[81alum]

Preview:  Arizona

Friday 7:00pm at Maples Stanford takes on Arizona.  The game will be televised on Pac 12 Bay Area.

On January 28 we took on Arizona in Tuscon and won 96-64.  My preview of that game and our following thread can be found here:

https://thecardboard.org/board/showthrea...#pid407529

Brink, Iriafen, Jump and Harriel engineered an offensive outpouring, and a depleted Arizona could not get much going against our defense.  Since that game Arizona has played 5 times and won 3.  They beat Arizona State, Washington State, and Washington (in triple overtime.)  They lost to UCLA and USC.  Massey has them at 40, NET at 59.  They are currently 7th in the Pac 12, respectably ahead of WSU and the rest of the bottom half. 

But the real conundrum is about Arizona’s best player, 5’8” sophomore guard Kailyn Gilbert.  Gilbert was injured and did not play against us in our first game.  Since then she has been back, averaging around 30 minutes and 15-20 points a game.  That is, until the last game with Washington when she played only 3 minutes.  Listening to the Adia Barnes press conference, Barnes said that she was trying to get Kailyn back in the game but she is a “rhythm player” and got hit hard in the early going and had to come out.  The other guards were playing well and so she did not go back in for the rest of the game and its 3 overtimes.  Barnes was ebullient about the sweep in Washington and said that Arizona is playing some of its best basketball of the year—but Esmery and Jayda were both playing injured and ideally would not been in the game against Washington.  But they played well.

In short, Arizona comes in to Maples after after an emotionally uplifting win in Seattle.  Gilbert, Esmery Martinez, and Jayda Williams all have been banged up, but I expect we will see them all play.  Arizona is not a deep team, but they are not as ridiculously thin as the last time we played them.  If Kailyn Gilbert plays and gets “in rhythm” she can be quite dangerous, and this would be a different factor than last time and could make the game much closer.  I also expect that Arizona—with the benefit of game film--will not have the defensive collapse they did last time, and we probably won’t score 96 points against them.  But they simply lack the physical size and talent to guard both Brink and Iriafen, and if we can keep them both on the floor our two-headed monster should prevail.

[81alum]

Preview:  Arizona

Friday 7:00pm at Maples Stanford takes on Arizona.  The game will be televised on Pac 12 Bay Area.

On January 28 we took on Arizona in Tuscon and won 96-64.  My preview of that game and our following thread can be found here:

https://thecardboard.org/board/showthrea...#pid407529

Brink, Iriafen, Jump and Harriel engineered an offensive outpouring, and a depleted Arizona could not get much going against our defense.  Since that game Arizona has played 5 times and won 3.  They beat Arizona State, Washington State, and Washington (in triple overtime.)  They lost to UCLA and USC.  Massey has them at 40, NET at 59.  They are currently 7th in the Pac 12, respectably ahead of WSU and the rest of the bottom half. 

But the real conundrum is about Arizona’s best player, 5’8” sophomore guard Kailyn Gilbert.  Gilbert was injured and did not play against us in our first game.  Since then she has been back, averaging around 30 minutes and 15-20 points a game.  That is, until the last game with Washington when she played only 3 minutes.  Listening to the Adia Barnes press conference, Barnes said that she was trying to get Kailyn back in the game but she is a “rhythm player” and got hit hard in the early going and had to come out.  The other guards were playing well and so she did not go back in for the rest of the game and its 3 overtimes.  Barnes was ebullient about the sweep in Washington and said that Arizona is playing some of its best basketball of the year—but Esmery and Jayda were both playing injured and ideally would not been in the game against Washington.  But they played well.

In short, Arizona comes in to Maples after after an emotionally uplifting win in Seattle.  Gilbert, Esmery Martinez, and Jayda Williams all have been banged up, but I expect we will see them all play.  Arizona is not a deep team, but they are not as ridiculously thin as the last time we played them.  If Kailyn Gilbert plays and gets “in rhythm” she can be quite dangerous, and this would be a different factor than last time and could make the game much closer.  I also expect that Arizona—with the benefit of game film--will not have the defensive collapse they did last time, and we probably won’t score 96 points against them.  But they simply lack the physical size and talent to guard both Brink and Iriafen, and if we can keep them both on the floor our two-headed monster should prevail.

[BobK]

Weird about Gilbert who scored 14 her first game back. Thanks 81.

[BobK]

Weird about Gilbert who scored 14 her first game back. Thanks 81.

[OCcardinal]

It will be interesting to see how much playing time Ogden gets.  I was playing around with the CBB Analytics website and it showed the following for the full season:

Most common lineup: Lepolo, Jump, Bosgana, Iriafen, Brink = 198 minutes (starting lineup; no surprise)

Line up with the best net rating (points scored minutes points allowed over 100 possessions): Lepol, Jump, Ogden, Iriafen, Brink = 80.5 net rating [48 minutes]  The next best lineup for net rating with at least 20 minutes of playing time is our starting lineup with a 60 net rating.  Interestingly, there's a couple lineups with Agara and several starters that are significantly negative in net rating (as low as -35.3) but the lineup of Lepolo, Jump, Demetre, Agara and Brink has a very good net rating of 35.3 [32 minutes]  In general it seems the team is not as good with both Agara and Iriafen on the floor at the same time. So not even Agara, Brink and Iriafen.

Line up with the best offensive rating: Lepolo, Jump, Demetre, Ogden, Brink 145.9 [36 minutes].  This one shocked me as it not only had a freshman (Ogden), but didn't have Iriafen.  #2 in offensive rating has Bosgana instead of Ogden with an offense rating of 139.2 [54 minutes].  It's only the 3rd ranked offense where Iriafen shows up.  Lepolo, Jump, Ogden, Iriafen, Brink with a rating of 135.1 [48 minutes].  Again, there's Ogden.

Top defensive lineup:  The top defensive line up is Lepolo, Brink and Jump with Bosgana and Agara with a defensive rating of 48.7.  Though that lineup has only played 8 minutes together so it may be too small of a sample size. The best defensive lineup with at least 20 minutes is Lepolo, Jump, Ogden, Iriafen, and Brink at 54.6 [48 minutes].  Hello again Ogden!  Second best is our starting line with defensive rating of 68.0. [lower is better]

I don't want to read too much into this without knowing matchups. But one thing that stands out is that the team seems to be consistently good with Ogden on the floor.  She had a couple of misplays vs USC at the end but I think these stats demonstrate she was a top 10 recruit for a reason.

