Linda�s blog from Brazil

After an overnight flight to Sao Paulo, an hour and half to clear customs and an hour taxi ride, I finally made it to the hotel in Barueri. I was pretty beat but wanted to see all the teams play today so after settling into the hotel room, (only 2 channels on TV that speak English, my curling iron and phone charger will not need a converter and I will need a cord to hook my computer up to the internet), I connected with Trudy Lacey and we headed over to the gym. Traveling here is a challenge since taxis are not readily available and the gym is in an area that is not familiar to the drivers. I don't speak Portuguese so that really makes it a game of charade.

While in the gym we visited with the USA coaches who were there scouting and saw some other WNBA coaches who were actually coaching teams in the tournament. Kevin Cook, the assistant for the Houston Comets, was coaching the Nigeria team and had them playing very well early on against Russia and former Mystics coach, Tom Maher, was the coach for China. WNBA President, Donna Orender, was also checking out the talent from across the world and was supporting all the WNBA players in the tournament.

The most competitive games that I saw yesterday were between the Czech Republic and France, where France prevailed and Cuba was expected to handle Taiwan pretty easily but Taiwan led the entire game only to lose at the very end. The other 2 games were pretty much blowouts but I imagine I'll see many lopsided contests during the early rounds.

Team USA looked great against China. Every player contributed and we didn't look at all like we were inexperienced or missing some of the key parts of a normal USA roster. I was really impressed with the play of Sue Bird and Candace Parker against China. The future of USA Basketball looks to be in good hands but I know the competition will improve and we will be tested when we play Russia on Thursday night in pool play. DeLisha and Alana both played well and I'm so proud to have them representing not only USA but the Mystics as well. They are just the best.

Today I'm going to the other site, about an hour from the hotel, and will check out the other eight teams. I'm anxious to see Brazil, Australia, Argentina and Lithuania. I'll let you know how they are doing.