[BostonCard]

The freshmen seem to have hit a wall.

BC

LOL, Eschmeyer and Somfai wound up as leading scorers with 16 each and the #1 and 2 rebounders with 9 and 7 rebounds, respectively.  Swain was the fourth leading scorer.

Happy to have been wrong about this.

BC

[BostonCard]

The freshmen seem to have hit a wall.

BC

LOL, Eschmeyer and Somfai wound up as leading scorers with 16 each and the #1 and 2 rebounders with 9 and 7 rebounds, respectively.  Swain was the fourth leading scorer.

Happy to have been wrong about this.

BC

[Hieronymus]

i don't know that it affected the outcome, but i am disappointed in the coaches:

we are behind at the end of regulation. we only have 2 fouls, so we have to foul quickly so they don't just run out the clock. instead of subbing offense for defense, coaches leave lara and alex in the game, and lara gets her 4th foul. coaches don't put in the subs with few fouls until we have 4 fouls. lara has to play cautious and eventually fouls out.

Yes that was really really odd. Repeat your question for Somfai’s fifth. Why not have somebody on with fewer fouls. And same question after Somfai got her fourth. She stayed on the court even when Stanford had to foul. I don’t get it.

[Hieronymus]

i don't know that it affected the outcome, but i am disappointed in the coaches:

we are behind at the end of regulation. we only have 2 fouls, so we have to foul quickly so they don't just run out the clock. instead of subbing offense for defense, coaches leave lara and alex in the game, and lara gets her 4th foul. coaches don't put in the subs with few fouls until we have 4 fouls. lara has to play cautious and eventually fouls out.

Yes that was really really odd. Repeat your question for Somfai’s fifth. Why not have somebody on with fewer fouls. And same question after Somfai got her fourth. She stayed on the court even when Stanford had to foul. I don’t get it.

[TonyLima]

i don't know that it affected the outcome, but i am disappointed in the coaches:

we are behind at the end of regulation. we only have 2 fouls, so we have to foul quickly so they don't just run out the clock. instead of subbing offense for defense, coaches leave lara and alex in the game, and lara gets her 4th foul. coaches don't put in the subs with few fouls until we have 4 fouls. lara has to play cautious and eventually fouls out.

Yes that was really really odd. Repeat your question for Somfai’s fifth. Why not have somebody on with fewer fouls. And same question after Somfai got her fourth. She stayed on the court even when Stanford had to foul. I don’t get it.

Excellent points. Keeps me coming back.

[TonyLima]

i don't know that it affected the outcome, but i am disappointed in the coaches:

we are behind at the end of regulation. we only have 2 fouls, so we have to foul quickly so they don't just run out the clock. instead of subbing offense for defense, coaches leave lara and alex in the game, and lara gets her 4th foul. coaches don't put in the subs with few fouls until we have 4 fouls. lara has to play cautious and eventually fouls out.

Yes that was really really odd. Repeat your question for Somfai’s fifth. Why not have somebody on with fewer fouls. And same question after Somfai got her fourth. She stayed on the court even when Stanford had to foul. I don’t get it.

Excellent points. Keeps me coming back.

[scorecard]

i don't know that it affected the outcome, but i am disappointed in the coaches:

we are behind at the end of regulation. we only have 2 fouls, so we have to foul quickly so they don't just run out the clock. instead of subbing offense for defense, coaches leave lara and alex in the game, and lara gets her 4th foul. coaches don't put in the subs with few fouls until we have 4 fouls. lara has to play cautious and eventually fouls out.

Some other baffling decisions occurred in OT, when we get the ball back down 4 with about 1:11 left. Instead of going quickly, we can't get organized and are standing around until we run 25 precious seconds off the clock before we run a sloppy play that doesn't score, and then instead of fouling, we let them run the entire clock down and they score a layup, leaving us down 6 with 20 seconds left, effectively ending the game.  Maybe we didn't have enough juice left anyway, but time management was terrible at the end.

[scorecard]

i don't know that it affected the outcome, but i am disappointed in the coaches:

we are behind at the end of regulation. we only have 2 fouls, so we have to foul quickly so they don't just run out the clock. instead of subbing offense for defense, coaches leave lara and alex in the game, and lara gets her 4th foul. coaches don't put in the subs with few fouls until we have 4 fouls. lara has to play cautious and eventually fouls out.

Some other baffling decisions occurred in OT, when we get the ball back down 4 with about 1:11 left. Instead of going quickly, we can't get organized and are standing around until we run 25 precious seconds off the clock before we run a sloppy play that doesn't score, and then instead of fouling, we let them run the entire clock down and they score a layup, leaving us down 6 with 20 seconds left, effectively ending the game.  Maybe we didn't have enough juice left anyway, but time management was terrible at the end.

[MV72018]

i don't know that it affected the outcome, but i am disappointed in the coaches:

we are behind at the end of regulation. we only have 2 fouls, so we have to foul quickly so they don't just run out the clock. instead of subbing offense for defense, coaches leave lara and alex in the game, and lara gets her 4th foul. coaches don't put in the subs with few fouls until we have 4 fouls. lara has to play cautious and eventually fouls out.

