[Viking_Guy]

A tale of really disparate runs of play: opening 4 minutes okay, 10 minutes of pure ick, then about 20 minutes or so of great play, then garbage time.  Although that in itself is a little too simple.

Stanford actually opened up okay, having success against the WSU defense and finding cutters for layups, plus a 3 from Joslyn which she followed with a nice fastbreak finish to give Stanford a 9-7 lead at the first media timeout.  Then WSU did a line change, bringing in four new players and changing defenses.  And all of a sudden, Stanford couldn't buy a bucket.  They appeared to switch to a floating zone, not chasing the shooters particularly hard off the ball, and Stanford again had problems working against it

From the 16 minute mark til the 9 minute mark of the first half, Stanford scored exactly four points.  Two free throws by Chiney, and one very nice pass by Amber to a cutting Toni, failed entirely to overcome 3 turnovers, and something like 8 missed shots.  WSU, meanwhile, had some success against the Cardinal's player-to-player defense, as their guards were consistently able to beat defenders at the point of attack and get into the lane, then make good decisions as the defense rotated to help and hit the open player.  They led 16-13 midway through the half.

Then Stanford changed up the defense, and brought in that 2-1-2 zone look that I've been talking about and that 81Alum mentions. 

The Cougars scored 4 points in the last 10 minutes of the half.

It took a few more minutes for the Cardinal offense to get untracked; Nneka had a steal and fastbreak layup, but then Stanford missed FIVE consecutive three point shots and had a turnover that allowed WSU to not pay for only scoring 2 points in 3 minutes or so of clock time.

Not sure what changed.  Part of it was a couple of very nice athletic moves and offensive rebounds from Chiney that gave Stanford the lead back at 19-18.  Another part of it was more personnel changes or perhaps fatigue on the part of the Cougars' defense.  But I think a larger part of it was simply that WSU stopped scoring, with turnovers and long rebounds off badly missed three point shots that led to transition and secondary transition opportunities.

I was a bit concerned when Stanford had a couple of empty possessions late in the half and WSU had a chance to cut into the lead; they hit their first bucket in the last six minutes of the half off an offensive rebound and layup, then got a quick Stanford miss on a three pointer by Jos.  The Cougars tried to drive inside on the last play of the half, but Tinkle made up for her miss by coming up with the steal, then firing a long pass to Toni who just beat the buzzer to get to the final halftime score.

The first half was offensively, well, ugly.  Take away three fast break layups, and Stanford shot 8-30 from the field with 10 turnovers.  WSU off their penetration was getting into the paint, and Stanford's bench contribution was a lone three by Samuelson in the end of half run.  Toni looked out of sync and out of sorts (the Cougar guards, especially Adzasu, might actually outquick her).  All in all, an ugh only salvaged by the opening and ending of the half, outweighing a middle 10 minutes of 6 points on 2-18 shooting with 4 turnovers.

The second half began as the first ended; Stanford becoming a bit more efficient on offense, and WSU hitting an average of a shot every, well, four minutes or so.  The Cougars hit the opening bucket to cut the lead to 8, then only had a FT til a baseline jumper about 4 minutes in.  Then again nothing until after the under-12 minute media timeout.

WSU also for some reason switched back to a player-to-player defense, and Nneka and Chiney went to town inside.  They scored 16 of Stanford's first 17 points of the half, all in the paint, before Lindy converted a fastbreak and-1 opportunity.  By that point, the lead was 25, and any chance of an upset was essentially gone.


For me, gameball to Chiney narrowly over Nneka; she had the advantage of not trying to beat WSU's zone with outside jumpers, and after missing her first shot from the field hit her last 7 to go with 12 rebounds and 5-6 from the line.  Nneka had 22 and 10, but spent a bit too much time outside against an eminently beatable WSU frontline (I don't know, maybe she was preparing to try to draw UW's giant Regina Rogers away from the hoop on Saturday).

More problematic - I think Jos, despite a tough shooting night, has settled in at the 3.  But now both the 1 and 2 spots are really struggling; the primaries at that spot went 3-16 (Toni 2-8, Lindy 1-4 on that fastbreak, Amber 0-4 but with some FTs from breaks she couldn't finish) and 0-7 from 3 pt range.

I agree; I'm a big Erica Payne fan, and love that she's playing on the perimeter with enthusiasm and energy in limited minutes.  I'd like to see what she could do as a defensive stopper, as I've said in the past.  But also love the fact that, unlike a lot of Stanford's perimeter players, she can finish on contested drives to the hoop.  Lindy tries, but doesn't get enough lift and often gets blocked, while Toni seems only rarely to remember that she's a good cutter and finisher.  Part of that might be, not to beat a severely wounded equine, that Stanford's triangle is more about feeding the post than creating the opportunity for a slasher to the basket, and Toni seems to prefer driving from the top rather than from the wing, so her positioning at the 2 doesn't fit her comfort zone for taking it into the lane.  That slashing game is what Stanford really lacks in these games when the outside shooting is cold.

