WBB 2025-2026 season - Printable Version
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RE: WBB 2025-2026 season - BosCard - 11-13-2025
(11-13-2025, 10:52 PM)joemontes Wrote:(11-13-2025, 09:13 PM)BostonCard Wrote: UCLA won 78-60. Betts had 20 pts, 10 rebounds.UCLA better get back to the Final Four this season because it will literally be Sienna BETTS + who knows who else next season.
BC
I could easily see Betts the younger transferring to USC next year.
RE: WBB 2025-2026 season - M T - 11-14-2025
(11-13-2025, 10:52 PM)joemontes Wrote:(11-13-2025, 09:13 PM)BostonCard Wrote: UCLA won 78-60. Betts had 20 pts, 10 rebounds.UCLA better get back to the Final Four this season because it will literally be Sienna BETTS + who knows who else next season.
BC
But remember, UCLA WBB's current payroll will drop, presumably significantly, so, like any pro team, they'll go on a buying spree for players in the 2026-2027 season.
RE: WBB 2025-2026 season - Lorcan - 11-14-2025
Wild to see Virginia channeling their male counterparts in losing to UMBC. Kymora Johnson shot 1-16 from the floor in the loss - 0-9 from three.
UMBC takes their first ever win against a Power 4. Not quite a 16 seed over a 1, but a team picked to finish 8th in the America East takes down Virginia. Not a good look for the ACC.
RE: WBB 2025-2026 season - mbdude - 11-14-2025
Eschemeyer definitely needs more game time and touches. I had hoped she'd get equal time as Somfai. One sequence where she was posted up and calling for ball, Lepolo tried passing to her but Lepolo is too short, threw ball right into her own defenders hands.
RE: WBB 2025-2026 season - Card10Fan - 11-14-2025
(11-13-2025, 10:52 PM)joemontes Wrote:(11-13-2025, 09:13 PM)BostonCard Wrote: UCLA won 78-60. Betts had 20 pts, 10 rebounds.UCLA better get back to the Final Four this season because it will literally be Sienna BETTS + who knows who else next season.
BC
Yup THIS. Reminder UCLA lost 4 freshman in the offseason to the portal. I would argue USC has been winning the recruiting battles lately against UCLA in head to heads with them getting Jazzy Davidson and Saniyah Hall. Also Juju who wanted to stay in LA and picked USC. I can see a world where UCLA falls back into mediocrity in the near future.
RE: WBB 2025-2026 season - Maple Leaf - 11-14-2025
(11-14-2025, 10:50 AM)Card10Fan Wrote:(11-13-2025, 10:52 PM)joemontes Wrote:(11-13-2025, 09:13 PM)BostonCard Wrote: UCLA won 78-60. Betts had 20 pts, 10 rebounds.UCLA better get back to the Final Four this season because it will literally be Sienna BETTS + who knows who else next season.
BC
Yup THIS. Reminder UCLA lost 4 freshman in the offseason to the portal. I would argue USC has been winning the recruiting battles lately against UCLA in head to heads with them getting Jazzy Davidson and Saniyah Hall. Also Juju who wanted to stay in LA and picked USC. I can see a world where UCLA falls back into mediocrity in the near future.
You are so very correct sir. Also UCLA's financials (both athletic and non-athletic) are not in the best of shape which may very well limit dollars that can be expended for athletics both directly and indirectly (NIL). Getting NIL monies is hard when the AD and Administration have had a recent history of over spending.
RE: WBB 2025-2026 season - MV72018 - 11-14-2025
(11-14-2025, 10:43 AM)mbdude Wrote: Eschemeyer definitely needs more game time and touches. I had hoped she'd get equal time as Somfai. One sequence where she was posted up and calling for ball, Lepolo tried passing to her but Lepolo is too short, threw ball right into her own defenders hands.
I fail to see why many posters here regard Lepolo as a good or better-than-good point guard. Based on what I've seen, her ball-control and passing skills are so-so. Her on-ball D has never impressed me, nor has her ability to break the press against a fairly intense defense or to take it to the hoop and finish or dish. Granted, TL can make open 3s at a quite decent percentage level. But, IMO, that's not good enough by itself to make someone a good or very good point guard. Perhaps i am overlooking some significant value-adding on-court characteristics that she possesses.
RE: WBB 2025-2026 season - 2006alum - 11-14-2025
Well, our win over Washington State was ugly, but at least we didn't lose to a team that could only field 5 players for the entire second half... Duke couldn't put up 50 points against a West Virginia team that had 6 players ejected due to a scuffle where 5 improperly left the bench 30 seconds into the second half. Inexplicably, it went from nearly tied to West Virginia going up 13 in the 3Q and Duke couldn't claw back even with WVU's main post player playing the last 5 minutes with 4 fouls and literally no bench to substitute. Really, really embarrassing loss for Duke.
