STANFORD 54, Arizona 53; we are the CHAMPIONS! - Printable Version
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RE: STANFORD 54, Arizona 53; we are the CHAMPIONS! - BillBradley - 04-04-2021
Congrats to the Card on the Natty! You got it done, and you can call yourselves National Champions. So happy for all of the ladies!
Random game thoughts:
- After seeing Tara coach close games for years, I've concluded that she plays the odds with clock management and prioritizes it well above scoring. We got the ball with around 36 seconds left, which means if we run it all the way down, and don't even try to cut, penetrate, or do anything aggressive, the worst case is they'll have 6 seconds to score (which is where it ended up). But if we do get a shot up at the shot clock buzzer and it hits the rim, it's pretty much game over at that point. I think what she doesn't want is the other scenarios that could happen before the shot clock expires 1) Turnover and runout 2) Charge 3) Missed shot etc, etc. I've come to appreciate how she coaches down the stretch.
- What I don't understand (OMG!) is how we were somehow unable to exploit our advantage on the block. But then in the 4th, we FINALLY decide to go to Cam and Haley down inside, run some high-low action, and we score like 4 times. And then we don't go back to it! Maddening!
- I think what happened to Ki is we ended up playing 3 teams in a row (Louisville, SC, Zona) where she had supreme defenders on her plus tough help defense and she didn't have an athletic advantage. To her credit though, she didn't jack up a lot of really bad shots in tonight's game. 2-6 isn't anything to brag about, but it's wayyy better than 4-17 or something like that. Her self-control very much helped us win the game.
- How about Alyssa Jerome? 4 boards and an assist in 6 minutes off the bench. Awesome contribution.
- Anna really worked her tail off. Holding Aari to 5-20 was probably the top reason we won. Well done Anna!
- Another nice performance from Ashten. She really finished the season strong.
- Haley deserved the MOP. She raised the level of her play when we needed it most. Her and-one down the stretch was sick. I'm excited to see her continue to develop (especially the 3-point shot).
- Cam had a nice game, minus a couple of silly fouls. And even though the box score shows 3 blocks (I could swear there were more!), there were countless plays where she got her hands on balls or altered shots, including the final play of the game. If she can put in some Hanna Jump-like offseason work on her body, she could be dominant with her complete package of skills and talent. She could be the next Candace Parker, and that lady could ball.
Congrats again to the team and the future is looking bright!
RE: STANFORD 54, Arizona 53; we are the CHAMPIONS! - magnus - 04-04-2021
(04-04-2021, 08:44 PM)BostonCard Wrote: I was surprised that they basically told McDonald to try to beat Stanford by herself. There were no screens, no penetration, no nothing. It was just dribble a bit and throw the ball up and hope you win.They tried to set a screen for the inbounds pass. Our D spoiled it.
You can't blame Barnes when she put together one of the best game plans against Stanford this season. But still, that was not an especially well designed play.
Barnes acknowledged after the game it was "Going to be Aari or nothing"
https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/31196006/2021-women-ncaa-tournament-stanford-cardinal-defense-slows-arizona-wildcats-aari-mcdonald
RE: STANFORD 54, Arizona 53; we are the CHAMPIONS! - BostonCard - 04-04-2021
Good stuff from the Ogwumikes
[tweet]https://twitter.com/sportsiren/status/1378910589788024834?s=20[/tweet]
This win was for all of them
BC
RE: STANFORD 54, Arizona 53; we are the CHAMPIONS! - 81alum - 04-04-2021
A rather bold reporter asked Tara if she was thinking about retirement and "going out on top." "Has that crossed your mind at all?"
"Not during the game, Steve, but maybe I'll think about it later. Right now I'm excited about what we accomplished....I'm happy, I'm enjoying it, I don't know if I can go through another COVID year...I hope everybody's wearing their masks."
RE: STANFORD 54, Arizona 53; we are the CHAMPIONS! - Griffins78 - 04-04-2021
TV kept emphasizing that Ki and Key and Arizona seemed to focus on stopping Kiana. They set traps for her, put full court pressure on her and collapsed on her when she came inside. I think it might have been their strategy to try to keep Kiana from going off for Stanford and stifling our momentum and also to frustrate her - just like we tried to do with Aari.
