12-06-2024, 11:20 AM
(12-06-2024, 07:04 AM)AndyCardinal03 Wrote: Whew, what a game! I agree with those saying that this was a good experience for this team and while it would've been really nice to come away with a win -- especially up 5 with 40 seconds to go -- it never felt to me like we were going to pull it off. This team doesn't have the pedigree - from the players to the new head coach - that gave me confidence we could beat a team of LSU's caliber on their home floor in the final minutes. Hopefully this game will go a long way toward helping the team find that confidence and that closing ability as the season goes along.
Game-Specific Thoughts:
- Nunu! What a force she was, playing against one of the better post players in the country in Morrow, albeit one who his similarly mid-sized, let's say. Nunu had the full complement of skills on display and didn't back down at any point. When we needed something to happen on offense, everything went through her (and Brooke), and she was reliable and tough. I didn't think we were going to have a player of this caliber on the team this year and it's exciting to see her already able to have a game like this so early in her Stanford career. She gave us 95% of what Kiki would have given us in this game, maybe?
- Brooke also played her best game in a Cardinal uniform. The announcers mentioned at one point that she's barely started for Stanford until this year, but she has played in a lot of big moments and it showed in this game. She's taking the tough shots at the end of the shot clock and pump faking her way into good offensive outcomes on many possessions. I think the biggest reason the game went to OT is that she had to hobble off the court for maybe 3 out of the last 5 minutes with what seemed to be cramping. She's also been maybe our best defensive players this year so far; I've been really impressed.
Late-game stuff:
- Yes, Harriel get fouled, but yes, I agree with the poster who said you should always expect the refs to swallow the whistle there, especially on the road. You have to be strong with the ball. Clardy was open, on the far side, but I wouldn't have wanted her shooting the FTs.
- I pulled up the NCAA rulebook this morning and my read of it says that they got that lane violation call on Nunu wrong. The rulebook says (rule 8.f): "No opponent (player or bench personnel) shall disconcert (e.g., taunt, bait, gesture or delay) the free-thrower." Nunu clearly wasn't in the lane, so they had to have called her for baiting, but you can't "bait" your own teammate. That was a point taken off the board in a crucial moment.
Big Picture Stuff:
- Depth: Our only other real contributors in this game were Harriel, Bosgana & Clardy. Harriel hit some big 3's throughout and generally played well under pressure from LSU's excellent guards. It was a good game for her. Bosgana made her first 3 of the game and then missed her last 7. She continues to run super hot & cold, as she has throughout her career. I thought she was also frequently on the wrong end of guarding Williams, but I'm not sure we have anyone on the roster who could do better on a player like that (Ogden would be the one, but she's been frustratingly absent in many of these games). And Clardy proved to be a steady ball handler against pressure in the 2nd half and was also our best perimeter defender. Heal was quickly played off the floor in this game - too fast & physical for her, at least so far. Stephenson was constantly hot-potatoing the ball during her front court minutes, and no one else saw any time. So, we thought depth was going to be an issue for this team this year, and it looked like a real Achille's heel in this game (not that LSU had any depth either).
- Coaching: The game plan was really good in this game. We came out in the 1st Q and were the better-prepared, better-executing team. We packed the paint and dared them to beat us over the top and it was an effective strategy. It also kept our bigs out of foul trouble, which we really cannot afford. LSU's big run in the 2nd Q was based entirely off of ball pressure & turnovers and KP kept Clardy out there the rest of the game to try to address that. LSU had far superior talent and we continued to stay ahead of them in the 2nd half by running our offense. We even got 2 open looks on backdoor cuts in the final couple minutes that looked like they might clinch the game for us, but it just wasn't nearly enough.
- Guard Play: our guards are just not consistent with other good teams (and nowhere near the real title contenders). Harriel and Clardy are doing the best they can - Clardy's shot has regressed in a major way the last 3-4 games, btw - but they will be badly outmatched on paper against all of the quality opponents coming up on our schedule (ND, NCSt, Duke) and that's going to really cap the ceiling of this team in the end. Heal is struggling against quality opponents, Shay has shown flashes for a frosh but she & Clardy can't be out there together, imo, b/c the shooting would collapse, and even a healthy Lepolo, which it doesn't look like we're getting this year, is not the answer.
- Overall: They're still looking like a 7-10 seed on paper to me, depending on how the conference road games go (I could see a lot more close losses like this one). Good frontcourt. Good game planning. Capable of hanging with anyone when the 3-pointers fall, but not deep enough and not nearly skilled enough to outmatch the best of the best.
Thanks for the nice write up. I couldn't watch the entire game, but I thought too many times our offense stagnated and we ended up forcing up some kind of shot as the clock ran down. There were times where player movement simply stopped and we would make a bad pass. LSU has a number of players with very good hands and we often gave them chances to steal the ball which they promptly did. I don't know what our final TO number was, but I do not think it was good.