duke stanford wbb - Printable Version
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RE: duke stanford wbb - PVTree - 01-11-2026
Dook's back cuts were lethal. We had no answer.
Our errors were still the difference. LS seems to be in a slump. We miss her scoring. AE had been stepping up in her place.
It's the type of game we needed to win when the committee is choosing who dances.
RE: duke stanford wbb - mbdude - 01-11-2026
Lepolo started/played 2 minutes + in 2nd half. Came out after back to back turnovers. 0 shots/0 points
RE: duke stanford wbb - JohnR34231 - 01-11-2026
Disappointing game against a good but hardly great team. Oh well. Maybe next year.
RE: duke stanford wbb - BostonCard - 01-11-2026
(01-11-2026, 04:56 PM)mbdude Wrote: Lepolo started/played 2 minutes + in 2nd half. Came out after back to back turnovers. 0 shots/0 points
All three of our guards struggled with turnovers today, but at least Swain (9 points, 5 rebounds) and Clardy (11 points, 4 rebounds) contributed in other ways.
BC
RE: duke stanford wbb - Card10Fan - 01-11-2026
(01-11-2026, 05:04 PM)JohnR34231 Wrote: Disappointing game against a good but hardly great team. Oh well. Maybe next year.
Who's gonna win the ACC, Duke or Louisville? I wouldn't be surprised if it's Duke and they also make a deep NCAA tourney run again.
+/- for the game. Shay was the worst at -13. MAS was -9. Best was Eschmeyer
Jury is still out on the coaching for this season. Most frustrating is watching a lack of basic fundamentals like turnovers over and over especially when it's been an issue all season. What's worked on in practice..
RE: duke stanford wbb - Hieronymus - 01-11-2026
(01-11-2026, 04:54 PM)PVTree Wrote: Dook's back cuts were lethal. We had no answer.Yup - this one will hurt at selection time, especially with a very weak ACC this year.
Our errors were still the difference. LS seems to be in a slump. We miss her scoring. AE had been stepping up in her place.
It's the type of game we needed to win when the committee is choosing who dances.
RE: duke stanford wbb - MV72018 - 01-11-2026
(01-11-2026, 05:18 PM)Card10Fan Wrote:(01-11-2026, 05:04 PM)JohnR34231 Wrote: Disappointing game against a good but hardly great team. Oh well. Maybe next year.
Who's gonna win the ACC, Duke or Louisville? I wouldn't be surprised if it's Duke and they also make a deep NCAA tourney run again.
+/- for the game. Shay was the worst at -13. MAS was -9. Best was Eschmeyer
Jury is still out on the coaching for this season. Most frustrating is watching a lack of basic fundamentals like turnovers over and over especially when it's been an issue all season. What's worked on in practice..
Once again, 5 vs 4 when we're on offense (Lepolo 0 points and 4 TOs in 15 min). Somfai also laid an egg: 1 for 8 from the field. We had 19 TOs and only 12 assists as a team. Duke had 15 assists and only 8 TOs. That cost us the ball game. (Given our PG situation, it's no surprise that teams that play tight D will give us a hard time.) One good sign, Eschmeyer is coming along nicely. Duke players were more clever with the ball, get to the foul line, and can take it to the hoop with skill and finish. We play more Hero ball than team ball. Put differently, Steve Kerr would have been pleased with the way Duke played, horrified at the way we played (so few assists).
RE: duke stanford wbb - Hieronymus - 01-11-2026
As others noted, this wasn’t a hard game to anlyze. Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. And free throws. We had a slight rebounding advantage but not enough to make up for the turnovers.
Good
- Eschmeyer looks to be turning the Frosh corner.
- Agara was solid.
- Swain is improving as well. Though I would bench her every time she uses one hand when she could have used 2. See the 1 hand pass to nowhere for a turnover in Q3 as an example.
Bad
- Lepolo has to take care of the ball to be playable. 4 turnovers in 15 minutes doesn’t qualify.
- Somfai has hit a Frosh wall.
- MAS just can’t keep up at either end.
- turnovers, turnovers, turnovers.
RE: duke stanford wbb - Deejaatee - 01-11-2026
(01-11-2026, 05:52 PM)Hieronymus Wrote: As others noted, this wasn’t a hard game to anlyze. Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. And free throws. We had a slight rebounding advantage but not enough to make up for the turnovers.
