[81alum]

Preview:

Stanford begins its recovery from the Texas loss Tuesday night when it takes on the University of Portland, scheduled for Pac 12 Bay Area.

Portland is decent, coming off two wins over UC San Diego (coached by Tara's sister Heidi) and Weber State.  Last year they were 14-13.  They scheduled Oregon for their second game last year and lost to them 52-85--certainly a more respectable margin that Morgan State or Clarke mustered against us this year. 

Portland has five consistent starters and they actually can match us better in height than our first two victims.  So far in the two games they have been led by 5'10" senior guard Haylee Andrews with 13 ppg, but close behind are 6'2" junior Alex Fowler at 12 ppg and 6'6" junior forward Lucy Cochrane at 11 ppg.  All three are from Australia. 

Portland doesn't seem to take many three point shots--7 of their 58 makes so far. 

After Portland, Sunday will be a tough road trip to Gonzaga and Thanksgiving a difficult tournament (including Maryland) in the Bahamas.  So this is our last chance to see the team at Maples in a month, and the last chance for Tara to experiment before starting a gauntlet.

Some of you may be so discouraged about the Texas loss that you are not inclined to pay much attention to a cupcake opponent.  But remember that Morgan State gave us the warning signs that we were turnover prone, and Portland could well give us our first chance to see if Tara is willing to make some lineup changes to respond to our problems.  I'd like to see what she does.  Will one Vanderveer seek revenge for the other?  Will VanGytenbeek get some practice at point?  Will our treys start to drop?  Will the freshmen start to take some minutes away from last year's team?

[81alum]

Preview:

Stanford begins its recovery from the Texas loss Tuesday night when it takes on the University of Portland, scheduled for Pac 12 Bay Area.

Portland is decent, coming off two wins over UC San Diego (coached by Tara's sister Heidi) and Weber State.  Last year they were 14-13.  They scheduled Oregon for their second game last year and lost to them 52-85--certainly a more respectable margin that Morgan State or Clarke mustered against us this year. 

Portland has five consistent starters and they actually can match us better in height than our first two victims.  So far in the two games they have been led by 5'10" senior guard Haylee Andrews with 13 ppg, but close behind are 6'2" junior Alex Fowler at 12 ppg and 6'6" junior forward Lucy Cochrane at 11 ppg.  All three are from Australia. 

Portland doesn't seem to take many three point shots--7 of their 58 makes so far. 

After Portland, Sunday will be a tough road trip to Gonzaga and Thanksgiving a difficult tournament (including Maryland) in the Bahamas.  So this is our last chance to see the team at Maples in a month, and the last chance for Tara to experiment before starting a gauntlet.

Some of you may be so discouraged about the Texas loss that you are not inclined to pay much attention to a cupcake opponent.  But remember that Morgan State gave us the warning signs that we were turnover prone, and Portland could well give us our first chance to see if Tara is willing to make some lineup changes to respond to our problems.  I'd like to see what she does.  Will one Vanderveer seek revenge for the other?  Will VanGytenbeek get some practice at point?  Will our treys start to drop?  Will the freshmen start to take some minutes away from last year's team?

[crackpot]

Ideal starting lineup?

[crackpot]

Ideal starting lineup?

[BobK]

Cochrane played at Oregon as a Frosh

[BobK]

Cochrane played at Oregon as a Frosh

[joemontes]

I think we've all had enough of the WHAT IFs about the immediate future of this team following their loss to Texas yesterday.  

Tara and her staff just have to decide who between Jordan HAMILTON and Jana VAN GYTENBEEK, the team's currently healthy natural PGs, will be the primary and secondary PGs, and stick to it, and let Haley JONES, Lexie HULL and Anna WILSON do the things that they're most effective and comfortable at, instead of continuing to experiment on this PG by committee crap.

[joemontes]

I think we've all had enough of the WHAT IFs about the immediate future of this team following their loss to Texas yesterday.  

Tara and her staff just have to decide who between Jordan HAMILTON and Jana VAN GYTENBEEK, the team's currently healthy natural PGs, will be the primary and secondary PGs, and stick to it, and let Haley JONES, Lexie HULL and Anna WILSON do the things that they're most effective and comfortable at, instead of continuing to experiment on this PG by committee crap.

