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WBB: Stanford 78 OSU 45 - 81alum - 02-16-2012

I hoped before the game that we would shoot some threes and defend the dribble-drive.  We got both to varying degrees and won the game quite handily.  Someone who only saw this game would never understand how close the first game was.

I am convinced that three point shooting is infectious.  Once one player starts to make them, others visualize their shots better.  How else can we explain 4 players breaking out of 3-point shooting slumps at the same time?  We shot 10-22 or 45.5% from three.  Toni was 3-5, Sara James was 2-3, Bonnie was 3-6, and Lindy was 2-4.  Tara was on her feet and applauding Lindy.  Let's hope that at least someone keeps shooting 3s like that the rest of the way!

I did not see all of the first half.  In the second half, I seldom saw OSU guards dribbling up to the hoop the way they did over and over again in the first game.  They did take (and make) a fair number of undefended pull up jumpers around the free throw line which I did not like to see, but our defense looked far better than that embarrassment at Maples--and held them to 33% (compared to 49% in the first game).

Joslyn had an excellent rebounding night with 14.  I saw her boxing out the taller Thais Pinto a couple of times.  Nice.

We had a very low number of turnovers--just 7.  Toni had 7 assists to 0 turnovers and 3 steals!  Wow!  There was a lot of good passing, including some big-to-big passes that left us with 22 assists (OSU had 10).

Nneka had a much higher efficiency tonight that in the first game, hitting 10-16 and also 7-8 free throws.  Chiney had some foul trouble so played just 21 minutes.  That may have been just about the only negative thing I noticed  for the evening.

This seemed like a very impressive effort.  I hope we can capture the three point lightning and put it in a bottle for future use.



Re: WBB: Stanford 78 OSU 45 - Viking_Guy - 02-16-2012

Early on, neither team could shoot well.  It looked like Stanford was doing what I thought they might, switching everything defensively and denying the Beavers easy drives off the high pick; the interesting thing was they didn't seem to have much else planned on offense.  4 minutes into the game, the score was 4-0 Cardinal, with OSU being 0-4 with 3 turnovers trying to drive against a composed defense that wasn't getting confused.

Stanford, meanwhile, started slowly against the 2-3.  OSU again didn't contest the opening tip, electing to fall back directly into their zone.  Chiney hit an early jumper, but then there was a whole lot of misses leading to offensive rebounds, but with 4 out of 5 Beavers crowding the lane the putbacks were really contested hard - especially if Nneka, Chiney or Jos brought the ball down at all.

That being said, Stanford found an answer.  OSU didn't.  The defenses stayed tough through the 12-minute timeout, with the one highlight being a spectacular one-handed tip-in of an offensive board by Nneka to make it 10-5.  Taylor, who had come in for Jos, seemed less willing to pull the trigger early, so Tara brought in Bonnie.  Who promptly hit a 3 to make it 13-5.

The biggest thing about that shot wasn't the points it provided, or the momentum, or that someone immediately canned another one; it was that OSU had to move a bit farther out to the perimeter, and started to cheat toward the shooter.  The defense started to come out on and rotate to her, freeing up other options.  After Nneka hit a couple FTs, Bonnie found Toni for a three.  Then she tipped a ball that led to a fast break layup by Lindy.  She missed two consecutive threes, but then got a nice ball to Lindy on the right wing - AND IT FINALLY WENT DOWN!  It was great to see the lid come off the basket, and her shot gave Stanford 23 points.

The Beavers?  Still no answer.  Ali Gibson hit a really difficult running layup on a drive from the right wing.  But that was the only bucket for OSU for nearly 6 minutes, by which time the Cardinal had their 23-7 lead.  While they would score FTs following Chiney's 2nd foul (off an offensive board), their offensive still sputtered, and their defense had been thoroughly opened up by the outside shooting, and the posts started to go to work.  Jos and Nneka scored off nice feeds from Toni, Nneka converted FTs, and it was 31-9.  OSU had scored 4 points and only one field goal in over 9 minutes of game clock.

The one weapon that worked for the Beavers was their big junior forward, 6'7" Thais Pinto from Brazil.  I was wondering why she hadn't played earlier, and when she came in with about 4 minutes left in the first half, she made 3 out of her first four shots, and converted 1 out of 2 and-1 opportunities, all with essentially the same play - starting halfway up the right side of the lane, and trying to catch the ball going to the hoop - Stanford's defenders kept getting caught behind her, and she had open layup looks and got the fouls from the help defense trying to recover.  Another 3 by Bonnie kept the lead out before the half, keeping it at 20, 36-16.

What was different from game 1?  Defensive intensity and gameplan.  The constant switching kept the Beavers out of the lane without sacrificing pressure on the shooters, and OSU doesn't have enough size to really generate a mismatch; as long as either Nneka, Jos or Chiney was on the player in the lane, no one on the perimeter was able to penetrate effectively - and when they did, the help defense was there.

That, and hitting 4 threes in the first half.  Not a great percentage, 4-12, but FAR better than Stanford's outside shooting has been recently.

The second half was different.  OSU had to play a bit more open of a zone (they varied between a 2-3 and a 3-2, mostly going to a 3-2 when Chiney was on the bench).  And Nneka went to town.  She had 11 and Chiney 2 in scoring Stanford's first 13 points of the half, keeping the Beavers at the end of a 20-point pole for the opening 8 minutes of the half.  The Beavers actually began to have a bit more offensive success, with the mid-range jumper, using the pick but not driving, pulling up in the lane or on the wing for 12-15 foot jumpers.

