Is there any way to slow Team USA down? Australia was always one of the favorites for a medal in Paris, yet the USA brushed them aside with ease in the semis. The likes of Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson have been the clear standouts in the tournament so far. But what about the rest? Despite comfortably winning 85-64 over Australia, certain players on the US roster received a lot of flak from fans on social media. And it’s mainly two stars on opposite ends of their Olympic careers. While Kelsey Plum is making her first appearance in the 5×5 game at the quadrennial event, Diana Taurasi is preparing to hang up her boots after these Olympics. So why the hate?

Living up to their average differential this time around, Team USA did the job with a 21-point cushion. A balanced performance that included 3 out of their 5 starters ending up in double-digits for the night, ensuring that the reigning Olympic champs book another Gold medal game appearance. However, the same cannot be said about the contributions coming out from the bench. Apart from Kahleah Copper (11 points) and, to some extent, Sabrina Ionescu (8 points), no one else had anything significant to show.

After her demotion to the bench, Taurasi has just scored 3 points in her last 2 games. However, she played for only 6 minutes in the semi-final. This was after she had a scoreless night against the Germans in the pool stage. As for Plum, she has registered only 8 points in the knockouts so far and had only 2 points against the Opals.

This poor show is not sitting well with the supporters ahead of the Gold medal game. As a result, they aren’t mincing their words and are shooting some heavy criticisms their way.

Diana Taurasi and Kelsey Plum fail to win fans’ hearts

Kelsey Plum is currently among the lowest scorers on the Team USA roster. In the 5 games played so far, she has scored only 27 points (5.4 PPG). But what is really setting the fans off is her 3-point shooting. A career 39% shooter from deep in the WNBA, not only is she not attempting deep shots but is accurate only on 36.4% of her attempts. Citing that one fan wrote, “Kelsey plum has the worst shot selection ever.”

The Las Vegas Aces guard was introduced for the first time late in the opening quarter against Australia. This resulted in her committing 2 turnovers along with her missing a three and a layup. Consequently, that provided scoring opportunities to the Opals and they made the US pay. Witnessing a similar pattern throughout the game, one fan expressed, “idk what reeve sees in kelsey plum we have been outscored every single minute she has played.” 

A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart, along with Jackie Young, took the frontcourt responsibilities. The trio together compiled a total of 40 points for the night. That leaves the backcourt patrolling to the rest. And, at some point, Kelsey Plum and Diana Taurasi were entrusted with this role. But their combination as well as efforts didn’t seem to please the fans much. Being blunt about it, one of them wrote, “A Taurasi & Kelsey Plum backcourt is very unserious.” On a night when the US won by 21 points, Plum had a +/- of -5. The only other player on the roster who had a negative +/-? Diana Taurasi.

In the group stage, Cheryl Reeve chose Diana Taurasi to be a starter. Apart from the 2 points in their opener against Japan, she was scoreless in the other two games. Things didn’t look too promising for her even when she was coming off the bench. A 3-pointer in their quarterfinal against Nigeria took her total to 5, making her average only 1 point a game. This enraged Team USA supporters and they are questioning Reeve’s tactics. “Respectfully, Cheryl Reeve should just leave Diana Taurasi on the bench so she doesn’t continue to go out and perform like this in front of the world,” one fan said.

Kelsey Plum spent a total of 11:07 minutes on the court against the Opals. That resulted in just 2 points from her free throws. Moreover, Plum was unable to connect on anything. She only had 1 assist against 3 turnovers. This was really unsatisfactory for some and they demanded her removal from the court. Following this chain of thought, one of them said, “Get Kelsey plum out of this game.”

Team USA is just one step away from scripting yet another historic Olympics. Still, fans are not happy because apart from Wilson and Stewart, no other player is stepping up. Will Diana Taurasi change that in her final international fixture? We’ll have to wait and see.

Stay tuned for more such updates. And join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show”. Our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.