Yes that was really really odd. Repeat your question for Somfai’s fifth. Why not have somebody on with fewer fouls. And same question after Somfai got her fourth. She stayed on the court even when Stanford had to foul. I don’t get it.

The explanation: KP’s lack of experience and inability to adapt on the fly. Sad.

[MV72018]

i don't know that it affected the outcome, but i am disappointed in the coaches:

we are behind at the end of regulation. we only have 2 fouls, so we have to foul quickly so they don't just run out the clock. instead of subbing offense for defense, coaches leave lara and alex in the game, and lara gets her 4th foul. coaches don't put in the subs with few fouls until we have 4 fouls. lara has to play cautious and eventually fouls out.

Yes that was really really odd. Repeat your question for Somfai’s fifth. Why not have somebody on with fewer fouls. And same question after Somfai got her fourth. She stayed on the court even when Stanford had to foul. I don’t get it.

The explanation: KP’s lack of experience and inability to adapt on the fly. Sad.

[76lsjumb]

Offensive stagnancy is a killer

Actually, offensive stagnancy seems to be our game plan.  Maybe it's perception bias, but it seems to me that we have way more shot clock violations than any other team I've seen.  We quite often pass up decent shot opportunities in order to keep "running our offense," until we find ourselves with less than  3.0 on the shot clock and are forced to take much worse shots than the ones we passed up.  On a macro level, it seems that guards at Stanford come in willing to shoot as freshmen, but, as the years go by, they get more an more hesitant to do so.

Given the plethora of stats available, does anyone keep a stat reflecting Decent Shots Passed Up in Favor of Turnovers/Shot Clock Violations/Desperation Shots Taken per Possession?  If so, I'm confident that our team's % would be among the highest in the nation.

[76lsjumb]

Offensive stagnancy is a killer

Actually, offensive stagnancy seems to be our game plan.  Maybe it's perception bias, but it seems to me that we have way more shot clock violations than any other team I've seen.  We quite often pass up decent shot opportunities in order to keep "running our offense," until we find ourselves with less than  3.0 on the shot clock and are forced to take much worse shots than the ones we passed up.  On a macro level, it seems that guards at Stanford come in willing to shoot as freshmen, but, as the years go by, they get more an more hesitant to do so.

Given the plethora of stats available, does anyone keep a stat reflecting Decent Shots Passed Up in Favor of Turnovers/Shot Clock Violations/Desperation Shots Taken per Possession?  If so, I'm confident that our team's % would be among the highest in the nation.

[Hieronymus]

Good
- The team showed some grit to get this to overtime
- Somfai having a positive second half/OT after foul trouble in the first half
- Eschmeyer

Bad
- it’s still a loss and now there is a real risk of missing the tournament. Probably not quite there yet, but it’s a very thin margin now.
- Ogden not getting/taking enough shots again. And it wasn’t a zone limiting her this game.
- Agara was not effective again even before she got hurt.
- no Lepolo = no point guard depth. Clardy played all 45 minutes. That isn’t viable going forward, but there are no other options.
- Ijiwoye was a mess in this one so I get the limited playing time, but I don’t get not having her in to foul or try for a steal at the end of Q4 and OT.
- staff seemed…. confused. For example Somfai and Eschmeyer both had 4 fouls at the end of regulation when we needed to foul. Both were on the court and fortunately somebody else fouled. Alex then came out after that foul but Somfai stayed on. Neither should have been on the court at that point

As a more overall negative I am getting very skeptical about Swain long term.

[Hieronymus]

Good
- The team showed some grit to get this to overtime
- Somfai having a positive second half/OT after foul trouble in the first half
- Eschmeyer

Bad
- it’s still a loss and now there is a real risk of missing the tournament. Probably not quite there yet, but it’s a very thin margin now.
- Ogden not getting/taking enough shots again. And it wasn’t a zone limiting her this game.
- Agara was not effective again even before she got hurt.
- no Lepolo = no point guard depth. Clardy played all 45 minutes. That isn’t viable going forward, but there are no other options.
- Ijiwoye was a mess in this one so I get the limited playing time, but I don’t get not having her in to foul or try for a steal at the end of Q4 and OT.
- staff seemed…. confused. For example Somfai and Eschmeyer both had 4 fouls at the end of regulation when we needed to foul. Both were on the court and fortunately somebody else fouled. Alex then came out after that foul but Somfai stayed on. Neither should have been on the court at that point

As a more overall negative I am getting very skeptical about Swain long term.

[triangle2]

Do we know the nature of Agara's injury? Looked like a concussion on TV, but I didn't hear the announcers update it. Maybe I missed it.

[triangle2]

Do we know the nature of Agara's injury? Looked like a concussion on TV, but I didn't hear the announcers update it. Maybe I missed it.

[Hieronymus]

Do we know the nature of Agara's injury? Looked like a concussion on TV, but I didn't hear the announcers update it. Maybe I missed it.

I didn’t hear any update, but I was multitasking a bit.

[Hieronymus]

Do we know the nature of Agara's injury? Looked like a concussion on TV, but I didn't hear the announcers update it. Maybe I missed it.

I didn’t hear any update, but I was multitasking a bit.

