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WBB: Gonzaga 68 Stanford 63 - 81alum - 11-16-2016

Preview:

Gonzaga has a good team this year, having just annihilated UC Irvine 102-38, breaking school records by draining 15 treys.  It is a very experienced team with 3 redshirt seniors include Elle Tinkle, although its starters include two terrific sophomores.  Sophomore guard Makenlee Williams #04 (5'11") went 6/9 from three point range,  and Sophomore forward Zykera Rice #00 (6'1") went 4/6 but more importantly collected 8/10 free throws, meaning she was getting inside under the basket a whole lot.  Their 2nd year coach Lisa Fortier is doing a terrific job after her former boss Kelly Graves left to coach Oregon, winning national rookie coach of the year honors.  Fortunately we have them at Maples this year--Gonzaga has a terrific fan base at home--they draw more than 5000 a game, putting us to shame.  I expect a strong contest on Friday.

Overview

Stanford could not overcome a cold shooting night--going 3/18 from three vs. Gonzaga's 8/13, and we could not adequately defend versatile post Jill Barta, who dumped 26 high percentage points on us.

Flow of the Game

Before the game, Kate noted that we had been practicing zone just in case, but Gonzaga came out with a very tight, swarming man defense that was very, very solid.  They allowed very few transition points, they almost never left a perimeter player open, and they fronted Erica inside to deny her the ball.  Our offense looked anemic and eventually Tara took out Marta, who had started, for Bri and left the game mostly in Bri's hands the rest of the way.  That happened against Texas, too, making me wonder what the current thinking on the point guard situation is. 

Meanwhile, our defense was fairly solid except for a very serious problem defending Barta.  Tara tried Kaylee on her but when Barta would get the ball inside she was unstoppable one on one, easily going around or hitting short step backs.  Kaylee gave way to Nadia and then to Alanna, who seemed to do a little better on defense and got many minutes the rest of the way.  In any case, the first quarter ended Zags 16 Stanford 15 and it looked like it would be a defensive slugfest.

The second quarter was even more defensive, ending Zags 28 Stanford 27.  I was relieved for halftime, thinking Tara will pull out some magic to solve this riddle.  The second quarter was noteworthy for the three point jumper attempted by Marta.  Unfortunately, neither it nor many others went in. 

The third quarter began with Barta and McPhee exchanging layups, but then it turned sour.  Barta began draining treys--she seemed to be unstoppable from anywhere on the court.  Bri fought back with a trey of her own but then Barta and Elle Tinkle started a scoring spree, and we found ourselves down 43-33 in a game where points seemed very hard to come by. 

The second half of the third quarter, however, was a remarkable turnaround for us.  We went on a 16-3 run to take a 5 point lead.  It was mainly on the strength of McCall and McPhee, with a Karlie trey at the very end for good measure.  I remember thinking at the end of the third quarter how much I wished that the game had just concluded, since I wasn't sure we could keep that up.  Sadly, my doubts proved true.

Tara decided to keep the same five players on the court who had succeeded in the third quarter--Bri at point, Karlie and Britt, Alanna and Erica.  Alanna, unfortunately, seemed to be tiring and kept missing shots as the fourth quarter progressed.  But our defense had settled down and Gonzaga was not doing much better.  With 4:00 left in the game Britt hit a layup and we went ahead by two, only to have Elle Tinkle equalize at the other end.  Britt missed another layup and then Stockton hit the dagger--a trey with 3:07 left.  After that we had misses by Kaylee, Britt, Alanna, and Erica, before Britt hit a couple of free throws, leaving us down by 1 with 56 seconds left.  Along the way, the refs took about 7 minutes on an out-of-bounds call that they ultimately did not reverse, leaving the ball in the Zags hands.  We fouled twice, they sank their free throws, we missed our shots, and then finally on the last meaningful play of the game, needing a three, Alanna tossed a slow moon ball all the way across court into the waiting arms of Laura Stockton, leaving the fans shaking their heads and heading out the door.

Performances

Britt did well today, going 8/17 for 22 points, but missing both her three point attempts.  She also snagged 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and a block.