Good
- Eschmeyer looks to be turning the Frosh corner.
- Agara was solid.
- Swain is improving as well. Though I would bench her every time she uses one hand when she could have used 2. See the 1 hand pass to nowhere for a turnover in Q3 as an example.
Bad
- Lepolo has to take care of the ball to be playable. 4 turnovers in 15 minutes doesn’t qualify.
- Somfai has hit a Frosh wall.
- MAS just can’t keep up at either end.
- turnovers, turnovers, turnovers.
I would add two additional things to the bad side that they need to work on.
- Make quicker decisions - A lot of the turnovers came when they hesitated to make a move or pass and then turned it over. Payne said they wanted to get the ball inside, but they still (all of them) hesitate too much when they see the Big posting up. By the time they recognize what's there, it's gone. Leads to rushed shots and turnovers. Eschmeyer and Amara are both good at pinning their defender and calling for the ball. Our guards and wings are not yet good at seeing it and making the decision to pass the ball.
- Shoot the Ball - Too often, some of the team tried kept dribbling or holding the ball instead of taking the first shot. This is especially true of Ogden. She always looks to distribute and set up her teammates first. The example at the end of the game when she had the shot, and then kept dribbling looking for someone until she turned it over by walking as she tried to get something up at the buzzer.
One other thing I was happy to see even though the shot got blocked. MAS finally took a shot. She drove the ball and tried to score.
I know. I am a broken record (as my wife who has to listen to me will attest). Shoot the D... Ball. Can't score if you don't shoot.
On a positive note, I liked the work both Eschmeyer and Swain put in. They understand what it means to be quick and decisive. Even if the result is not yet always positive.
RE: duke stanford wbb - BostonCard - 01-11-2026
One thing to note, playing time has reflected performance.
Lepolo started but played less than 1 half of the game (only got 37.5% of available minutes, fewer than two subs). Somfai started but only played 40% of available minutes. Eschmeyer came off the bench, but played 70% of available minutes, which might be a season high for her. Swain started and played 90% of available minutes. For all the Strum und Drang about MAS, she was only in for 10% of the game, the fewest minutes of anyone who saw any action.
We can’t play players 40 minutes a game (though we pushed Ogden, Agara, and Swain to 35 minutes). I know we criticize our own team for playing 4 on 5, but Duke had two players who combined for 51 minutes and produced 4 points on 2/15 shooting.
BC
RE: duke stanford wbb - TonyLima - 01-11-2026
(01-11-2026, 06:46 PM)BostonCard Wrote: One thing to note, playing time has reflected performance.
Lepolo started but played less than 1 half of the game (only got 37.5% of available minutes, fewer than two subs). Somfai started but only played 40% of available minutes. Eschmeyer came off the bench, but played 70% of available minutes, which might be a season high for her. Swain started and played 90% of available minutes. For all the Strum und Drang about MAS, she was only in for 10% of the game, the fewest minutes of anyone who saw any action.
We can’t play players 40 minutes a game (though we pushed Ogden, Agara, and Swain to 35 minutes). I know we criticize our own team for playing 4 on 5, but Duke had two players who combined for 51 minutes and produced 4 points on 2/15 shooting.
BC
Excellent points all around. I’ll just add that we missed way too many bunny shots under the hoop. Time to practice layups?
Been a fan of Eschmeyer since her first appearance. Her game (esp D) has improved massively. Reminds me of Kiki.
RE: duke stanford wbb - stopandpop - 01-11-2026
(01-11-2026, 06:23 PM)Deejaatee Wrote:(01-11-2026, 05:52 PM)Hieronymus Wrote: As others noted, this wasn’t a hard game to anlyze. Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. And free throws. We had a slight rebounding advantage but not enough to make up for the turnovers.
Good
- Eschmeyer looks to be turning the Frosh corner.
- Agara was solid.
- Swain is improving as well. Though I would bench her every time she uses one hand when she could have used 2. See the 1 hand pass to nowhere for a turnover in Q3 as an example.
Bad
- Lepolo has to take care of the ball to be playable. 4 turnovers in 15 minutes doesn’t qualify.
- Somfai has hit a Frosh wall.
- MAS just can’t keep up at either end.
- turnovers, turnovers, turnovers.
I would add two additional things to the bad side that they need to work on.
