Experienced Ukrainians the next hurdle for U.S.

Publisher

It doesn't get any easier for the Americans.

After sputtering a bit before disposing of Cuba, the unbeaten United States women will next face Ukraine -- and, as American scout (and Purdue head coach) Nell Fortner said after the Europeans' 81-65 win over Zaire, "They looked sharp."

The noon (Pacific time) game will of course be seen only in bits and snatches on NBC's late show, and since IBM's vaunted computer in Atlanta is busily doing the backstroke rather than producing any data, it will be hard for those of us not in Atlanta to figure out exactly what goes on.

Still, here are some safe predictions:

• Ukraine will play a sagging man-to-man and dare the U.S. to make three-pointers. That dare paid off for Cuba, as the Americans were just three-of-14 from beyond the arc -- and it doesn't take a Pat Summitt to figure out how to adjust to that kind of shooting.

• 6-1 Maria Tkachenko and 6-4 Lyudmila Nazarenko will play pivotal roles for the Europeans, just as they did for the Unified Team's gold medal squad of 1992. The slender Nazarenko is reminiscent of Lisa Leslie and steps up in big games -- and this certainly qualifies. Tkachenko had 27 against Zaire, 16 in a first half dominated by Ukraine.

• They won't make many mistakes. This is a veteran team (Tkachenko is 30, Nazarenko 29 and 5-11 Yelena Zhirko, the other top scorer, is 28) and they won't be rattled by American quickness or mid-game adjustments. They will punish any American defensive mistakes.

• The Americans better stay back, because the Ukrainians love to release a guard and look for the long bomb for an easy layup. Otherwise, don't look for Ukraine to try and run with the U.S., because nobody can stay with Tara VanDerveer's team in the open floor.

• In the halfcourt set, look for lots of screens, forced passes inside, a weave on the perimeter and basic screen-down, screen-across patterns. The Ukrainians aren't fancy offensively, but they get it done -- and will be a much tougher test than the Cubans in that regard.

On the American side, expect the same kind of substitution pattern as in the first game. Teresa Edwards and Ruth Bolton each played 24 minutes and Jennifer Azzi (four fouls), Carla McGhee and Nikki McCray eached played eight, and everyone else was in between the two not-so-extremes. America's depth is going to be very difficult for any opponent to overcome, as Cuba found out, and the faster the pace, the more that depth comes into play.

It's unfortunate only those at Morehouse College will get to see this one play out in its entirety, because it will be a great preview of how the Europeans will play the Americans -- but remember this: International teams are quite capable of sandbagging, and playing an entirely different style and lineup in the preliminary rounds than in the medal games, when it really counts.

After all, the top four teams in each six-team pool advance, so a loss does not mean elimination by any stretch of the imagination. Nonetheless, everybody wants to beat America, and Ukraine will be one of the toughest tests in this first round.