[81alum]

1) Norfolk State played a quick zone against us and I suspect they do not normally play zone--they would have no need to do so against the kinds of teams they usually play.  I think this caught us off guard and it took us a half to remember our zone-busting offense, but once we got it going we had decent offensive quarters in the 3rd and 4th quarters.

2) I mentioned in the preview that Norfolk is a superb team at generating steals at 12 per game.  They had 10 against us, mostly by stepping into passing lanes.  This discombobulated our offense in the first half but we mostly got it sorted out in the second.

3) Norfolk's top two scorers each got about as many points as they usually do, but Diamond Johnson--a better than 40% three point shooter--was 0/8 tonight.  Scouting report defense seems to have worked.  A little like Juju, we were forcing her to her left.

4) One of Bosgana's best games of the year.  She was 4/6 from three point range and led the team with 18 points.  Add 4 rebounds and a couple of assists for a good stat line.

5) Lepolo score no points and her shot looked off.  But she had 4 assists to 0 turnovers and was our primary defender, 1-on-1, on Norfolk's best player.

6) Brink and Iriafen and Jump all had solid nights.  Brink's free throw shooting is becoming a concern again, though.

7) We shot 52% to their 31%.  21 of our 30 made shots were assisted--despite their interference with the passing lanes.

A win, not especially inspired, now time to move on.

[81alum]

1) Norfolk State played a quick zone against us and I suspect they do not normally play zone--they would have no need to do so against the kinds of teams they usually play.  I think this caught us off guard and it took us a half to remember our zone-busting offense, but once we got it going we had decent offensive quarters in the 3rd and 4th quarters.

2) I mentioned in the preview that Norfolk is a superb team at generating steals at 12 per game.  They had 10 against us, mostly by stepping into passing lanes.  This discombobulated our offense in the first half but we mostly got it sorted out in the second.

3) Norfolk's top two scorers each got about as many points as they usually do, but Diamond Johnson--a better than 40% three point shooter--was 0/8 tonight.  Scouting report defense seems to have worked.  A little like Juju, we were forcing her to her left.

4) One of Bosgana's best games of the year.  She was 4/6 from three point range and led the team with 18 points.  Add 4 rebounds and a couple of assists for a good stat line.

5) Lepolo score no points and her shot looked off.  But she had 4 assists to 0 turnovers and was our primary defender, 1-on-1, on Norfolk's best player.

6) Brink and Iriafen and Jump all had solid nights.  Brink's free throw shooting is becoming a concern again, though.

7) We shot 52% to their 31%.  21 of our 30 made shots were assisted--despite their interference with the passing lanes.

A win, not especially inspired, now time to move on.

[martyup]

If we let Crooks shoot 18-20, we will lose. I can’t imagine any universe where that happens though. But for me the key is how much trouble does her width cause Cam and Kiki? I hope/expect they can mostly neutralize her offense and rebounding. But Beers gives us fits so we will see.

The other thing I want to see is relentless running. Crooks struggles to get up and down the court. Cam and Kiki should be easily able to beat her down the floor every time.

IOW, Crooks is fat and really has no business being on a basketball court.

She scored 40 points against Maryland, so I think she handles her size pretty well.

[martyup]

If we let Crooks shoot 18-20, we will lose. I can’t imagine any universe where that happens though. But for me the key is how much trouble does her width cause Cam and Kiki? I hope/expect they can mostly neutralize her offense and rebounding. But Beers gives us fits so we will see.

The other thing I want to see is relentless running. Crooks struggles to get up and down the court. Cam and Kiki should be easily able to beat her down the floor every time.

IOW, Crooks is fat and really has no business being on a basketball court.

She scored 40 points against Maryland, so I think she handles her size pretty well.

[fishman]

If we let Crooks shoot 18-20, we will lose. I can’t imagine any universe where that happens though. But for me the key is how much trouble does her width cause Cam and Kiki? I hope/expect they can mostly neutralize her offense and rebounding. But Beers gives us fits so we will see.

The other thing I want to see is relentless running. Crooks struggles to get up and down the court. Cam and Kiki should be easily able to beat her down the floor every time.

IOW, Crooks is fat and really has no business being on a basketball court.

