Team USA survives incredible flop attempt by Italian player at FIBA Women’s World Cup

Team USA survived a scare and walked away with a 55-52 victory against Italy at the FIBA Women’s World Cup on Sunday night to stay atop Group D. The Americans were able to prevail despite Caitlin Clark scoring one point and going 16-for-56 from the floor as a group. It was certainly not a convincing performance but a win is a win and the U.S.’s stifling defense played a huge part down the stretch.

Italy had a chance to tie things up and force overtime on the game’s final possession but Cecilia Zandalasini’s three-point attempt missed well wide. The brick came after one of the most egregious attempts to draw a foul call from the officials you will ever see. One that, if it worked, would have been an all-time bad call.

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Zandalasini whipped her head back and to the left as Jackie Young closed in hard to provide pressure, reacting as though she had been poked in the eye. Check out the replay and see if you think there’s any chance any contact was made.

Zandalasini was irate after not being rewarded for the theatrics and confronted an official about the decision. Eventually Italy’s coach, Andrea Capobianco, was able to calm her down.

After the contest, Zandalasini struck a different tone while apologizing for her actions in the final seconds and after the buzzer.

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“I’d like to apologize for how I reacted in the end to the opposing team,” she said during her team’s press conference. “There were a lot of emotions today, but I should have kept them inside a little better. I want to apologize to the referees. It is just that when I wear this jersey, it is a different beast. And now I feel embarrassed for how I reacted.”

Now, a lot of people will be worked up about this and take little pause before calling it a brutally unconvincing flop. But one shouldn’t hate the player, they should hate the game. Given the moment, it was actually smart strategy to try to get to the line as the possession appeared dead in the water and officials feel great pressure in crunch time as well. If there wasn’t a reward structure in place for selling calls, hoopers wouldn’t do it on both ends of the court all game long.

Still, the footage is pretty amazing.

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