Erica was fronted and had fewer opportunities, making 5/10 for 17 points and 11 rebounds.  A double-double.  She did pick up 4 fouls.

Kaylee is struggling.  She was 1/5 for 2 points and only 1 rebound in about half the minutes.  Much of the time she was in she played the 4 and simply swung passes around the arc.

Marta had 0 assists in only 14 minutes.  Bri got 33 minutes and had 6 assists to 2 turnovers, but scored only 5 points on 2/8 shooting. 

Karlie was not left open much and took only 2 three point shots, hitting only 1.  She wound up fouling out in 37 minutes.

Alanna was not effective offensively, going 0/5 from three point range.  Her defense was far from perfect, but she managed not to foul out in 21 minutes of play.

Conclusion

The most impressive player on the floor was Gonzaga's Barta, who was 8/10 including 3/3 from three point range and 7/8 free throws for 28 points.  If we could have hounded her as effectively as Gonzaga hounded McCall, we might have had a different outcome.

Gonzaga, however, was simply the better pure shooting team tonight, shooting 51% while we managed only 38%.  Some of our poor shooting was their defense.  But I imagine Tara is going to be much angrier about our defense than about our offense.  She understands that you can't always count on shooting accuracy, but defense is something that is always in our control, and allowing Gonzaga to shoot 62% of their treys is a major reason we lost the game.

Going forward, I would say we have questions at point guard and at the 4.  Is Kaylee OK?  Marta's offense has been fleeting, but both against Texas and now Gonzaga her passing skills have not been what was expected.  How can we get the ball to Erica inside more effectively?  And why is our three point shooting so erratic?  Finally, our perimeter defense is suspect, as it was against Texas.



Re: WBB: Stanford v. Gonzaga Friday 7pm - BobK - 11-16-2016

Don't forget John Stockton's daughter.  :)

Re: WBB: Stanford v. Gonzaga Friday 7pm - 81alum - 11-17-2016

(11-16-2016, 08:24 AM)BobK link Wrote:Don't forget John Stockton's daughter.  :)

Right, Bob, Laura Stockton, a 5'8" sophomore guard, is their third sophomore starter.  Her scoring has been so-so but she has 10 assists to 4 turnovers.  I presume she plays point.  10 assists in two games sounds pretty competent.

They are only a couple of games in to the season, but Gonzaga looks like a seriously good team.  This could be a trap game for us, riding the high of beating Texas.  Gonzaga is surely as good as Santa Clara was last year when they beat us--probably a lot better.  What  I don't know is whether Gonzaga will play zone.  I hope they do so we get another serious test of our zone killing offense early enough in the season to do something about it if we need to.

Here is a nice story about Britt's Texas performance:
http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/11/15/stanfords-brittany-mcphee-poised-for-breakout-season/

Re: WBB: Stanford v. Gonzaga Friday 7pm - Stanfordebate - 11-17-2016

Test

Re: WBB: Stanford v. Gonzaga Friday 7pm - CornFed - 11-17-2016

That was one of the most concise posts we've ever had on the CardBoard.  Welcome.

Re: WBB: Stanford v. Gonzaga Friday 7pm - CompSci87 - 11-17-2016

(11-17-2016, 06:36 AM)81alum link Wrote:Gonzaga is surly

The Cardinal will teach them to mind their manners!

Re: WBB: Stanford v. Gonzaga Friday 7pm - 81alum - 11-18-2016

A nice highlight reel to warm us up for the game tonight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKnilfBwTUQ

The fifth Gonzaga starter is Jill Barta, a 6'3" forward averaging 11 points and 7 rebounds.  Gonzaga does not look that much smaller than us, and they have a lot of skill.  Did I say I was nervous?

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/nov/17/gu-women-face-tough-stretch/

Re: WBB: Stanford v. Gonzaga Friday 7pm - 2006alum - 11-18-2016

(11-18-2016, 01:41 PM)81alum link Wrote:A nice highlight reel to warm us up for the game tonight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKnilfBwTUQ

The fifth Gonzaga starter is Jill Barta, a 6'3" forward averaging 11 points and 7 rebounds.  Gonzaga does not look that much smaller than us, and they have a lot of skill.  Did I say I was nervous?