[old spanish trail]

Good
- The team showed some grit to get this to overtime
- Somfai having a positive second half/OT after foul trouble in the first half
- Eschmeyer

Bad
- it’s still a loss and now there is a real risk of missing the tournament. Probably not quite there yet, but it’s a very thin margin now.
- Ogden not getting/taking enough shots again. And it wasn’t a zone limiting her this game.
- Agara was not effective again even before she got hurt.
- no Lepolo = no point guard depth. Clardy played all 45 minutes. That isn’t viable going forward, but there are no other options.
- Ijiwoye was a mess in this one so I get the limited playing time, but I don’t get not having her in to foul or try for a steal at the end of Q4 and OT.
- staff seemed…. confused. For example Somfai and Eschmeyer both had 4 fouls at the end of regulation when we needed to foul. Both were on the court and fortunately somebody else fouled. Alex then came out after that foul but Somfai stayed on. Neither should have been on the court at that point

As a more overall negative I am getting very skeptical about Swain long term.

Swain is going to be great. She doesn't take the inefficient shots or line drive layups like she did early on. She can drive, hit the 3, and defend. Next year she will be better in all skills. Once Clardy tired the frosh took over. There's much to like. Coaches need to demand that Ogden shoot after misses. Seems her confidence wanes, and she can hit the 10 footer time after time.

[old spanish trail]

Good
- The team showed some grit to get this to overtime
- Somfai having a positive second half/OT after foul trouble in the first half
- Eschmeyer

Bad
- it’s still a loss and now there is a real risk of missing the tournament. Probably not quite there yet, but it’s a very thin margin now.
- Ogden not getting/taking enough shots again. And it wasn’t a zone limiting her this game.
- Agara was not effective again even before she got hurt.
- no Lepolo = no point guard depth. Clardy played all 45 minutes. That isn’t viable going forward, but there are no other options.
- Ijiwoye was a mess in this one so I get the limited playing time, but I don’t get not having her in to foul or try for a steal at the end of Q4 and OT.
- staff seemed…. confused. For example Somfai and Eschmeyer both had 4 fouls at the end of regulation when we needed to foul. Both were on the court and fortunately somebody else fouled. Alex then came out after that foul but Somfai stayed on. Neither should have been on the court at that point

As a more overall negative I am getting very skeptical about Swain long term.

Swain is going to be great. She doesn't take the inefficient shots or line drive layups like she did early on. She can drive, hit the 3, and defend. Next year she will be better in all skills. Once Clardy tired the frosh took over. There's much to like. Coaches need to demand that Ogden shoot after misses. Seems her confidence wanes, and she can hit the 10 footer time after time.

[Card10Fan]

Layups were an issue again yet again, almost as bad as the Syracuse game. 

Where are Ogden, Clardy, Nunu (I know she left with an injury) late in games? At this point, just ride with the freshman the whole game. More upside and that junior class just doesn't consistently show up. They oftentimes don't play like upperclassman who have been in these big games/moments before. With the shot clock winding down, the last person I want to touch the ball is Ogden and Agara. The ball just sticks in their hands. 

This two game losing stretch likely becomes a 4 game losing stretch with Louisville and ND looming. We are going to play ourselves out of March Madness and more than likely miss the tourney again. Our resume is not that strong and the ACC is very weak. 

Coaching was suspect in this game. Paye just looks like a cheerleader on the sidelines and not a coach. We should have mixed up the defense some too with a few possession of zone or press. Cal got way too comfortable and we made no noticeable adjustments.

[Card10Fan]

Layups were an issue again yet again, almost as bad as the Syracuse game. 

Where are Ogden, Clardy, Nunu (I know she left with an injury) late in games? At this point, just ride with the freshman the whole game. More upside and that junior class just doesn't consistently show up. They oftentimes don't play like upperclassman who have been in these big games/moments before. With the shot clock winding down, the last person I want to touch the ball is Ogden and Agara. The ball just sticks in their hands. 

This two game losing stretch likely becomes a 4 game losing stretch with Louisville and ND looming. We are going to play ourselves out of March Madness and more than likely miss the tourney again. Our resume is not that strong and the ACC is very weak. 

Coaching was suspect in this game. Paye just looks like a cheerleader on the sidelines and not a coach. We should have mixed up the defense some too with a few possession of zone or press. Cal got way too comfortable and we made no noticeable adjustments.

[petersalas]

You said quite a bit of what I was thinking… there’s no sense of urgency, no killer instinct, and really not much improvement as the season has progressed. I really hope they turn it around and quickly. I’ll be cheering the team on and hope they win these next games. 

1769395971[/url]']
Layups were an issue again yet again, almost as bad as the Syracuse game. 

Where are Ogden, Clardy, Nunu (I know she left with an injury) late in games? At this point, just ride with the freshman the whole game. More upside and that junior class just doesn't consistently show up. They oftentimes don't play like upperclassman who have been in these big games/moments before. With the shot clock winding down, the last person I want to touch the ball is Ogden and Agara. The ball just sticks in their hands. 

This two game losing stretch likely becomes a 4 game losing stretch with Louisville and ND looming. We are going to play ourselves out of March Madness and more than likely miss the tourney again. Our resume is not that strong and the ACC is very weak. 

