The USA and Italy are going through off within the group stage of the FIBA World Cup on Sunday.

Italy has a number of proficient gamers, however they absolutely understand the take a look at forward of them in going through the USA. And Italy’s coach, Andrea Capobianco, had some very excessive reward for star guard Caitlin Clark earlier than having to face her.

“From a technical standpoint, I feel Caitlin is unimaginable. From a picture standpoint, she makes this sport much more fulfilling. As a result of, apart from her capacity to attain, she makes all the things she does look stunning,” Capobianco mentioned in translated Italian, per an X submit from Euro Girls’s Hoops.

Will probably be attention-grabbing to see how Capobianco tries to sluggish Clark down on Sunday. The issue is that Clark primarily forces opposing defenses to choose their poison: she will both create for her teammates if the protection focuses an excessive amount of on her, or torch them from behind the three-point arc in the event that they’re enjoying too relaxed on protection.

Italy’s finest participant is Cecilia Zandalasini, who performs for the Golden State Valkyries within the WNBA. She’s one of many league’s finest defenders, so will probably be attention-grabbing to see who Capobianco has her match up towards.

Whereas Zandalasini is a small ahead, she’s versatile sufficient to protect a number of positions. Maybe Capobianco may have her guard Clark when the 2 are on the courtroom collectively.

USA’s Previous Win Towards Italy within the FIBA World Cup Qualifying Match

These two groups confronted one another within the FIBA World Cup Qualifying Match earlier this yr. The USA dominated Italy in that matchup, beating them 93-59 in a sport that was by no means actually shut. Clark scored 12 factors and tallied 5 assists in 22 minutes and had a team-high +27.

Due to this fact, Capobianco will doubtless want to regulate his preliminary technique when making an attempt to sluggish her down. However he can also’t place an excessive amount of emphasis on Clark as a result of meaning Group USA’s different world-class gamers will probably be open, and Clark will be capable of discover them if there’s a gap.

That being mentioned, Italy is undoubtedly probably the greatest groups in Europe, and their loss to the USA on the World Cup Qualifying Match was the one loss they suffered within the match.

However ladies’s basketball followers can nonetheless anticipate Clark’s “stunning” sport to point out itself on the World Cup on Sunday. The query is simply in what approach that magnificence will manifest towards Italy’s squad.