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/nov/17/gu-women-face-tough-stretch/

If they are as scary as we seem to think, do we have a sense for why they aren't ranked? Bias against non P5 schools? Voting based on their performance last year (when they lost in the second round of the NIT)? They got no votes whatsoever in the AP poll this week and 2 votes in the Coaches poll, so they aren't even close to Top 25.

Re: WBB: Stanford v. Gonzaga Friday 7pm - fullmetal - 11-18-2016

Huh.  They've dominated Corban, Nicholls State, and UC-Irvine.  No good barometer there, in my limited experience.  Could be a tight one.

Re: WBB: Stanford v. Gonzaga Friday 7pm - 81alum - 11-18-2016

Sagarin has them at 36, but all rankings are worth little so early in the season.  They did not have their usual season last year, still adjusting to a new coach.  When 4 starters this year are sophomores, that speaks volumes about last year as a readjustment period.  They are going to be very, very good in a year or two, no matter what they do tonight, and we had better be ready.

Re: WBB: Stanford v. Gonzaga Friday 7pm - fullmetal - 11-18-2016

I forgot that Elle Tinkle, younger sister of one Joslyn, is a 5th yr senior at Gonzaga after missing last season due to knee surgery.

Re: WBB: Stanford v. Gonzaga Friday 7pm - TheFarm07 - 11-18-2016

We are down 15-16 after one quarter.

We are shooting 6/14 and the Zags are 8/16 include 3/3 from Joslyn's younger sister Elle.

Brit is 3/3 and we've been unlucky with a couple shots. Offense looks disjointed especially at the beginning when we burned shot clock, but didn't get a good shot off.

Re: WBB: Stanford v. Gonzaga Friday 7pm - TheFarm07 - 11-18-2016

We are down 28-27 at halftime. We are playing decent defense with a couple of shot clock violations from the Zags, but Barta is dominating us inside.

Our offense was also way off, we couldn't hit any jumpers or get anything going. Tara has played everyone except Romano and Brewer so far and we were able to get our shots going a little more towards the end, but we need to pick it up in the second half

Re: WBB: Stanford v. Gonzaga Friday 7pm - CompSci87 - 11-18-2016

Exciting 3rd quarter. Gonzaga hit some 3s early and went up by 10. Then the Cardinal went on a big run to go up 5 at the break.

Re: WBB: Stanford v. Gonzaga Friday 7pm - TheFarm07 - 11-18-2016

Remarkably, we lead 51-46 after 3 quarters. We were down 43-33 halfway through the quarter, so we piled it at the end, limiting them to 3 points, while going on a run ourselves.

We started our comeback with trips to the free throw line, but then McPhee and co. got it going. We have 3 players (McCall, McPhee, Samuelson) in double figures

Re: WBB: Stanford v. Gonzaga Friday 7pm - BostonCard - 11-18-2016

Looks like it wasn't meant to be.  Fourth quarter was back and fourth until Gonzaga got a 3 point lead with about three minutes left.  We cut it to 1 over the next two minutes, but could go no further, and Gonzaga made the free throws at the end. Looks like a 68-63 final.

BC

Re: WBB: Stanford v. Gonzaga Friday 7pm - Passthaball - 11-18-2016

As you can tell from my name we must pass the ball. McPhee and Bird need to pass the ball, it is not about how many individual points you get, you can get a lot of individual points and be a losing team. They have to learn to move the ball instead of looking to be individuals, this is a team sport and all 5 should be involved or this will be a long season. You cannot hold on to the ball to see whats there for yourself, the ball must move quicker and crisper to move the D.

Re: WBB: Gonzaga 68 Stanford 63 - 81alum - 11-18-2016

I have finished the recap at the top of the thread.  Certainly a disappointing night for Stanford fans both here and on the soccer field.  Let's hope the football team lets out all our frustration on the field tomorrow!