VG

[Viking_Guy]

A tale of really disparate runs of play: opening 4 minutes okay, 10 minutes of pure ick, then about 20 minutes or so of great play, then garbage time.  Although that in itself is a little too simple.

Stanford actually opened up okay, having success against the WSU defense and finding cutters for layups, plus a 3 from Joslyn which she followed with a nice fastbreak finish to give Stanford a 9-7 lead at the first media timeout.  Then WSU did a line change, bringing in four new players and changing defenses.  And all of a sudden, Stanford couldn't buy a bucket.  They appeared to switch to a floating zone, not chasing the shooters particularly hard off the ball, and Stanford again had problems working against it

From the 16 minute mark til the 9 minute mark of the first half, Stanford scored exactly four points.  Two free throws by Chiney, and one very nice pass by Amber to a cutting Toni, failed entirely to overcome 3 turnovers, and something like 8 missed shots.  WSU, meanwhile, had some success against the Cardinal's player-to-player defense, as their guards were consistently able to beat defenders at the point of attack and get into the lane, then make good decisions as the defense rotated to help and hit the open player.  They led 16-13 midway through the half.

Then Stanford changed up the defense, and brought in that 2-1-2 zone look that I've been talking about and that 81Alum mentions. 

The Cougars scored 4 points in the last 10 minutes of the half.

It took a few more minutes for the Cardinal offense to get untracked; Nneka had a steal and fastbreak layup, but then Stanford missed FIVE consecutive three point shots and had a turnover that allowed WSU to not pay for only scoring 2 points in 3 minutes or so of clock time.

Not sure what changed.  Part of it was a couple of very nice athletic moves and offensive rebounds from Chiney that gave Stanford the lead back at 19-18.  Another part of it was more personnel changes or perhaps fatigue on the part of the Cougars' defense.  But I think a larger part of it was simply that WSU stopped scoring, with turnovers and long rebounds off badly missed three point shots that led to transition and secondary transition opportunities.

I was a bit concerned when Stanford had a couple of empty possessions late in the half and WSU had a chance to cut into the lead; they hit their first bucket in the last six minutes of the half off an offensive rebound and layup, then got a quick Stanford miss on a three pointer by Jos.  The Cougars tried to drive inside on the last play of the half, but Tinkle made up for her miss by coming up with the steal, then firing a long pass to Toni who just beat the buzzer to get to the final halftime score.

The first half was offensively, well, ugly.  Take away three fast break layups, and Stanford shot 8-30 from the field with 10 turnovers.  WSU off their penetration was getting into the paint, and Stanford's bench contribution was a lone three by Samuelson in the end of half run.  Toni looked out of sync and out of sorts (the Cougar guards, especially Adzasu, might actually outquick her).  All in all, an ugh only salvaged by the opening and ending of the half, outweighing a middle 10 minutes of 6 points on 2-18 shooting with 4 turnovers.

The second half began as the first ended; Stanford becoming a bit more efficient on offense, and WSU hitting an average of a shot every, well, four minutes or so.  The Cougars hit the opening bucket to cut the lead to 8, then only had a FT til a baseline jumper about 4 minutes in.  Then again nothing until after the under-12 minute media timeout.

WSU also for some reason switched back to a player-to-player defense, and Nneka and Chiney went to town inside.  They scored 16 of Stanford's first 17 points of the half, all in the paint, before Lindy converted a fastbreak and-1 opportunity.  By that point, the lead was 25, and any chance of an upset was essentially gone.


For me, gameball to Chiney narrowly over Nneka; she had the advantage of not trying to beat WSU's zone with outside jumpers, and after missing her first shot from the field hit her last 7 to go with 12 rebounds and 5-6 from the line.  Nneka had 22 and 10, but spent a bit too much time outside against an eminently beatable WSU frontline (I don't know, maybe she was preparing to try to draw UW's giant Regina Rogers away from the hoop on Saturday).

More problematic - I think Jos, despite a tough shooting night, has settled in at the 3.  But now both the 1 and 2 spots are really struggling; the primaries at that spot went 3-16 (Toni 2-8, Lindy 1-4 on that fastbreak, Amber 0-4 but with some FTs from breaks she couldn't finish) and 0-7 from 3 pt range.

I agree; I'm a big Erica Payne fan, and love that she's playing on the perimeter with enthusiasm and energy in limited minutes.  I'd like to see what she could do as a defensive stopper, as I've said in the past.  But also love the fact that, unlike a lot of Stanford's perimeter players, she can finish on contested drives to the hoop.  Lindy tries, but doesn't get enough lift and often gets blocked, while Toni seems only rarely to remember that she's a good cutter and finisher.  Part of that might be, not to beat a severely wounded equine, that Stanford's triangle is more about feeding the post than creating the opportunity for a slasher to the basket, and Toni seems to prefer driving from the top rather than from the wing, so her positioning at the 2 doesn't fit her comfort zone for taking it into the lane.  That slashing game is what Stanford really lacks in these games when the outside shooting is cold.

VG