01-22-2016, 06:13 AM
Overview
The offense sputtered along with some bright spots, the defense had 13 blocks and held SC to 31% shooting, and that was enough to offset our 19 turnovers.
Pregame:
In a vital road-trip following a poor offensive showing against both Oregon and Oregon State, we take on U.SC tonight and #20 UCLA Sunday on Sunday--on the road. This road trip will go a long way toward deciding the fate of our season, and could realistically be anything from 2-0 to 0-2.  U.SC is led by graduate transfer Tami Fagbenle, a 6-4 power forward who played for Harvard last year and was All-Ivy first or second team during her years there, and a 2011 McDonald's All-American. She instantly elevated U.SC when she joined them this year. (Makes me wonder why she was not at Stanford, given that she was a McD and academically qualified for Harvard. That was the year we had the "sixpack" of Bonnie, Taylor, Amber, Jasmine Camp, Alex Green, and Erica Payne.)  U.SC also has Jordan Adams, a 48% three point shooter, although Jaco Courtney comes off the bench to take many more trey attempts at 38%. U.SC generally spreads its scoring pretty evenly around multiple players, making it hard to take away a single star or two, and necessitating the ability to shift the defensive focus depending on who on their team gets hot. It is exactly the kind of team that gives us trouble to defend. SC is 64th in offense and 41st in defense, 11th in turnover margin and 24th in steals, and its pg Brianna Barett is 11th in the nation in assist/turnover ratio. They are ranked 23 by Sagarin.
Flow of the Game:
Stanford opened the first quarter by doubling Fagbenle whenever she touched the ball. This left a few openings for SC. On offense, Tara clearly issued orders to increase the pace of the game and to run a depleted SC into the ground. In the first half, Marta set a very fast pace, pushed the ball with lots of hard passes--many of them hard to control and as a result we have 12 turnovers to 4 for SC. Those turnovers have kept SC in the game, because we are shooting 50% and they are shooting 32%.  Most importantly, Lili is 4/6 and seems to be more confident. Bri will not play tonight, we were told, and neither will Adams or Barrett for SC who have academic issues. We outrebounded SC 21-12 which helps make up for those turnovers. So too did our 7 blocks to their 1. So far Tara has played 8 players and all 8 have scored. Everything looks good except the turnovers and that score. Somehow all that dominance adds up to only a 4 point lead.
The second half showed some of the wisdom of the fast pace--Fagbenle was obviously fatigued and shorting her free throws. This time our defense did not collapse as it did at Oregon State--until the last thirty seconds of the game when we gave up six quick points off turnovers when inbounding. Fagbenle was held to 3/10, and we were helped by SC going 6/17 from the line. We led the entire second half and it gradually stretched the lead from 4 to 9 to 15 late in the fourth quarter before giving up those embarrassing but meaningless three baskets at the end.
I think the announcers said that our 13 blocks was a school record. It was obvious that anytime SC tried to score in the paint that they got swarmed with long arms. We did this to Oregon and Oregon State, too, but both those teams figured out how to pass the pass out of the paint to open three point shooters to punish us. SC did not.
Performances:
Karlie was 4/6 from three point range and looking like her true self.Â
But the game ball would have to go to Erica McCall, who quietly put up a double-double while recording 5 blocks. She was so important to all phases of the game--14 points, 11 rebounds, 5 blocks--even a couple of steals.
Lili looked much more like the good Lili tonight. I even saw her smile. Still not a 3 pointer made, but 5/11 for 11 points, and dynamic.
With Bri unable to play, Marta got a lot of time--35 minutes. She looked brilliant at times, and racked up 4 of our relatively paltry 11 assists. She took it to the rim a couple of times, and almost shot a jump shot....but didn't :P One of these days, she is going to at least attempt a jump shot. But she really increased the pace of the game and the faster pace seemed to help Lili especially get into a more comfortable rhythm. Unfortunately, her passes tended to be high risk and either worked well or created turnovers--she had 5 to go with Lili's 4.Â
Kaylee split time with the other bigs, but aggressively went after rebounds and wound up with 13, to go with 5 points. 13 rebounds in 20 minutes of play--she had 4 fouls or may have played more. That is impressive.
Alanna and Brittany got some time--I was shocked to see a lineup that had Karlie, Brittany, and Alanna all in the game at the same time--and made modest contributions. McPhee had a nice trey, and Smith was 2/7, making the lay-ins and missing the treys.
Conclusion:
This game had some ugly moments, and it won't answer all the questions that have been growing about the team. It does, however, show us a forumula: Tara is pushing the pace even in it means more turnovers, and to do this she is playing more players. She experimented today with combinations just like the lineups we have talked about on this board. She is hunting for answers. The defense, especially the blocking of Erica and Kaylee, was dominant, and the offense was just good enough given the strong defense. Sunday will be a stronger test. A win at UCLA would be our best conference win so far--but unlike SC they are relatively healthy and are playing well.
Watching this game, though, the players looked happier, as if they were having fun. They played with much more energy than last weekend, smiled, pushed the pace. Even their mistakes looked more energetic! Tara is trying to inject some new life into the team, and it showed.
