[81alum]

How the mighty have fallen.

I know we aren't awful. But it seems we are just north of mediocre. I was an undergrad in the heyday. Can someone who has followed the team more closely than I (who has followed the team casually) explain what has happened? I was used to it being UConn, Stanford, Tennessee, and then a Noter Dame or Baylor every year. Did everyone else just get better? Is this just a weird anomaly?

Please excuse my ignorance.

-m.

I do not think the sky is falling.  Just last year we beat a favored Not re Dame and ascended to the Final Four.  Our team this year has, in my opinion, more raw talent than the team last year.

What has happened is that we graduated 3 long time starting seniors and we have a relatively small upper class--and the lower class is on average more talented than the upper class.    Tara decided to implement a very different offense that she thinks will maximize the talents of our freshmen, sophomores, and next year's incoming class for years to come--but which is notoriously difficult to learn.  And at the moment we were engaging in such an ambitious transition, we put together a dramatically overly-ambitious schedule.  This was the year for a soft preseason and we got the toughest preseason schedule in years.

We will become very, very good again--probably "final four good"--by the time this transition is finished.  The talent and coaching is there.  But as fans we are wondering how long is this going to take, and how painful is it going to be?  Some of us hope that we will show signs of improvement prior to Pac 12 play.  If we beat Tennessee or UC LA we will know we are making good progress.  But if we don't, will we see it over the course of the league?  Or will we not become elite again until the Pac 12 tournament?  Will it not happen this year at all?  Will we set the bad kind of records for Stanford WBB in the Tara era along the way?  Records for losses, records for offensive futility, breaking our streak of NCAA appearances, etc?  Or will all the pieces of the puzzle come together in time to see this team flourish this year?

So, the longer run is very hopeful.  But we nervous fans are wondering how long is the long run?  I have learned never to bet against Tara.  I think we are going to see some very good things before this year is over.

[81alum]

How the mighty have fallen.

I know we aren't awful. But it seems we are just north of mediocre. I was an undergrad in the heyday. Can someone who has followed the team more closely than I (who has followed the team casually) explain what has happened? I was used to it being UConn, Stanford, Tennessee, and then a Noter Dame or Baylor every year. Did everyone else just get better? Is this just a weird anomaly?

Please excuse my ignorance.

-m.

I do not think the sky is falling.  Just last year we beat a favored Not re Dame and ascended to the Final Four.  Our team this year has, in my opinion, more raw talent than the team last year.

What has happened is that we graduated 3 long time starting seniors and we have a relatively small upper class--and the lower class is on average more talented than the upper class.    Tara decided to implement a very different offense that she thinks will maximize the talents of our freshmen, sophomores, and next year's incoming class for years to come--but which is notoriously difficult to learn.  And at the moment we were engaging in such an ambitious transition, we put together a dramatically overly-ambitious schedule.  This was the year for a soft preseason and we got the toughest preseason schedule in years.

We will become very, very good again--probably "final four good"--by the time this transition is finished.  The talent and coaching is there.  But as fans we are wondering how long is this going to take, and how painful is it going to be?  Some of us hope that we will show signs of improvement prior to Pac 12 play.  If we beat Tennessee or UC LA we will know we are making good progress.  But if we don't, will we see it over the course of the league?  Or will we not become elite again until the Pac 12 tournament?  Will it not happen this year at all?  Will we set the bad kind of records for Stanford WBB in the Tara era along the way?  Records for losses, records for offensive futility, breaking our streak of NCAA appearances, etc?  Or will all the pieces of the puzzle come together in time to see this team flourish this year?

So, the longer run is very hopeful.  But we nervous fans are wondering how long is the long run?  I have learned never to bet against Tara.  I think we are going to see some very good things before this year is over.