[81alum]

[quote author=81alum link=topic=14340.msg151988#msg151988 date=1452319365]
[quote author=76lsjumb link=topic=14340.msg151987#msg151987 date=1452318933]
I still have the feeling that, if this team played each Stanford team from the past 20 years, it would likely lose 3/4 of those games, if not more.  Yet we apparently remain in the Top Ten in RPI.  Doesn't say much for the overall quality of the field this year...

Probably.  For twenty years we had Nicole Powell, then Candice Wiggins, then Jayne and Kayla and Jeanette, then Nneka and Chiney.  I do believe that one or two of our current players may develop into an All-American, but at the moment we don't had any player equivalent to these WNBA players.  Meanwhile, the Pac-12 really has gotten much, much better.
[/quote]

Who do you think has the most potential to become All-Americans on the current roster during the course of their collegiate careers?

I think hands down that this year's version would be decimated by any one of the teams during our 5 consecutive Final Fours.  Our current crop of post players are nowhere near the talent of Appel, Pedersen or the Ogwumike sisters.  Those frontlines would dominate the boards and score pretty easily inside.
[/quote]

First, with regard to our bigs vs. the bigs since the Appel era began, I would agree.  There is still a lot of room for our posts to develop, and perhaps they will improve before their collegiate careers are over, but at the moment I think you are correct to say that our post play is not up to where it was  in the last 10 years--not sure I would go back 20 though.  I remember Brooke before Appel, and Brooke could be very inconsistent, having great games and poor games.  (That seems to be the issue with hook shots.  You are either "on" or you are not.)  Think 2004-5 when our posts were Brooke, Sebnem Kimyacioglu, and T'Nae Thiel.  That year it was Candice who gave us a great season, not the posts.  Sebnem and T'Nae each averaged 5 points, and Brooke 13. Brooke had different strengths than Erica, but I'm not sure that she was a better athlete, shot blocker, or rebounder, and her scoring was not that much better than Erica's.  It would at least be a tough choice to make between those two.  So Tara has coached her way through seasons like this one before.

Then keep in mind that Erica was ranked 11, Kailee 20, and Kaylee 30 by ESPN coming out of their respective high school classes.  Erica was heavily recruited by Geno.  I do think that they have more upside potential.  I think Erica did in fact do a remarkable job improving her body and skillset over the last summer, and I just think she has been in a bit of a slump the last few games.  If her jumper starts going down more consistently, she is going to be nearly unstoppable.  But that is a big "if."

Who could become an All-American?  I boldly predicted Alanna before she arrived, and I still think that is possible.  Kate has said "the sky is the limit" with her.  She has the size and skillset to do it--she could become an unstoppable 3, which she is trying to transition to.  We will know whether it will happen over the next year.  Jeanette was a good guard but not of that caliber during her freshman year, and as Kate describes it, Jeanette remade her body and skillset between her freshman and sophomore year with incredible amounts of strength training and basketball drills.  And she is still playing in the WNBA.  Alanna could do that, too.  The coaches have said that Marta could be the best point guard Stanford has ever had--and there have been some All Americans there, but not for a long time.  (Candice was forced into playing point guard but that was never her natural position.)  So far, I don't see it.  She gets too aggressive with her passes and forces things, and as the coaches have pointed out, she needs to be a strong scoring threat to be able to suck the defense to her and open up passing lanes to her teammates.  But she is very young, and we should know more when she comes back for her sophomore year.  We might know more by later this season.

While players can develop late, like Ruef, I can't think of anyone who developed late and then became an All American.  Rather, the All Americans show at least flashes of brilliance during the freshman year and then a transformation by the beginning of the sophomore year.  I was hoping for Kaylee and Brittany for this year.  I still think they both have much more potential and will improve, but I'm unsure of the lofty heights.  Alanna and perhaps Marta are the best bets.

[81alum]

[quote author=81alum link=topic=14340.msg151988#msg151988 date=1452319365]
[quote author=76lsjumb link=topic=14340.msg151987#msg151987 date=1452318933]
I still have the feeling that, if this team played each Stanford team from the past 20 years, it would likely lose 3/4 of those games, if not more.  Yet we apparently remain in the Top Ten in RPI.  Doesn't say much for the overall quality of the field this year...

Probably.  For twenty years we had Nicole Powell, then Candice Wiggins, then Jayne and Kayla and Jeanette, then Nneka and Chiney.  I do believe that one or two of our current players may develop into an All-American, but at the moment we don't had any player equivalent to these WNBA players.  Meanwhile, the Pac-12 really has gotten much, much better.
[/quote]

Who do you think has the most potential to become All-Americans on the current roster during the course of their collegiate careers?

I think hands down that this year's version would be decimated by any one of the teams during our 5 consecutive Final Fours.  Our current crop of post players are nowhere near the talent of Appel, Pedersen or the Ogwumike sisters.  Those frontlines would dominate the boards and score pretty easily inside.
[/quote]

First, with regard to our bigs vs. the bigs since the Appel era began, I would agree.  There is still a lot of room for our posts to develop, and perhaps they will improve before their collegiate careers are over, but at the moment I think you are correct to say that our post play is not up to where it was  in the last 10 years--not sure I would go back 20 though.  I remember Brooke before Appel, and Brooke could be very inconsistent, having great games and poor games.  (That seems to be the issue with hook shots.  You are either "on" or you are not.)  Think 2004-5 when our posts were Brooke, Sebnem Kimyacioglu, and T'Nae Thiel.  That year it was Candice who gave us a great season, not the posts.  Sebnem and T'Nae each averaged 5 points, and Brooke 13. Brooke had different strengths than Erica, but I'm not sure that she was a better athlete, shot blocker, or rebounder, and her scoring was not that much better than Erica's.  It would at least be a tough choice to make between those two.  So Tara has coached her way through seasons like this one before.

Then keep in mind that Erica was ranked 11, Kailee 20, and Kaylee 30 by ESPN coming out of their respective high school classes.  Erica was heavily recruited by Geno.  I do think that they have more upside potential.  I think Erica did in fact do a remarkable job improving her body and skillset over the last summer, and I just think she has been in a bit of a slump the last few games.  If her jumper starts going down more consistently, she is going to be nearly unstoppable.  But that is a big "if."

Who could become an All-American?  I boldly predicted Alanna before she arrived, and I still think that is possible.  Kate has said "the sky is the limit" with her.  She has the size and skillset to do it--she could become an unstoppable 3, which she is trying to transition to.  We will know whether it will happen over the next year.  Jeanette was a good guard but not of that caliber during her freshman year, and as Kate describes it, Jeanette remade her body and skillset between her freshman and sophomore year with incredible amounts of strength training and basketball drills.  And she is still playing in the WNBA.  Alanna could do that, too.  The coaches have said that Marta could be the best point guard Stanford has ever had--and there have been some All Americans there, but not for a long time.  (Candice was forced into playing point guard but that was never her natural position.)  So far, I don't see it.  She gets too aggressive with her passes and forces things, and as the coaches have pointed out, she needs to be a strong scoring threat to be able to suck the defense to her and open up passing lanes to her teammates.  But she is very young, and we should know more when she comes back for her sophomore year.  We might know more by later this season.

While players can develop late, like Ruef, I can't think of anyone who developed late and then became an All American.  Rather, the All Americans show at least flashes of brilliance during the freshman year and then a transformation by the beginning of the sophomore year.  I was hoping for Kaylee and Brittany for this year.  I still think they both have much more potential and will improve, but I'm unsure of the lofty heights.  Alanna and perhaps Marta are the best bets.