RE: STANFORD 54, Arizona 53; we are the CHAMPIONS! - Blue Hawk (Mizzou) Card - 04-04-2021
Maybe more later, but for now just one reaction regarding a great result based on grit, not elegance:
With about six minutes or so to go, Mini waited for the noise to abate, then shouted, "One free throw! Stanford has ONE FREE THROW."
Lobo heard it. We could see her look at her statistics monitor to check to see if he was right. He was.
Yet ESPN never mentioned the free throw discrepancy. [We just watched a recording of the game.] I consider it announcer malpractice to not mention the free throw discrepancy.
Aari herself had TWELVE free throws, right? She certainly deserved some of them. But she also barrels into folks quite a bit, during a tournament where a whole lot of block/charges were called charges. [She did get on charge called on her, early in the game.] Some of those resulted in free throws.
Stanford ended the game with TWO. [By the way, the second one produced the winning points. Officiating does matter. What if they wouldn't have even called that one?] That probably isn't a record, but it must be top (or maybe its "bottom") ten for all national championship games.
It's not like Stanford was bombing three pointers, so there was no reason for them to shoot free throws. With all of the driving and passing of the ball inside, it is truly remarkable that Stanford only shot two free throws. There were plenty of opportunities for others, both two shot fouls and "and ones," to be called.
Yes, it is true that Stanford did not have a good game on offense. But, c'mon. Two free throws?
And the great things is . . .
It does not matter. Stanford won with a great defensive stop.
Not a great game, but a great season by a great team. What a wonderful season in incredible circumstances.
RE: STANFORD 54, Arizona 53; we are the CHAMPIONS! - qwerty49 - 04-04-2021
Winning ugly — but winning!
18 FTs for them vs 2 for us. Wow.
Watching this was like my golf game — frustrating, with highlights and lowlights, but at the end, “it’s better to be lucky than good.”
Congrats to the team, and especially to Tara, who has deserved this for a long long time!
RE: STANFORD 54, Arizona 53; we are the CHAMPIONS! - PVTree - 04-04-2021
(04-04-2021, 08:49 PM)martyup Wrote: 54 points was our lowest score of the season. Lowest score and biggest win.
I'll bet Colorado's team is feeling good about themselves tonight.
I won't miss McDonald running into our players going 90 mph and then flopping like she was clubbed. She hurt two of our players tonight with that tactic, Anna and Lexie.
In the past few years, we've faced opponents that belong on a list of conference all-time greats (Plum, Ionescu, McDonald). Is there someone in this category next year?
There will be plenty of good players, but a great one?
RE: STANFORD 54, Arizona 53; we are the CHAMPIONS! - BillBradley - 04-04-2021
If you use Google as your search engine, open Chrome and search up "Stanford Women's Basketball". When the results come up, wait a few seconds. Luv it. Thx Google :>
RE: STANFORD 54, Arizona 53; we are the CHAMPIONS! - crackpot - 04-04-2021
I still can't believe that really happend.
RE: STANFORD 54, Arizona 53; we are the CHAMPIONS! - 76lsjumb - 04-04-2021
(04-04-2021, 08:44 PM)BostonCard Wrote:(04-04-2021, 06:19 PM)terry Wrote: I thought S. Carolina got a good look at the end. Arizona did not get such a good look. I thought McDonald's shot was in the "a hope and a prayer" category. Stanford's real stroke of luck was that McDonald ran the clock all the way down. If she had taken the shot a little earlier, an Arizona player would have had a chance at an easy put-back, because Stanford wasn't setting up to rebound the shot.
That's probably fair, and a good point about an offensive rebound being there for the taking. And while I get wanting to put the ball in the hands of your best player at the end of the game, I was surprised that they basically told McDonald to try to beat Stanford by herself. There were no screens, no penetration, no nothing. It was just dribble a bit and throw the ball up and hope you win.
You can't blame Barnes when she put together one of the best game plans against Stanford this season. But still, that was not an especially well designed play.
BC
Given the way we made total and complete hash of the end of every single quarter, not to mention the end of the prior game, I’m not sure we’re in the best position to criticize the play calling there. They at least got a shot off that hit the rim ... something that was repeatedly too much for us to accomplish.