[OCcardinal]

It will be interesting to see how much playing time Ogden gets.  I was playing around with the CBB Analytics website and it showed the following for the full season:

Most common lineup: Lepolo, Jump, Bosgana, Iriafen, Brink = 198 minutes (starting lineup; no surprise)

Line up with the best net rating (points scored minutes points allowed over 100 possessions): Lepol, Jump, Ogden, Iriafen, Brink = 80.5 net rating [48 minutes]  The next best lineup for net rating with at least 20 minutes of playing time is our starting lineup with a 60 net rating.  Interestingly, there's a couple lineups with Agara and several starters that are significantly negative in net rating (as low as -35.3) but the lineup of Lepolo, Jump, Demetre, Agara and Brink has a very good net rating of 35.3 [32 minutes]  In general it seems the team is not as good with both Agara and Iriafen on the floor at the same time. So not even Agara, Brink and Iriafen.

Line up with the best offensive rating: Lepolo, Jump, Demetre, Ogden, Brink 145.9 [36 minutes].  This one shocked me as it not only had a freshman (Ogden), but didn't have Iriafen.  #2 in offensive rating has Bosgana instead of Ogden with an offense rating of 139.2 [54 minutes].  It's only the 3rd ranked offense where Iriafen shows up.  Lepolo, Jump, Ogden, Iriafen, Brink with a rating of 135.1 [48 minutes].  Again, there's Ogden.

Top defensive lineup:  The top defensive line up is Lepolo, Brink and Jump with Bosgana and Agara with a defensive rating of 48.7.  Though that lineup has only played 8 minutes together so it may be too small of a sample size. The best defensive lineup with at least 20 minutes is Lepolo, Jump, Ogden, Iriafen, and Brink at 54.6 [48 minutes].  Hello again Ogden!  Second best is our starting line with defensive rating of 68.0. [lower is better]

I don't want to read too much into this without knowing matchups. But one thing that stands out is that the team seems to be consistently good with Ogden on the floor.  She had a couple of misplays vs USC at the end but I think these stats demonstrate she was a top 10 recruit for a reason.

[BosCard]

It will be interesting to see how much playing time Ogden gets.  I was playing around with the CBB Analytics website and it showed the following for the full season:

Most common lineup: Lepolo, Jump, Bosgana, Iriafen, Brink = 198 minutes (starting lineup; no surprise)

Line up with the best net rating (points scored minutes points allowed over 100 possessions): Lepol, Jump, Ogden, Iriafen, Brink = 80.5 net rating [48 minutes]  The next best lineup for net rating with at least 20 minutes of playing time is our starting lineup with a 60 net rating.  Interestingly, there's a couple lineups with Agara and several starters that are significantly negative in net rating (as low as -35.3) but the lineup of Lepolo, Jump, Demetre, Agara and Brink has a very good net rating of 35.3 [32 minutes]  In general it seems the team is not as good with both Agara and Iriafen on the floor at the same time. So not even Agara, Brink and Iriafen.

Line up with the best offensive rating: Lepolo, Jump, Demetre, Ogden, Brink 145.9 [36 minutes].  This one shocked me as it not only had a freshman (Ogden), but didn't have Iriafen.  #2 in offensive rating has Bosgana instead of Ogden with an offense rating of 139.2 [54 minutes].  It's only the 3rd ranked offense where Iriafen shows up.  Lepolo, Jump, Ogden, Iriafen, Brink with a rating of 135.1 [48 minutes].  Again, there's Ogden.

Top defensive lineup:  The top defensive line up is Lepolo, Brink and Jump with Bosgana and Agara with a defensive rating of 48.7.  Though that lineup has only played 8 minutes together so it may be too small of a sample size. The best defensive lineup with at least 20 minutes is Lepolo, Jump, Ogden, Iriafen, and Brink at 54.6 [48 minutes].  Hello again Ogden!  Second best is our starting line with defensive rating of 68.0. [lower is better]

I don't want to read too much into this without knowing matchups. But one things that stands out is that the team seems to be consistently good with Ogden on the floor.  She had a couple of misplays vs USC at the end but I think these stats demonstrate she was a top 10 recruit for a reason.

Very interesting analysis.  I think the key to Ogden’s success is that she is a prototypical Tara player.  Very good defender.  Long and almost Hull-like in her quickness.  On offense she is always looking to feed Brink or Iriafen.  She also rarely turns the ball over.  I actually would like to see her be more aggressive on offense, either driving or using her pull up jumper to make her more of a threat vs being seen as pass first.

[BosCard]

It will be interesting to see how much playing time Ogden gets.  I was playing around with the CBB Analytics website and it showed the following for the full season:

Most common lineup: Lepolo, Jump, Bosgana, Iriafen, Brink = 198 minutes (starting lineup; no surprise)

Line up with the best net rating (points scored minutes points allowed over 100 possessions): Lepol, Jump, Ogden, Iriafen, Brink = 80.5 net rating [48 minutes]  The next best lineup for net rating with at least 20 minutes of playing time is our starting lineup with a 60 net rating.  Interestingly, there's a couple lineups with Agara and several starters that are significantly negative in net rating (as low as -35.3) but the lineup of Lepolo, Jump, Demetre, Agara and Brink has a very good net rating of 35.3 [32 minutes]  In general it seems the team is not as good with both Agara and Iriafen on the floor at the same time. So not even Agara, Brink and Iriafen.

Line up with the best offensive rating: Lepolo, Jump, Demetre, Ogden, Brink 145.9 [36 minutes].  This one shocked me as it not only had a freshman (Ogden), but didn't have Iriafen.  #2 in offensive rating has Bosgana instead of Ogden with an offense rating of 139.2 [54 minutes].  It's only the 3rd ranked offense where Iriafen shows up.  Lepolo, Jump, Ogden, Iriafen, Brink with a rating of 135.1 [48 minutes].  Again, there's Ogden.

Top defensive lineup:  The top defensive line up is Lepolo, Brink and Jump with Bosgana and Agara with a defensive rating of 48.7.  Though that lineup has only played 8 minutes together so it may be too small of a sample size. The best defensive lineup with at least 20 minutes is Lepolo, Jump, Ogden, Iriafen, and Brink at 54.6 [48 minutes].  Hello again Ogden!  Second best is our starting line with defensive rating of 68.0. [lower is better]

I don't want to read too much into this without knowing matchups. But one things that stands out is that the team seems to be consistently good with Ogden on the floor.  She had a couple of misplays vs USC at the end but I think these stats demonstrate she was a top 10 recruit for a reason.

Very interesting analysis.  I think the key to Ogden’s success is that she is a prototypical Tara player.  Very good defender.  Long and almost Hull-like in her quickness.  On offense she is always looking to feed Brink or Iriafen.  She also rarely turns the ball over.  I actually would like to see her be more aggressive on offense, either driving or using her pull up jumper to make her more of a threat vs being seen as pass first.

