[pepper1]

Good posts on the game with the Bru's today, with special kudos to VG once again.  It's been kind of unnerving that, as on Thursday against our other SoCal friends,  the Cardinal were played close by a team with a thin bench and lesser talent well into the second half before dispatching them.  A few additional impressions I would add to the discussion:

1.  Nneka had an uncharacteristically bad first half against the baseline traps the Bru's ran very effectively against her -- several turnovers & lots of poor, forced shots.  In past games she has been more patient in pushing the ball back around the zone when teams have used that approach.  This won't be the last time she sees this, so I imagine Tara and Amy will be coming up with some new strategies for her.  Of course when she got in the open court & got some second-half high-post/low-post feeds, we got to see what a marvelous talent she is once again.
2.  Fabulous job by Joslyn, particularly in the first half when Nneka was struggling -- a number of key rebounds,  solid defensive stops and a sweet 3.  Perhaps even a game ball worthy performance, though it's hard to vote against the Sisters Show in the second half.
3.  I was very impressed by the way Amber handled the ball today, as if it was attached to her hand with a string.  If she can put it all together, she is going to be an exceptional PG talent ... and I hope it happens this season.  In the meantime, Toni reinforced her credentials as the Third Sister with a very good game at the point when she wasn't being driven to the bench by the touch fouls being called by our officials today.
4.  And speaking of officials, like Garvin, I was relieved that Ms. Barlow's extraordinary second half offensive foul call on Nneka did not send VG to an early grave.  Although I'm generally more tolerant of the mediocre officiating we see in the Pac-12, I thought the crew today was unusually disruptive, with excessive whistles to an extreme.  The first foul called on Chiney and the second foul called on Toni were both phantom fouls that meant that we did not get to see them play more.  It seemed like there were an equal number of weak touch fouls against the Bru's that forced their substitution patterns as well.
5.  The Cardinal interior defense continues to be the best I've seen during many years of watching the Cardinal women.  Even though we still seem to struggle a bit to find offensive consistency, I am very encouraged by our D, which should be a big asset come March when we get a better class of officiating that let's the players play. 

[pepper1]

Good posts on the game with the Bru's today, with special kudos to VG once again.  It's been kind of unnerving that, as on Thursday against our other SoCal friends,  the Cardinal were played close by a team with a thin bench and lesser talent well into the second half before dispatching them.  A few additional impressions I would add to the discussion:

1.  Nneka had an uncharacteristically bad first half against the baseline traps the Bru's ran very effectively against her -- several turnovers & lots of poor, forced shots.  In past games she has been more patient in pushing the ball back around the zone when teams have used that approach.  This won't be the last time she sees this, so I imagine Tara and Amy will be coming up with some new strategies for her.  Of course when she got in the open court & got some second-half high-post/low-post feeds, we got to see what a marvelous talent she is once again.
2.  Fabulous job by Joslyn, particularly in the first half when Nneka was struggling -- a number of key rebounds,  solid defensive stops and a sweet 3.  Perhaps even a game ball worthy performance, though it's hard to vote against the Sisters Show in the second half.
3.  I was very impressed by the way Amber handled the ball today, as if it was attached to her hand with a string.  If she can put it all together, she is going to be an exceptional PG talent ... and I hope it happens this season.  In the meantime, Toni reinforced her credentials as the Third Sister with a very good game at the point when she wasn't being driven to the bench by the touch fouls being called by our officials today.
4.  And speaking of officials, like Garvin, I was relieved that Ms. Barlow's extraordinary second half offensive foul call on Nneka did not send VG to an early grave.  Although I'm generally more tolerant of the mediocre officiating we see in the Pac-12, I thought the crew today was unusually disruptive, with excessive whistles to an extreme.  The first foul called on Chiney and the second foul called on Toni were both phantom fouls that meant that we did not get to see them play more.  It seemed like there were an equal number of weak touch fouls against the Bru's that forced their substitution patterns as well.
5.  The Cardinal interior defense continues to be the best I've seen during many years of watching the Cardinal women.  Even though we still seem to struggle a bit to find offensive consistency, I am very encouraged by our D, which should be a big asset come March when we get a better class of officiating that let's the players play.