She scored 40 points against Maryland, so I think she handles her size pretty well.

---

"IOW, Crooks is fat and really has no business being on a basketball court."

Nonsense.  She has good hands, a good sense of where she is around the basket and a nice touch with the ball.  Reminds me a bit of Pili without 3 point range.  Not fast, but moves well for a player of her size.

[fishman]

If we let Crooks shoot 18-20, we will lose. I can’t imagine any universe where that happens though. But for me the key is how much trouble does her width cause Cam and Kiki? I hope/expect they can mostly neutralize her offense and rebounding. But Beers gives us fits so we will see.

The other thing I want to see is relentless running. Crooks struggles to get up and down the court. Cam and Kiki should be easily able to beat her down the floor every time.

IOW, Crooks is fat and really has no business being on a basketball court.

She scored 40 points against Maryland, so I think she handles her size pretty well.

---

"IOW, Crooks is fat and really has no business being on a basketball court."

Nonsense.  She has good hands, a good sense of where she is around the basket and a nice touch with the ball.  Reminds me a bit of Pili without 3 point range.  Not fast, but moves well for a player of her size.

[2006alum]

We finished that game much better than we started, for all the reasons 81 said: we started hitting mid-range zone busters (thank you Demetre) and a lot of outside shots dropped (thank you Jump and Bosgana). And Norfolk St was unlikely to keep up that energy for 40 minutes when it was nearing midnight, body clock wise. 

Lepolo was superb on Johnson even though her offense was non-existent - and Norfolk St needed Johnson's offense much more than we needed Lepolo's, so I'll take that tradeoff every day. Did anyone notice how harsh their coach was to their players? He was pacing all over the floor and screaming at the ref. Johnson had one bad pass to a teammate and after she attempted a "my bad" hand slap to her teammate, the teammate rebuffed her, which she then pointed out to the coach. I got some bad vibes from their bench in a way that made me feel sort of bad for her, because she's a real gem of a player. 

I'll reiterate my hypothesis about Brink - I feel like her depth perception is off. Every once in a while she seems to completely misperceive where the ball is on a pass toher,  and it results in a TO or at least a really sloppy hand-off, and I feel like she's now back to twisting her body quite far to one side on free throws as she used to do in prior seasons, rather than squaring up, which makes me think she's favoring one eye over the other. Just a hunch, and I could be wrong, but receiving passes and throwing the ball at distance are the two times you need absolutely precise depth perception, and those are the two areas she seems to have regressed over the season.

Still. We nearly beat the spread and we had balanced scoring from 4 of our starters. Take the win against a bad matchup for us, and move on.

[2006alum]

We finished that game much better than we started, for all the reasons 81 said: we started hitting mid-range zone busters (thank you Demetre) and a lot of outside shots dropped (thank you Jump and Bosgana). And Norfolk St was unlikely to keep up that energy for 40 minutes when it was nearing midnight, body clock wise. 

Lepolo was superb on Johnson even though her offense was non-existent - and Norfolk St needed Johnson's offense much more than we needed Lepolo's, so I'll take that tradeoff every day. Did anyone notice how harsh their coach was to their players? He was pacing all over the floor and screaming at the ref. Johnson had one bad pass to a teammate and after she attempted a "my bad" hand slap to her teammate, the teammate rebuffed her, which she then pointed out to the coach. I got some bad vibes from their bench in a way that made me feel sort of bad for her, because she's a real gem of a player. 

I'll reiterate my hypothesis about Brink - I feel like her depth perception is off. Every once in a while she seems to completely misperceive where the ball is on a pass toher,  and it results in a TO or at least a really sloppy hand-off, and I feel like she's now back to twisting her body quite far to one side on free throws as she used to do in prior seasons, rather than squaring up, which makes me think she's favoring one eye over the other. Just a hunch, and I could be wrong, but receiving passes and throwing the ball at distance are the two times you need absolutely precise depth perception, and those are the two areas she seems to have regressed over the season.

Still. We nearly beat the spread and we had balanced scoring from 4 of our starters. Take the win against a bad matchup for us, and move on.

