Great Britain women's coach Tom Maher was looking for the positives after watching his team go down to Olympic rivals Australia 87-63 in Sheffield.
Britain will face off against the Opals again in two weeks in their opening game in London, but Maher - an Australian who led the Opals at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics - was keen to note how far his team have come in closing the gap on a team ranked second in the world.
"Four years ago they would have beaten us by 100," Maher said.
"I think we can take a lot of lessons from this. Australia let us have a lot of shots, but we didn't take a single thing, and next time we need to make a few.
"But we've come from outside the top 100 to be 49th, and they're number two.
"There are lots of ways to win, and we've got to find a few extra."
Poor shooting cost Britain as they made only 23-of-85 (27%) from the field. It was most obvious in the third quarter when they managed only two points over a seven-and-a-half minute stretch that saw Australia power clear.
Britain could not find a way to defend Australia's 6ft 8in centre Elizabeth Cambage, who scored 12 points in the first quarter alone to help the Opals claim a 28-23 lead.
"You're not going to be stop her, but we've got to do a better job when she beats us," Maher said. "When you're beaten you have to go after the ball and not just run into the opponent."
With Britain unable to create the shots they wanted, Australia continued to pull clear in the second quarter.
Although Cambage's scoring slowed before half-time, her rebounding allowed others to step up and their lead reached double figures on Jenna O'Hea's three-pointer that made it 45-35. Britain rallied and when Jo Leedham sank a three-pointer late in the half it was 48-45 to the Australians.
The score was 52-45 at half-time, but in the third quarter Britain's shooting went ice cold and Lauren Jackson made it 67-47 to the Opals before Temi Fagbenle ended the woes with a lay-up.
However, it was not the start of any great resurgence as Australia held them at arm's length the rest of the way.
Leedham led Britain with 12 points and Azania Stewart added 10.
Cambage finished with 29 points for Australia, while Belinda Snell had 16 and O'Hea 13.
"They're huge, their height is suicidal for a team like us," said Leedham, who knows several of the players from club basketball in Australia.
"They're monstrous. But for us to be able to play a team like that when we have to play them again its great for us to get our feet wet, and great preparation."
