[treetop11]

I disagree with basically everything you posted (except I agree 2 or 3 road games could possibly result in a loss).  However I like the inclusive and tolerant climate this season on WBB threads.   Last season there were a handful of self-appointed monitors on WBB threads who would be combative and insulting at any sign of questioning Tara or straying from their "group-think" attitude.

I look forward to this tolerant approach you are noticing because well before the second Cal game (maybe a month before), I said their current starting lineup was not going to cut it (Kiki, Cam, Hannah and Lepolo) and the scout on Stanford with 1 shooter anyone respects was to face guard Hannah and drop everyone else in the lane. I received great pushback (some of which was tolerant but most of which was not). Most disagreed with me then too which is fine. We will see how it plays out I guess and hope for the best. 

But we only got about of month before the real season starts and if anyone thinks the current starting lineup looks like it can win it all, I don’t know what to say to you about that. LSU beat Oregon State by 30 on a neutral floor. A not very good UConn team without its two best players is still putting up 85-100 pts a game against good teams and could beat us with their eyes closed. The only starting front court that is competitive against S.Carolina is Haley, Cam and Ashten. Ashten is the only Stanford big that can guard Boston without being overpowered and getting into foul trouble but she plays very rarely and she will need more reps to establish better chemistry with Brink and Haley on offense and defense. If Tara is not playing a starting lineup that can beat S.Carolina, UConn, etc., what is her goal? Answer: To barely win the next game in her schedule which seems like a waste of everyone’s time

Although I get our critiques and certainly on board with getting Ashten much more PT, you need to keep in mind that we are fans watcing our team with a magnifying glass and picking at whatever scabs exist because we have been ranked #2 most of the season and only #3 recently and may move back up - so we think in terms of FF and NC wanting close to perfection. The rest of the P12 teams and all but a handful of teams in the country would be thrilled with our record and performance. If we applied the same fan scrutiny to other teams, I suspect we would see the warts too. For example, you mention Uconn which I have seen as a major threat all season even though they lost Bueckers and I'm amazed that they have continued winning dominantly without Fudd and a couple of others missing. But if you neutralize Edwards in a game and either with strong perimeter D or they have an off night shooting, would UConn prevail agst a another top team? More importantly, Geno's approach of little use of his bench especially with players out, how tired and worn down are those players going to be as March rolls around? I'm not saying that Uconn doesn't overcome those concerns, but if I was their fan, I would be picking at those scabs (and perhaps others). My point is simply that we forget or neglect to consider that every team has some weaknesses or concerns over who is playing and how much. Not suggesting that we ignore ours, just that we keep in mind, there are issues with every team we will face too.

[treetop11]

I disagree with basically everything you posted (except I agree 2 or 3 road games could possibly result in a loss).  However I like the inclusive and tolerant climate this season on WBB threads.   Last season there were a handful of self-appointed monitors on WBB threads who would be combative and insulting at any sign of questioning Tara or straying from their "group-think" attitude.

I look forward to this tolerant approach you are noticing because well before the second Cal game (maybe a month before), I said their current starting lineup was not going to cut it (Kiki, Cam, Hannah and Lepolo) and the scout on Stanford with 1 shooter anyone respects was to face guard Hannah and drop everyone else in the lane. I received great pushback (some of which was tolerant but most of which was not). Most disagreed with me then too which is fine. We will see how it plays out I guess and hope for the best. 

But we only got about of month before the real season starts and if anyone thinks the current starting lineup looks like it can win it all, I don’t know what to say to you about that. LSU beat Oregon State by 30 on a neutral floor. A not very good UConn team without its two best players is still putting up 85-100 pts a game against good teams and could beat us with their eyes closed. The only starting front court that is competitive against S.Carolina is Haley, Cam and Ashten. Ashten is the only Stanford big that can guard Boston without being overpowered and getting into foul trouble but she plays very rarely and she will need more reps to establish better chemistry with Brink and Haley on offense and defense. If Tara is not playing a starting lineup that can beat S.Carolina, UConn, etc., what is her goal? Answer: To barely win the next game in her schedule which seems like a waste of everyone’s time

Although I get our critiques and certainly on board with getting Ashten much more PT, you need to keep in mind that we are fans watcing our team with a magnifying glass and picking at whatever scabs exist because we have been ranked #2 most of the season and only #3 recently and may move back up - so we think in terms of FF and NC wanting close to perfection. The rest of the P12 teams and all but a handful of teams in the country would be thrilled with our record and performance. If we applied the same fan scrutiny to other teams, I suspect we would see the warts too. For example, you mention Uconn which I have seen as a major threat all season even though they lost Bueckers and I'm amazed that they have continued winning dominantly without Fudd and a couple of others missing. But if you neutralize Edwards in a game and either with strong perimeter D or they have an off night shooting, would UConn prevail agst a another top team? More importantly, Geno's approach of little use of his bench especially with players out, how tired and worn down are those players going to be as March rolls around? I'm not saying that Uconn doesn't overcome those concerns, but if I was their fan, I would be picking at those scabs (and perhaps others). My point is simply that we forget or neglect to consider that every team has some weaknesses or concerns over who is playing and how much. Not suggesting that we ignore ours, just that we keep in mind, there are issues with every team we will face too.