparation, which isn’t want you want to be concentrating on heading into an Olympics, I believe our Opals girls will battle on regardless and we are still potentially a medal team.

LETS GO OPALS!

Originally published as Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Andrew Bogut on Liz Cambage, Opals’ basketball medal hopes