RE: WBB 2025-2026 season - TheFarm07 - 11-14-2025
(11-14-2025, 02:10 PM)MV72018 Wrote:(11-14-2025, 10:43 AM)mbdude Wrote: Eschemeyer definitely needs more game time and touches. I had hoped she'd get equal time as Somfai. One sequence where she was posted up and calling for ball, Lepolo tried passing to her but Lepolo is too short, threw ball right into her own defenders hands.
I fail to see why many posters here regard Lepolo as a good or better-than-good point guard. Based on what I've seen, her ball-control and passing skills are so-so. Her on-ball D has never impressed me, nor has her ability to break the press against a fairly intense defense or to take it to the hoop and finish or dish. Granted, TL can make open 3s at a quite decent percentage level. But, IMO, that's not good enough by itself to make someone a good or very good point guard. Perhaps i am overlooking some significant value-adding on-court characteristics that she possesses.
I agree; while Lepolo seems to marginally shoot more than Sniezek, I felt like Marta was the better passer. And any point guard playing at a top level D1 school should be able to make open 3s at a decent claim, so that is a low bar to consider as an "offensive threat," because Lepolo can't really take anyone off the bounce or step back for a jumper when her defender is clogging the lane.
RE: WBB 2025-2026 season - BillBradley - 11-14-2025
After 4 games, I'm disappointed in the slow pace of play, the un-crisp cuts, and the jogging. I was hoping with the fresh talent that we would kick it into gear, but it looks to be a year of another slow, plodding team. Starting to feel like Kate is too algorithmic. Pass, catch, square up, look, pass, catch, ball screen, dribble, stop, pass, catch, square up, look...bleccchhh. The ball just is just sticking. Play whatever offense you like, you can still cut hard, attack, sprint to spots. Our players are standing or jogging most of the time.
A lineup of Agara, Somfei, Ogden, Clardy, and Swain has enough athleticism to kick it into gear. In the games so far, I don't think I've seen more than a couple rebound, outlet, fill the lanes, early transition buckets. It just looks like the players aren't being coached to go go go, but instead to slow slow slow. I certainly don't see Kate waiving her arms to speed things up. Also, Lepolo played 38 minutes against WSU. I think a team keys off its point guard, and Talana does not play an uptempo brand of ball.
Such a stark contrast to how hard and fast Cam, Haley, Lexie, Lacey, Kiana, Fran, Anna played. They played under Tara, and they still ran Princeton sets, but the players cut harder, attacked and the ball moved more.
RE: WBB 2025-2026 season - mbdude - 11-14-2025
I so agree!
RE: WBB 2025-2026 season - 2006alum - 11-14-2025
(11-14-2025, 08:52 PM)BillBradley Wrote: After 4 games, I'm disappointed in the slow pace of play, the un-crisp cuts, and the jogging. I was hoping with the fresh talent that we would kick it into gear, but it looks to be a year of another slow, plodding team. Starting to feel like Kate is too algorithmic. Pass, catch, square up, look, pass, catch, ball screen, dribble, stop, pass, catch, square up, look...bleccchhh. The ball just is just sticking. Play whatever offense you like, you can still cut hard, attack, sprint to spots. Our players are standing or jogging most of the time.
A lineup of Agara, Somfei, Ogden, Clardy, and Swain has enough athleticism to kick it into gear. In the games so far, I don't think I've seen more than a couple rebound, outlet, fill the lanes, early transition buckets. It just looks like the players aren't being coached to go go go, but instead to slow slow slow. I certainly don't see Kate waiving her arms to speed things up. Also, Lepolo played 38 minutes against WSU. I think a team keys off its point guard, and Talana does not play an uptempo brand of ball.
Such a stark contrast to how hard and fast Cam, Haley, Lexie, Lacey, Kiana, Fran, Anna played. They played under Tara, and they still ran Princeton sets, but the players cut harder, attacked and the ball moved more.
Amen. It's like everyone is covered in molasses and the podcast is playing at x0.5 speed.
RE: WBB 2025-2026 season - jonnyss - 11-15-2025
(11-14-2025, 02:10 PM)MV72018 Wrote:(11-14-2025, 10:43 AM)mbdude Wrote: Eschemeyer definitely needs more game time and touches. I had hoped she'd get equal time as Somfai. One sequence where she was posted up and calling for ball, Lepolo tried passing to her but Lepolo is too short, threw ball right into her own defenders hands.
