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WBB: Baylor 81 Stanford 57 - Printable Version

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WBB: Baylor 81 Stanford 57 - 81alum - 12-02-2017

Preliminary:

We play Baylor away and will face Kalani Brown, a 6'7" center who is hitting 77% of her shots and is averaging 23 points and 10 rebounds.  Throw in Lauren Cox (who was missing when UCLA gave them their only defeat of the year) and a strong supporting cast and we will have our work cut out for us.  If we hit threes like the second half of the USF game and do it all game long, then we will have a chance.  The problem with doubling up on Brown or Cox (the way we did successfully to Griner 5 years ago) is that Baylor has a 40% three point shooter and a 70% three point shooter (12 of 17 so far.)  This looks very, very difficult.  Sadly, I think we are at the point where we really need some victories--the "learning by losing" mantra has outlived its usefulness.

Overview:

Focusing on the bright spots:  Shannon Coffee played well in extensive minutes, going 4/8 from three point range and sometimes even pushing enormous  Kalani Brown out of the paint.  Also Kianna Williams is beginning to blossom, scoring 13 with 2 assists and no turnovers.  The negative: we could only defend Baylor by wracking up oodles of fouls, our turnovers were bad, our rebounding was worse, we could get nothing going in the paint, and we shot 29%. 

Flow of the game:

The first quarter was truly dreadful.  Had we done better in that quarter we might have made a competitive game out of it.  But we wound up with only 8 points, all coming from Williams.  Two baskets in one quarter for the team.  Ugh.  The second quarter we actually outscored Baylor, and could have done better but for a couple of costly mistakes.  A foul inside negated a Romano three point basket and we immediately gave up a couple at the other end, or we would have cut the deficit to 6.  Instead we went into halftime down 13.

The second half was more of the same, except that Coffee began sinking treys.  The third quarter was not the disaster that the first quarter was, but we gave Baylor way too many offensive rebounds and an easy basket with five seconds that should have been stopped.  Johnson fouled out early in the 3rd quarter--she was by far our best rebounder and finished with a team leading 10 despite playing only half the game.  Their Kalani Brown kept wracking up points and had 28 by the end of the game.  Smith finally hit some treys but it was clear she was intimidated inside. By the end of the 3rd our shooting was 25%, theirs was 39%.  They had 14 offensive rebounds, we had 8.  And they led 58-40.  I felt our defense let up its intensity some in the fourth quarter and many of the 23 points we gave up were preventable--silly fast breaks off of sloppy passes, etc.  Still, overall, we held Baylor to significantly under its usually shooting percentages and points, so I guess our defense was not horrid.

Performances:

Baylor had 54 points in the paint, we had 18.  It felt like we were on the receiving end of one of those Nneka/Chiney teams with Baylor able to pass it inside to their bigs with impunity.  We also had 0 fast break points.  After a dreadful first quarter for turnovers we got them under control and were down only 14 to their 10 by the end of the game.  We had only 10 assists to Baylor's 19.

Shannon Coffee really deserves a shout-out.  Not only did she make 4/8 treys, she also put it on the floor once and drove up the right rail for a scoop in.  Her size and strength did help muscle Kalani Brown out of the paint.  Her rebounding is quite mediocre (3) but she had an assist, a steal, and a block to go with her 2 turnovers.  She showed she can give us useful minutes when matched up against another big.

Kiana Williams started very well but wound up 4/15.  She is showing why she was so highly rated.  She is not yet up to where she needs to be--she does not look to pass as much as she should, she sometimes takes hasty shots.  But she can hit the trey and has a great stop-and-pop midrange jumper which she is willing to take--although it was not going in today.  As she gains confidence in her shot and experience running the offense, I predict she will get more and more minutes at point.  She was given 34 minutes--Sniezek 6.

Dodson played hard and did give us 7 points and 7 rebounds with only 2 fouls.  Brown schooled her a couple of times by putting the ball down and going around her tight defense for a layup.   

It is not very insightful to single out any other players for their performances.  Johnson and Smith are discussed above.  Sniezek did not attempt a shot.  Romano was 1/4, Carrington was 1/5, Wilson was 1/6, Fingall was 0/4 and Jerome was 0/2.  Clearly our offense was not working.