RE: STANFORD 54, Arizona 53; we are the CHAMPIONS! - 81alum - 04-04-2021
A few observations now that this is soaking in:
The foul disparity was not just a difference in 11 points, it sent Jones and Brink to the bench for long stretches and thus contributed mightily to our poor offensive showing. Officiating has a big impact on this game.
I think Aari McDonald befitted from the Kelsey Plum factor in officiating. She got the benefit of the doubt on lots of calls. Our players did not.
Williams had 5 points--and as I recall they all came early in the game. I don't think she scored a point in the last 3 quarters of the game. That we could pull this game off with our point guard giving up 6 turnovers and going scoreless for most of the game is a tribute to the depth and balance of the team.
We scored fewer points in the 2nd quarter than in the 1st. Fewer in the 3rd than in the 2nd. Fewer in the 4th than in the 3rd.
Arizona won 3 out of 4 quarters. Thank goodness for our first quarter offense--we needed every point from that 8 point cushion.
I felt that the whole tournament that the game was being called much too physically. That lends itself well to these low scoring defensive slug fests. I would prefer "the beautiful game" that Tara describes.
But all these are minor compared with the all important fact that WE WON.
RE: STANFORD 54, Arizona 53; we are the CHAMPIONS! - BosCard - 04-04-2021
I think it is fitting that we won both of our final four games with defense. Not a steal but just really good position defense that forces the other team into tough shots. Beal having to shoot over Lexie. And McDonald having to heave a shot over three Stanford defenders.
RE: STANFORD 54, Arizona 53; we are the CHAMPIONS! - martyup - 04-04-2021
(04-04-2021, 09:51 PM)BillBradley Wrote: If you use Google as your search engine, open Chrome and search up "Stanford Women's Basketball". When the results come up, wait a few seconds. Luv it. Thx Google :>
Thx Bill. That was cool!
RE: STANFORD 54, Arizona 53; we are the CHAMPIONS! - Snorlax94 - 04-04-2021
(04-04-2021, 09:51 PM)BillBradley Wrote: If you use Google as your search engine, open Chrome and search up "Stanford Women's Basketball". When the results come up, wait a few seconds. Luv it. Thx Google :>
Thanks for the heads up on this! I have done it several times.
Ppl, if you haven’t done so already, go Google Stanford women’s basketball
RE: STANFORD 54, Arizona 53; we are the CHAMPIONS! - fullmetal - 04-05-2021
They say that, as an athlete, you need to practice so hard and so well that you're able to win on your worst day. For a time, Louisville, South Carolina, and Arizona were able to bring out or force bad stretches out of Stanford. But Stanford persevered! We (going to use the royal we here) said we would have to hold Aari to under 20 pts for a (likely) win. She had 22. We said we'd have to win the TO battle. We...did not (lost that one 21-6). Did we unleash the full firepower of a fully operational 3pt shot? We did not...because we shot 4-14 from long. Did Stanford get equal treatment from the officials? The numbers say no: 18 FTA for Zona, 2 for Stanford...and who was the more physically aggressive team? Stanford was called for +6 PFs. (Stanford also lost the steals category by 11, fwiw.)
But the rebounds were there (+18). The shooting was there (+13.8%). And the assists were there (+10). They held Arizona to 28.3% shooting and forced Aari into less than 25% FG% and only two assists. Stanford dared Arizona to beat the Cardinal with someone other than Aari, and no one was able to answer the bell (though Pellington came close on 5-12 FGA). Of course Arizona would call Aari's number on their very last possession for the game-winning shot, and Stanford fittingly stuck to the plan -- Anna, Lexie, and Cam were there to deny Aari the look, and there would be no Cinderella story for the Wildcats. Yet again, on a night when things almost went too badly, Stanford overcame the vagaries of fate to win the national championship and carve this season of adversity into the record books.
Flowery language aside, I agree with the observation that Arizona was getting a lot of favorable calls. They tried to gut check Lexie the same way they threw a body shot at Paige. Aari ran right into Anna's knee and crumpled her with, as I recall, no call there. There were fewer bodies hitting the floor than the Zona/UConn game iirc, but it was the same brand of physical defense. It was frustrating to see UA win all the categories mentioned above, hallmarks of better defense, wanting it more, and better ball-handling. But again...Stanford knew what they had to do, and they did enough. Can't say enough about all the Stanford positives because they've already been better said by others here. And really, the only positive that even matters is the final score (and the trophy that goes with it). I couldn't be happier for this team to represent Stanford on a national stage.
