[81alum]

Each of SF and UM will be playing us with at least a day’s rest after their previous game while we will be playing them on the 2nd and 3rd games of a back-to-back-to-back. Will be good tests of our conditioning and depth.

Good point.  Although this seems to be by Stanford design.  South Florida agreed to stay on in the Bahamas after the conclusion of their tournament there last week so they could play us on our "off" day.  I believe this is actually a "home" game for them, although somehow they got it integrated into this week's "tournament."   In the past, our coaches have mentioned liking those 1-per-day-for-three-day formats as a way of simulating the Pac 12 tournament and getting the team ready for that intensity. 

We have enough depth to play a different group of 5 each of the three days, but if the games are all very close then we seem to have only about 8 who play.  A team that just beat Oregon does not promise to be a pushover, unfortunately, but it would be so great to see Demetre, Iriafan, Van Gytenbeek, Emma-Nnopu, and Bosgana getting some extended minutes.  For that matter, Harriel has not played a single minute this year, although the Flohoops broadcasters mistakenly put up her picture as a starter yesterday.

My guess is that the next two games will be close and we won't see much outside the rotation of 8.  But then when we come home to play Pacific and Davis we could.

Question for those who might know: why would we create such a brutal schedule for ourselves when Tara herself seems to complain about it?  (She used the word "brutal," although I supposed she could be pleased with its brutality.)  Is it possible that after our national championship, many teams simply do not want to play us this year, and this restricts the number of teams interested?

[81alum]

Each of SF and UM will be playing us with at least a day’s rest after their previous game while we will be playing them on the 2nd and 3rd games of a back-to-back-to-back. Will be good tests of our conditioning and depth.

Good point.  Although this seems to be by Stanford design.  South Florida agreed to stay on in the Bahamas after the conclusion of their tournament there last week so they could play us on our "off" day.  I believe this is actually a "home" game for them, although somehow they got it integrated into this week's "tournament."   In the past, our coaches have mentioned liking those 1-per-day-for-three-day formats as a way of simulating the Pac 12 tournament and getting the team ready for that intensity. 

We have enough depth to play a different group of 5 each of the three days, but if the games are all very close then we seem to have only about 8 who play.  A team that just beat Oregon does not promise to be a pushover, unfortunately, but it would be so great to see Demetre, Iriafan, Van Gytenbeek, Emma-Nnopu, and Bosgana getting some extended minutes.  For that matter, Harriel has not played a single minute this year, although the Flohoops broadcasters mistakenly put up her picture as a starter yesterday.

My guess is that the next two games will be close and we won't see much outside the rotation of 8.  But then when we come home to play Pacific and Davis we could.

Question for those who might know: why would we create such a brutal schedule for ourselves when Tara herself seems to complain about it?  (She used the word "brutal," although I supposed she could be pleased with its brutality.)  Is it possible that after our national championship, many teams simply do not want to play us this year, and this restricts the number of teams interested?