Atlanta coach Nicki Collen talked with admiration during the WNBA playoffs about how difficult it was to guard Washington's Elena Delle Donne.
"That stretch-4 position," Collen said of power forwards who are able to score from a variety of spots on the floor, "is just a thing of beauty."
Collen said this before Game 2 of their semifinal series, in which Delle Donne suffered a bone bruise to her left knee. But the Mystics star was still able to help Washington win that series. After a WNBA Finals sweep at the hands of Seattle and Breanna Stewart, Delle Donne now is with Stewart and the U.S. national team in the Canary Islands, competing in the FIBA Women's World Cup.
Saturday in the Americans' opener, Senegal got a taste of not just Delle Donne and Stewart, but additional power forward prowess from the Americans with Nneka Ogwumike and A'ja Wilson.
The United States won 87-67 in a game that might have worried some American fans during the first quarter. That's because the U.S. women were up just 18-17 after the first 10 minutes. But then the Americans did what they typically do: turned on the transition offense. And when you have bigs who run the floor like Team USA does, that's usually not a difficult thing to ignite.
The Americans outscored Senegal 27-14 in the second quarter, and that was pretty much the ballgame. Senegal could take pride in avoiding the kind of blowout that many might have expected (the United States beat Senegal 109-58 in an exhibition on Sept. 16). But even without center Brittney Griner -- who is day-to-day with an ankle injury and didn't play Saturday -- the Americans were just too much.
In particular, the U.S. forwards dominated against Senegal. Delle Donne led the way with 19 points, while Ogwumike (who didn't miss a shot) had 16. Combined, they were 14-of-16 from the field. Wilson added 15 points, and Stewart 14.
That's quite a quartet: Three former WNBA MVPs (the 6-foot-5 Delle Donne in 2015, 6-2 Ogwumike in 2016 and 6-4 Stewart in 2018) and this season's rookie of the year, 6-4 Wilson, who seems destined to be an MVP someday.
"A'ja Wilson is surrounded by some great players," said U.S. coach Dawn Staley, who also coached Wilson for four years at South Carolina. "So you can't really look bad."
Wilson is quickly ascending to that level herself, even if her shooting range hasn't quite expanded as far as the other three. Not yet anyway.
With post-player weapons like that, and a mix of veteran and young guards, it's also no surprise the Americans finished with 28 assists, led by Diana Taurasi's seven. She and Sue Bird are longtime experts in knowing just how to take advantage of having so many elite scorers on the floor.
For those scorers, it's a matter of remembering that in games like this, the basics are often their best tactic.
"We know that teams come out with a ton of energy against us, try to take away passing lanes," Delle Donne said. "And sometimes, we get a little overcomplicated. The way we play in the WNBA, it's looking for so many different things in an offense. [Now] we kind of just have to slow down and simplify the game."
That's exactly right. The 12 WNBA teams know each other so well, and they're all good at taking away their opponents' most favored options much of the time. Even the league's best scorers sometimes can be bottled up.
But in USA Basketball competition, the team typically can take advantage of its sheer talent in a way that can be breathtaking to watch, and backbreaking to try to stop.