I think someone mentioned that Tara might have been employing a clock-killing strategy toward the end of the game with possessions. Dare I say...that sounds absolutely Shaw-like? If it's good enough for Tara...hahahahaha.
Work day is starting, possibly more later. Blue Hawk (Mizzou) Card, sorry I missed you there! I did have dinner with garvin and a friendly Cardboard lurker (you know who you are!) in a group of six Stanford alumni/fans; would have been great to have had you there. The natty streak is alive, Tara has another victorious campaign under her belt, and for at least a few moments, things are (were?) all right now on Easter Sunday this year.
RE: STANFORD 54, Arizona 53; we are the CHAMPIONS! - Goose - 04-05-2021
Some comments on a "physical" game vs "beautiful basketball". I am old enough to remember when the "rule" was that if two players had any contact whatsoever it was either a foul or a charge, period. If a player set a pick and you ran into said player, it was a foul, period. The real conundrum wasn't foul/no foul but rather block/charge. The problem became that as players became more athletic the game descended into a parade to the line. Today, with players able to shoot quickly from anywhere, any screen would result in a good shot because you literally had to clear the screening player totally. Going under was usually the only option. Of course, the moving screen was not allowed at all, which in today's game it often is. Further, one actually had to dribble. That can really slow down the game because you aren't a running back for the last 5 steps.
It is also true that even a "perfect" ref can't see everything. Lots of things went on off the ball that didn't routinely get called because no official saw them. However, enough of them did get called that players tended to foul out if they persisted in such activities. It has been said that basketball is inherently flawed because it relies on human beings to call the game. I believe that a more serious problem is that if you actually play the game "by the rules" it is a boring game. Very skilled offenses can't be defended within the rules. You still have the problem of block/charge, but the human refs can do a pretty good job of that. However, the fans hate the constant game stoppages and change of possessions, tons of free throws and star players unable to "do their thing" because they will foul out. What if the ref's had call McDonald every time she ran into some defender? As a result, we have the rules and we have what the refs actually call. The refs aren't enforcing the rules of basketball. They make them up as the game unfolds. What is a charge in Q1 isn't in Q4, and certainly is a "no call" in the tournament. We don't want half of both teams to foul out, so me make sure they don't. This will always be a "flawed" process because it is an ad lib in every game.
Fans still love to watch, and that is the test that the NCAA, NBA and most commentators care about, so it is what it is.
RE: STANFORD 54, Arizona 53; we are the CHAMPIONS! - Softball Fan - 04-05-2021
[tweet]https://twitter.com/i/status/1379046445584633858[/tweet]
Stanford superstar and NCAA tournament MVP Haley Jones joins us live after leading @StanfordWBB to the national title!
RE: STANFORD 54, Arizona 53; we are the CHAMPIONS! - RuralFan - 04-05-2021
I think the Refs were on the floor for one reason only. They were there to make sure the game was close. When Stanford jumped out to a advantage, the whistles started blowing. The 18 to 2 difference in free throw attempts is insane. Stanford was called for 17 personal fouls, Arizona 11.
The Refs were not there to make sure no one got hurt, and they certainly were not there to insure a fair contest. When Anna Wilson and Lexie Hull are lying on the floor unable to breathe, when some of the Arizona players looked like male body builders as they slammed into Stanford players, when every Arizona screen was a moving screen, and when Stanford was called over and over again for a foul, something was clearly wrong.
RE: STANFORD 54, Arizona 53; we are the CHAMPIONS! - Softball Fan - 04-05-2021
Having been an official for a sport (a very long time ago) I'm going to go against the grain on this topic. I find it very hard to believe refs have any intent other than to call the game the best they can. There were coaches and teams I really didn't like for one reason or another but it never crossed my mind to make a call based on that.
At this level the refs' careers are on the line. They are constantly reviewed and evaluated. With all the cameras nothing is going to be missed.
I understand the big differential in fouls called on teams might imply something nefarious is going on. I understand fouls apparently called in some situations and not other similar situations might be viewed as suspicious. I just don't believe the refs are intentionally making calls for reasons other than doing the best they can do.
Maybe someday some start-up company coming out of Stanford will develop a system of machine vision to call the game taking away the human (imperfect) factor.