[BobK]

I thought Hamilton hadn’t played point the last few years. Lacie was her super successful HS Point.
It’s a dilemma. Thus Tara and the team need to see who is the best. It’s a long season. Patience is needed. Of course losses are bad

[BobK]

I thought Hamilton hadn’t played point the last few years. Lacie was her super successful HS Point.
It’s a dilemma. Thus Tara and the team need to see who is the best. It’s a long season. Patience is needed. Of course losses are bad

[UltimateCard]

I thought Hamilton hadn’t played point the last few years.  Lacie was her super successful HS Point. 
It’s a dilemma.  Thus Tara and the team need to see who is the best.  It’s a long season. Patience is needed.  Of course losses are bad

Your post made me curious about Jordan Hamilton's history at NU - this gives a bit of background: https://www.insidenu.com/2021/4/16/22386...n-hamilton. 

The coaches will figure how best to fit the puzzle pieces together!

[UltimateCard]

I thought Hamilton hadn’t played point the last few years.  Lacie was her super successful HS Point. 
It’s a dilemma.  Thus Tara and the team need to see who is the best.  It’s a long season. Patience is needed.  Of course losses are bad

Your post made me curious about Jordan Hamilton's history at NU - this gives a bit of background: https://www.insidenu.com/2021/4/16/22386...n-hamilton. 

The coaches will figure how best to fit the puzzle pieces together!

[81alum]

A write-up about Hamilton from the Northwestern point-of-view.

https://www.insidenu.com/2021/4/16/22386...n-hamilton

Hamilton was best on defense and very good on steals.  Her three point average was sub-par and she never consistently scored in double digits.  At 3.2 assists per game she was pretty good, but she also had 2.2 turnovers per game which was pretty bad for her minutes played.


Of course, all those stats were amassed in a different system, and may not be relevant to how she will do in this (to her) new system.


For what it is worth, which isn't a great deal:


Hamilton this year has played 15 minutes and has 0 assists and 2 turnovers.


Lacie Hull has played 41 minutes and has 2 assists and 3 turnovers.


Anna Wilson has played 49 minutes and has 2 assists and 4 turnovers.


Haley Jones has played 57 minutes and has 7 assists and 8 turnovers.


The only person on the team with a positive assist/turnover ratio so far is:  Fran Belibi, with 3 assists and 2 turnovers.


In any case, I think under Tara's system that the person who brings the ball up the court does not need to be the person who gets the assists.  Any of the players can get assists in a movement offense if it is working, and Haley appears to be the person who has to have the ball at the end of the shot clock when the offense is stagnant.  She basically said this in answer to my question to her at the zoom event--she said rather than thinking of a "point guard" we need to think of a "play maker."


So we do not need a "point guard" in the classic sense, we need a good ball handler who can bring the ball up the court reliably even when pressed,  and who at least has a credible threat to shoot the three if left unguarded.  Once the half court offense starts we have various people who can get assists, although Jones will be "play maker in chief."  


Most of turnovers against Texas were not while we were trying to bring the ball up the court, but were on errant passes.  And our ball handlers never developed the credible three point threat.  So it is a somewhat different problem than the bad old days of 2010 etc.

[81alum]

A write-up about Hamilton from the Northwestern point-of-view.

https://www.insidenu.com/2021/4/16/22386...n-hamilton

Hamilton was best on defense and very good on steals.  Her three point average was sub-par and she never consistently scored in double digits.  At 3.2 assists per game she was pretty good, but she also had 2.2 turnovers per game which was pretty bad for her minutes played.


Of course, all those stats were amassed in a different system, and may not be relevant to how she will do in this (to her) new system.


For what it is worth, which isn't a great deal:


Hamilton this year has played 15 minutes and has 0 assists and 2 turnovers.


Lacie Hull has played 41 minutes and has 2 assists and 3 turnovers.


Anna Wilson has played 49 minutes and has 2 assists and 4 turnovers.


Haley Jones has played 57 minutes and has 7 assists and 8 turnovers.


The only person on the team with a positive assist/turnover ratio so far is:  Fran Belibi, with 3 assists and 2 turnovers.


In any case, I think under Tara's system that the person who brings the ball up the court does not need to be the person who gets the assists.  Any of the players can get assists in a movement offense if it is working, and Haley appears to be the person who has to have the ball at the end of the shot clock when the offense is stagnant.  She basically said this in answer to my question to her at the zoom event--she said rather than thinking of a "point guard" we need to think of a "play maker."