- Make quicker decisions - A lot of the turnovers came when they hesitated to make a move or pass and then turned it over. Payne said they wanted to get the ball inside, but they still (all of them) hesitate too much when they see the Big posting up. By the time they recognize what's there, it's gone. Leads to rushed shots and turnovers. Eschmeyer and Amara are both good at pinning their defender and calling for the ball. Our guards and wings are not yet good at seeing it and making the decision to pass the ball.
- Shoot the Ball - Too often, some of the team tried kept dribbling or holding the ball instead of taking the first shot. This is especially true of Ogden. She always looks to distribute and set up her teammates first. The example at the end of the game when she had the shot, and then kept dribbling looking for someone until she turned it over by walking as she tried to get something up at the buzzer.
One other thing I was happy to see even though the shot got blocked. MAS finally took a shot. She drove the ball and tried to score.
I know. I am a broken record (as my wife who has to listen to me will attest). Shoot the D... Ball. Can't score if you don't shoot.
On a positive note, I liked the work both Eschmeyer and Swain put in. They understand what it means to be quick and decisive. Even if the result is not yet always positive.
Eschmeyer ascending; Somfai descending. I believe Lara is affected by the increased speed of the game in the ACC and the quickness and athleticism of her opponents. She will have to adjust her game. Stanford needs her productivity. All season long, guards have literally ignored Eschmeyer posting up and today we also saw Agara ignored as well. I don't think this would ever happen in a Tara Vanderveer coached team. Today, in over 28 minutes played, Eschmeyer only 1 foul and zero turnovers. You can see her confidence growing. I would like to see Coach Paye design some plays for Eschmeyer.
RE: duke stanford wbb - Card10Fan - 01-11-2026
I saw a blurp on the tv from the Wake game of Clardy and Somfai kind of yapping at each other in a huddle during the middle of the game during one of our prolonged offensive droughts. Today in person I saw after Somfai gave up an offensive rebound to Duke in the 3rd or 4th quarter, the team on the floor was all imploring her to box out, Somfai appeared to be arguing back to them demonstratively.
Now I have no idea what was said and hopefully it was just teammates holding each other accountable and the upperclassman being leaders. But Somfai has had limited minutes the last two games and she's appeared somewhat visibly frustrated.
Hieronymus - Hieronymus - 01-11-2026
(01-11-2026, 06:46 PM)BostonCard Wrote: One thing to note, playing time has reflected performance.
Lepolo started but played less than 1 half of the game (only got 37.5% of available minutes, fewer than two subs). Somfai started but only played 40% of available minutes. Eschmeyer came off the bench, but played 70% of available minutes, which might be a season high for her. Swain started and played 90% of available minutes. For all the Strum und Drang about MAS, she was only in for 10% of the game, the fewest minutes of anyone who saw any action.
We can’t play players 40 minutes a game (though we pushed Ogden, Agara, and Swain to 35 minutes). I know we criticize our own team for playing 4 on 5, but Duke had two players who combined for 51 minutes and produced 4 points on 2/15 shooting.
BC
Ok I am going to make this a bit uncomfortable by design, but in the new NIL world I am not comfortable with the right perspective and balance around critiquing teams and players in college sports. I almost didn’t mention MAS and maybe should have left it alone.
1 I have never been a pure rah-rah fan. I try not to be a jerk or mean to players, and I do try to be analytical about what I see. As the players now get paid, I have leaned farther into that “analyze like they are pros mindset,” but here we hit real limitations with that approach.
2. You are right that especially as Eschmeyer ascends, MAS isn’t going to play a lot of minutes. But as you also note she is going to play 10-12 minutes a night because there isn’t another option; so she is part of the team analysis.
3. One anecdote for analysis would be as Deejaatee noted she did try to make an offensive move, but got blocked. I guess that is good sort of. I will further note that she then got beat down the court the other way for an easy Duke bucket. Just ouch all around.
4. But what am I really analyzing here? It’s not effort or smarts or skills - it’s pure lack of athleticism. Not really her fault. Also not her fault that we don’t have another option.
4. If this really were full professional sports, we would see a new player signing. But this isn’t the WNBA.
So yeah I don’t know the right balance here.
RE: duke stanford wbb - Nobadeer - 01-11-2026
I mentioned last month, MAS would be tall enough and athletic enough and skilled enough to be a league MVP in the Nescac or Sciac. But she's in the ACC, and even this year's ACC has taller and faster players with skills.