[81alum]

It will be interesting to see how much playing time Ogden gets.  I was playing around with the CBB Analytics website and it showed the following for the full season:

Most common lineup: Lepolo, Jump, Bosgana, Iriafen, Brink = 198 minutes (starting lineup; no surprise)

Line up with the best net rating (points scored minutes points allowed over 100 possessions): Lepol, Jump, Ogden, Iriafen, Brink = 80.5 net rating [48 minutes]  The next best lineup for net rating with at least 20 minutes of playing time is our starting lineup with a 60 net rating.  Interestingly, there's a couple lineups with Agara and several starters that are significantly negative in net rating (as low as -35.3) but the lineup of Lepolo, Jump, Demetre, Agara and Brink has a very good net rating of 35.3 [32 minutes]  In general it seems the team is not as good with both Agara and Iriafen on the floor at the same time. So not even Agara, Brink and Iriafen.

Line up with the best offensive rating: Lepolo, Jump, Demetre, Ogden, Brink 145.9 [36 minutes].  This one shocked me as it not only had a freshman (Ogden), but didn't have Iriafen.  #2 in offensive rating has Bosgana instead of Ogden with an offense rating of 139.2 [54 minutes].  It's only the 3rd ranked offense where Iriafen shows up.  Lepolo, Jump, Ogden, Iriafen, Brink with a rating of 135.1 [48 minutes].  Again, there's Ogden.

Top defensive lineup:  The top defensive line up is Lepolo, Brink and Jump with Bosgana and Agara with a defensive rating of 48.7.  Though that lineup has only played 8 minutes together so it may be too small of a sample size. The best defensive lineup with at least 20 minutes is Lepolo, Jump, Ogden, Iriafen, and Brink at 54.6 [48 minutes].  Hello again Ogden!  Second best is our starting line with defensive rating of 68.0. [lower is better]

I don't want to read too much into this without knowing matchups. But one things that stands out is that the team seems to be consistently good with Ogden on the floor.  She had a couple of misplays vs USC at the end but I think these stats demonstrate she was a top 10 recruit for a reason.

Very interesting analysis.  I think the key to Ogden’s success is that she is a prototypical Tara player.  Very good defender.  Long and almost Hull-like in her quickness.  On offense she is always looking to feed Brink or Iriafen.  She also rarely turns the ball over.  I actually would like to see her be more aggressive on offense, either driving or using her pull up jumper to make her more of a threat vs being seen as pass first.

Ogden is an excellent jump shooter in practice, but I think she has needed more in-game opportunities to become more confident as a scorer.  Agara seems to me to be better in traffic--I have seen Ogden take some wild shots in those situations and I have also seen her badly miss  some open jump shots that she always makes in practice.  I think she will get a lot better as she grows into her role--she has a lot of upside.  The fact that she is so highly rated even with her offense not being very much on track is a testament to her many other contributions--but just think what she will become when she is excelling in every dimension of the game.

[81alum]

It will be interesting to see how much playing time Ogden gets.  I was playing around with the CBB Analytics website and it showed the following for the full season:

Most common lineup: Lepolo, Jump, Bosgana, Iriafen, Brink = 198 minutes (starting lineup; no surprise)

Line up with the best net rating (points scored minutes points allowed over 100 possessions): Lepol, Jump, Ogden, Iriafen, Brink = 80.5 net rating [48 minutes]  The next best lineup for net rating with at least 20 minutes of playing time is our starting lineup with a 60 net rating.  Interestingly, there's a couple lineups with Agara and several starters that are significantly negative in net rating (as low as -35.3) but the lineup of Lepolo, Jump, Demetre, Agara and Brink has a very good net rating of 35.3 [32 minutes]  In general it seems the team is not as good with both Agara and Iriafen on the floor at the same time. So not even Agara, Brink and Iriafen.

Line up with the best offensive rating: Lepolo, Jump, Demetre, Ogden, Brink 145.9 [36 minutes].  This one shocked me as it not only had a freshman (Ogden), but didn't have Iriafen.  #2 in offensive rating has Bosgana instead of Ogden with an offense rating of 139.2 [54 minutes].  It's only the 3rd ranked offense where Iriafen shows up.  Lepolo, Jump, Ogden, Iriafen, Brink with a rating of 135.1 [48 minutes].  Again, there's Ogden.

Top defensive lineup:  The top defensive line up is Lepolo, Brink and Jump with Bosgana and Agara with a defensive rating of 48.7.  Though that lineup has only played 8 minutes together so it may be too small of a sample size. The best defensive lineup with at least 20 minutes is Lepolo, Jump, Ogden, Iriafen, and Brink at 54.6 [48 minutes].  Hello again Ogden!  Second best is our starting line with defensive rating of 68.0. [lower is better]

I don't want to read too much into this without knowing matchups. But one things that stands out is that the team seems to be consistently good with Ogden on the floor.  She had a couple of misplays vs USC at the end but I think these stats demonstrate she was a top 10 recruit for a reason.

Very interesting analysis.  I think the key to Ogden’s success is that she is a prototypical Tara player.  Very good defender.  Long and almost Hull-like in her quickness.  On offense she is always looking to feed Brink or Iriafen.  She also rarely turns the ball over.  I actually would like to see her be more aggressive on offense, either driving or using her pull up jumper to make her more of a threat vs being seen as pass first.

Ogden is an excellent jump shooter in practice, but I think she has needed more in-game opportunities to become more confident as a scorer.  Agara seems to me to be better in traffic--I have seen Ogden take some wild shots in those situations and I have also seen her badly miss  some open jump shots that she always makes in practice.  I think she will get a lot better as she grows into her role--she has a lot of upside.  The fact that she is so highly rated even with her offense not being very much on track is a testament to her many other contributions--but just think what she will become when she is excelling in every dimension of the game.

[81alum]

Well, perhaps it was a good thing that the Cardboard was down for our most ignominious defeat of the season.  Yes, it was a defeat without Brink able to play, but the odds were so much worse for Arizona.  Arizona had only 7 players dressed for the game, and they were missing their top player too.  Brink being out was no excuse for the performance that happened, even if it was a partial explanation.  This defeat will go down with Western Illinois and Santa Clara as being among the worst on our home court, ever.

The Arizona defense was far more effective than in our last game, in which we scored 96 points against them.  We did give up 64 points in that game, which (allowing for the deliberate fouls last night) was pretty much the same as last night.  So, defensively we did more than well enough to win, especially without our defensive-player of the year on the court.

No, this defeat was a result of an offensive break down.  Arizona plays a very close defense and contests every pass and hand off.  They want to make it very hard to keep the offensive system running smoothly and they succeeded, much as USC did, in discombobulating us--shaking our confidence.  

The way to defeat this kind of defense is with points in transition, with offensive rebounding, with back door cuts, and with drives to the basket--all those scoring opportunities that do not depend on multiple passes and which can catch defenders beyond the point of recovery.  We certainly tried those things, but did not execute them very well.  We had a couple of back door cuts that were things of beauty, but an equal number of would-be back door cuts that wound up becoming turnovers.

Now it is true that Arizona also had some luck.  They banked in two three point shots in the waning minutes of the game--lucky shots that were not the result of bad defense.  But the point is that they should never have been allowed to be in the position where a couple of lucky shots could win the game.  If we had 96 points who would care about a couple of banked threes by the other side?