The offense sputtered along with some bright spots, the defense had 13 blocks and held SC to 31% shooting, and that was enough to offset our 19 turnovers.
Pregame:
In a vital road-trip following a poor offensive showing against both Oregon and Oregon State, we take on U.SC tonight and #20 UCLA Sunday on Sunday--on the road. This road trip will go a long way toward deciding the fate of our season, and could realistically be anything from 2-0 to 0-2.  U.SC is led by graduate transfer Tami Fagbenle, a 6-4 power forward who played for Harvard last year and was All-Ivy first or second team during her years there, and a 2011 McDonald's All-American. She instantly elevated U.SC when she joined them this year. (Makes me wonder why she was not at Stanford, given that she was a McD and academically qualified for Harvard. That was the year we had the "sixpack" of Bonnie, Taylor, Amber, Jasmine Camp, Alex Green, and Erica Payne.)  U.SC also has Jordan Adams, a 48% three point shooter, although Jaco Courtney comes off the bench to take many more trey attempts at 38%. U.SC generally spreads its scoring pretty evenly around multiple players, making it hard to take away a single star or two, and necessitating the ability to shift the defensive focus depending on who on their team gets hot. It is exactly the kind of team that gives us trouble to defend. SC is 64th in offense and 41st in defense, 11th in turnover margin and 24th in steals, and its pg Brianna Barett is 11th in the nation in assist/turnover ratio. They are ranked 23 by Sagarin.
Flow of the Game:
Stanford opened the first quarter by doubling Fagbenle whenever she touched the ball. This left a few openings for SC. On offense, Tara clearly issued orders to increase the pace of the game and to run a depleted SC into the ground. In the first half, Marta set a very fast pace, pushed the ball with lots of hard passes--many of them hard to control and as a result we have 12 turnovers to 4 for SC. Those turnovers have kept SC in the game, because we are shooting 50% and they are shooting 32%.  Most importantly, Lili is 4/6 and seems to be more confident. Bri will not play tonight, we were told, and neither will Adams or Barrett for SC who have academic issues. We outrebounded SC 21-12 which helps make up for those turnovers. So too did our 7 blocks to their 1. So far Tara has played 8 players and all 8 have scored. Everything looks good except the turnovers and that score. Somehow all that dominance adds up to only a 4 point lead.
The second half showed some of the wisdom of the fast pace--Fagbenle was obviously fatigued and shorting her free throws. This time our defense did not collapse as it did at Oregon State--until the last thirty seconds of the game when we gave up six quick points off turnovers when inbounding. Fagbenle was held to 3/10, and we were helped by SC going 6/17 from the line. We led the entire second half and it gradually stretched the lead from 4 to 9 to 15 late in the fourth quarter before giving up those embarrassing but meaningless three baskets at the end.
I think the announcers said that our 13 blocks was a school record. It was obvious that anytime SC tried to score in the paint that they got swarmed with long arms. We did this to Oregon and Oregon State, too, but both those teams figured out how to pass the pass out of the paint to open three point shooters to punish us. SC did not.
Performances:
Karlie was 4/6 from three point range and looking like her true self.Â
But the game ball would have to go to Erica McCall, who quietly put up a double-double while recording 5 blocks. She was so important to all phases of the game--14 points, 11 rebounds, 5 blocks--even a couple of steals.
Lili looked much more like the good Lili tonight. I even saw her smile. Still not a 3 pointer made, but 5/11 for 11 points, and dynamic.
With Bri unable to play, Marta got a lot of time--35 minutes. She looked brilliant at times, and racked up 4 of our relatively paltry 11 assists. She took it to the rim a couple of times, and almost shot a jump shot....but didn't :P One of these days, she is going to at least attempt a jump shot. But she really increased the pace of the game and the faster pace seemed to help Lili especially get into a more comfortable rhythm. Unfortunately, her passes tended to be high risk and either worked well or created turnovers--she had 5 to go with Lili's 4.Â
Kaylee split time with the other bigs, but aggressively went after rebounds and wound up with 13, to go with 5 points. 13 rebounds in 20 minutes of play--she had 4 fouls or may have played more. That is impressive.
Alanna and Brittany got some time--I was shocked to see a lineup that had Karlie, Brittany, and Alanna all in the game at the same time--and made modest contributions. McPhee had a nice trey, and Smith was 2/7, making the lay-ins and missing the treys.
Conclusion:
This game had some ugly moments, and it won't answer all the questions that have been growing about the team. It does, however, show us a forumula: Tara is pushing the pace even in it means more turnovers, and to do this she is playing more players. She experimented today with combinations just like the lineups we have talked about on this board. She is hunting for answers. The defense, especially the blocking of Erica and Kaylee, was dominant, and the offense was just good enough given the strong defense. Sunday will be a stronger test. A win at UCLA would be our best conference win so far--but unlike SC they are relatively healthy and are playing well.
Watching this game, though, the players looked happier, as if they were having fun. They played with much more energy than last weekend, smiled, pushed the pace. Even their mistakes looked more energetic! Tara is trying to inject some new life into the team, and it showed.