I fail to see why many posters here regard Lepolo as a good or better-than-good point guard. Based on what I've seen, her ball-control and passing skills are so-so. Her on-ball D has never impressed me, nor has her ability to break the press against a fairly intense defense or to take it to the hoop and finish or dish. Granted, TL can make open 3s at a quite decent percentage level. But, IMO, that's not good enough by itself to make someone a good or very good point guard. Perhaps i am overlooking some significant value-adding on-court characteristics that she possesses.
to my eye, she does throw beautiful length-of-the-court passes on the break.
RE: WBB 2025-2026 season - stopandpop - 11-15-2025
(11-13-2025, 11:11 PM)BosCard Wrote:(11-13-2025, 10:52 PM)joemontes Wrote:(11-13-2025, 09:13 PM)BostonCard Wrote: UCLA won 78-60. Betts had 20 pts, 10 rebounds.UCLA better get back to the Final Four this season because it will literally be Sienna BETTS + who knows who else next season.
BC
I could easily see Betts the younger transferring to USC next year.
Sienna's injury has not yet healed enough for her to play. She loves being a Bruin.
RE: WBB 2025-2026 season - stopandpop - 11-15-2025
I apologize for repeating some things others have said, but it's clear that Coach Paye's offense takes away Stanford's size, minimizes their superior talent and forces players to take more 3-pointers than they should. The 2/18 3-point attempts on Friday was less the fault of the players, but rather the difficult situations they were put in. Some of Stanford's offensive challenges could have been alleviated a bit if players were being coached to set strong screens like WSU did, but the screens are weak and don't open up driving lanes like they should.
Stevenson plays her heart out every game. She's a vocal leader on the court and makes few mistakes. But Stevenson's presence and total lack of production last season was a big factor in why Stanford fared so poorly in ACC play. Yes, Eschmeyer committed 3 turnovers, but in her limited 5 minutes in the first half, she made two power moves to the basket, once being fouled, yet finishing- something Stevenson is not capable of doing. I am sure that Eschmeyer did not play at all in the 2nd. half because Kate worried that Alex would make more mistakes, and yet Swain committed 4 turnovers and she played 28:57 minutes.
Watching this unfold almost looked like a version of a Lauren Betts 2.0 and I am afraid that Kate might be repeating the mistake Tara made with Betts. Kate has moved Eschmeyer to 3rd. string post and keeps Alex on a tight leash. I hate to make this prediction, but unless things begin to change (where Eschmeyer not only gets more playing time (playing through mistakes, but Kate instructing her players to pass the ball inside to her), we may see a second talented post player go the way of the portal this Spring. This would be especially troubling because at this point in her career, Alex Eschmeyer is more offensively developed than Lauren Betts ever was as a freshman. I also predict that if that came to be, we would see Eschmeyer flourishing with another team and becoming a star, just like Betts has done with UCLA.
There is still time to prevent this from happening, but I don't know if Kate or her staff would consider adjusting the offense, establish a post presence and play inside/out. I believe (doing that), would unleash Somfai and Nunu and Stanford would become formidable.
RE: WBB 2025-2026 season - PalmTree - 11-15-2025
(11-15-2025, 03:49 PM)stopandpop Wrote: I apologize for repeating some things others have said, but it's clear that Coach Paye's offense takes away Stanford's size, minimizes their superior talent and forces players to take more 3-pointers than they should. The 2/18 3-point attempts on Friday was less the fault of the players, but rather the difficult situations they were put in. Some of Stanford's offensive challenges could have been alleviated a bit if players were being coached to set strong screens like WSU did, but the screens are weak and don't open up driving lanes like they should.
Stevenson plays her heart out every game. She's a vocal leader on the court and makes few mistakes. But Stevenson's presence and total lack of production last season was a big factor in why Stanford fared so poorly in ACC play. Yes, Eschmeyer committed 3 turnovers, but in her limited 5 minutes in the first half, she made two power moves to the basket, once being fouled, yet finishing- something Stevenson is not capable of doing. I am sure that Eschmeyer did not play at all in the 2nd. half because Kate worried that Alex would make more mistakes, and yet Swain committed 4 turnovers and she played 28:57 minutes.
Watching this unfold almost looked like a version of a Lauren Betts 2.0 and I am afraid that Kate might be repeating the mistake Tara made with Betts. Kate has moved Eschmeyer to 3rd. string post and keeps Alex on a tight leash. I hate to make this prediction, but unless things begin to change (where Eschmeyer not only gets more playing time (playing through mistakes, but Kate instructing her players to pass the ball inside to her), we may see a second talented post player go the way of the portal this Spring. This would be especially troubling because at this point in her career, Alex Eschmeyer is more offensively developed than Lauren Betts ever was as a freshman. I also predict that if that came to be, we would see Eschmeyer flourishing with another team and becoming a star, just like Betts has done with UCLA.