[Hieronymus]

If we let Crooks shoot 18-20, we will lose. I can’t imagine any universe where that happens though. But for me the key is how much trouble does her width cause Cam and Kiki? I hope/expect they can mostly neutralize her offense and rebounding. But Beers gives us fits so we will see.

The other thing I want to see is relentless running. Crooks struggles to get up and down the court. Cam and Kiki should be easily able to beat her down the floor every time.

IOW, Crooks is fat and really has no business being on a basketball court.

I will just say I would like to make the court as inhospitable as possible Sunday.

But Crooks is very strong and has excellent hands. She will kill a team that lets her camp out under the basket.

[Hieronymus]

If we let Crooks shoot 18-20, we will lose. I can’t imagine any universe where that happens though. But for me the key is how much trouble does her width cause Cam and Kiki? I hope/expect they can mostly neutralize her offense and rebounding. But Beers gives us fits so we will see.

The other thing I want to see is relentless running. Crooks struggles to get up and down the court. Cam and Kiki should be easily able to beat her down the floor every time.

IOW, Crooks is fat and really has no business being on a basketball court.

I will just say I would like to make the court as inhospitable as possible Sunday.

But Crooks is very strong and has excellent hands. She will kill a team that lets her camp out under the basket.

[WBB fan]

SF Chron article about the game. Most interesting aspect to me is the repeated comments about how positive the team chemistry is this year, that they like each other, are having fun, etc.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/colle...182164.php

[WBB fan]

SF Chron article about the game. Most interesting aspect to me is the repeated comments about how positive the team chemistry is this year, that they like each other, are having fun, etc.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/colle...182164.php

[2006alum]

SF Chron article about the game. Most interesting aspect to me is the repeated comments about how positive the team chemistry is this year, that they like each other, are having fun, etc.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/colle...182164.php

Wow. Tell me there were some bad apples on last year's team who graduated or transferred without telling me there were bad apples on last year's team who graduated or transferred:

“I think a lot is different (this year),” said Brink. “We like each other a lot and we have good chemistry.”

[2006alum]

SF Chron article about the game. Most interesting aspect to me is the repeated comments about how positive the team chemistry is this year, that they like each other, are having fun, etc.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/colle...182164.php

Wow. Tell me there were some bad apples on last year's team who graduated or transferred without telling me there were bad apples on last year's team who graduated or transferred:

“I think a lot is different (this year),” said Brink. “We like each other a lot and we have good chemistry.”

[81alum]

But Crooks is very strong and has excellent hands. She will kill a team that lets her camp out under the basket.

Yes.  She reminds me a little of Raegan Beers, and became an All-American on some lists as a freshman.  We should run, run, run but this does not work well in the NCAA tournament which has such long TV timeouts.  At the game last night, numerous people around me were commenting on how long and boring all the timeouts were compared with the regular season.

Crooks needs to be denied the entry pass, which I think Brink can do.  We won't be pushing her out of the paint.  And we can't really double her.  Furthermore, unlike Betts, Crooks does not seem to bring the ball down, so it is not clear if doubling her would help anyway.

I met her briefly on the way out to buy food after the 3rd quarter of our game--the Iowa State players were in the stands watching our game.  A couple of us congratulated her on a good game.  She was very polite, well spoken, humble.  Seems like a good kid. 

But controlling Crooks should not be the sole focus of our defense.  Iowa State is always Crooks and 4 deadly three point shooters, not just Crooks alone.

[81alum]

But Crooks is very strong and has excellent hands. She will kill a team that lets her camp out under the basket.

Yes.  She reminds me a little of Raegan Beers, and became an All-American on some lists as a freshman.  We should run, run, run but this does not work well in the NCAA tournament which has such long TV timeouts.  At the game last night, numerous people around me were commenting on how long and boring all the timeouts were compared with the regular season.

Crooks needs to be denied the entry pass, which I think Brink can do.  We won't be pushing her out of the paint.  And we can't really double her.  Furthermore, unlike Betts, Crooks does not seem to bring the ball down, so it is not clear if doubling her would help anyway.

I met her briefly on the way out to buy food after the 3rd quarter of our game--the Iowa State players were in the stands watching our game.  A couple of us congratulated her on a good game.  She was very polite, well spoken, humble.  Seems like a good kid. 

