We all know who they came here for
There was an impressive crowd in the Max Schmeling Halle on Friday afternoon. Considering that neither USA nor China would be expected to bring much traveling support, a borderline sellout is nothing to sniff at.
Of course, anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of the sport would know why. With 6.23 left in the first quarter, Caitlin Clark made her entry to the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup to a loud, if not wild, roar from the mostly German crowd. They had to wait a few minutes for her first score but were loud enough when the simple drive and lay-up landed.
There was no underdog rooting here. The fans wanted the Americans, especially Clark, to impress them. The Chinese, gamely as they fought, were clearly outmatched from the off. Even the extraordinary size of the 7’3” Ziyu Zhang, did little to trouble the Americans. This was a stroll.
Stewie as the point 5
Breanna Stewart already has a ludicrous legacy in the sport, including on this continent. While the fans were here to see Caitlin Clark, it’s clear what the USA’s identity is at this competition.
There’s an abundance of talent up and down the roster. The key challenge is ensuring there’s enough room to fit everyone in. Stewart as the focal point to distribute from under the basket proved a fine tool in that regard on Friday.
In a game that was never going to be much more than a glorified scrimmage, ironing out the creases was the big goal. The opening quarter proved almost too useful in that regard. It’s reasonable to assume this will be the USA’s easiest game in the whole tournament. That’s a double-edged sword.
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The fans got what they wanted
As of Friday morning, 217,390 tickets had been sold for this competition. Across 18 sessions, that’s an average of over 12,000 each. Outside of the hosts, the obvious seller is the USA and the fans want cool things from Caitlin Clark.
She delivered a three to start off the second quarter and kept things interesting throughout her stints on the floors. In a game like this, nobody was ever going to pay truly heavy minutes. The Americans were looking to figure out which of their different looks worked best.
Only 2 Americans didn’t feature in the opening quarter and both of them, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen, featured early in the second. Still, the key goal for those buying tickets was achieved. They got to see the best team in the world do cool stuff.
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And the people buying got what they wanted too
For this tournament to truly be a success, FIBA knows that they must build up some stars across the competition. Zhang Ziyu fits that bill perfectly. The 7’3” goliath was far from perfect, normal for a 19 year old, but she had her moments.
There was an inbounds she fumbled where two USA defenders were perplexed as to how exactly they should guard her. Every time she grabbed a board it looked like child’s play for her and the scores she got also emphasised her extraordinary height.
Caitlin Clark is what’s selling the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup. To cash in, players like Zhang Ziyu have to grab their moments and make something of them. This is the key aspect that FIBA must recognise despite Nike and the WNBA fumbling it hard up to now.
The fans came for Caitlin Clark but she wasn’t the only one to impress as Zhang Ziyu also had her moments.
The only question mark
In truth, the only issue with the USA performance was about as understandable as it gets. Such was their success in running the floor at their leisure that they somewhat forgot what to do when normal basketball happened.
Their half court offensive game was downright ordinary at times. Considering how little they had to rely on it, that makes sense. Every time the game slowed down, the Americans suddenly realised they had to remember what normal basketball looks like. It made for a hasty and often sloppy approach.
Naturally, I really had to stretch to find a reasonable criticism of this USA performance. This game was never in doubt and the control was such that staying fully focused was the real challenge. They got what they needed and, as expected, moved to 1-0 in the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup.
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