[cardfan1996]

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What’s amiss? S.Carolina was a long time ago and Stanford has been scouted. Plus Ashten played most of the relevant minutes. That Stanford starting lineup “being found out” actually started with Creighton but one or two games success will not change a scout. and the current team only has 3-players that “positively” impacted the games that won a national championship from Elite 8 (Louisville) to Semi-final (S.Carolina) to Final (Arizona). And those 3 players are Haley, Cam and Ashten. Your entire national championship backcourt is gone (Kianna, Lexie, Anna). Lepolo is never going to be Kianna even on Kianna’s worst day. Nobody ever left Kianna unguarded except by accident. Agnes will never be Lexie on offense OR defense even on Lexie’s worst day. No one left Lexie unguarded except by accident. Kianna and Lexie were first team PAC-12 and Kianna was an All-American. That made life easy for Cam and especially Haley to drive and go 1 on 1. Both Lexie and Kianna are, and in Kianna’s case, will have the opportunity to play professionally for a period of time and have people pay them to play basketball. Hannah’s shooting makes her viable professionally but not in the WNBA per the quote in the Mercury article on her by the WNBA executive (until she can prove she is more than a shooter). Hannah didn’t play much after the Sweet 16 in 2021. I don’t even remember her on the floor after Missouri State. There were reasons for that.  Lepolo and Agnes are no doubt wonderful human beings who will be part of the 99% that make a great contribution to the world in something other than basketball. The difference in talent in the backcourt 2021 and now is night and day.

I think you are looking at the 2021 backcourt with rose colored glasses.  Yes Lexie was a very good player and Lacie and Wilson were great defenders. But they were certainly not an all-world backcourt. They couldn’t even bring the ball past half court against a decent pressing team.  Jones and Brink had to do that.

2021 backcourt’s point guard was Kianna and we didn’t have a problem bringing up the ball with Kianna. Last year we did but not 2021.

Kianna struggled in the Final Four but she was guarded. No one was leaving her open. Part of the reason she struggled was that she was #1 on the scouting report of the other team and always got the BEST perimeter defender from that team. Louisville (Dana Evans and the other chick who couldn’t shoot), S. Carolina (Destanni Henderson was on her like glue), Arizona (they had two very good defenders that are on current WNBA rosters and Kianna drew Sam Thomas). A same same comparison to this year would be if Kianna was never guarded, her defender was in the paint, AND she struggled. That never happened.

We are happy if Lepolo and Agnes can make 39% of uncontested shots. Uncontested means literally no defender within 18 feet of them. Neither are drawing the other team’s best anything. Neither are at the top of any scouting report (if they show up at all on the report).

That one play vs UCLA encapsulates the issue of lack of spacing because of those two where Kiki Rice was playing completely off Agnes and when Cam’s defender fell down, Kiki just completely abandoned Agnes altogether to front Cam. That type of decision (to trade 3s for 2s) would have been irrational for a defense in the 2021 championship run.

[cardfan1996]

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What’s amiss? S.Carolina was a long time ago and Stanford has been scouted. Plus Ashten played most of the relevant minutes. That Stanford starting lineup “being found out” actually started with Creighton but one or two games success will not change a scout. and the current team only has 3-players that “positively” impacted the games that won a national championship from Elite 8 (Louisville) to Semi-final (S.Carolina) to Final (Arizona). And those 3 players are Haley, Cam and Ashten. Your entire national championship backcourt is gone (Kianna, Lexie, Anna). Lepolo is never going to be Kianna even on Kianna’s worst day. Nobody ever left Kianna unguarded except by accident. Agnes will never be Lexie on offense OR defense even on Lexie’s worst day. No one left Lexie unguarded except by accident. Kianna and Lexie were first team PAC-12 and Kianna was an All-American. That made life easy for Cam and especially Haley to drive and go 1 on 1. Both Lexie and Kianna are, and in Kianna’s case, will have the opportunity to play professionally for a period of time and have people pay them to play basketball. Hannah’s shooting makes her viable professionally but not in the WNBA per the quote in the Mercury article on her by the WNBA executive (until she can prove she is more than a shooter). Hannah didn’t play much after the Sweet 16 in 2021. I don’t even remember her on the floor after Missouri State. There were reasons for that.  Lepolo and Agnes are no doubt wonderful human beings who will be part of the 99% that make a great contribution to the world in something other than basketball. The difference in talent in the backcourt 2021 and now is night and day.

I think you are looking at the 2021 backcourt with rose colored glasses.  Yes Lexie was a very good player and Lacie and Wilson were great defenders. But they were certainly not an all-world backcourt. They couldn’t even bring the ball past half court against a decent pressing team.  Jones and Brink had to do that.

2021 backcourt’s point guard was Kianna and we didn’t have a problem bringing up the ball with Kianna. Last year we did but not 2021.

Kianna struggled in the Final Four but she was guarded. No one was leaving her open. Part of the reason she struggled was that she was #1 on the scouting report of the other team and always got the BEST perimeter defender from that team. Louisville (Dana Evans and the other chick who couldn’t shoot), S. Carolina (Destanni Henderson was on her like glue), Arizona (they had two very good defenders that are on current WNBA rosters and Kianna drew Sam Thomas). A same same comparison to this year would be if Kianna was never guarded, her defender was in the paint, AND she struggled. That never happened.

We are happy if Lepolo and Agnes can make 39% of uncontested shots. Uncontested means literally no defender within 18 feet of them. Neither are drawing the other team’s best anything. Neither are at the top of any scouting report (if they show up at all on the report).

That one play vs UCLA encapsulates the issue of lack of spacing because of those two where Kiki Rice was playing completely off Agnes and when Cam’s defender fell down, Kiki just completely abandoned Agnes altogether to front Cam. That type of decision (to trade 3s for 2s) would have been irrational for a defense in the 2021 championship run.