Coaching was suspect in this game. Paye just looks like a cheerleader on the sidelines and not a coach. We should have mixed up the defense some too with a few possession of zone or press. Cal got way too comfortable and we made no noticeable adjustments.

[petersalas]

You said quite a bit of what I was thinking… there’s no sense of urgency, no killer instinct, and really not much improvement as the season has progressed. I really hope they turn it around and quickly. I’ll be cheering the team on and hope they win these next games. 

1769395971[/url]']
Layups were an issue again yet again, almost as bad as the Syracuse game. 

Where are Ogden, Clardy, Nunu (I know she left with an injury) late in games? At this point, just ride with the freshman the whole game. More upside and that junior class just doesn't consistently show up. They oftentimes don't play like upperclassman who have been in these big games/moments before. With the shot clock winding down, the last person I want to touch the ball is Ogden and Agara. The ball just sticks in their hands. 

This two game losing stretch likely becomes a 4 game losing stretch with Louisville and ND looming. We are going to play ourselves out of March Madness and more than likely miss the tourney again. Our resume is not that strong and the ACC is very weak. 

Coaching was suspect in this game. Paye just looks like a cheerleader on the sidelines and not a coach. We should have mixed up the defense some too with a few possession of zone or press. Cal got way too comfortable and we made no noticeable adjustments.

[crackpot]

Do we know the nature of Agara's injury? Looked like a concussion on TV, but I didn't hear the announcers update it. Maybe I missed it.

I'm guessing concussion. : ( I was sitting just above the tunnel and they tended to her there for awhile (a spot with which she was familiar after trying to get her bloody nose to stop earlier in the game). Then they took her off to the locker room. It probably didn't help that the mausoleum, er, arena was so incredibly loud.

Poor Alex was getting beat up right under the hoop while Michael Price just stands there waiting for someone to knock the ball out so he can give it to Cal.

Next year, someone please remind me how much I hate that place (and its fans, and its guest services people...).

[crackpot]

Do we know the nature of Agara's injury? Looked like a concussion on TV, but I didn't hear the announcers update it. Maybe I missed it.

I'm guessing concussion. : ( I was sitting just above the tunnel and they tended to her there for awhile (a spot with which she was familiar after trying to get her bloody nose to stop earlier in the game). Then they took her off to the locker room. It probably didn't help that the mausoleum, er, arena was so incredibly loud.

Poor Alex was getting beat up right under the hoop while Michael Price just stands there waiting for someone to knock the ball out so he can give it to Cal.

Next year, someone please remind me how much I hate that place (and its fans, and its guest services people...).

[AndyCardinal03]

You said quite a bit of what I was thinking… there’s no sense of urgency, no killer instinct, and really not much improvement as the season has progressed. I really hope they turn it around and quickly. I’ll be cheering the team on and hope they win these next games. 

1769395971[/url]']
Layups were an issue again yet again, almost as bad as the Syracuse game. 

Where are Ogden, Clardy, Nunu (I know she left with an injury) late in games? At this point, just ride with the freshman the whole game. More upside and that junior class just doesn't consistently show up. They oftentimes don't play like upperclassman who have been in these big games/moments before. With the shot clock winding down, the last person I want to touch the ball is Ogden and Agara. The ball just sticks in their hands. 

This two game losing stretch likely becomes a 4 game losing stretch with Louisville and ND looming. We are going to play ourselves out of March Madness and more than likely miss the tourney again. Our resume is not that strong and the ACC is very weak. 

Coaching was suspect in this game. Paye just looks like a cheerleader on the sidelines and not a coach. We should have mixed up the defense some too with a few possession of zone or press. Cal got way too comfortable and we made no noticeable adjustments.

I find this line of thinking to be way too hard on this group of players. I saw a lot of urgency, a lot of effort and a lot of improvement from certain elements of this team yesterday. All of the freshman played better at the end of that game than they have typically played all season long. The whole game ran through Alex in the 4th Q and OT, at both ends of the floor, and she played incredibly well. I know we all saw that, but it's worth emphasizing - she was the best player in the game for the last 15 minutes. That's exciting for the future of this Stanford team. Lara was saddled with foul trouble for most of the first 3 quarters and then came through in a big way in the 4th quarter. Chloe played the whole game and clearly wore down as the game went on, but she was great in the first half, ran the offense, and continued to show why she's such a key part of this team. Even Swain played a little more under control and didn't produce some of the really big minus plays we've seen from her at times this year. I thought there was a lot of growth among those players. 

Conference road games are hard. Most teams of our caliber go on the road and lose these kind of games, especially when you're missing your starting PG and your best, most experienced player leaves with an injury and finishes with 6 points. If we get a little more consistency from Courtney and Nunu, or anything at all from a guard other than Clardy (Shay was such a negative in this game, which was surprising and frustrating), then we win the game. It's disappointing that didn't happen, but this team is not quite good enough to expect that, in my opinion. 