So we do not need a "point guard" in the classic sense, we need a good ball handler who can bring the ball up the court reliably even when pressed,  and who at least has a credible threat to shoot the three if left unguarded.  Once the half court offense starts we have various people who can get assists, although Jones will be "play maker in chief."  


Most of turnovers against Texas were not while we were trying to bring the ball up the court, but were on errant passes.  And our ball handlers never developed the credible three point threat.  So it is a somewhat different problem than the bad old days of 2010 etc.

[BillBradley]

Interesting tidbit about tonight's game. UP's head coach is Mike Meek and he's a very successful coach. Before he got the Pilots job, he led small D3 school George Fox to the national championship. https://portlandpilots.com/news/2019/3/2...coach.aspx. In his first year, the UP women won the WCC tournament title, which was quite a shock because they were very under-talented. The guy knows what he's doing.

And get this...his daughter is McKelle Meek and she is on the UP team (but she hasn't appeared in this year's box scores so it looks like she's hurt). She grew up in the same grade playing with Cameron Brink. They played together at Southridge High before Cam transferred. Coach Meek coached both of them in AAU. I read somewhere where Brink gave him high praise for being a great coach.

[BillBradley]

Interesting tidbit about tonight's game. UP's head coach is Mike Meek and he's a very successful coach. Before he got the Pilots job, he led small D3 school George Fox to the national championship. https://portlandpilots.com/news/2019/3/2...coach.aspx. In his first year, the UP women won the WCC tournament title, which was quite a shock because they were very under-talented. The guy knows what he's doing.

And get this...his daughter is McKelle Meek and she is on the UP team (but she hasn't appeared in this year's box scores so it looks like she's hurt). She grew up in the same grade playing with Cameron Brink. They played together at Southridge High before Cam transferred. Coach Meek coached both of them in AAU. I read somewhere where Brink gave him high praise for being a great coach.

[81alum]

Fascinating info Bill.

Just got a glimpse of Portland, and they have some height. 

Will be very interested to see Tara's adjustments and the team's demeanor.

[81alum]

Fascinating info Bill.

Just got a glimpse of Portland, and they have some height. 

Will be very interested to see Tara's adjustments and the team's demeanor.

[BobK]

Iv’e seen Meek play Travel. Liked her a lot. However not like Brink of course

[BobK]

Iv’e seen Meek play Travel. Liked her a lot. However not like Brink of course

[Lorcan]

Interesting that it's the same starters as against Texas. Wilson, the Hulls, Brink, and Jones.

[Lorcan]

Interesting that it's the same starters as against Texas. Wilson, the Hulls, Brink, and Jones.

[mbdude]

Demetre in! Cool

[mbdude]

Demetre in! Cool

[81alum]

The only change to the rotation so far is Demetre.  Three point shooting slump is continuing.  Why no Jana?  Tara knows things we don't,  but my curiosity is killing me.

[81alum]

The only change to the rotation so far is Demetre.  Three point shooting slump is continuing.  Why no Jana?  Tara knows things we don't,  but my curiosity is killing me.

[joemontes]

Demetre in! Cool

First time I've really watched DEMETRE play here at Stanford.  I agree with you guys that she has a picture-perfect stroke on her jump shot. Her mid-range shot is just beautiful.

I'm just glad that both DEMETRE and IRIAFEN are part of the rotation for this game.

[joemontes]

Demetre in! Cool

First time I've really watched DEMETRE play here at Stanford.  I agree with you guys that she has a picture-perfect stroke on her jump shot. Her mid-range shot is just beautiful.

I'm just glad that both DEMETRE and IRIAFEN are part of the rotation for this game.

[mbdude]

Double teams at halfcourt still hurting us

[mbdude]

Double teams at halfcourt still hurting us

[Softball Fan]

Jones with a possible quadruple double (possible 10 turnovers).

I noticed Demetre is from Foothill Ranch. I have a friend who lives in Foothill Ranch. Commute time to Mater Dei with no traffic = 1 hour each way; with normal traffic = 90 minutes each way..

[Softball Fan]

Jones with a possible quadruple double (possible 10 turnovers).

I noticed Demetre is from Foothill Ranch. I have a friend who lives in Foothill Ranch. Commute time to Mater Dei with no traffic = 1 hour each way; with normal traffic = 90 minutes each way..