But controlling Crooks should not be the sole focus of our defense.  Iowa State is always Crooks and 4 deadly three point shooters, not just Crooks alone.

[JohnR34231]

Crooks is the women's basketball version of William "The Refrigerator" Perry.
Just hope trying to deny her the ball doesn't get Brink in foul trouble.

[JohnR34231]

Crooks is the women's basketball version of William "The Refrigerator" Perry.
Just hope trying to deny her the ball doesn't get Brink in foul trouble.

[SkiBum80]

SF Chron article about the game. Most interesting aspect to me is the repeated comments about how positive the team chemistry is this year, that they like each other, are having fun, etc.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/colle...182164.php

Can’t read behind paywall
One of announcers last night said:
For a men’s team if they win they are happy together 
For a women’s team if they are happy together they win

[SkiBum80]

SF Chron article about the game. Most interesting aspect to me is the repeated comments about how positive the team chemistry is this year, that they like each other, are having fun, etc.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/colle...182164.php

Can’t read behind paywall
One of announcers last night said:
For a men’s team if they win they are happy together 
For a women’s team if they are happy together they win

[JohnR34231]

SF Chron article about the game. Most interesting aspect to me is the repeated comments about how positive the team chemistry is this year, that they like each other, are having fun, etc.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/colle...182164.php

Can’t read behind paywall
One of announcers last night said:
For a men’s team if they win they are happy together 
For a women’s team if they are happy together they win

I remember around 1970 a reporter asked a player if there were any racial problems on the UCLA football team. He said last year there were but now everything is fine.
The reporter asked what the difference was and the player said "Now we are winning."

[JohnR34231]

SF Chron article about the game. Most interesting aspect to me is the repeated comments about how positive the team chemistry is this year, that they like each other, are having fun, etc.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/colle...182164.php

Can’t read behind paywall
One of announcers last night said:
For a men’s team if they win they are happy together 
For a women’s team if they are happy together they win

I remember around 1970 a reporter asked a player if there were any racial problems on the UCLA football team. He said last year there were but now everything is fine.
The reporter asked what the difference was and the player said "Now we are winning."

[jonnyss]

I'll reiterate my hypothesis about Brink - I feel like her depth perception is off. Every once in a while she seems to completely misperceive where the ball is on a pass toher,  and it results in a TO or at least a really sloppy hand-off, and I feel like she's now back to twisting her body quite far to one side on free throws as she used to do in prior seasons, rather than squaring up, which makes me think she's favoring one eye over the other. Just a hunch, and I could be wrong, but receiving passes and throwing the ball at distance are the two times you need absolutely precise depth perception, and those are the two areas she seems to have regressed over the season.

i think that's a very good hypothesis! i think of the long pass to cam that she bobbled before gathering it up and putting it in the basket. 

it's common for a vision prescription to change without the patient noticing. does anyone know the brinks? or the coaching staff? i hope one of us can reach someone to encourage her to get a refraction today or monday and new contact lenses by next weekend if not today. gostanford lists one jennifer baine, an orthopedist, as team physician. i'd email her myself, but the website offers no contact phone or email.

edit: i find that cam got implantable lenses in september in a procedure called evo icl. i don't know that procedure, but, by comparison, for many patients lasik corrects vision only temporarily as the eyes continue to change. now i'm thinking that cam and family may know perfectly well that her vision is deteriorating but not know what to do about it given the hardware in place.  sports glasses for now, procedure after the season?

ok, looking it up, none of the clinics offering the procedure seem to mention that vision can deteriorate in the following months, but there are just a few journal articles: 

2 years post evo icl 80% of patients have vision as good as corrected vision pre-op - ie 20% don't. link

5 years post evo icl vision had deteriorated an average of 1 diopter spherical in the super-high-myopia group. link  i don't see the range of deterioration, but i infer that some patients had less deterioration, some more.

in terms of what to do, the lenses are supposed to be removable, and one can choose to replace them with a lens of a new strength; but i presume that would have to be done after the season.

