[teejers1]

Finally caught (part of) a game after what seems like nearly every game lately being either catch-it-or-miss-it streaming or on some obscure platform.

I agree with others that visually, our play was rather uninspiring. That said, as 81Alum noted and Ki remarked last year, they know our system as well as we do, so I'm not surprised both they and we were kept in check on offense.

I was trolling around our team's stats page a few interesting (and a few surprising) things stuck out:

-Would anyone have guessed at the start of this season that Hannah Jump would be half a point out from our second highest scoring player on average? With this last game, she passed Lexie, and is just behind Jones.

-For all that folks (including me) who rag Jones for her sloppy tendencies that produce turnovers, and who praise Lacie for being a relatively competent PG, their stats are uncannily similar: 29A/19TO for Jones, and 27A/18TO for Lacie. And interestingly, Jump has the best A/TO ratio on the team, with 2.4/1. 

-I also would not have guessed that Belibi would be a mere 2ish points behind Jones in points per game on average. Or that Lacie would be averaging more rebounds per game than Belibi is!

-Perhaps not surprising, but the twins almost have as many steals combined (39) as the whole rest of the team (44). Also interesting that Demetre has as many steals as Wilson in about half the minutes. 

-By far the most glaring statistics, to probably no one's surprise, are our teamwide FT% (.580, WTF!!!) and AST/TO ratio (literally 1/1, with 135 assists and 135 turnovers). There is no better way to give away free points than to miss free throws and turnover the ball. The number of unforced errors on both fronts is just kind of dismaying, especially for a team that otherwise seems to have a solid handle on the fundamentals.

Last, it's just speculation, but if I had to guess, I suspect Jones is not back to 100% with with whatever has been ailing her, and I suspect Van Gytenbeek has similarly been impaired by illness/injury, and that, more than being in Tara's doghouse, is the reason why she hasn't seen the court much in the last month. Tara is notoriously tightlipped about injuries so I suspect there may be more to these stories than just a bad playing streak and a one-way trip to the doghouse.

The score was 16-11 for what seemed like an eternity last night.  Some of that good D; some just missed shots.

Jump is playing well, but 37 minutes?  Never coming out till garbage time at very end?  She had 12 points at the half; and 12 points until well into Q4 - she picked up 5 points very late on a great, unselfish feed from Lexie in transition and a made 3.  I was smh that she played as much as she did when everybody else sat for extended minutes.

I like UCD's pluckiness; unfortunately, it sheds very little light on how Stanford will fare against the type of teams that gave them trouble last year and likely will again this year - i.e., teams with elite/uber-quick guard play.  Until we see what happens against such opponents, it's impossible to declare that Stanford is "fine" when it comes to PG position and the ability of all our guards (including Jump) to defend in such games.

What I think can be confirmed is the following:  Stanford has a very talented roster for the most part - and certainly with respect to more recent recruits - every single one of them can play, if given the chance.  I mean, look at Lacie and Jump this year.  They are playing well because they are playing a lot and know they won't get yanked for one mistake.  Lexie has always had that luxury (and has played incredibly well overall over the years).  You have to play with confidence, and except in the rarest of circumstances, confidence comes with PT.  This isn't to advocate that one player should be playing over another; but rather, to caution against concluding that certain bench players "aren't good enough" or "can't really play at this level" based on spotty minutes.  They all can play - I mean we know Anna Wilson can play at a championship level, and she is not seeing the court nearly as much this year (same is true for NW player, who barely played last night).  And I think most here would be pleasantly surprised at the productivity of Belibi, Prechtel, and just about everybody else if they played 20 minutes/game for 10 straight games.

It's just the nature of playing sports - at any level, really.  And it explains why I am more focused on ramifications of miniscule minutes for very good players on Stanford's bench.  It's a tough job as a coach, but also one of the most important ones.

I mean, did Jump really need to play 37 minutes last night in a game that was never in doubt?  At the expense of getting bench players more PT to build confidence?  (And btw, I agree with others that Jump's improved game merits more PT than she received last season).

One add: Barring foul trouble - and Brink demonstrated (again) last night that fouls can come in bunches with her - Brink should get a double-double rolling out of bed. And she is way too good a shooter for the FT % to stay where it is. Personally, I think she gets a bit too amped in games (getting tied up with the defender was one manifestation of that, imo). Just relax and play - her skills are quite unique.