I have some quibbles about some of the lineups and substitutions from the coaching, particularly in the first 3 quarters and then with the needing-to-foul situation which others have mentioned, but there were 2 important things I think the coaches got right. 1. They had our best 5 on the court for the 4th Q and OT and they adapted to the game where some surprising things happened . 2. They drew up 2 good plays when we needed a shot (Courtney missed the first one, while Lara made the 3 to send it to OT).

So, all in all, I think this is just a level-test game for me. This is where this team is at right now, for better or worse, and there were some positives and negatives to take away from this. And I disagree with those who say they don't see improvement or urgency.

[AndyCardinal03]

You said quite a bit of what I was thinking… there’s no sense of urgency, no killer instinct, and really not much improvement as the season has progressed. I really hope they turn it around and quickly. I’ll be cheering the team on and hope they win these next games. 

1769395971[/url]']
Layups were an issue again yet again, almost as bad as the Syracuse game. 

Where are Ogden, Clardy, Nunu (I know she left with an injury) late in games? At this point, just ride with the freshman the whole game. More upside and that junior class just doesn't consistently show up. They oftentimes don't play like upperclassman who have been in these big games/moments before. With the shot clock winding down, the last person I want to touch the ball is Ogden and Agara. The ball just sticks in their hands. 

This two game losing stretch likely becomes a 4 game losing stretch with Louisville and ND looming. We are going to play ourselves out of March Madness and more than likely miss the tourney again. Our resume is not that strong and the ACC is very weak. 

Coaching was suspect in this game. Paye just looks like a cheerleader on the sidelines and not a coach. We should have mixed up the defense some too with a few possession of zone or press. Cal got way too comfortable and we made no noticeable adjustments.

I find this line of thinking to be way too hard on this group of players. I saw a lot of urgency, a lot of effort and a lot of improvement from certain elements of this team yesterday. All of the freshman played better at the end of that game than they have typically played all season long. The whole game ran through Alex in the 4th Q and OT, at both ends of the floor, and she played incredibly well. I know we all saw that, but it's worth emphasizing - she was the best player in the game for the last 15 minutes. That's exciting for the future of this Stanford team. Lara was saddled with foul trouble for most of the first 3 quarters and then came through in a big way in the 4th quarter. Chloe played the whole game and clearly wore down as the game went on, but she was great in the first half, ran the offense, and continued to show why she's such a key part of this team. Even Swain played a little more under control and didn't produce some of the really big minus plays we've seen from her at times this year. I thought there was a lot of growth among those players. 

Conference road games are hard. Most teams of our caliber go on the road and lose these kind of games, especially when you're missing your starting PG and your best, most experienced player leaves with an injury and finishes with 6 points. If we get a little more consistency from Courtney and Nunu, or anything at all from a guard other than Clardy (Shay was such a negative in this game, which was surprising and frustrating), then we win the game. It's disappointing that didn't happen, but this team is not quite good enough to expect that, in my opinion. 

I have some quibbles about some of the lineups and substitutions from the coaching, particularly in the first 3 quarters and then with the needing-to-foul situation which others have mentioned, but there were 2 important things I think the coaches got right. 1. They had our best 5 on the court for the 4th Q and OT and they adapted to the game where some surprising things happened . 2. They drew up 2 good plays when we needed a shot (Courtney missed the first one, while Lara made the 3 to send it to OT).

So, all in all, I think this is just a level-test game for me. This is where this team is at right now, for better or worse, and there were some positives and negatives to take away from this. And I disagree with those who say they don't see improvement or urgency.

[petersalas]

I’ve been a fan since 1997 and I’m hardly one to say anything negative.. my thought process came from the first quarter to the second quarter. They were up 10 and instead of putting their foot on their throat, what happened? They lost the 2nd quarter by 10. That’s what I mean about sense of urgency. Losses are frustrating for the team but can be disappointing for passionate fans. I just would like to see the killer instinct show up from tip to the end of game. Not one good quarter here, a few bad ones there.. 

1769438437[/url]']

1769396770[/url]']
You said quite a bit of what I was thinking… there’s no sense of urgency, no killer instinct, and really not much improvement as the season has progressed. I really hope they turn it around and quickly. I’ll be cheering the team on and hope they win these next games. 

1769395971[/url]']
Layups were an issue again yet again, almost as bad as the Syracuse game. 

Where are Ogden, Clardy, Nunu (I know she left with an injury) late in games? At this point, just ride with the freshman the whole game. More upside and that junior class just doesn't consistently show up. They oftentimes don't play like upperclassman who have been in these big games/moments before. With the shot clock winding down, the last person I want to touch the ball is Ogden and Agara. The ball just sticks in their hands. 

This two game losing stretch likely becomes a 4 game losing stretch with Louisville and ND looming. We are going to play ourselves out of March Madness and more than likely miss the tourney again. Our resume is not that strong and the ACC is very weak. 

Coaching was suspect in this game. Paye just looks like a cheerleader on the sidelines and not a coach. We should have mixed up the defense some too with a few possession of zone or press. Cal got way too comfortable and we made no noticeable adjustments.