[stanford22]

Too many missed layups.   Lexie has missed all her layups.   Who is going to make up Kianna ‘s points.  With LaCie playing guard, she is not giving us any points.   Why is Jana not getting a chance to play?

[stanford22]

Too many missed layups.   Lexie has missed all her layups.   Who is going to make up Kianna ‘s points.  With LaCie playing guard, she is not giving us any points.   Why is Jana not getting a chance to play?

[Card10Fan]

We shot 50% on free throws leaving a lot of points on the board. I'm glad Haley and Cameron were more involved offensively. Our most talented players should be taking the most shots each game. Lexie had a bad shooting game. She needs to be more efficient. That's been an area of needed improvement throughout her career. 

We allowed them to shoot nearly 50% for the game. I really don't know what to think at this point. I guess a win is a win but doesn't leave me overly optimistic for next week in the Bahamas.

[Card10Fan]

We shot 50% on free throws leaving a lot of points on the board. I'm glad Haley and Cameron were more involved offensively. Our most talented players should be taking the most shots each game. Lexie had a bad shooting game. She needs to be more efficient. That's been an area of needed improvement throughout her career. 

We allowed them to shoot nearly 50% for the game. I really don't know what to think at this point. I guess a win is a win but doesn't leave me overly optimistic for next week in the Bahamas.

[mbdude]

Interesting - Demetre 5 of 6, 11pts had worst +/- at -8. 

Lot of people wondering why Jana is not getting a chance

[mbdude]

Interesting - Demetre 5 of 6, 11pts had worst +/- at -8. 

Lot of people wondering why Jana is not getting a chance

[81alum]

Just home from the game.  My impressions:

1) I don't know if Portland usually plays this way.  I suspect their coach put in a super aggressive game plan after seeing the Texas game.  And it largely worked.  They committed 23 fouls (that were called) and probably 123 that were not.  They pressed, trapped, pushed and hacked, and it succeeded in limiting our offense, but of course at a cost to them in foul trouble and giving up free throws.  We must shoot FTs better if we are to punish that kind of play.  13/26 might get it done against Portland, but it won't work against Indiana or Maryland.

2) I suspect that Tara just told the team not to settle for three point shots.  We took only 6 the whole game, and they did not look particularly good.  Eventually Portland figured that out and shifted into its swarming, trapping zone to clog the inside, and we persisted.

3) Brink and Jones were brilliant on offense, and with 10 assists to 5 turnovers Jones looked better than earlier this year.  But I thought the very best offense against this defense was when Demetre was in and nailing 10 foot jumper after 10 foot jumper.  Those were open because they were collapsing on our posts, and Demetre is nails from midrange.  That bodes well for breaking zones, since she was shooting from the weak spot of the zone.

4) At the start of the game our turnovers were much reduced, but they crept up to 15.  Still better than against Texas, but not good enough. 

5) Our defense was very effective in some ways.  We had 19 steals!  I have NEVER seen that many in a game before.  Portland had 32 turnovers.  That made their FG% artificially high.  They seldom missed--they either got a layup or lost the ball trying. 

6) Lexie seems to be in a shooting slump, Lacie did not attempt a shot, and Wilson's early season promise on offense is not materializing.  That makes us very dependent on Jones and Brink, so it was very good to see Demetre and Iriafan getting some time.  Belibi and Prechtel seemed solid to me, but they did not get a lot of minutes to establish themselves in rhythm--6 and 7 minutes, respectively.  Iriafan keeps missing that dunk in practice, and now she has missed it in game.  Perhaps she should stick to layups for a while.

7) As I said earlier, I am mystified about Van Gytenbeek.  I remember hearing one of the coaches describing her as "very good on offense."  Her three point shots in practice the last couple of games have gone in more than others on the team.  So it is either her defense, or her ball handling, or some unknown discipline issue or unknown injury that must be at work.

8) Lacie's ball handling is not bad.  She has that reverse dribble that helps to fend people off.  But she reminds me a lot of Pohlen bringing the ball up.  Good skills, but she is too tall and when she dribbles the ball comes up too high off the floor.  This will leave her vulnerable to shorter, quicker guards to pick her pocket.  I don't see her being the point guard to take us to a national championship, although perhaps she is our best point guard at the moment.  But she needs to take more than 0 shots a game, and make them, if we are going to loosen up packed-in zones.  0 shots = 0 credibility as a threat.