[teejers1]

Finally caught (part of) a game after what seems like nearly every game lately being either catch-it-or-miss-it streaming or on some obscure platform.

I agree with others that visually, our play was rather uninspiring. That said, as 81Alum noted and Ki remarked last year, they know our system as well as we do, so I'm not surprised both they and we were kept in check on offense.

I was trolling around our team's stats page a few interesting (and a few surprising) things stuck out:

-Would anyone have guessed at the start of this season that Hannah Jump would be half a point out from our second highest scoring player on average? With this last game, she passed Lexie, and is just behind Jones.

-For all that folks (including me) who rag Jones for her sloppy tendencies that produce turnovers, and who praise Lacie for being a relatively competent PG, their stats are uncannily similar: 29A/19TO for Jones, and 27A/18TO for Lacie. And interestingly, Jump has the best A/TO ratio on the team, with 2.4/1. 

-I also would not have guessed that Belibi would be a mere 2ish points behind Jones in points per game on average. Or that Lacie would be averaging more rebounds per game than Belibi is!

-Perhaps not surprising, but the twins almost have as many steals combined (39) as the whole rest of the team (44). Also interesting that Demetre has as many steals as Wilson in about half the minutes. 

-By far the most glaring statistics, to probably no one's surprise, are our teamwide FT% (.580, WTF!!!) and AST/TO ratio (literally 1/1, with 135 assists and 135 turnovers). There is no better way to give away free points than to miss free throws and turnover the ball. The number of unforced errors on both fronts is just kind of dismaying, especially for a team that otherwise seems to have a solid handle on the fundamentals.

Last, it's just speculation, but if I had to guess, I suspect Jones is not back to 100% with with whatever has been ailing her, and I suspect Van Gytenbeek has similarly been impaired by illness/injury, and that, more than being in Tara's doghouse, is the reason why she hasn't seen the court much in the last month. Tara is notoriously tightlipped about injuries so I suspect there may be more to these stories than just a bad playing streak and a one-way trip to the doghouse.

The score was 16-11 for what seemed like an eternity last night.  Some of that good D; some just missed shots.

Jump is playing well, but 37 minutes?  Never coming out till garbage time at very end?  She had 12 points at the half; and 12 points until well into Q4 - she picked up 5 points very late on a great, unselfish feed from Lexie in transition and a made 3.  I was smh that she played as much as she did when everybody else sat for extended minutes.

I like UCD's pluckiness; unfortunately, it sheds very little light on how Stanford will fare against the type of teams that gave them trouble last year and likely will again this year - i.e., teams with elite/uber-quick guard play.  Until we see what happens against such opponents, it's impossible to declare that Stanford is "fine" when it comes to PG position and the ability of all our guards (including Jump) to defend in such games.

What I think can be confirmed is the following:  Stanford has a very talented roster for the most part - and certainly with respect to more recent recruits - every single one of them can play, if given the chance.  I mean, look at Lacie and Jump this year.  They are playing well because they are playing a lot and know they won't get yanked for one mistake.  Lexie has always had that luxury (and has played incredibly well overall over the years).  You have to play with confidence, and except in the rarest of circumstances, confidence comes with PT.  This isn't to advocate that one player should be playing over another; but rather, to caution against concluding that certain bench players "aren't good enough" or "can't really play at this level" based on spotty minutes.  They all can play - I mean we know Anna Wilson can play at a championship level, and she is not seeing the court nearly as much this year (same is true for NW player, who barely played last night).  And I think most here would be pleasantly surprised at the productivity of Belibi, Prechtel, and just about everybody else if they played 20 minutes/game for 10 straight games.

It's just the nature of playing sports - at any level, really.  And it explains why I am more focused on ramifications of miniscule minutes for very good players on Stanford's bench.  It's a tough job as a coach, but also one of the most important ones.

I mean, did Jump really need to play 37 minutes last night in a game that was never in doubt?  At the expense of getting bench players more PT to build confidence?  (And btw, I agree with others that Jump's improved game merits more PT than she received last season).

One add: Barring foul trouble - and Brink demonstrated (again) last night that fouls can come in bunches with her - Brink should get a double-double rolling out of bed. And she is way too good a shooter for the FT % to stay where it is. Personally, I think she gets a bit too amped in games (getting tied up with the defender was one manifestation of that, imo). Just relax and play - her skills are quite unique.