With a couple of minutes left in the third we went on a 10 point run to break open a 35-35 tie and grab a 10 point 45-35 lead.  The crowd got loud, and a feeling of relief was palpable.  Finally we had worn them down and were beginning to put the game away.  But the timeout Adia Barnes called may have been the best timeout of her career.  We wound up losing the 4th quarter 31-16, after holding them to 9 points in the first quarter.   This was fed by untimely turnovers and an offense that went stagnant, seemingly unable to know what to do in crunch time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuPAgV5C6Kg

Tara cites turnovers and "our inability to move the ball."

"We led for 35 minutes but did not do enough to finish.  We gave up 14 O-boards and only had 9."

"We did not take care of the ball.  We did not run offense.  It was disappointing."

Tara said she did not know that Cam would not play until gameday morning.  She had not practiced all week.  "She's been sick."

In case you can bear to watch, here are the highlight.  I haven't seen them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Raea1liOUm4

[81alum]

Well, perhaps it was a good thing that the Cardboard was down for our most ignominious defeat of the season.  Yes, it was a defeat without Brink able to play, but the odds were so much worse for Arizona.  Arizona had only 7 players dressed for the game, and they were missing their top player too.  Brink being out was no excuse for the performance that happened, even if it was a partial explanation.  This defeat will go down with Western Illinois and Santa Clara as being among the worst on our home court, ever.

The Arizona defense was far more effective than in our last game, in which we scored 96 points against them.  We did give up 64 points in that game, which (allowing for the deliberate fouls last night) was pretty much the same as last night.  So, defensively we did more than well enough to win, especially without our defensive-player of the year on the court.

No, this defeat was a result of an offensive break down.  Arizona plays a very close defense and contests every pass and hand off.  They want to make it very hard to keep the offensive system running smoothly and they succeeded, much as USC did, in discombobulating us--shaking our confidence.  

The way to defeat this kind of defense is with points in transition, with offensive rebounding, with back door cuts, and with drives to the basket--all those scoring opportunities that do not depend on multiple passes and which can catch defenders beyond the point of recovery.  We certainly tried those things, but did not execute them very well.  We had a couple of back door cuts that were things of beauty, but an equal number of would-be back door cuts that wound up becoming turnovers.

Now it is true that Arizona also had some luck.  They banked in two three point shots in the waning minutes of the game--lucky shots that were not the result of bad defense.  But the point is that they should never have been allowed to be in the position where a couple of lucky shots could win the game.  If we had 96 points who would care about a couple of banked threes by the other side?

With a couple of minutes left in the third we went on a 10 point run to break open a 35-35 tie and grab a 10 point 45-35 lead.  The crowd got loud, and a feeling of relief was palpable.  Finally we had worn them down and were beginning to put the game away.  But the timeout Adia Barnes called may have been the best timeout of her career.  We wound up losing the 4th quarter 31-16, after holding them to 9 points in the first quarter.   This was fed by untimely turnovers and an offense that went stagnant, seemingly unable to know what to do in crunch time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuPAgV5C6Kg

Tara cites turnovers and "our inability to move the ball."

"We led for 35 minutes but did not do enough to finish.  We gave up 14 O-boards and only had 9."

"We did not take care of the ball.  We did not run offense.  It was disappointing."

Tara said she did not know that Cam would not play until gameday morning.  She had not practiced all week.  "She's been sick."

In case you can bear to watch, here are the highlight.  I haven't seen them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Raea1liOUm4

[TheFarm07]

The way to defeat this kind of defense is with points in transition, with offensive rebounding, with back door cuts, and with drives to the basket--all those scoring opportunities that do not depend on multiple passes and which can catch defenders beyond the point of recovery.  We certainly tried those things, but did not executive them very well.  We had a couple of back door cuts that were things of beauty, but an equal number of would-be back door cuts that wound up becoming turnovers.

As good of a team we are, that game showed us the limitations of our offense, which is centered around Brink and Iriafen and is made more pronounced when one of them is out. We don't have proven athletic guards that can create on their own and either drive or step back for a jump shot (a la Haley Jones or Kiana Williams). I hate to keep harping back to it, but missing out on JuJu, or the multiple guards currently playing on UCLA and Notre Dame will hurt us at the margins and that could be the difference in the postseason.

Obviously, we've been wildly successful so far, still first in the Pac-12 and a favorite for the conference title and a high, if not #1 seed in the NCAA tournament, so it certainly is not a serious impediment, but it makes us vulnerable to the even better competition we will face next month, especially if we are matched up against a team with that type of swarming defense plus an even better offense on the other side.

[TheFarm07]

The way to defeat this kind of defense is with points in transition, with offensive rebounding, with back door cuts, and with drives to the basket--all those scoring opportunities that do not depend on multiple passes and which can catch defenders beyond the point of recovery.  We certainly tried those things, but did not executive them very well.  We had a couple of back door cuts that were things of beauty, but an equal number of would-be back door cuts that wound up becoming turnovers.

As good of a team we are, that game showed us the limitations of our offense, which is centered around Brink and Iriafen and is made more pronounced when one of them is out. We don't have proven athletic guards that can create on their own and either drive or step back for a jump shot (a la Haley Jones or Kiana Williams). I hate to keep harping back to it, but missing out on JuJu, or the multiple guards currently playing on UCLA and Notre Dame will hurt us at the margins and that could be the difference in the postseason.

Obviously, we've been wildly successful so far, still first in the Pac-12 and a favorite for the conference title and a high, if not #1 seed in the NCAA tournament, so it certainly is not a serious impediment, but it makes us vulnerable to the even better competition we will face next month, especially if we are matched up against a team with that type of swarming defense plus an even better offense on the other side.

[jonnyss]

i hated those banked in 3s.  

and i did not enjoy watching arizona. that said, i have to give them credit: they sure can play a super-tight defense without fouling much.

[jonnyss]

i hated those banked in 3s.  

and i did not enjoy watching arizona. that said, i have to give them credit: they sure can play a super-tight defense without fouling much.

[81alum]

i hated those banked in 3s.  

and i did not enjoy watching arizona. that said, i have to give them credit: they sure can play a super-tight defense without fouling much.

Agreed on all points.  Even Adia Barnes called it an "ugly win."  But what was an ugly win for them was an even uglier loss for us.

[81alum]

i hated those banked in 3s.  

and i did not enjoy watching arizona. that said, i have to give them credit: they sure can play a super-tight defense without fouling much.

Agreed on all points.  Even Adia Barnes called it an "ugly win."  But what was an ugly win for them was an even uglier loss for us.

[76lsjumb]

The way to defeat this kind of defense is with points in transition, with offensive rebounding, with back door cuts, and with drives to the basket--all those scoring opportunities that do not depend on multiple passes and which can catch defenders beyond the point of recovery.  We certainly tried those things, but did not executive them very well.  We had a couple of back door cuts that were things of beauty, but an equal number of would-be back door cuts that wound up becoming turnovers.