I find this line of thinking to be way too hard on this group of players. I saw a lot of urgency, a lot of effort and a lot of improvement from certain elements of this team yesterday. All of the freshman played better at the end of that game than they have typically played all season long. The whole game ran through Alex in the 4th Q and OT, at both ends of the floor, and she played incredibly well. I know we all saw that, but it's worth emphasizing - she was the best player in the game for the last 15 minutes. That's exciting for the future of this Stanford team. Lara was saddled with foul trouble for most of the first 3 quarters and then came through in a big way in the 4th quarter. Chloe played the whole game and clearly wore down as the game went on, but she was great in the first half, ran the offense, and continued to show why she's such a key part of this team. Even Swain played a little more under control and didn't produce some of the really big minus plays we've seen from her at times this year. I thought there was a lot of growth among those players. 

Conference road games are hard. Most teams of our caliber go on the road and lose these kind of games, especially when you're missing your starting PG and your best, most experienced player leaves with an injury and finishes with 6 points. If we get a little more consistency from Courtney and Nunu, or anything at all from a guard other than Clardy (Shay was such a negative in this game, which was surprising and frustrating), then we win the game. It's disappointing that didn't happen, but this team is not quite good enough to expect that, in my opinion. 

I have some quibbles about some of the lineups and substitutions from the coaching, particularly in the first 3 quarters and then with the needing-to-foul situation which others have mentioned, but there were 2 important things I think the coaches got right. 1. They had our best 5 on the court for the 4th Q and OT and they adapted to the game where some surprising things happened . 2. They drew up 2 good plays when we needed a shot (Courtney missed the first one, while Lara made the 3 to send it to OT).

So, all in all, I think this is just a level-test game for me. This is where this team is at right now, for better or worse, and there were some positives and negatives to take away from this. And I disagree with those who say they don't see improvement or urgency.

[petersalas]

I’ve been a fan since 1997 and I’m hardly one to say anything negative.. my thought process came from the first quarter to the second quarter. They were up 10 and instead of putting their foot on their throat, what happened? They lost the 2nd quarter by 10. That’s what I mean about sense of urgency. Losses are frustrating for the team but can be disappointing for passionate fans. I just would like to see the killer instinct show up from tip to the end of game. Not one good quarter here, a few bad ones there.. 

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You said quite a bit of what I was thinking… there’s no sense of urgency, no killer instinct, and really not much improvement as the season has progressed. I really hope they turn it around and quickly. I’ll be cheering the team on and hope they win these next games. 

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Layups were an issue again yet again, almost as bad as the Syracuse game. 

Where are Ogden, Clardy, Nunu (I know she left with an injury) late in games? At this point, just ride with the freshman the whole game. More upside and that junior class just doesn't consistently show up. They oftentimes don't play like upperclassman who have been in these big games/moments before. With the shot clock winding down, the last person I want to touch the ball is Ogden and Agara. The ball just sticks in their hands. 

This two game losing stretch likely becomes a 4 game losing stretch with Louisville and ND looming. We are going to play ourselves out of March Madness and more than likely miss the tourney again. Our resume is not that strong and the ACC is very weak. 

Coaching was suspect in this game. Paye just looks like a cheerleader on the sidelines and not a coach. We should have mixed up the defense some too with a few possession of zone or press. Cal got way too comfortable and we made no noticeable adjustments.

I find this line of thinking to be way too hard on this group of players. I saw a lot of urgency, a lot of effort and a lot of improvement from certain elements of this team yesterday. All of the freshman played better at the end of that game than they have typically played all season long. The whole game ran through Alex in the 4th Q and OT, at both ends of the floor, and she played incredibly well. I know we all saw that, but it's worth emphasizing - she was the best player in the game for the last 15 minutes. That's exciting for the future of this Stanford team. Lara was saddled with foul trouble for most of the first 3 quarters and then came through in a big way in the 4th quarter. Chloe played the whole game and clearly wore down as the game went on, but she was great in the first half, ran the offense, and continued to show why she's such a key part of this team. Even Swain played a little more under control and didn't produce some of the really big minus plays we've seen from her at times this year. I thought there was a lot of growth among those players. 

Conference road games are hard. Most teams of our caliber go on the road and lose these kind of games, especially when you're missing your starting PG and your best, most experienced player leaves with an injury and finishes with 6 points. If we get a little more consistency from Courtney and Nunu, or anything at all from a guard other than Clardy (Shay was such a negative in this game, which was surprising and frustrating), then we win the game. It's disappointing that didn't happen, but this team is not quite good enough to expect that, in my opinion. 

I have some quibbles about some of the lineups and substitutions from the coaching, particularly in the first 3 quarters and then with the needing-to-foul situation which others have mentioned, but there were 2 important things I think the coaches got right. 1. They had our best 5 on the court for the 4th Q and OT and they adapted to the game where some surprising things happened . 2. They drew up 2 good plays when we needed a shot (Courtney missed the first one, while Lara made the 3 to send it to OT).

So, all in all, I think this is just a level-test game for me. This is where this team is at right now, for better or worse, and there were some positives and negatives to take away from this. And I disagree with those who say they don't see improvement or urgency.