Then came one of the best signs I've seen in a long time.  Throughout the game, Stanford's zone offense had been much crisper, much more lively, moving the ball in and out, and especially trying the skip passes and long passes over the top, along with Nneka kicking to the opposite wing, a much more imaginative pattern than the dull static triangle they ran in the first game against OSU this season.  The apotheosis?  Bonnie outside the top of the key draws one of the outside zone defenders.  She pops the ball over the top to Joslyn at the free throw line, and Tinkle turns and faces the basket, drawing the central backline defender - just as Nneka cuts in from the right side and catches Jos' pass in-stride for a layup.

Beautiful.

Bonnie showed her weakness directly after that, giving up a telegraphed pass turnover then committing the foul trying to get back against the break.  Then she missed an early in the clock 3-point attempt.

At that point, Stanford was 4-15 from three point range.

Then.  Bonnie.  Lindy.  Toni.  Toni.  (2 by Jos). Sara.  At the start of the barrage, Stanford led 49-28.  4 minutes of clock time later, it was 67-34. The Cardinal missed one shot in that four minutes - a FT by Nneka.  And the game was over.

The Cardinal emptied the bench, and OSU kept a few starters in, but Sara hit another 3, eventually pushing the lead, if not to 2x+4, at least to "twice your score" at 76-38 with about 2 minutes left.  The Beavers cut into that a bit at the end, but all in all, a thoroughly satisfying thrashing.

POTG?  Well, Nneka had 27 and 9, and dominated the early part of the second half.  Toni had 9 on 3 3-pointers, 7 assists, no turnovers and three steals.  But I'm going with a split decision - Jos on defense and Bonnie on offense.  Tinkle finished with TWELVE d-boards, played great help defense, and really took advantage of all of the bodies flying at Nneka to own the glass.  7 points but 14 boards.  And Bonnie, who finished 3-6 from three, but hit that all important first one, to get the Beavers thinking about the perimeter, and not just how many white uniforms could hold a campfire in the lane on defense.

Nice late sub performance by Sara, with 8 points and finally hitting her threes as well.

The OSU announcers were talking about how focused the team and the practices had been on the Beavers this week, and it really showed.  The opening half defense was about as good as I've seen from Stanford this season, and I felt a lot better about the gameplan and adjustments to it, both offensively (the zone offense was, as I said, much livelier, at least after the opening 8 minutes or so) and defensively (much more decisive and rapid switching, help waiting for the drive to arrive at the basket rather than moving up the lane and opening up the weak side post).

Darned, that felt nice.  And the guys, despite their best efforts, managed to hang on, too.

VG


Re: WBB: Stanford 78 OSU 45 - JeffInCorvallis - 02-17-2012

Too much Ogwumike ...



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Re: WBB: Stanford 78 OSU 45 - 81alum - 02-17-2012

(02-16-2012, 11:25 PM)Viking_Guy link Wrote:Bonnie outside the top of the key draws one of the outside zone defenders.  She pops the ball over the top to Joslyn at the free throw line, and Tinkle turns and faces the basket, drawing the central backline defender - just as Nneka cuts in from the right side and catches Jos' pass in-stride for a layup.

Beautiful.
Beautiful indeed.  One of the prettiest plays all year. 

VG, I wonder if you could interpret what Toni said in the AP article:
http://www.mercurynews.com/stanford-cardinal/ci_19979492

Quote:Stanford faced primarily a zone defense against Oregon State in that first game and prepared for it again.

"This week we really worked on getting our cuts down, flashing and hitting the posts. They were stepping up big, inside and out," Kokenis said. "They helped us move the ball in the zone and get a lot of easier shots than the first time we played.

Who does she mean by "they"?  Nneka and Chiney?  Is she saying that our bigs did not pass against the zone in the first game but they did in this game?

Re: WBB: Stanford 78 OSU 45 - FarmDad.01 - 02-17-2012

OSU coach Rueck had a perceptive quote about the Card 3-pt shooting: "… when the scoreboard is like that (Stanford led by as many as 23 in the first half) there’s no pressure on them. It becomes a shooting drill.’’ Rappahahn didn't develop into a clutch sniper until her senior year, so there's lots of time for one of many candidates to blossom. Based solely on this game, Samuelson and James seemed the most comfortable launching under duress; Kokenis and LaRoque seem to prefer a little space. btw, Tess Picknell was at the game.

Re: WBB: Stanford 78 OSU 45 - Viking_Guy - 02-17-2012

81--

One thing I noticed about the posts against the zone in this game (as part of a much more "active" offense against it): they were moving high to low a LOT more.  Instead of merely working under the rim, Jos, Nneka and especially Chiney were coming out to the free throw line, setting up high then flashing low, helping set screens at the line (especially when the Beavers were playing a much more packed in zone early in the game, and the 3-2, both of which rarely had more than 1 player above that line - that's how packed in they were).  Basically, trying to make the zone uncomfortable and get the center of its back line moving instead of simply camped under the hoop, forcing much more movement.  Also helped by the reverse passes by Nneka (from one post to the opposite wing), instead of going back out to the same side or up top.

The thing with Rueck's comment is, as I mentioned, the "shooting drill" portion of the afternoon only took the lead from 20 to 35.  Prior to that, Stanford was 4-15 from outside; not horrible, but certainly not outstanding.  It wasn't the outside shooting that got Stanford the 20-point lead; it was having enough of an outside shooting threat to force OSU farther than 15 feet from the basket, and then Nneka going to work inside (16 pts in the first half, and I think all 11 of her second-half points before the three-point barrage - at which point she had 27 of Stanford's 49 points), operating alongside a defense that held OSU to 3-19 shooting over the first 15 minutes of the game, at which point Stanford led 30-9.  We hit the most crucial threes in the game - three midway through the first half - with leads of 5, 8 and 13; certainly not a shooting drill atmosphere at that point.

VG