[chimera]

If the goal is to win championships, then Lepolo is not the answer. 

I am hopeful that Nivar will come along.  Where I disagree with your observation is its absolute certainty--which doesn't really account for player development.  I think it every bit as reasonable to believe that Lepolo will gain confidence in her shot (and she did sink a trey last game) as to believe that Nivar will acquire more vision and passing acumen.  Both of them are highly likely to improve in the areas in which they currently are less strong.  This is particularly true on a Tara team--although the most dramatic progress for guards is usually between the freshman and sophomore years.

Let's take Amber Orrange, who as a freshman in 2011-12 started 23 games as we searched for a point guard.  She and Kokenis were both fulfilling that role.  Orrange was 3/10 from three point range for the entire year.  She averaged 5 ppg.  She did have a mid range jumper and could drive, but clearly did not do a lot of either.  She had 112 assists to 57 turnovers, however, and this was enough to get us to the final four.

Now take a look at Orrange's senior year, 2014-15.  She started all 36 games, and her assist/turnover ratio continued to be excellent as it was her freshman year:  127:66.  However, by this point she became our second leading scorer at 13ppg, and was 29/68 from three point range for a fiery 42%. 

So the question is whether Lepolo will follow the Sniezek trajectory or the Orrange trajectory.  You must think the former, I think there are clues that say the latter.  But neither one of us really knows--it depends upon many imponderables and we will just have to see.

This, 100% this!  I don't think anyone is arguing that Lepolo should be our only point guard or that it would not be good to give Harriel and Nivar more time (I don't think Bosgana is in the running for point guard duty, but I would love to see more of her at other positions too.).  I would like to see more of both of them at the point and even more at the 2 so we can see how well they score at that position.  We need subs for Jump too.  

What we are saying is that what you see from any of the frosh - Lepolo, Nivar, Betts, Papadaki, and Harriel (redshirt so this is her first season in games) is not necessarily what you will see in a few months or in a year.  I reject the notion that there is just one way to play point guard on a championship team.  We saw that last year making a F4 with a starting pg who did not play that position at Stanford before and was a much better defender than offensive threat.  You can say all you want about what other good things Lacie Hull did or Wilson did, but at the end of the day, neither was a scorer despite starting and getting big minutes.  If we can accept that they did a good job their way, maybe we can accept that Lepolo (or any of the others) can do a good job a different way even if she doesn't score a lot.  I would prefer more scoring from her but I am willing to wait and see.  I don't want to see one month of someone's career and decide what I see is what I will see ever after.

The perfect point guard might be a 40% three point shooter who was adept at finding her shot, a great athletic driver, a creative passer who could drive and dish and run a fast and smart offense, and someone with an amazing handle that nobody would dare press.  That player is not on our team.  We do not currently have an All-American point guard.  99% of teams don't.  Right now, Tara is choosing the player who runs the offense well (in a chalk talk Katie Steding said they love how quickly Lepolo runs things and that the team plays better offense when she is in, for that that's worth), passes well, avoids turnovers, and creates well for others on the break and in the half court despite that player not showing a ton of offense yet.  They seem to be working on increasing her scoring so they are definitely cognizant of the need for her to be an offensive threat enough to be guarded.   That says to me they believe she is capable of scoring more.  If you think that what you see is what you get for Lepolo or any frosh, I very much disagree.  I've seen plenty of players come through the program who couldn't hit the broad side of a barn early frosh season yet became good shooters with some experience.

[chimera]

If the goal is to win championships, then Lepolo is not the answer. 

I am hopeful that Nivar will come along.  Where I disagree with your observation is its absolute certainty--which doesn't really account for player development.  I think it every bit as reasonable to believe that Lepolo will gain confidence in her shot (and she did sink a trey last game) as to believe that Nivar will acquire more vision and passing acumen.  Both of them are highly likely to improve in the areas in which they currently are less strong.  This is particularly true on a Tara team--although the most dramatic progress for guards is usually between the freshman and sophomore years.

Let's take Amber Orrange, who as a freshman in 2011-12 started 23 games as we searched for a point guard.  She and Kokenis were both fulfilling that role.  Orrange was 3/10 from three point range for the entire year.  She averaged 5 ppg.  She did have a mid range jumper and could drive, but clearly did not do a lot of either.  She had 112 assists to 57 turnovers, however, and this was enough to get us to the final four.

Now take a look at Orrange's senior year, 2014-15.  She started all 36 games, and her assist/turnover ratio continued to be excellent as it was her freshman year:  127:66.  However, by this point she became our second leading scorer at 13ppg, and was 29/68 from three point range for a fiery 42%. 

So the question is whether Lepolo will follow the Sniezek trajectory or the Orrange trajectory.  You must think the former, I think there are clues that say the latter.  But neither one of us really knows--it depends upon many imponderables and we will just have to see.

This, 100% this!  I don't think anyone is arguing that Lepolo should be our only point guard or that it would not be good to give Harriel and Nivar more time (I don't think Bosgana is in the running for point guard duty, but I would love to see more of her at other positions too.).  I would like to see more of both of them at the point and even more at the 2 so we can see how well they score at that position.  We need subs for Jump too.  

What we are saying is that what you see from any of the frosh - Lepolo, Nivar, Betts, Papadaki, and Harriel (redshirt so this is her first season in games) is not necessarily what you will see in a few months or in a year.  I reject the notion that there is just one way to play point guard on a championship team.  We saw that last year making a F4 with a starting pg who did not play that position at Stanford before and was a much better defender than offensive threat.  You can say all you want about what other good things Lacie Hull did or Wilson did, but at the end of the day, neither was a scorer despite starting and getting big minutes.  If we can accept that they did a good job their way, maybe we can accept that Lepolo (or any of the others) can do a good job a different way even if she doesn't score a lot.  I would prefer more scoring from her but I am willing to wait and see.  I don't want to see one month of someone's career and decide what I see is what I will see ever after.

The perfect point guard might be a 40% three point shooter who was adept at finding her shot, a great athletic driver, a creative passer who could drive and dish and run a fast and smart offense, and someone with an amazing handle that nobody would dare press.  That player is not on our team.  We do not currently have an All-American point guard.  99% of teams don't.  Right now, Tara is choosing the player who runs the offense well (in a chalk talk Katie Steding said they love how quickly Lepolo runs things and that the team plays better offense when she is in, for that that's worth), passes well, avoids turnovers, and creates well for others on the break and in the half court despite that player not showing a ton of offense yet.  They seem to be working on increasing her scoring so they are definitely cognizant of the need for her to be an offensive threat enough to be guarded.   That says to me they believe she is capable of scoring more.  If you think that what you see is what you get for Lepolo or any frosh, I very much disagree.  I've seen plenty of players come through the program who couldn't hit the broad side of a barn early frosh season yet became good shooters with some experience.