Re: WBB: Gonzaga 68 Stanford 63 - chimera - 11-18-2016

That was not good.  We had an experienced group out there, mostly seniors and juniors.  They did not start out well, did not look truly ready to battle.  Dug too big of a hole, that was the problem.  Fought back to a slight lead but let that slip and then we had a game that is anyone's, and Gonzaga finished better than we did.  Very disappointing.  Last season drove me crazy with the inconsistency.  I thought that was over.  Now I don't know.  Nobody really distinguished herself.  McPhee finished the game well but she started out poorly, maybe trying to hard to replicate her Texas game.  Marta had another bad start and ended up sitting most of the game.  Considering she is our QB, that does not bode well.  Bri did ok as the pg but we need both her and Marta.  Same with Kaylee.  What happened to her?  Alanna did ok for the most part.  That last pass was a bad idea and she could not hit her threes, but when she was in she played pretty good defense and rebounded ok.  Still, it was an odd game from the standpoint of the rotation.  We started the game and continued until well into the second half to play listlessly, rebound poorly, shoot poorly.  We did not go deep into the bench. 

The end of the game was not well executed.  What was that last long pass supposed to be?  I can't imagine that was the design of that play.  But we should not have been in that situation.  Play well and we win.  We did not and Gonzaga did.  They shot threes great and shot over 50%.  Our offense was not good but neither was the defense.  This smells too much like last year to me.  Not as bad as our bad games last year, and Gonzaga is pretty good, but that was just ick.  We never do seem to feed the bigs anymore.  We drive and dish, but good post entry passes are rare.  Stanford used to live off that back when.

Re: WBB: Gonzaga 68 Stanford 63 - 81alum - 11-19-2016

Some comparisons:
Points in the paint:  Stanford 32 Gonzaga 22.  Not as bad as it felt when Barta was killing us.
Second chance points, points off turnovers, fast break points, and bench points were not that far apart.  Not determinative.
Assists: Stanford 15 Gonzaga 10.  Not bad considering how tough the defense was.
Rebounding was not bad--we gave them only 4 offensive rebounds--partly because they shot such a high percentage--but neither side seemed to have a major advantage.  We got 12 offensive rebounds, to be expected perhaps with all the misses.  In any case, we did not lose the game because of rebounding.
Turnovers--only 11 for the game, a big improvement.  That also was not the story of the game.

So if all these secondary stats fail to explain the outcome, then what does?

Shooting percentage from long range, pure and simple.  Without the long range shots we were 19/40, plenty good enough to compete and win.  But Gonzaga got 24 points out of its 13 three point shots.  We got 9 points out of our 18 three point shots.  That is a fifteen point plus a 5 possession difference.  That more than determined this game. 

Why did Karlie only shoot twice and Alanna five times?  Karlie was guarded closely and often stepped around her guard for a two point shot, where she was 2/4. 

Alanna arrived with a reputation for being a good three point shooter but we have not seen any consistency at all from her shot.  Not only was she 0/5, at times they did not guard her and dared her to shoot.  Last year Alanna was 20/60 on her three point shots, but 10 of them came in two games:  Dayton she was 6/8 and Arizona she was 4/5.  Take those away and she was 10/47 in the other 33 games.  Streaky.

Bri was 1/5.  She has been a streaky shooter since her first year.  Last night was a bad night to streak cold.  Marta did take a shot and I did cheer and clap for her--it did not go in and I then realized too late that my clapping may have seemed sarcastic.  It wasn't intended to be.  But what was concerning was that Marta didn't once attack the basket--which was always her strength.  Gonzaga was doing something with their defense that Marta couldn't figure out.  Britt was 0/2 from three point range. 

I wonder whether Brewer can function on defense yet, since she sure seems to be able to shoot.  For example, on the last possession when we needed a three and no defense was required, why not send her out there instead of someone who was struggling?

Over the years I have noticed that our three point shooting goes hot and cold, but it is usually decent at home.  It is when we are away with new sight lines and unfamiliar routines that it can suffer.  To go 3/18 at home was most disheartening.  And it increases my estimation of Gonzaga's shooting that they shot the lights out on an away court.