Somfai still looks like she's rushing some of her layups and putbacks? She is 15 of 64 on threes (23%) and 55 of 113 (49%) on other FG attempts, many of which have been point-blank or just a few feet from the basket.
RE: Hieronymus - Deejaatee - 01-11-2026
(01-11-2026, 09:15 PM)Hieronymus Wrote:(01-11-2026, 06:46 PM)BostonCard Wrote: One thing to note, playing time has reflected performance.
Lepolo started but played less than 1 half of the game (only got 37.5% of available minutes, fewer than two subs). Somfai started but only played 40% of available minutes. Eschmeyer came off the bench, but played 70% of available minutes, which might be a season high for her. Swain started and played 90% of available minutes. For all the Strum und Drang about MAS, she was only in for 10% of the game, the fewest minutes of anyone who saw any action.
We can’t play players 40 minutes a game (though we pushed Ogden, Agara, and Swain to 35 minutes). I know we criticize our own team for playing 4 on 5, but Duke had two players who combined for 51 minutes and produced 4 points on 2/15 shooting.
BC
Ok I am going to make this a bit uncomfortable by design, but in the new NIL world I am not comfortable with the right perspective and balance around critiquing teams and players in college sports. I almost didn’t mention MAS and maybe should have left it alone.
1 I have never been a pure rah-rah fan. I try not to be a jerk or mean to players, and I do try to be analytical about what I see. As the players now get paid, I have leaned farther into that “analyze like they are pros mindset,” but here we hit real limitations with that approach.
2. You are right that especially as Eschmeyer ascends, MAS isn’t going to play a lot of minutes. But as you also note she is going to play 10-12 minutes a night because there isn’t another option; so she is part of the team analysis.
3. One anecdote for analysis would be as Deejaatee noted she did try to make an offensive move, but got blocked. I guess that is good sort of. I will further note that she then got beat down the court the other way for an easy Duke bucket. Just ouch all around.
4. But what am I really analyzing here? It’s not effort or smarts or skills - it’s pure lack of athleticism. Not really her fault. Also not her fault that we don’t have another option.
4. If this really were full professional sports, we would see a new player signing. But this isn’t the WNBA.
So yeah I don’t know the right balance here.
Thinking outside the box here. I think there is another alternative to MAS. She is a hustler and a competent player and team leader, she is just short and less athletic than some of the people she is playing against. So, we have another player on the bench who is taller, faster, a better shooter, and a competent shot blocker. But she has limited experience thus far, and therefore has not gotten the coach to think about using her yet. Harper Peterson. I would love to see the coach use her more, maybe 10 minutes initially to see what she can do. And of course use Amborn to back up Ogden. That would bring taller, shooters onto the court with a different type of athleticism. Told you it was outside the box.
RE: Hieronymus - jonnyss - 01-12-2026
(01-11-2026, 11:18 PM)Deejaatee Wrote: [quote="Hieronymus" pid='444001' dateline='1768191306']
[quote="BostonCard" pid='443996' dateline='1768182370']
Thinking outside the box here. I think there is another alternative to MAS. She is a hustler and a competent player and team leader, she is just short and less athletic than some of the people she is playing against. So, we have another player on the bench who is taller, faster, a better shooter, and a competent shot blocker. But she has limited experience thus far, and therefore has not gotten the coach to think about using her yet. Harper Peterson. I would love to see the coach use her more, maybe 10 minutes initially to see what she can do. And of course use Amborn to back up Ogden. That would bring taller, shooters onto the court with a different type of athleticism. Told you it was outside the box.
i would agree if the game were only offense. unfortunately, i think we have to wait til harper's defense improves. so far, she's out of position a lot. carly is closer to prime time on defense, but as others have noted, her last time on the court the other team immediately went at her and drew a foul.
both hailee and lara started the season trying to impose their will as they did in high school. hailee has backed off and tried to work within the system, waiting patiently for opportunities. so far, lara has not. lara is very enthusiastic - must be hard to tone that down and wait patiently. i think lara will be much better next year. it took courtney over 2 years.