[ljw63]

It has become clear that we have three exceptional freshmen. All need to do some things better but they all have very high ceilings. It has also become clear (to me at least) that our coaching is sub-par. We seem to have little ability to utilize the skills we have and I consider this more a coaching problem than a player problem. All of the players have some issues. Ogden and Agara are both good shooters but they need to recognize good shots from bad shots. Somfai has the same problem. She is very good but takes too many bad shots. Swain seems to be improving but when she is driving to the basket she needs to learn to pass at times rather than force a shot. Eschmeyer has the upside to be another Brink but she needs to gain strength and learn to position herself better. She certainly should be playing more minutes than she has been. After her game against Cal one might think she would play a lot more in future games but it would not surprise me to see her back to 10-12 minutes next game unless Agara misses the game from injury. For some reason the coaches seem to think she is not ready. Shay seems very inconsistent – sometimes excellent, sometimes terrible. Clardy is probably the most consistent overall player but is better when fresh. Lepolo is Lepolo. She is the best passer on the team but is neither a scorer or an assist machine. Her TOs are too high and assists not high enough for a good point guard. Stephenson does a few things well but scoring is not one of them. I wish we had Umeh healthy to see if she has the potential to really help
The refs have been so bad in recent games I wonder if the ACC resents Stanford for some reason. Last night there was one ball that was clearly knocked out by two Cal players going for the ball. The closest Stanford player was an arms length away, yet Cal was awarded the ball. The Cal center seemed to be in the lane for 5-6 seconds at times without being called and delivered more body shots than a professional boxer. Few were called. However, we still could have won this game with decent showings from Ogden, Agara, and Shay

[ljw63]

It has become clear that we have three exceptional freshmen. All need to do some things better but they all have very high ceilings. It has also become clear (to me at least) that our coaching is sub-par. We seem to have little ability to utilize the skills we have and I consider this more a coaching problem than a player problem. All of the players have some issues. Ogden and Agara are both good shooters but they need to recognize good shots from bad shots. Somfai has the same problem. She is very good but takes too many bad shots. Swain seems to be improving but when she is driving to the basket she needs to learn to pass at times rather than force a shot. Eschmeyer has the upside to be another Brink but she needs to gain strength and learn to position herself better. She certainly should be playing more minutes than she has been. After her game against Cal one might think she would play a lot more in future games but it would not surprise me to see her back to 10-12 minutes next game unless Agara misses the game from injury. For some reason the coaches seem to think she is not ready. Shay seems very inconsistent – sometimes excellent, sometimes terrible. Clardy is probably the most consistent overall player but is better when fresh. Lepolo is Lepolo. She is the best passer on the team but is neither a scorer or an assist machine. Her TOs are too high and assists not high enough for a good point guard. Stephenson does a few things well but scoring is not one of them. I wish we had Umeh healthy to see if she has the potential to really help
The refs have been so bad in recent games I wonder if the ACC resents Stanford for some reason. Last night there was one ball that was clearly knocked out by two Cal players going for the ball. The closest Stanford player was an arms length away, yet Cal was awarded the ball. The Cal center seemed to be in the lane for 5-6 seconds at times without being called and delivered more body shots than a professional boxer. Few were called. However, we still could have won this game with decent showings from Ogden, Agara, and Shay

[petersalas]

I’ve been a fan since 1997 and I’m hardly one to say anything negative.. my thought process came from the first quarter to the second quarter. They were up 10 and instead of putting their foot on their throat, what happened? They lost the 2nd quarter by 10. That’s what I mean about sense of urgency. Losses are frustrating for the team but can be disappointing for passionate fans. I just would like to see the killer instinct show up from tip to the end of game. Not one good quarter here, a few bad ones there.. 

Also, Alex was great. She has shown so much and I’ve been thinking, she should be getting more playing time. I think the freshmen are amazing and once Hailee gets more comfortable, she has the makings to be as good or even better than Candice Wiggins. 

I was referring to the team as a whole because their scoring has been down as has their play making. Usually teams get more comfortable as the season progresses, but it’s seems like the offense has been more stagnant and there’s been lots of missed layups.

I just want to see this team succeed and accomplish a lot more and know what they are capable of.

[petersalas]

I’ve been a fan since 1997 and I’m hardly one to say anything negative.. my thought process came from the first quarter to the second quarter. They were up 10 and instead of putting their foot on their throat, what happened? They lost the 2nd quarter by 10. That’s what I mean about sense of urgency. Losses are frustrating for the team but can be disappointing for passionate fans. I just would like to see the killer instinct show up from tip to the end of game. Not one good quarter here, a few bad ones there.. 

Also, Alex was great. She has shown so much and I’ve been thinking, she should be getting more playing time. I think the freshmen are amazing and once Hailee gets more comfortable, she has the makings to be as good or even better than Candice Wiggins. 

I was referring to the team as a whole because their scoring has been down as has their play making. Usually teams get more comfortable as the season progresses, but it’s seems like the offense has been more stagnant and there’s been lots of missed layups.

I just want to see this team succeed and accomplish a lot more and know what they are capable of.

[CompSci87]

Folks, if you aren't responding specifically to another post but to the thread in general, use the New Reply button at the bottom of the thread. Then your message won't be cluttered up with a big quote of previous post(s).

If you do want to quote previous posts, try not to type your comment in the middle of a quote from someone else or otherwise mess up the open and close quote tags. That makes it hard for people to find what you wrote versus what you're quoting.