Conclusion:

We have two weeks off for finals, then we have 5 home games in a row.  We need both the time and the home games, badly, to get into shape.  We have some easy games (UNLV, Western Illinois) but also some hard games (Tennessee, UCLA, possibly USC) in that stretch.  Hopefully we will see McPhee back.  Hopefully Williams will continue on her tear.  Hopefully being at home will help us with our confidence.  Hopefully all these tough games we have lost really will pay off by giving our players greater skill and inspired play.  Hope, hope, hope.

Re: WBB: Stanford @ Baylor Sunday 11am - 81alum - 12-03-2017

I'm hoping the WSoccer game will be over by 11am.  Also wondering if McPhee will be back for this game.  On Wednesday, she was in street clothes but was not wearing a boot.

Baylor has lost in Waco exactly once in the last three 1/2 seasons--Texas beat them by 7 points last year.

Re: WBB: Stanford @ Baylor Sunday 11am - 81alum - 12-03-2017

Announcers just confirmed that McPhee is still out.

Re: WBB: Stanford @ Baylor Sunday 11am - mbdude - 12-03-2017

Not a good start. what are we doing on offense - doesn't seem to be a plan

Re: WBB: Stanford @ Baylor Sunday 11am - crackpot - 12-03-2017

Yeah, Brit was noticeably limping a bit on Wednesday.

Re: WBB: Stanford @ Baylor Sunday 11am - JJJ - 12-03-2017

Just tuned in... gonna set the DVR and go about my Sunday now...

Re: WBB: Stanford @ Baylor Sunday 11am - TheFarm07 - 12-03-2017

Unfortunately, as expected, we are down big in the first half. Baylor scoring a lot was not unexpected. Kalani Brown is nearly unstoppable. I know Baylor didn't have Cox or Mulkey when playing the Bruins, but how did UCLA beat them?

Our problems are compounded by cold shooting and turnovers, which has been our main issue in the early part of the season. The turnovers irk me the most, since you know an elite team will be trying to force the ball out of your hands.

Re: WBB: Stanford @ Baylor Sunday 11am - 81alum - 12-03-2017

1st quarter is a wipe out, Baylor 25 Stanford 8, all 8 coming from Williams.  We are being grossly out rebounded, turning the ball over, and missing our shots.  Not much positive to report other than Williams' continued good shooting.

Re: WBB: Stanford @ Baylor Sunday 11am - TheFarm07 - 12-03-2017

I know it was an uphill battle, but at least I wanted us to play well. If Baylor's good is better than our good, then there's nothing you can do.

We are not playing well at all. We look like one of the helpless teams we use to roll over.

I only started closely watching our program at the end of the Wiggins era, so I was very spoiled with the Appel-Pedersen-Pohlen-Ogwumikes period where if UConn was 1, we were 1A most of the time. Hopefully, one day we will ascend to that position once again.

For now, I hope we calm down and play better basketball, and make this a respectable game. Learn from this experience and remember that this is the level to strive for. If we want to return to Columbus in March, this is the type of basketball you need to play. You can't always contain a Kalani Brown, but you can do the things under your control, which I don't think, we are doing.

Re: WBB: Stanford @ Baylor Sunday 11am - mbdude - 12-03-2017

Alanna picks up 3rd foul  after just subbing in! jeez

Re: WBB: Stanford @ Baylor Sunday 11am - M T - 12-03-2017

Johnson's 2nd foul with 2 minutes left in the first quarter -- the girl driving the lane takes her left hand off the ball, sweeps it out to push away Kaylee's arm.  The foul is called on Johnson.  I wish basketball refs would stop and think about what is a foul!


Re: WBB: Stanford @ Baylor Sunday 11am - crackpot - 12-03-2017

These refs....

Re: WBB: Stanford @ Baylor Sunday 11am - 76lsjumb - 12-03-2017

(12-03-2017, 12:33 PM)MT link Wrote:Johnson's 2nd foul with 2 minutes left in the first quarter -- the girl driving the lane takes her left hand off the ball, sweeps it out to push away Kaylee's arm.  The foul is called on Johnson.  I wish basketball refs would stop and think about what is a foul!