As good of a team we are, that game showed us the limitations of our offense, which is centered around Brink and Iriafen and is made more pronounced when one of them is out. We don't have proven athletic guards that can create on their own and either drive or step back for a jump shot (a la Haley Jones or Kiana Williams). I hate to keep harping back to it, but missing out on JuJu, or the multiple guards currently playing on UCLA and Notre Dame will hurt us at the margins and that could be the difference in the postseason.

Obviously, we've been wildly successful so far, still first in the Pac-12 and a favorite for the conference title and a high, if not #1 seed in the NCAA tournament, so it certainly is not a serious impediment, but it makes us vulnerable to the even better competition we will face next month, especially if we are matched up against a team with that type of swarming defense plus an even better offense on the other side.

Plus, unfortunately, we seem to be getting out coached this season.

[76lsjumb]

The way to defeat this kind of defense is with points in transition, with offensive rebounding, with back door cuts, and with drives to the basket--all those scoring opportunities that do not depend on multiple passes and which can catch defenders beyond the point of recovery.  We certainly tried those things, but did not executive them very well.  We had a couple of back door cuts that were things of beauty, but an equal number of would-be back door cuts that wound up becoming turnovers.

As good of a team we are, that game showed us the limitations of our offense, which is centered around Brink and Iriafen and is made more pronounced when one of them is out. We don't have proven athletic guards that can create on their own and either drive or step back for a jump shot (a la Haley Jones or Kiana Williams). I hate to keep harping back to it, but missing out on JuJu, or the multiple guards currently playing on UCLA and Notre Dame will hurt us at the margins and that could be the difference in the postseason.

Obviously, we've been wildly successful so far, still first in the Pac-12 and a favorite for the conference title and a high, if not #1 seed in the NCAA tournament, so it certainly is not a serious impediment, but it makes us vulnerable to the even better competition we will face next month, especially if we are matched up against a team with that type of swarming defense plus an even better offense on the other side.

Plus, unfortunately, we seem to be getting out coached this season.

[GK3]

The way to defeat this kind of defense is with points in transition, with offensive rebounding, with back door cuts, and with drives to the basket--all those scoring opportunities that do not depend on multiple passes and which can catch defenders beyond the point of recovery.  We certainly tried those things, but did not executive them very well.  We had a couple of back door cuts that were things of beauty, but an equal number of would-be back door cuts that wound up becoming turnovers.

As good of a team we are, that game showed us the limitations of our offense, which is centered around Brink and Iriafen and is made more pronounced when one of them is out. We don't have proven athletic guards that can create on their own and either drive or step back for a jump shot (a la Haley Jones or Kiana Williams). I hate to keep harping back to it, but missing out on JuJu, or the multiple guards currently playing on UCLA and Notre Dame will hurt us at the margins and that could be the difference in the postseason.

Obviously, we've been wildly successful so far, still first in the Pac-12 and a favorite for the conference title and a high, if not #1 seed in the NCAA tournament, so it certainly is not a serious impediment, but it makes us vulnerable to the even better competition we will face next month, especially if we are matched up against a team with that type of swarming defense plus an even better offense on the other side.

Amen, we have no answer against decent teams when we are missing one of the Big Two. Against teams who can defend the Big Two puts us in a  difficult position.  The lack of good outside play is hurting us.

[GK3]

The way to defeat this kind of defense is with points in transition, with offensive rebounding, with back door cuts, and with drives to the basket--all those scoring opportunities that do not depend on multiple passes and which can catch defenders beyond the point of recovery.  We certainly tried those things, but did not executive them very well.  We had a couple of back door cuts that were things of beauty, but an equal number of would-be back door cuts that wound up becoming turnovers.

As good of a team we are, that game showed us the limitations of our offense, which is centered around Brink and Iriafen and is made more pronounced when one of them is out. We don't have proven athletic guards that can create on their own and either drive or step back for a jump shot (a la Haley Jones or Kiana Williams). I hate to keep harping back to it, but missing out on JuJu, or the multiple guards currently playing on UCLA and Notre Dame will hurt us at the margins and that could be the difference in the postseason.

Obviously, we've been wildly successful so far, still first in the Pac-12 and a favorite for the conference title and a high, if not #1 seed in the NCAA tournament, so it certainly is not a serious impediment, but it makes us vulnerable to the even better competition we will face next month, especially if we are matched up against a team with that type of swarming defense plus an even better offense on the other side.

Amen, we have no answer against decent teams when we are missing one of the Big Two. Against teams who can defend the Big Two puts us in a  difficult position.  The lack of good outside play is hurting us.

[SkiBum80]

Some More bad calls
One example, the missed call of a travel on their breakaway near end of game, just before the run in foul on Lepolo

[SkiBum80]

Some More bad calls
One example, the missed call of a travel on their breakaway near end of game, just before the run in foul on Lepolo

[qwerty49]

I didn’t watch the game but the box score shows AZ scoring 31 in the 4th Q after every other Q was in the teens. What happened? Foul trouble? Tired legs? Did we walk off the floor?

[qwerty49]

I didn’t watch the game but the box score shows AZ scoring 31 in the 4th Q after every other Q was in the teens. What happened? Foul trouble? Tired legs? Did we walk off the floor?

[81alum]

I didn’t watch the game but the box score shows AZ scoring 31 in the 4th Q after every other Q was in the teens. What happened? Foul trouble? Tired legs? Did we walk off the floor?

Arizona with only 7 players, one of whom fouled out, should have had the tired legs, not us.  What happened is:

1) Arizona freshman guard Jada Williams scored 14 pts on 4/4 shooting, including 3/3 from long range, including two ridiculous shots that banked in.   She was 0/3 from three point range in quarters 1-3.

2) We turned the ball over 6 times in the 4th quarter.  I am sad to say that Lepolo turned it over 4 times in the quarter. 

3) We took 11 shots in the 4th quarter.  We had 0 O-boards in the 4th quarter, and only 3 rebounds total.  In comparison, Arizona took 16 shots, had 5 offensive rebounds, and 9 rebounds total. 

IN SUMMARY, an Arizona player got hot, we turned the ball over, and we got grossly out rebounded in that quarter.

[81alum]

I didn’t watch the game but the box score shows AZ scoring 31 in the 4th Q after every other Q was in the teens. What happened? Foul trouble? Tired legs? Did we walk off the floor?

Arizona with only 7 players, one of whom fouled out, should have had the tired legs, not us.  What happened is:

1) Arizona freshman guard Jada Williams scored 14 pts on 4/4 shooting, including 3/3 from long range, including two ridiculous shots that banked in.   She was 0/3 from three point range in quarters 1-3.

2) We turned the ball over 6 times in the 4th quarter.  I am sad to say that Lepolo turned it over 4 times in the quarter. 

