[KenCard]

Today season ticket holders were invited to come watch our team in a red vs. white scrimmage, played with officials and in a normal game format.

The players shifted between teams, so the score was meaningless but this was the best competition we are apt to face in a game for quite some time, since we are far deeper and more talented than most of our opponents.

Overall impressions:

As one might expect, the defense is out in front of the offense at this stage.  The fact that our players know each other so well and
that the lineups kept shifting did not make for a lot of pretty offense.  However, there were moments, and it was fun to see the new players for the first time and the development of our returning players.  But the defense was quite impressive.  It seemed to me as if the defensive intensity and the closeness of defenders had been turned up a few notches.  There was very little sagging and a whole lot of close defense.

Who played:

We have 17 on the roster this year.  Freshman Jzaniya Harriel and Sixth year Anna Wilson warmed up and did the drills but did not play.  Redshirt junior Jenna Brown did not warm up or play, but she came in uniform and with a long leg brace in place.  The other 14 players all played.

Impressions of the returners:

Jerome, Prechtel, the Hulls, and Jump I won't comment on, except to say they seemed solid to me.  Jerome hit a nice trey, Jump might have been a bit off today, but I did not notice anything to make me think any of them were radically different players than a year ago.

Fran Belibi looked quite good around the basket, as she often has.  She also seems to have developed a mid range jumper and was clearly trying to use it.  Reminded my of the jumper Nadia Fingall developed from the outer corner of the key to defeat zones.  This bodes very well from Belibi, in my opinion, if she is able to diversify her offense in this way.  Plus many Princeton plays get initiated from the corner of the key by a big with the ball there--passing to back door cuts.  If she is able to score from that position, it complicates opponent's defenses.

Haley Jones has developed a three point shot.  She was hitting about half of them in practice, and then she went on to hit a couple in the scrimmage.  Like Fran's mid-range, giving Jones another arrow in her quiver will make her that much more difficult to defend, and allow her to adapt to whatever the defense throws at her.  I was impressed with that, although the rest of her game today seemed familiar.

Cameron Brink did not have her best day.  She racked up 3 fouls, including a flagrant foul when she threw her elbows.  Later she settled down and played well--but we have all known that the key to her success is staying out of foul trouble and this was a problem again today. 

Jana Van Gytenbeek looked like the best point guard on the floor today.  Anna Wilson did not play, so there is no way for me to know how Anna might have done.  But Jana brought the ball up with speed and made quick passes.  Her three point shot went through most of the time in practice--I don't recall her scoring during the actual scrimmage though.

Agnes Emma-Nnopu was a great surprise.  Last year I remember the coaches talking about using her as a defensive stopper.  Well, she was fantastic on defense.  Every time she locked on to a point guard, the pg had problems even passing the ball.  She got numerous deflections and a couple of steals, one resulting in a fast break layup.  Her speed, nimbleness, and long reach are tough to get around.  Think of Anna Wilson with six more inches of reach in all directions.  After the first half I remarked on her defense  to a friend and wondered aloud if she could hold her own on offense.  In the second half, she was (I think) 3/3 from three point range.  If Agnes can defend that well and keep up the three point percentages, I expect we are going to see a lot more of her than we expected.

Newcomers

Jordan Hamilton, grad transfer.  Jordan was an accomplished point guard before coming to Stanford, so I was surprised at how hard a time she had.  I think the problem may have been that Agnes was defending her much of the time, and Jordan was not long enough or tall enough to get around Agnes.  We should all reserve judgment--what is a single scrimmage worth, anyway, but I did not get the sense that Hamilton was clicking in our offense.

Elena Bosgana, freshman guard.  Bosgana in the first half drove at the basket every chance she could get.  Most of the drives did not result on baskets, but it was predictable that she had a driving, scoring mentality no matter where she got the ball.  In the second half she did much better, she made some good passes and took and made a couple of threes.  She is quite talented--a guard who can drive, shoot treys, and pass is priceless, and I expect she will improve markedly as she learns to discipline her skills in Tara's system.

Brooke Demetre, freshman guard.  I did not get to watch her as carefully as I would like, but she has a sweet three point stroke.  She is also tall enough that she was defending Prechtel at times.  Another tall three point weapon--certainly a nice addition to the team.

Kiki Iriafen, freshman forward.  A very impressive athlete.  While it is clear that she is learning the system and the game has not yet slowed down for her, her skillset looks very good.  Excellent moves around and under the basket and a big, strong, athletic body.  I think I saw a decent jump shot from her too. 

Conclusion:

I am excited about this team!  It is loaded with new talent and it will be fun to see Tara once again fitting the jigsaw pieces together again.  This may be the most athletic group, top to bottom, that we have ever had.  Defense could be a big strength of this team.  We will see how the offense develops, how quickly the newcomers contribute, how consistent our three point shooting is, and whether Anna Wilson becomes the point guard, and if she does, how effective she will be in that role.  So many unanswered questions, but today's scrimmage promises a very interesting season ahead!

I certainly concur with this insightful commentary on the scrimmage.  Point guard remains the position of most interest based on this scrimmage.  Van Gytenbeek has lowered my concern about her bringing up the ball.  She seemed just to pick a direction and take off, a technique reminiscent of Tony Kokenis.  Backup point guard might be Jones, though I'm hoping Brown or Harriel can put themselves into the mix.  Emma-Nnopu looks like a rotation player to me.  She has the same strengths as Wilson, "3 and D."  Iriafen could be in the rotation, too.  She moves with a purpose and good effort.  Once she gets stronger, she will be even more valuable.  I noticed Prechtel took and made a little jump hook in the lane.  If she uses it when it's available, that could help her inside game this year.

This year's going to be fun!

