[81alum]

Stanford 86 Hawaii 73

We certainly did not dominate Hawaii, but there were some very positive signs on offense. 

While we stare at Lili's gaudy stats--hitting 6/7 from three--much more important for the long run were the way our guards were playing.

Lili had 5 assists and Amber had 8 assists.  Both of them drove toward the basket off the pick and roll and then dished either to the screener or to someone else.  This has become the heart of our offense and tonight we were able to see it working more often than not.  The screeners rolled out and made short jumpers or layups.  Some of those assists went to a three point shooter.  I think in earlier games our guards tried to take it to the basket off of every pick, but tonight they dished for assists more often than they drove.  This is necessary now that other teams are using defenses specifically designed to block driving guards--especially Lili.

Our 57% shooting, 67% from three, will win just about any game we are in.  But we can't count on weak defenses that permit that every time.  Instead, we need to improve our defense so we have a chance to beat the Texas and NC teams.  We did show some improvement on defense tonight--allowing only 35%.  We switched into zone a few times, probably because Hawaii was only shooting 27% from three.

One bad stat--we turned it over 15 times compared with their 7.  Plus they scored 26 points off of free throws compared with our 12.  Those two stats kept this from being a blowout.  Before we dismiss the fouls as idiosyncratic--over the years most all of our bigs have fouled a lot early in their careers.  McCall, Kaylee, and Karlie all had 4 tonight. 

All in all, great improvement on offense, showing signs of learning and a lot more motion.  Somewhat better defense than last night's second half, but we need to do better.  For example, why did we give Hawaii 15 offensive rebounds?

McCall had a good game all around, with 11 points and 9 rebounds.  Kaylee did too with 10 points and 8 rebounds.

I am very encouraged by Amber's play tonight, with 19 points and 8 assists.  And of course Lili, whose merits have already been extolled. 

[81alum]

Stanford 86 Hawaii 73

We certainly did not dominate Hawaii, but there were some very positive signs on offense. 

While we stare at Lili's gaudy stats--hitting 6/7 from three--much more important for the long run were the way our guards were playing.

Lili had 5 assists and Amber had 8 assists.  Both of them drove toward the basket off the pick and roll and then dished either to the screener or to someone else.  This has become the heart of our offense and tonight we were able to see it working more often than not.  The screeners rolled out and made short jumpers or layups.  Some of those assists went to a three point shooter.  I think in earlier games our guards tried to take it to the basket off of every pick, but tonight they dished for assists more often than they drove.  This is necessary now that other teams are using defenses specifically designed to block driving guards--especially Lili.

Our 57% shooting, 67% from three, will win just about any game we are in.  But we can't count on weak defenses that permit that every time.  Instead, we need to improve our defense so we have a chance to beat the Texas and NC teams.  We did show some improvement on defense tonight--allowing only 35%.  We switched into zone a few times, probably because Hawaii was only shooting 27% from three.

One bad stat--we turned it over 15 times compared with their 7.  Plus they scored 26 points off of free throws compared with our 12.  Those two stats kept this from being a blowout.  Before we dismiss the fouls as idiosyncratic--over the years most all of our bigs have fouled a lot early in their careers.  McCall, Kaylee, and Karlie all had 4 tonight. 

All in all, great improvement on offense, showing signs of learning and a lot more motion.  Somewhat better defense than last night's second half, but we need to do better.  For example, why did we give Hawaii 15 offensive rebounds?

McCall had a good game all around, with 11 points and 9 rebounds.  Kaylee did too with 10 points and 8 rebounds.

I am very encouraged by Amber's play tonight, with 19 points and 8 assists.  And of course Lili, whose merits have already been extolled.