If the Opals messy, disappointing Tokyo Olympic marketing campaign had one shiny spot, it was the emergence of Ezi Magbegor as a official power on the worldwide stage.
After a blistering season with the Seattle Storm within the WNBA, Magbegor has returned to Australia and appears to play a key function within the Opal’s 2022 FIBA Girls’s Basketball World Cup marketing campaign.
Magbegor’s expertise and athleticism have been apparent in Tokyo, nevertheless it remained to be seen whether or not she might translate that into taking the following step.
Within the 2022 WNBA season, Magbegor answered that query with a convincing sure.
A official contender for each Most Improved Participant and Defensive Participant of the 12 months, and incomes second-team all-defensive honours, Magbegor began for a lot of the season for the Seattle Storm, solely ceding her spot when the Storm signed eight-time All-Star and former MVP Tina Charles mid-season.
However simply how has Magbegor taken her recreation to the following degree and what does that imply for the Opals?
Athleticism results in offensive positive factors
It’s the offensive finish the place Magbegor has taken the most important step ahead, rising her factors per recreation from 6.7 to 9.5 throughout the 2022 WNBA season, on a real taking pictures proportion of 59.36 per cent, which is properly above the league common of 54 per cent.
On a crew with WNBA stars like Breanna Stewart, Jewell Loyd, and Tina Charles, Magbegor was by no means going to be the offensive focus.
As a substitute, she has labored laborious to get herself into the precise positions on court docket and makes use of her athleticism to attain.
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With the ability to punish a defence that is not paying shut consideration to you is essential, as in any other case the offense grinds to a halt. Magbegor is nice at this.
On this recreation towards the Washington Mystics, she is ready to work off the ball and reap the benefits of the eye Stewart attracts to chop to the ring.
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Magbegor has nice fingers and physique management, permitting her to catch and end within the lane even amongst site visitors and thru contact.
That is an underrated ability that makes her an amazing pick-and-roll associate.
Under we see a Stewart-Magbegor decide and roll the place Magbegor is ready to roll to the ring and side-step defenders to complete.
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For the Opals, Magbegor will not have gamers like Stewart to work with, nevertheless she ought to proceed to be an efficient pick-and-roll associate for Seattle Storm teammate and fellow Opal Steph Talbot.
3-point taking pictures is the place Magbegor wants to enhance to take her recreation to the following degree.
Magbegor solely tried 29 threes all season, although she is taking pictures a decent 34.48 per cent.
Within the 2022 WNBA season, Seattle’s offense usually received slowed down with two non-shooters in Magbegor and Gabby Williams, which was a serious contributing consider Seattle’s choice to signal Tina Charles.
However Magbegor is an effective free throw shooter (her profession common is 76.47 per cent), an vital predictor of three-point taking pictures, so it’s undoubtedly doable for her to enhance.
A defensive star within the making
Even after the signing of Tina Charles, there have been many who argued that Magbegor ought to proceed to start out, and the defensive finish was the explanation why.
Magbegor is second within the league in blocks per recreation, averaging 1.76, and leads the league in blocks per 48 minutes (a statistic that accounts for variation in minutes performed).
This features a profession excessive seven blocks towards the Phoenix Mercury on June 12.
At 193 cm with a 2-metre wingspan, Magbegor’s size makes her a presence across the ring.
She will expertly swap on to her opponents, comprise them submit up and block the shot.
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However Magbegor is not only a paint-bound centre. Her velocity and mobility on the perimeter enable her to modify out and comprise guards.
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Magbegor’s ability permits the Storm to run an aggressive pick-and-roll defensive scheme, with guards compelled to make passes over Magbegor’s lengthy arms.
And if she’s defending off-ball, Magbegor’s velocity and size enable her to rapidly get better to assist and swat away what appear to be open layups.
Opals head coach Sandy Brondello says the Opals will be capable of reap the benefits of this too.
“Due to her athletic capability you are able to do a whole lot of totally different scheming … she strikes fast from a to b. It permits us to be just a little bit extra disruptive.”
Magbegor’s one defensive weak spot could be her capability to protect the most important, most expert submit gamers, who can push her round.
Nevertheless, the retirement of Sylvia Fowles marks the top of that period of post-player, and there aren’t that many submit gamers that might scare you going towards Magbegor both within the WNBA or on the World Cup.
Taking part in a ‘massive function’ for the Opals
The Opals as a crew are missing that dominant, particular person scorer that most of the different world-class groups have—at the least till we see what Lauren Jackson can do in her comeback.
Ezi Magbegor might be not going to be that participant, at the least proper now.
What she’s going to do is be a superb a part of a crew offense, an efficient pick-and-roll participant, cutter, and transition participant that may assist the Opals piece collectively an offense.
However, she may be the sort of dominant defensive participant that scares opposing gamers and can assist the Opals win video games.
And the Opals need her to stay to her strengths.
“We would like her to be who she is,” Brondello stated.
“Getting out and operating and getting simple baskets.
“She’s a star within the making and she or he’ll be enjoying an enormous function for us.”
Basketball followers in Sydney will quickly get to see Magbegor and the Opals tackle the perfect on the planet and hopefully enhance on their efficiency from Tokyo.
Any probability of that may rely largely on Magbegor’s improved WNBA play translating to worldwide basketball.
If she will be able to proceed to stifle opponents defensively and outrun them on the opposite finish, the Opals shall be in good condition to tackle the perfect on the planet.
ABC Sport is partnering with Siren Sport to raise the protection of Australian ladies in sport.
Georgia Munro-Prepare dinner is the captain of the Australian ladies’s wheelchair basketball crew, the Gliders, and holds a PhD in Historical past and Gender Research, with a concentrate on the WNBA, from the College of Sydney.