3) We took 11 shots in the 4th quarter.  We had 0 O-boards in the 4th quarter, and only 3 rebounds total.  In comparison, Arizona took 16 shots, had 5 offensive rebounds, and 9 rebounds total. 

IN SUMMARY, an Arizona player got hot, we turned the ball over, and we got grossly out rebounded in that quarter.

[jonnyss]

i hated those banked in 3s.  

and i did not enjoy watching arizona. that said, i have to give them credit: they sure can play a super-tight defense without fouling much.

[jonnyss]

i hated those banked in 3s.  

and i did not enjoy watching arizona. that said, i have to give them credit: they sure can play a super-tight defense without fouling much.

[81alum]

During the chalk talk someone asked Tempe to comment on the development of the team over the course of the year.  She said there had been some ups and downs, but that overall she and the coaches were very pleased (and perhaps surprised?) with how well the team had done, after losing the transfer students and ending last season in such a negative way (my interpretation there.) 

She was also asked about how she thought we would adjust to the ACC.  She talked about the very strong WBB programs in the ACC and noted that we would have to up our game, and up our recruiting.  I was mildly surprised by this since the Pac 12 this year appears to be the premier conference in WBB.  But no one asked her about recruiting, and she brought it up.

Reading between the lines of those two comments--hopefully not too much--I think our team is probably performing better than the coaches expected given our level of talent and experience.  For us fans, we want a natty every year, are probably somewhat content with a final 4 and a Pac 12 championship, but we clearly do not have so much more talent than our opponents that we can coast through any games.  Even without Cam we are more talented than Arizona, I also think we have more talent than Colorado or USC or Gonzaga--but not by such an overwhelming margin as was often the case in the past.  And so we have four losses.  We have also won some games by narrow margins that we easily could have lost--Duke, Utah, Washington.  In short, our record this year is more half full than half empty.   The coaches have been squeezing everything they can out of this group, which is a talented, good group, but not a dominant group.

If there is fault here, it is, I agree, with recruiting more than anything else. 

This does not preclude us doing well and getting to a FF.  For example, remember this group from 16-17?
McCall
Kaylee Johnson
McPhee
Karlie Samuelson
Roberson

I think I would take this year's team over that year's team in terms of talent, but that team did get to the final 4.  They had also lost 4 games by the time they were at this point in the season, and (ominously) they dropped a game at Oregon State at the end of the regular season (before beating OSU in the Pac 12 tourney.)  So it is possible there is magic left for our season.  But it is going to take some really good quality playing and coaching-- better in both ways than we saw last night.  Our coaches and our players tend to respond well after losses, but let's hope they take care of business tomorrow and then don't have to prove that again

[81alum]

During the chalk talk someone asked Tempe to comment on the development of the team over the course of the year.  She said there had been some ups and downs, but that overall she and the coaches were very pleased (and perhaps surprised?) with how well the team had done, after losing the transfer students and ending last season in such a negative way (my interpretation there.) 

She was also asked about how she thought we would adjust to the ACC.  She talked about the very strong WBB programs in the ACC and noted that we would have to up our game, and up our recruiting.  I was mildly surprised by this since the Pac 12 this year appears to be the premier conference in WBB.  But no one asked her about recruiting, and she brought it up.

Reading between the lines of those two comments--hopefully not too much--I think our team is probably performing better than the coaches expected given our level of talent and experience.  For us fans, we want a natty every year, are probably somewhat content with a final 4 and a Pac 12 championship, but we clearly do not have so much more talent than our opponents that we can coast through any games.  Even without Cam we are more talented than Arizona, I also think we have more talent than Colorado or USC or Gonzaga--but not by such an overwhelming margin as was often the case in the past.  And so we have four losses.  We have also won some games by narrow margins that we easily could have lost--Duke, Utah, Washington.  In short, our record this year is more half full than half empty.   The coaches have been squeezing everything they can out of this group, which is a talented, good group, but not a dominant group.

If there is fault here, it is, I agree, with recruiting more than anything else. 

This does not preclude us doing well and getting to a FF.  For example, remember this group from 16-17?
McCall
Kaylee Johnson
McPhee
Karlie Samuelson
Roberson

I think I would take this year's team over that year's team in terms of talent, but that team did get to the final 4.  They had also lost 4 games by the time they were at this point in the season, and (ominously) they dropped a game at Oregon State at the end of the regular season (before beating OSU in the Pac 12 tourney.)  So it is possible there is magic left for our season.  But it is going to take some really good quality playing and coaching-- better in both ways than we saw last night.  Our coaches and our players tend to respond well after losses, but let's hope they take care of business tomorrow and then don't have to prove that again

[Card10Fan]

During the chalk talk someone asked Tempe to comment on the development of the team over the course of the year.  She said there had been some ups and downs, but that overall she and the coaches were very pleased (and perhaps surprised?) with how well the team had done, after losing the transfer students and ending last season in such a negative way (my interpretation there.) 

She was also asked about how she thought we would adjust to the ACC.  She talked about the very strong WBB programs in the ACC and noted that we would have to up our game, and up our recruiting.  I was mildly surprised by this since the Pac 12 this year appears to be the premier conference in WBB.  But no one asked her about recruiting, and she brought it up.

Reading between the lines of those two comments--hopefully not too much--I think our team is probably performing better than the coaches expected given our level of talent and experience.  For us fans, we want a natty every year, are probably somewhat content with a final 4 and a Pac 12 championship, but we clearly do not have so much more talent than our opponents that we can coast through any games.  Even without Cam we are more talented than Arizona, I also think we have more talent than Colorado or USC or Gonzaga--but not by such an overwhelming margin as was often the case in the past.  And so we have four losses.  We have also won some games by narrow margins that we easily could have lost--Duke, Utah, Washington.  In short, our record this year is more half full than half empty.   The coaches have been squeezing everything they can out of this group, which is a talented, good group, but not a dominant group.

If there is fault here, it is, I agree, with recruiting more than anything else. 

This does not preclude us doing well and getting to a FF.  For example, remember this group from 16-17?
McCall
Kaylee Johnson
McPhee
Karlie Samuelson
Roberson

I think I would take this year's team over that year's team in terms of talent, but that team did get to the final 4.  They had also lost 4 games by the time they were at this point in the season, and (ominously) they dropped a game at Oregon State at the end of the regular season (before beating OSU in the Pac 12 tourney.)  So it is possible there is magic left for our season.  But it is going to take some really good quality playing and coaching-- better in both ways than we saw last night.  Our coaches and our players tend to respond well after losses, but let's hope they take care of business tomorrow and then don't have to prove that again

This is a really good take and analysis once again. Always, spot on. 

I always enjoyed chalk talks with Tempie. She’s just naturally more charismatic and funny than some others.  I do think our recruiting needs to improve again for us to be a Final 4 contender after this year. We probably need some top 5/10 or top 20 recruits in each class to win championships in the ACC. 