9) I was disappointed in the number of times we successfully got the ball up the court against the press but that Portland seldom was forced to pay a price for it.  Rather than breaking the press for an easy layup, we would fight to bring the ball up and then enter into our half court.  We need to make teams pay for that pressure--Kate has told us in the past that Tara regards the press as "fool's gold" since it yields more layups than it does steals.  Well, not tonight.

10) Lexie may be in a slump, but give her credit for 6 steals!

11) When Portland closed it to 10 points late in the third quarter, I thought we entered a danger zone, in which the wheels could come off.    They outscored us 22-18 in that quarter and it could have been worse.  It was Brink who reversed this, by taking trips to the free throw line and making a layup, to extend the lead back to 15.

[81alum]

Just home from the game.  My impressions:

1) I don't know if Portland usually plays this way.  I suspect their coach put in a super aggressive game plan after seeing the Texas game.  And it largely worked.  They committed 23 fouls (that were called) and probably 123 that were not.  They pressed, trapped, pushed and hacked, and it succeeded in limiting our offense, but of course at a cost to them in foul trouble and giving up free throws.  We must shoot FTs better if we are to punish that kind of play.  13/26 might get it done against Portland, but it won't work against Indiana or Maryland.

2) I suspect that Tara just told the team not to settle for three point shots.  We took only 6 the whole game, and they did not look particularly good.  Eventually Portland figured that out and shifted into its swarming, trapping zone to clog the inside, and we persisted.

3) Brink and Jones were brilliant on offense, and with 10 assists to 5 turnovers Jones looked better than earlier this year.  But I thought the very best offense against this defense was when Demetre was in and nailing 10 foot jumper after 10 foot jumper.  Those were open because they were collapsing on our posts, and Demetre is nails from midrange.  That bodes well for breaking zones, since she was shooting from the weak spot of the zone.

4) At the start of the game our turnovers were much reduced, but they crept up to 15.  Still better than against Texas, but not good enough. 

5) Our defense was very effective in some ways.  We had 19 steals!  I have NEVER seen that many in a game before.  Portland had 32 turnovers.  That made their FG% artificially high.  They seldom missed--they either got a layup or lost the ball trying. 

6) Lexie seems to be in a shooting slump, Lacie did not attempt a shot, and Wilson's early season promise on offense is not materializing.  That makes us very dependent on Jones and Brink, so it was very good to see Demetre and Iriafan getting some time.  Belibi and Prechtel seemed solid to me, but they did not get a lot of minutes to establish themselves in rhythm--6 and 7 minutes, respectively.  Iriafan keeps missing that dunk in practice, and now she has missed it in game.  Perhaps she should stick to layups for a while.

7) As I said earlier, I am mystified about Van Gytenbeek.  I remember hearing one of the coaches describing her as "very good on offense."  Her three point shots in practice the last couple of games have gone in more than others on the team.  So it is either her defense, or her ball handling, or some unknown discipline issue or unknown injury that must be at work.

8) Lacie's ball handling is not bad.  She has that reverse dribble that helps to fend people off.  But she reminds me a lot of Pohlen bringing the ball up.  Good skills, but she is too tall and when she dribbles the ball comes up too high off the floor.  This will leave her vulnerable to shorter, quicker guards to pick her pocket.  I don't see her being the point guard to take us to a national championship, although perhaps she is our best point guard at the moment.  But she needs to take more than 0 shots a game, and make them, if we are going to loosen up packed-in zones.  0 shots = 0 credibility as a threat.

9) I was disappointed in the number of times we successfully got the ball up the court against the press but that Portland seldom was forced to pay a price for it.  Rather than breaking the press for an easy layup, we would fight to bring the ball up and then enter into our half court.  We need to make teams pay for that pressure--Kate has told us in the past that Tara regards the press as "fool's gold" since it yields more layups than it does steals.  Well, not tonight.

10) Lexie may be in a slump, but give her credit for 6 steals!

11) When Portland closed it to 10 points late in the third quarter, I thought we entered a danger zone, in which the wheels could come off.    They outscored us 22-18 in that quarter and it could have been worse.  It was Brink who reversed this, by taking trips to the free throw line and making a layup, to extend the lead back to 15.