[stopandpop]

we have a rotation of 9, and all looked good. really good. most pleasant surprise is how good MAS is this year (7 pts, 10 rebounds in 16 minutes!) - monster rebounder, and even hit a 3. so we have 4 excellent posts. 3 1/2 excellent guards (shay is the half). for those disappointed in courtney ogden, she looked good today, both on offense and defense. our 3s went in today (7/15), and hailee made her layups! (well, most of them) this is easily a tournament team. to my eyes a sweet 16 team at least.

papadaki, green, and umeh did not take off their warm-ups. 

of the remaining 3, carly amborn looks promising - poised, knows the offense and the defense, hit her only 3. nora ezike is big and strong but a bit lost on the court. harper played the most but was a liability - didn't flow w the offense, instead chucked up 3 air balls.

it was fun to see where kate placed the post players: on offense, sometimes nunu was out at the 3, sometimes in the low block. same with lara. again today, the posts did a lot of defending up high, not just down low.

A very different (and much improved) team than I saw in the exhibition.  Tonight there was much better ball movement and players moving without the ball.  Somfai clearly the star of the game.  She could easily have scored 20 had she played the 4th. quarter, but 15 points on 6 of 12 shooting and 8 rebounds for 3 quarters isn't bad.  Lara is so strong going to the basket and yes, she can shoot from distance.  She and Nunu are studs and when they learn how to play and compliment one another, look out.

I'm not sure Kate has yet settled on the starters and I can understand why Lepolo gets the nod- she's very competent bringing the ball up and facilitating, but Chloe is a superior player, both offensively and defensively and I would like to see a starting lineup where all five players are offensive threats.

My only quibble tonight was the continued lack of passing from the guards and wings into Eschmeyer.  Alex was very active and skilled, moving quickly from one block to the other, her long reach, hands up calling for the ball - and not getting rewarded.  She is so talented as a freshman (13 tonight) on 4 of 8 including a 3.  I think there might have been one attempted pass to her, but the pass was soft and the ball was stolen.  Stanford is not taking advantage of her size, length and skill sets.   Would like to see more of an inside-out offense; it would pose more problems for opponents.

Although she started slow, Swain was dynamic in the 2nd. half.  Her speed and quickness sets her apart and she is fearless driving to the hoop.  I know she's capable of doing it, but I'd like her to sometimes hit a quick jumper when she doesn't have the best angle to the basket.  I can't recall the last time Stanford has had a guard with her skills.   

Overall, the team looked much more in sync.


Ogden has not shown me much, either in the exhibition and tonight.  She should not be starting.  Eschmeyer is the clear choice to start.

[stopandpop]

we have a rotation of 9, and all looked good. really good. most pleasant surprise is how good MAS is this year (7 pts, 10 rebounds in 16 minutes!) - monster rebounder, and even hit a 3. so we have 4 excellent posts. 3 1/2 excellent guards (shay is the half). for those disappointed in courtney ogden, she looked good today, both on offense and defense. our 3s went in today (7/15), and hailee made her layups! (well, most of them) this is easily a tournament team. to my eyes a sweet 16 team at least.

papadaki, green, and umeh did not take off their warm-ups. 

of the remaining 3, carly amborn looks promising - poised, knows the offense and the defense, hit her only 3. nora ezike is big and strong but a bit lost on the court. harper played the most but was a liability - didn't flow w the offense, instead chucked up 3 air balls.

it was fun to see where kate placed the post players: on offense, sometimes nunu was out at the 3, sometimes in the low block. same with lara. again today, the posts did a lot of defending up high, not just down low.

A very different (and much improved) team than I saw in the exhibition.  Tonight there was much better ball movement and players moving without the ball.  Somfai clearly the star of the game.  She could easily have scored 20 had she played the 4th. quarter, but 15 points on 6 of 12 shooting and 8 rebounds for 3 quarters isn't bad.  Lara is so strong going to the basket and yes, she can shoot from distance.  She and Nunu are studs and when they learn how to play and compliment one another, look out.

I'm not sure Kate has yet settled on the starters and I can understand why Lepolo gets the nod- she's very competent bringing the ball up and facilitating, but Chloe is a superior player, both offensively and defensively and I would like to see a starting lineup where all five players are offensive threats.

My only quibble tonight was the continued lack of passing from the guards and wings into Eschmeyer.  Alex was very active and skilled, moving quickly from one block to the other, her long reach, hands up calling for the ball - and not getting rewarded.  She is so talented as a freshman (13 tonight) on 4 of 8 including a 3.  I think there might have been one attempted pass to her, but the pass was soft and the ball was stolen.  Stanford is not taking advantage of her size, length and skill sets.   Would like to see more of an inside-out offense; it would pose more problems for opponents.

Although she started slow, Swain was dynamic in the 2nd. half.  Her speed and quickness sets her apart and she is fearless driving to the hoop.  I know she's capable of doing it, but I'd like her to sometimes hit a quick jumper when she doesn't have the best angle to the basket.  I can't recall the last time Stanford has had a guard with her skills.   

Overall, the team looked much more in sync.


Ogden has not shown me much, either in the exhibition and tonight.  She should not be starting.  Eschmeyer is the clear choice to start.