I also agree that this group has overachieved. Many were very down on our program to start the season and I think we’ve shut some of those haters down with how strong of a season we’ve had. Much of that is Cam and just how talented she is and how much she can lift everyone around her. I also think Tara and the coaches were pretty determined to not let last years collapse carry into this year.

I think our current team is better than 2016-17. My concern going into March is guard play. Games late in the season are won by teams who have excellent guards.  Our guard play is very inconsistent game to game. That is a weakness of this team. We are Cam and Kiki dominant so we will go as far as Talana, Hannah, and whoever else gets minutes there take us. If they struggle, we are looking at an early NCAA tourney exit. But simply just having Cam on the floor, gives us a chance to make a Final 4. She’s that good.

[Card10Fan]

During the chalk talk someone asked Tempe to comment on the development of the team over the course of the year.  She said there had been some ups and downs, but that overall she and the coaches were very pleased (and perhaps surprised?) with how well the team had done, after losing the transfer students and ending last season in such a negative way (my interpretation there.) 

She was also asked about how she thought we would adjust to the ACC.  She talked about the very strong WBB programs in the ACC and noted that we would have to up our game, and up our recruiting.  I was mildly surprised by this since the Pac 12 this year appears to be the premier conference in WBB.  But no one asked her about recruiting, and she brought it up.

Reading between the lines of those two comments--hopefully not too much--I think our team is probably performing better than the coaches expected given our level of talent and experience.  For us fans, we want a natty every year, are probably somewhat content with a final 4 and a Pac 12 championship, but we clearly do not have so much more talent than our opponents that we can coast through any games.  Even without Cam we are more talented than Arizona, I also think we have more talent than Colorado or USC or Gonzaga--but not by such an overwhelming margin as was often the case in the past.  And so we have four losses.  We have also won some games by narrow margins that we easily could have lost--Duke, Utah, Washington.  In short, our record this year is more half full than half empty.   The coaches have been squeezing everything they can out of this group, which is a talented, good group, but not a dominant group.

If there is fault here, it is, I agree, with recruiting more than anything else. 

This does not preclude us doing well and getting to a FF.  For example, remember this group from 16-17?
McCall
Kaylee Johnson
McPhee
Karlie Samuelson
Roberson

I think I would take this year's team over that year's team in terms of talent, but that team did get to the final 4.  They had also lost 4 games by the time they were at this point in the season, and (ominously) they dropped a game at Oregon State at the end of the regular season (before beating OSU in the Pac 12 tourney.)  So it is possible there is magic left for our season.  But it is going to take some really good quality playing and coaching-- better in both ways than we saw last night.  Our coaches and our players tend to respond well after losses, but let's hope they take care of business tomorrow and then don't have to prove that again

This is a really good take and analysis once again. Always, spot on. 

I always enjoyed chalk talks with Tempie. She’s just naturally more charismatic and funny than some others.  I do think our recruiting needs to improve again for us to be a Final 4 contender after this year. We probably need some top 5/10 or top 20 recruits in each class to win championships in the ACC. 

I also agree that this group has overachieved. Many were very down on our program to start the season and I think we’ve shut some of those haters down with how strong of a season we’ve had. Much of that is Cam and just how talented she is and how much she can lift everyone around her. I also think Tara and the coaches were pretty determined to not let last years collapse carry into this year.

I think our current team is better than 2016-17. My concern going into March is guard play. Games late in the season are won by teams who have excellent guards.  Our guard play is very inconsistent game to game. That is a weakness of this team. We are Cam and Kiki dominant so we will go as far as Talana, Hannah, and whoever else gets minutes there take us. If they struggle, we are looking at an early NCAA tourney exit. But simply just having Cam on the floor, gives us a chance to make a Final 4. She’s that good.

[M T]

At the Cardboard conclave ar the half, I bemoaned Iriafen’s lack of defense. I don’t expect her to be Brink, but I do expect her to defend her opponent.  She was often not guarding anyone when shots went up, and when she was, her arms weren’t up. 

But as I watched the 2nd half and watched her drop her raised arms as her opponent shot over her, it struck me that she was probably under orders not to defend so as to not pick up fouls. My assumption that the coaches must have told her this points to an inability to defend, but that this game was on the coach’s instructions.

[M T]

At the Cardboard conclave ar the half, I bemoaned Iriafen’s lack of defense. I don’t expect her to be Brink, but I do expect her to defend her opponent.  She was often not guarding anyone when shots went up, and when she was, her arms weren’t up. 

But as I watched the 2nd half and watched her drop her raised arms as her opponent shot over her, it struck me that she was probably under orders not to defend so as to not pick up fouls. My assumption that the coaches must have told her this points to an inability to defend, but that this game was on the coach’s instructions.

[MV72018]

I didn’t watch the game but the box score shows AZ scoring 31 in the 4th Q after every other Q was in the teens. What happened? Foul trouble? Tired legs? Did we walk off the floor?

Arizona with only 7 players, one of whom fouled out, should have had the tired legs, not us.  What happened is:

1) Arizona freshman guard Jada Williams scored 14 pts on 4/4 shooting, including 3/3 from long range, including two ridiculous shots that banked in.   She was 0/3 from three point range in quarters 1-3.

2) We turned the ball over 6 times in the 4th quarter.  I am sad to say that Lepolo turned it over 4 times in the quarter. 

3) We took 11 shots in the 4th quarter.  We had 0 O-boards in the 4th quarter, and only 3 rebounds total.  In comparison, Arizona took 16 shots, had 5 offensive rebounds, and 9 rebounds total. 

IN SUMMARY, an Arizona player got hot, we turned the ball over, and we got grossly out rebounded in that quarter.

After this game, does anyone still think Lepolo is an adequate or acceptable point guard? 39 minutes played, 2 points, 2 assists, and 7 turnovers. And it's not as if this Arizona team is to be confused with South Carolina. Why does Bosgana start? She played only 3 minutes, whereas Clardy played 20. Let Clardy start. She was the only significant contributor off the bench. Look at the lines of Bosgana, Ogden, Agara, and Harriel: the four of them played 28 minutes and scored 3 points. Not going to cut it. Against quality D, the Cardinal is basically a two- or three-person team, depending on whether Jump is on or off that day. Jump started strong hitting those two early threes, but wound scoring only 13 in 40 minutes. Demetre did a fairly nice job standing in for Brink, although her trey shot was off and she got no foul shots in 35 minutes. At this point, I'm increasingly skeptical that the Cardinal will win the Pac-12 tournament, much less get to the EE or FF. I think Stanford is at serious risk of losing the same frustrating way we did last year, to Ole Miss. Any team that plays relentless D, be it Colorado, USC, Ole Miss, or South Carolina, is going to give our guards fits, cause a ton of Stanford turnovers, and make it very difficult to get clean entry passes to Brink and Iriafin.

