I thought Madgen did surprisingly well at World Champs in 2022 and full credit to her for stepping up as captain. And also by all accounts some outstanding work in bridging the generations of Opals to bring collective support to the program. However, that role aside, assuming everyone has to earn a spot on a National Team, I see Madgen as having an uphill battle coming off a serious injury at 32yo to bring a strong enough game to beat out a deep Opals squad of guards for the upcoming Asia Cup, let along Paris Olympics. Madgen's strengths seem to be spot up perimeter shooting when open and post feeds which is what you'd expect from a veteran. At world's she made a number of clutch plays - that was in the past though. Looking forward, creating her own shot is an area that hopefully is on Madgen's list to achieve her goal to "still become a better basketballer". Playing alongside 2 guards at Sydney who are far superior in my opinion as scorers and defenders in Mangakahia and Nicholson is a pretty smart move by Madgen as you'd rather be matching up against those two. backcourt firecrackers at training than on game night
I thought Madgen did surprisingly well at World Champs in 2022 and full credit to her for stepping up as captain. And also by all accounts some outstanding work in bridging the generations of Opals to bring collective support to the program. However, that role aside, assuming everyone has to earn a spot on a National Team, I see Madgen as having an uphill battle coming off a serious injury at 32yo to bring a strong enough game to beat out a deep Opals squad of guards for the upcoming Asia Cup, let along Paris Olympics. Madgen's strengths seem to be spot up perimeter shooting when open and post feeds which is what you'd expect from a veteran. At world's she made a number of clutch plays - that was in the past though. Looking forward, creating her own shot is an area that hopefully is on Madgen's list to achieve her goal to "still become a better basketballer". Playing alongside 2 guards at Sydney who are far superior in my opinion as scorers and defenders in Mangakahia and Nicholson is a pretty smart move by Madgen as you'd rather be matching up against those two. backcourt firecrackers at training than on game night