RE: Hieronymus - stopandpop - 01-12-2026
(01-12-2026, 07:50 AM)jonnyss Wrote:(01-11-2026, 11:18 PM)Deejaatee Wrote: [quote="Hieronymus" pid='444001' dateline='1768191306']
[quote="BostonCard" pid='443996' dateline='1768182370']
Thinking outside the box here. I think there is another alternative to MAS. She is a hustler and a competent player and team leader, she is just short and less athletic than some of the people she is playing against. So, we have another player on the bench who is taller, faster, a better shooter, and a competent shot blocker. But she has limited experience thus far, and therefore has not gotten the coach to think about using her yet. Harper Peterson. I would love to see the coach use her more, maybe 10 minutes initially to see what she can do. And of course use Amborn to back up Ogden. That would bring taller, shooters onto the court with a different type of athleticism. Told you it was outside the box.
i would agree if the game were only offense. unfortunately, i think we have to wait til harper's defense improves. so far, she's out of position a lot. carly is closer to prime time on defense, but as others have noted, her last time on the court the other team immediately went at her and drew a foul.
both hailee and lara started the season trying to impose their will as they did in high school. hailee has backed off and tried to work within the system, waiting patiently for opportunities. so far, lara has not. lara is very enthusiastic - must be hard to tone that down and wait patiently. i think lara will be much better next year. it took courtney over 2 years.
Lepolo's poor performance (0 points, 4 turnovers) makes me wonder if she might be playing hurt again; that she did not sufficiently recover from her original injury.
We seem to agree that Eschmeyer needs more touches when she's posting low and sealing her defender. In the post-game presser (which Alex and Nunu attended), Coach Paye praised Alex for her impressive work and also said that 'we wanted to get the ball inside more.' Yet, especially in the 2nd. half (with Eschmeyer and Agara both posting low, calling for the ball), the guards and wings opted to reverse the ball back around the perimeter.
I'm confused. Can somebody help me? If coach Paye instructed her guards and wings to get the ball inside and she saw this was not happening, especially in the 2nd. half, right in front of her, why was there no adjustment during time-outs?
RE: duke stanford wbb - mbdude - 01-12-2026
Re: press conference - Paye did a lot of talking. Mostly about unforced errors. Eschmeyer 1 question, Agara none
RE: Hieronymus - jonnyss - 01-12-2026
(01-12-2026, 12:36 PM)stopandpop Wrote:(01-12-2026, 07:50 AM)jonnyss Wrote:(01-11-2026, 11:18 PM)Deejaatee Wrote: [quote="Hieronymus" pid='444001' dateline='1768191306']
[quote="BostonCard" pid='443996' dateline='1768182370']
Thinking outside the box here. I think there is another alternative to MAS. She is a hustler and a competent player and team leader, she is just short and less athletic than some of the people she is playing against. So, we have another player on the bench who is taller, faster, a better shooter, and a competent shot blocker. But she has limited experience thus far, and therefore has not gotten the coach to think about using her yet. Harper Peterson. I would love to see the coach use her more, maybe 10 minutes initially to see what she can do. And of course use Amborn to back up Ogden. That would bring taller, shooters onto the court with a different type of athleticism. Told you it was outside the box.
i would agree if the game were only offense. unfortunately, i think we have to wait til harper's defense improves. so far, she's out of position a lot. carly is closer to prime time on defense, but as others have noted, her last time on the court the other team immediately went at her and drew a foul.
both hailee and lara started the season trying to impose their will as they did in high school. hailee has backed off and tried to work within the system, waiting patiently for opportunities. so far, lara has not. lara is very enthusiastic - must be hard to tone that down and wait patiently. i think lara will be much better next year. it took courtney over 2 years.
We seem to agree that Eschmeyer needs more touches when she's posting low and sealing her defender. In the post-game presser (which Alex and Nunu attended), Coach Paye praised Alex for her impressive work and also said that 'we wanted to get the ball inside more.' Yet, especially in the 2nd. half (with Eschmeyer and Agara both posting low, calling for the ball), the guards and wings opted to reverse the ball back around the perimeter.
I'm confused. Can somebody help me? If coach Paye instructed her guards and wings to get the ball inside and she saw this was not happening, especially in the 2nd. half, right in front of her, why was there no adjustment during time-outs?
to my eyes it's not that we didn't try. rather that we got the ball intercepted when we tried to pass it inside. that let us to drive more in the second half, which worked well for a time - until duke adjusted. perhaps we'll get better as we have more experience with alex playing in games. the guards will know where alex will post and pass more quickly to her also perhaps we can run more of what duke did: guards drive then pass to the post who is cutting to the basket.