[MV72018]

I didn’t watch the game but the box score shows AZ scoring 31 in the 4th Q after every other Q was in the teens. What happened? Foul trouble? Tired legs? Did we walk off the floor?

Arizona with only 7 players, one of whom fouled out, should have had the tired legs, not us.  What happened is:

1) Arizona freshman guard Jada Williams scored 14 pts on 4/4 shooting, including 3/3 from long range, including two ridiculous shots that banked in.   She was 0/3 from three point range in quarters 1-3.

2) We turned the ball over 6 times in the 4th quarter.  I am sad to say that Lepolo turned it over 4 times in the quarter. 

3) We took 11 shots in the 4th quarter.  We had 0 O-boards in the 4th quarter, and only 3 rebounds total.  In comparison, Arizona took 16 shots, had 5 offensive rebounds, and 9 rebounds total. 

IN SUMMARY, an Arizona player got hot, we turned the ball over, and we got grossly out rebounded in that quarter.

After this game, does anyone still think Lepolo is an adequate or acceptable point guard? 39 minutes played, 2 points, 2 assists, and 7 turnovers. And it's not as if this Arizona team is to be confused with South Carolina. Why does Bosgana start? She played only 3 minutes, whereas Clardy played 20. Let Clardy start. She was the only significant contributor off the bench. Look at the lines of Bosgana, Ogden, Agara, and Harriel: the four of them played 28 minutes and scored 3 points. Not going to cut it. Against quality D, the Cardinal is basically a two- or three-person team, depending on whether Jump is on or off that day. Jump started strong hitting those two early threes, but wound scoring only 13 in 40 minutes. Demetre did a fairly nice job standing in for Brink, although her trey shot was off and she got no foul shots in 35 minutes. At this point, I'm increasingly skeptical that the Cardinal will win the Pac-12 tournament, much less get to the EE or FF. I think Stanford is at serious risk of losing the same frustrating way we did last year, to Ole Miss. Any team that plays relentless D, be it Colorado, USC, Ole Miss, or South Carolina, is going to give our guards fits, cause a ton of Stanford turnovers, and make it very difficult to get clean entry passes to Brink and Iriafin.

[TheFarm07]

At the Cardboard conclave ar the half, I bemoaned Iriafen’s lack of defense. I don’t expect her to be Brink, but I do expect her to defend her opponent.  She was often not guarding anyone when shots went up, and when she was, her arms weren’t up. 

But as I watched the 2nd half and watched her drop her raised arms as her opponent shot over her, it struck me that she was probably under orders not to defend so as to not pick up fouls. My assumption that the coaches must have told her this points to an inability to defend, but that this game was on the coach’s instructions.

If your inference is correct, that only underscores the underperformance/lack of confidence in the rest of our lineup. For a defense-minded coach to advise a player not to play tight defense, as to avoid fouls so that they can stay out on the floor because they are so vitally needed on offense, emphasizes the lack of reliable scoring potential we have with our other All-American caliber star unavailable.

---

After this game, does anyone out there still think Lepolo is an adequate or acceptable point guard? 39 minutes played, 2 points, 2 assists, and 7 turnovers. And it's not as if this Arizona team is to be confused with South Carolina. Why does Bosgana start? She played only 3 minutes whereas Clardy played 20. Let Clardy start. Look at the lines of Bosgana, Ogden, Agara, and Harriel. The four of them played a total of 28 minutes and scored a total of 3 points among them. Not going to cut it. Against quality D, the Cardinal is basically a two- or three-person team, depending on whether Jump is on or off that day. Jump played all 40 minutes and after hitting those two early threes, only scored 7 the rest of the way. Demetre did a fairly nice job standing in for Brink, although her trey shot was off and she got no foul shots in 35 minutes. At this point, I am increasingly skeptical that the Cardinal will win the Pac-12 tournament, much less get to the EE or FF. I think we are at serious risk of losing the same frustrating way we did last year to Ole Miss. Any team that plays relentless D, be it Colorado, Texas, USC, Ole Miss, or South Carolina, is going to give our guards fits, cause a ton of turnovers, and make it very difficult to make clean entry passes to Brink and Iriafin.

I was just going to write that Lepolo's worst game of the season played a noticeable role in our loss. Her strength and role is managing the offense and ball control. Well, our offense struggled and she turned the ball over 7 times while only recording 2 points and 2 assists. With these types of games, that has a significant effect on the team as she can't make up for it by generating offense on her own.

Compare that to JuJu, who had an astonishing 10 turnovers but more than made up for it with 42 points in USC's big win over Colorado.

[TheFarm07]

At the Cardboard conclave ar the half, I bemoaned Iriafen’s lack of defense. I don’t expect her to be Brink, but I do expect her to defend her opponent.  She was often not guarding anyone when shots went up, and when she was, her arms weren’t up. 

But as I watched the 2nd half and watched her drop her raised arms as her opponent shot over her, it struck me that she was probably under orders not to defend so as to not pick up fouls. My assumption that the coaches must have told her this points to an inability to defend, but that this game was on the coach’s instructions.

If your inference is correct, that only underscores the underperformance/lack of confidence in the rest of our lineup. For a defense-minded coach to advise a player not to play tight defense, as to avoid fouls so that they can stay out on the floor because they are so vitally needed on offense, emphasizes the lack of reliable scoring potential we have with our other All-American caliber star unavailable.

---

After this game, does anyone out there still think Lepolo is an adequate or acceptable point guard? 39 minutes played, 2 points, 2 assists, and 7 turnovers. And it's not as if this Arizona team is to be confused with South Carolina. Why does Bosgana start? She played only 3 minutes whereas Clardy played 20. Let Clardy start. Look at the lines of Bosgana, Ogden, Agara, and Harriel. The four of them played a total of 28 minutes and scored a total of 3 points among them. Not going to cut it. Against quality D, the Cardinal is basically a two- or three-person team, depending on whether Jump is on or off that day. Jump played all 40 minutes and after hitting those two early threes, only scored 7 the rest of the way. Demetre did a fairly nice job standing in for Brink, although her trey shot was off and she got no foul shots in 35 minutes. At this point, I am increasingly skeptical that the Cardinal will win the Pac-12 tournament, much less get to the EE or FF. I think we are at serious risk of losing the same frustrating way we did last year to Ole Miss. Any team that plays relentless D, be it Colorado, Texas, USC, Ole Miss, or South Carolina, is going to give our guards fits, cause a ton of turnovers, and make it very difficult to make clean entry passes to Brink and Iriafin.

I was just going to write that Lepolo's worst game of the season played a noticeable role in our loss. Her strength and role is managing the offense and ball control. Well, our offense struggled and she turned the ball over 7 times while only recording 2 points and 2 assists. With these types of games, that has a significant effect on the team as she can't make up for it by generating offense on her own.

Compare that to JuJu, who had an astonishing 10 turnovers but more than made up for it with 42 points in USC's big win over Colorado.