[jonnyss]

I'll reiterate my hypothesis about Brink - I feel like her depth perception is off. Every once in a while she seems to completely misperceive where the ball is on a pass toher,  and it results in a TO or at least a really sloppy hand-off, and I feel like she's now back to twisting her body quite far to one side on free throws as she used to do in prior seasons, rather than squaring up, which makes me think she's favoring one eye over the other. Just a hunch, and I could be wrong, but receiving passes and throwing the ball at distance are the two times you need absolutely precise depth perception, and those are the two areas she seems to have regressed over the season.

i think that's a very good hypothesis! i think of the long pass to cam that she bobbled before gathering it up and putting it in the basket. 

it's common for a vision prescription to change without the patient noticing. does anyone know the brinks? or the coaching staff? i hope one of us can reach someone to encourage her to get a refraction today or monday and new contact lenses by next weekend if not today. gostanford lists one jennifer baine, an orthopedist, as team physician. i'd email her myself, but the website offers no contact phone or email.

edit: i find that cam got implantable lenses in september in a procedure called evo icl. i don't know that procedure, but, by comparison, for many patients lasik corrects vision only temporarily as the eyes continue to change. now i'm thinking that cam and family may know perfectly well that her vision is deteriorating but not know what to do about it given the hardware in place.  sports glasses for now, procedure after the season?

ok, looking it up, none of the clinics offering the procedure seem to mention that vision can deteriorate in the following months, but there are just a few journal articles: 

2 years post evo icl 80% of patients have vision as good as corrected vision pre-op - ie 20% don't. link

5 years post evo icl vision had deteriorated an average of 1 diopter spherical in the super-high-myopia group. link  i don't see the range of deterioration, but i infer that some patients had less deterioration, some more.

in terms of what to do, the lenses are supposed to be removable, and one can choose to replace them with a lens of a new strength; but i presume that would have to be done after the season.

[WBB fan]

SF Chron article about the game. Most interesting aspect to me is the repeated comments about how positive the team chemistry is this year, that they like each other, are having fun, etc.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/colle...182164.php

Can’t read behind paywall
One of announcers last night said:
For a men’s team if they win they are happy together 
For a women’s team if they are happy together they win

That's really strange about a paywall problem. I just tried clicking it open from this post and it works, and there shouldn't be a paywall at all since it's one of my 10 per month free to share from my subscription. I'd suggest trying again. It's worth reading.

[WBB fan]

SF Chron article about the game. Most interesting aspect to me is the repeated comments about how positive the team chemistry is this year, that they like each other, are having fun, etc.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/colle...182164.php

Can’t read behind paywall
One of announcers last night said:
For a men’s team if they win they are happy together 
For a women’s team if they are happy together they win

That's really strange about a paywall problem. I just tried clicking it open from this post and it works, and there shouldn't be a paywall at all since it's one of my 10 per month free to share from my subscription. I'd suggest trying again. It's worth reading.

[TonyLima]

If we let Crooks shoot 18-20, we will lose. I can’t imagine any universe where that happens though. But for me the key is how much trouble does her width cause Cam and Kiki? I hope/expect they can mostly neutralize her offense and rebounding. But Beers gives us fits so we will see.

The other thing I want to see is relentless running. Crooks struggles to get up and down the court. Cam and Kiki should be easily able to beat her down the floor every time.

IOW, Crooks is fat and really has no business being on a basketball court.

I will just say I would like to make the court as inhospitable as possible Sunday.

But Crooks is very strong and has excellent hands. She will kill a team that lets her camp out under the basket.

I apologize for my comment. Deleted the post.

[TonyLima]

If we let Crooks shoot 18-20, we will lose. I can’t imagine any universe where that happens though. But for me the key is how much trouble does her width cause Cam and Kiki? I hope/expect they can mostly neutralize her offense and rebounding. But Beers gives us fits so we will see.

The other thing I want to see is relentless running. Crooks struggles to get up and down the court. Cam and Kiki should be easily able to beat her down the floor every time.

IOW, Crooks is fat and really has no business being on a basketball court.

I will just say I would like to make the court as inhospitable as possible Sunday.

But Crooks is very strong and has excellent hands. She will kill a team that lets her camp out under the basket.

I apologize for my comment. Deleted the post.