With all due respect, you’re watching what’s going on here and your concern is with the refs... 😲

Re: WBB: Stanford @ Baylor Sunday 11am - JJJ - 12-03-2017

Don't look now but a 9-0 run brings us to 33-24!!!

(7 TOs in 1Q, none in 2Q)

Re: WBB: Stanford @ Baylor Sunday 11am - TheFarm07 - 12-03-2017

We are down 26-39 going into the half. 18 points is better in the second half and we limited them to 14, and we had a 11-2 run, but we have Smith and Kaylee with 3 fouls each. Brown is still scoring at will and Wallace just hit a buzzer beater.

But I am encouraged by the better play in the second quarter. As the announcers were saying, the future is bright. Dodson and Kiana are acquitting them well in a tough environment.

Re: WBB: Stanford @ Baylor Sunday 11am - JJJ - 12-03-2017

They called an offensive foul on Dodson that nullified a trey by Romano that would've pulled us to within 6. Instead they scored 2 more baskets before the end of the quarter. Coulda woulda shoulda  :'(

Re: WBB: Stanford @ Baylor Sunday 11am - 81alum - 12-03-2017

Well, we actually won the second quarter, 18-14.  Cut down on turnovers and began to make a few treys.  Williams started off hot with her long range shooting, also had a beautiful behind the back layup through the trees, but has cooled off and is now 4/11 for a team leading 13 points.

The three fouls on Smith and Johnson have resulted in a lot of playtime for Shannon Coffee, who made a three pointer and has done her best on Brown.  But Brown has just been unstoppable, hitting jumpers from the high post, putting it on the floor and driving around Dodson, and dominating in the low post.  She has scorched us for 20 points on 9/10 shooting.

To me, it just doesn't seem as if our offense is getting anything going other than long range shots.  We have made 5 treys, 5 free throws, and 3 other baskets.  There is very little penetration against the Baylor defense.  Smith has also had two long range shots blocked--she cannot shoot over Cox who is ready for her.

So...somewhat better in the second quarter.  Let's hope we heat up from long range in the second half the way we did against USF. 

Most depressing stat?  4 of our starters were held scoreless in the first half.  Only Carrington hit a basket.




Re: WBB: Stanford @ Baylor Sunday 11am - 81alum - 12-03-2017

Well, the third quarter did not go very well.  Not the disaster that the first quarter was, but we gave Baylor way too many offensive rebounds and an easy basket with five seconds that should have been stopped.  We are shooting 25%, they are shooting 39%.  They have 14 offensive rebounds, we have 8.  And they have the lead 58-40.

Re: WBB: Stanford @ Baylor Sunday 11am - crackpot - 12-03-2017

(12-03-2017, 12:53 PM)81alum link Wrote:Most depressing stat?  4 of our starters were held scoreless in the first half.  Only Carrington hit a basket.

Maybe our starters shouldn't be our starters (at least for this game)? All season, and especially this and the USF game, I've been wondering who the heck is doing the scouting?

Re: WBB: Stanford @ Baylor Sunday 11am - TheFarm07 - 12-03-2017

I am looking forward to hearing from everyone about this game.

For me, we started off poorly, gained some momentum in the second quarter and showed life in the second half, but even when we got better, we still had too many lapses. So whenever we had a chance to get the game into the low double digits or even single digits, we couldn't do so.

They grabbed 16 more rebounds than we did, and we shot under 30%. For me, it's frustrating, that a decent amount of our missed shots came off open looks, maybe not wide open, but still makeable. As much as Tara has touted our shooting this season, it's mystifying that we can't knock down shots more consistently. Yes, we had 62 points in the second half against SF, but just because we had a great second half, don't forget our miserable first 20 minutes.

We also gave up 17 offensive rebounds. I don't know if it's our defensive scheme or something, but I'm tired of playing good defense, then letting a team get a fresh 30 to try again. Cox had 15 rebounds, but Brown had just 3. It was their guard Wallace with 10 and another player Cohen with 9, including 8 o-boards betwen the two of them. I can understand their bigs reaching up to get rebounds, but we have to do a better job of containing their other players from grabbing the rebound.