[CompSci87]

Folks, if you aren't responding specifically to another post but to the thread in general, use the New Reply button at the bottom of the thread. Then your message won't be cluttered up with a big quote of previous post(s).

If you do want to quote previous posts, try not to type your comment in the middle of a quote from someone else or otherwise mess up the open and close quote tags. That makes it hard for people to find what you wrote versus what you're quoting.

[jonnyss]

It has become clear that we have three exceptional freshmen. All need to do some things better but they all have very high ceilings. It has also become clear (to me at least) that our coaching is sub-par. We seem to have little ability to utilize the skills we have and I consider this more a coaching problem than a player problem. All of the players have some issues. Ogden and Agara are both good shooters but they need to recognize good shots from bad shots. Somfai has the same problem. She is very good but takes too many bad shots. Swain seems to be improving but when she is driving to the basket she needs to learn to pass at times rather than force a shot. Eschmeyer has the upside to be another Brink but she needs to gain strength and learn to position herself better. She certainly should be playing more minutes than she has been. After her game against Cal one might think she would play a lot more in future games but it would not surprise me to see her back to 10-12 minutes next game unless Agara misses the game from injury. For some reason the coaches seem to think she is not ready. Shay seems very inconsistent – sometimes excellent, sometimes terrible. Clardy is probably the most consistent overall player but is better when fresh. Lepolo is Lepolo. She is the best passer on the team but is neither a scorer or an assist machine. Her TOs are too high and assists not high enough for a good point guard. Stephenson does a few things well but scoring is not one of them. I wish we had Umeh healthy to see if she has the potential to really help
The refs have been so bad in recent games I wonder if the ACC resents Stanford for some reason. Last night there was one ball that was clearly knocked out by two Cal players going for the ball. The closest Stanford player was an arms length away, yet Cal was awarded the ball. The Cal center seemed to be in the lane for 5-6 seconds at times without being called and delivered more body shots than a professional boxer. Few were called. However, we still could have won this game with decent showings from Ogden, Agara, and Shay

i, too, thought the cal center was repeatedly in the lane for 3 seconds before she even received the ball.

[jonnyss]

It has become clear that we have three exceptional freshmen. All need to do some things better but they all have very high ceilings. It has also become clear (to me at least) that our coaching is sub-par. We seem to have little ability to utilize the skills we have and I consider this more a coaching problem than a player problem. All of the players have some issues. Ogden and Agara are both good shooters but they need to recognize good shots from bad shots. Somfai has the same problem. She is very good but takes too many bad shots. Swain seems to be improving but when she is driving to the basket she needs to learn to pass at times rather than force a shot. Eschmeyer has the upside to be another Brink but she needs to gain strength and learn to position herself better. She certainly should be playing more minutes than she has been. After her game against Cal one might think she would play a lot more in future games but it would not surprise me to see her back to 10-12 minutes next game unless Agara misses the game from injury. For some reason the coaches seem to think she is not ready. Shay seems very inconsistent – sometimes excellent, sometimes terrible. Clardy is probably the most consistent overall player but is better when fresh. Lepolo is Lepolo. She is the best passer on the team but is neither a scorer or an assist machine. Her TOs are too high and assists not high enough for a good point guard. Stephenson does a few things well but scoring is not one of them. I wish we had Umeh healthy to see if she has the potential to really help
The refs have been so bad in recent games I wonder if the ACC resents Stanford for some reason. Last night there was one ball that was clearly knocked out by two Cal players going for the ball. The closest Stanford player was an arms length away, yet Cal was awarded the ball. The Cal center seemed to be in the lane for 5-6 seconds at times without being called and delivered more body shots than a professional boxer. Few were called. However, we still could have won this game with decent showings from Ogden, Agara, and Shay

i, too, thought the cal center was repeatedly in the lane for 3 seconds before she even received the ball.

[Spiny_Norman]

The numbers back up what we have seen. The offense is not working for this team. They don't get good shots, miss a lot of them (or turn the ball over), and the ones they make are often a result of individual effort vs. team play.

If we look only at conference stats, here is where Stanford ranks among ACC team.
FGs - 13th (38.5%)
3 pointers - 14th (29.4%)
TO margin - 16th (-2.88)
Assist/TO ratio - 15th (0.71)

There certainly are positives.
FTs - 3rd (80.2%)
Rebounding - 3rd
Offensive rebounding - 1st (perhaps one of the main reasons for this is that the team misses a lot of shots)
Rebounding margin - 3rd

[Spiny_Norman]

The numbers back up what we have seen. The offense is not working for this team. They don't get good shots, miss a lot of them (or turn the ball over), and the ones they make are often a result of individual effort vs. team play.

If we look only at conference stats, here is where Stanford ranks among ACC team.
FGs - 13th (38.5%)
3 pointers - 14th (29.4%)
TO margin - 16th (-2.88)
Assist/TO ratio - 15th (0.71)

There certainly are positives.
FTs - 3rd (80.2%)
Rebounding - 3rd
Offensive rebounding - 1st (perhaps one of the main reasons for this is that the team misses a lot of shots)
Rebounding margin - 3rd