There is still time to prevent this from happening, but I don't know if Kate or her staff would consider adjusting the offense, establish a post presence and play inside/out. I believe (doing that), would unleash Somfai and Nunu and Stanford would become formidable.
Yup - I'd like more, varied high-low sets as well. IIRC, we ran variations pretty effectively while KP was playing too, with Whting, Kaplan, Starbird, Hemmer, Mulitauopele, et al available in the frontcourt/wings back then. I think our current roster talent has the potential to make it work.
RE: WBB 2025-2026 season - TheFarm07 - 11-15-2025
(11-15-2025, 03:49 PM)stopandpop Wrote: I apologize for repeating some things others have said, but it's clear that Coach Paye's offense takes away Stanford's size, minimizes their superior talent and forces players to take more 3-pointers than they should. The 2/18 3-point attempts on Friday was less the fault of the players, but rather the difficult situations they were put in. Some of Stanford's offensive challenges could have been alleviated a bit if players were being coached to set strong screens like WSU did, but the screens are weak and don't open up driving lanes like they should.
Stevenson plays her heart out every game. She's a vocal leader on the court and makes few mistakes. But Stevenson's presence and total lack of production last season was a big factor in why Stanford fared so poorly in ACC play. Yes, Eschmeyer committed 3 turnovers, but in her limited 5 minutes in the first half, she made two power moves to the basket, once being fouled, yet finishing- something Stevenson is not capable of doing. I am sure that Eschmeyer did not play at all in the 2nd. half because Kate worried that Alex would make more mistakes, and yet Swain committed 4 turnovers and she played 28:57 minutes.
Watching this unfold almost looked like a version of a Lauren Betts 2.0 and I am afraid that Kate might be repeating the mistake Tara made with Betts. Kate has moved Eschmeyer to 3rd. string post and keeps Alex on a tight leash. I hate to make this prediction, but unless things begin to change (where Eschmeyer not only gets more playing time (playing through mistakes, but Kate instructing her players to pass the ball inside to her), we may see a second talented post player go the way of the portal this Spring. This would be especially troubling because at this point in her career, Alex Eschmeyer is more offensively developed than Lauren Betts ever was as a freshman. I also predict that if that came to be, we would see Eschmeyer flourishing with another team and becoming a star, just like Betts has done with UCLA.
There is still time to prevent this from happening, but I don't know if Kate or her staff would consider adjusting the offense, establish a post presence and play inside/out. I believe (doing that), would unleash Somfai and Nunu and Stanford would become formidable.
100% agree. We could face a mass exodus in March/April next year if things don't change. We are still in the second week of the season, so I won't hit the panic button quite yet but Paye must recognize that she's not fully utilizing the new talent we have. This freshmen class is the strongest we've had in a few years and a minor miracle given the coaching transition and conference switch plus the state of collegiate wbb right now. Let's hope it's not squandered away.
Gonzaga tomorrow will be our toughest test (so far) and let's see if a couple days in eastern WA under our belt will let us get comfortable earlier in the game.
However, if it's the same old same old, then it could be a troubling sign of things to come
RE: WBB 2025-2026 season - Spiny_Norman - 11-17-2025
Stanford is in the category of Others Receiving Votes in the AP poll. 29th overall.
RE: WBB 2025-2026 season - stopandpop - 11-18-2025
(11-13-2025, 11:11 PM)BosCard Wrote:(11-13-2025, 10:52 PM)joemontes Wrote:(11-13-2025, 09:13 PM)BostonCard Wrote: UCLA won 78-60. Betts had 20 pts, 10 rebounds.UCLA better get back to the Final Four this season because it will literally be Sienna BETTS + who knows who else next season.
BC
I could easily see Betts the younger transferring to USC next year.
Betts staying. She loves UCLA and Coach Cori.
With UC Davis and Lehigh coming to Maples this week, there remains a reasonable chance Kate will give Eschmeyer more meaningful minutes and scoring opportunities, and PERHAPS convince Kate that Alex needs to become a more integral part of the offense. After the 2 home games, the Cardinal are in Vegas, facing an always tough FGCU team, followed by what should be a relatively easy contest against Colorado State.
Then the grind begins - Tennessee, Cal, Washington and Oregon. I would love to see Somfai, Swain and Eschmeyer be on the court together. They represent the future of Stanford women's basketball, but I'm afraid that window will have closed after the Colorado State game.
RE: WBB 2025-2026 season - Spiny_Norman - 11-18-2025
(11-18-2025, 10:59 AM)stopandpop Wrote: followed by what should be a relatively easy contest against Colorado State.
Colorado State finished 22-10 last year, 3rd in the Mountain West. They are 4-0 this season including a win at Gonzaga. I think they are a tougher match up for Stanford than FGCU.