[KenCard]

Today season ticket holders were invited to come watch our team in a red vs. white scrimmage, played with officials and in a normal game format.

The players shifted between teams, so the score was meaningless but this was the best competition we are apt to face in a game for quite some time, since we are far deeper and more talented than most of our opponents.

Overall impressions:

As one might expect, the defense is out in front of the offense at this stage.  The fact that our players know each other so well and
that the lineups kept shifting did not make for a lot of pretty offense.  However, there were moments, and it was fun to see the new players for the first time and the development of our returning players.  But the defense was quite impressive.  It seemed to me as if the defensive intensity and the closeness of defenders had been turned up a few notches.  There was very little sagging and a whole lot of close defense.

Who played:

We have 17 on the roster this year.  Freshman Jzaniya Harriel and Sixth year Anna Wilson warmed up and did the drills but did not play.  Redshirt junior Jenna Brown did not warm up or play, but she came in uniform and with a long leg brace in place.  The other 14 players all played.

Impressions of the returners:

Jerome, Prechtel, the Hulls, and Jump I won't comment on, except to say they seemed solid to me.  Jerome hit a nice trey, Jump might have been a bit off today, but I did not notice anything to make me think any of them were radically different players than a year ago.

Fran Belibi looked quite good around the basket, as she often has.  She also seems to have developed a mid range jumper and was clearly trying to use it.  Reminded my of the jumper Nadia Fingall developed from the outer corner of the key to defeat zones.  This bodes very well from Belibi, in my opinion, if she is able to diversify her offense in this way.  Plus many Princeton plays get initiated from the corner of the key by a big with the ball there--passing to back door cuts.  If she is able to score from that position, it complicates opponent's defenses.

Haley Jones has developed a three point shot.  She was hitting about half of them in practice, and then she went on to hit a couple in the scrimmage.  Like Fran's mid-range, giving Jones another arrow in her quiver will make her that much more difficult to defend, and allow her to adapt to whatever the defense throws at her.  I was impressed with that, although the rest of her game today seemed familiar.

Cameron Brink did not have her best day.  She racked up 3 fouls, including a flagrant foul when she threw her elbows.  Later she settled down and played well--but we have all known that the key to her success is staying out of foul trouble and this was a problem again today. 

Jana Van Gytenbeek looked like the best point guard on the floor today.  Anna Wilson did not play, so there is no way for me to know how Anna might have done.  But Jana brought the ball up with speed and made quick passes.  Her three point shot went through most of the time in practice--I don't recall her scoring during the actual scrimmage though.

Agnes Emma-Nnopu was a great surprise.  Last year I remember the coaches talking about using her as a defensive stopper.  Well, she was fantastic on defense.  Every time she locked on to a point guard, the pg had problems even passing the ball.  She got numerous deflections and a couple of steals, one resulting in a fast break layup.  Her speed, nimbleness, and long reach are tough to get around.  Think of Anna Wilson with six more inches of reach in all directions.  After the first half I remarked on her defense  to a friend and wondered aloud if she could hold her own on offense.  In the second half, she was (I think) 3/3 from three point range.  If Agnes can defend that well and keep up the three point percentages, I expect we are going to see a lot more of her than we expected.

Newcomers

Jordan Hamilton, grad transfer.  Jordan was an accomplished point guard before coming to Stanford, so I was surprised at how hard a time she had.  I think the problem may have been that Agnes was defending her much of the time, and Jordan was not long enough or tall enough to get around Agnes.  We should all reserve judgment--what is a single scrimmage worth, anyway, but I did not get the sense that Hamilton was clicking in our offense.

Elena Bosgana, freshman guard.  Bosgana in the first half drove at the basket every chance she could get.  Most of the drives did not result on baskets, but it was predictable that she had a driving, scoring mentality no matter where she got the ball.  In the second half she did much better, she made some good passes and took and made a couple of threes.  She is quite talented--a guard who can drive, shoot treys, and pass is priceless, and I expect she will improve markedly as she learns to discipline her skills in Tara's system.

Brooke Demetre, freshman guard.  I did not get to watch her as carefully as I would like, but she has a sweet three point stroke.  She is also tall enough that she was defending Prechtel at times.  Another tall three point weapon--certainly a nice addition to the team.

Kiki Iriafen, freshman forward.  A very impressive athlete.  While it is clear that she is learning the system and the game has not yet slowed down for her, her skillset looks very good.  Excellent moves around and under the basket and a big, strong, athletic body.  I think I saw a decent jump shot from her too. 

Conclusion:

I am excited about this team!  It is loaded with new talent and it will be fun to see Tara once again fitting the jigsaw pieces together again.  This may be the most athletic group, top to bottom, that we have ever had.  Defense could be a big strength of this team.  We will see how the offense develops, how quickly the newcomers contribute, how consistent our three point shooting is, and whether Anna Wilson becomes the point guard, and if she does, how effective she will be in that role.  So many unanswered questions, but today's scrimmage promises a very interesting season ahead!

I certainly concur with this insightful commentary on the scrimmage.  Point guard remains the position of most interest based on this scrimmage.  Van Gytenbeek has lowered my concern about her bringing up the ball.  She seemed just to pick a direction and take off, a technique reminiscent of Tony Kokenis.  Backup point guard might be Jones, though I'm hoping Brown or Harriel can put themselves into the mix.  Emma-Nnopu looks like a rotation player to me.  She has the same strengths as Wilson, "3 and D."  Iriafen could be in the rotation, too.  She moves with a purpose and good effort.  Once she gets stronger, she will be even more valuable.  I noticed Prechtel took and made a little jump hook in the lane.  If she uses it when it's available, that could help her inside game this year.

This year's going to be fun!