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WBB: Stanford 74 Arizona State 50 as McPhee breaks 1000 - Printable Version

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WBB: Stanford 74 Arizona State 50 as McPhee breaks 1000 - 81alum - 01-26-2018

Preliminary:

You know the season is not going well when there is considerably more excitement about recruiting than about the next critical game.  Nevertheless, we play a season-defining game tonight, a rematch with Arizona State.  ASU beat us last time at their home, despite losing all their premiere inside players to graduation.  Next week the trip to Oregon and Oregon State will be brutal, and so this--and maybe Cal--is one of a dwindling number of plausible chances in the regular season to earn a win against a very good team.  My write-up for the last game is here:

http://thecardboard.org/board/index.php?topic=18502.0

Since they beat us things have not gone well for ASU.  They dropped both their games on their Oregon trip--although they were competitive with OSU down to the last basket.  Then, shockingly, they lost to Utah at home after leading by 11 in the fourth.  Or maybe it is not a shock--Utah is turning out to be better than expected this year.  Then ASU got its act together to defeat Colorado at home. 

In conference play Kiana Ibis has become more dominant, not less, at 16.5 ppg, and Ryan Robbi Robbi Ryan has emerged with 10.5 ppg.  But the real key to beating ASU is figuring out how to run a half court offense against their solid defense--and in particular how to beat them inside.  We lost the last game because a shorter less talented team out rebounded us by a large margin.  In any case, we do not seem to be doing a very good job with our inside game lately, and ASU has multiple blueprints to choose from in how to stop us.  While we beat ASU twice last year, we lost to them twice the previous season, including that ignominious game when we scored 31--still constituting the most painful Stanford WBB game I have ever watched.

Overview:

It seems the season is far from over.  We led wire to wire in dominating fashion, shooting 49% overall and 33% from three point range, equaling ASU's free throw point total, leading in rebounds, winning the turnover margin, and inflicting 11 steals.  The offense looked crisp most of the game, with Sniezek getting the ball inside to McPhee who finished around the basket.  You would have thought McPhee was a center.  And the defense was suffocating.  Ibis was hounded and doubled, largely by Smith who picked up three fouls doing it, and was reduced to 2 points for the game.  The night was further gladdened by the announcement that McPhee had surpassed 1000 points--becoming the 39th Stanford player to do that.

Flow of the game:

The tenor of the game was set by the opening tip off.  Alanna tipped the ball forward to a streaking McPhee who laid it in for an unmolested basket.  Not once this year have our opening tips been forward rather than back, but the coaches saw something in the way ASU was tipping off and installed this play.  We opened up a 6-0 lead on Sniezek and Smith layups and continued to get to the rim, but around the 5 minute mark, after a time out, ASU settled down and closed the lanes, which helped them cut our lead to 11-10.  But unlike other recent games we had some timely three point shooting--Williams hit one and Carrington entered the game and hit two in succession, and we finished the quarter strong to lead 17-12.  Also of note, ASU was turning the ball over much more than we were--6 to our 2 in the first quarter.

The beginning of the second quarter was largely where the game was won, with an 8-0 run leading to a 25-12 lead that stayed intact the rest of the game.  ASU was playing man--it probably offends CTT to have to play zone--and our offense seems to have been quite effective against one of the best man defenses we shall play against.  Five different players scored in the first five minutes of the quarter, including Marta, who was off to a career high in points.    We also finished out the half expertly, draining the clock and converting a Carrington basket with 2 seconds left to give us a 24 point quarter and a 41-26 lead.  Carrington with 12 and Marta with 9 led the way at halftime.

Our scoring in the third quarter began with a Marta steal and a fast break layup.  A little later she assisted Williams to a fast break layup too.  Williams sank another three and McPhee actually made her free throws, and that was enough to keep ASU from digging out of their hole.  During the quarter ASU briefly tried out a zone and I thought it was modestly effective, but they did not stick with it.  This was our worst offensive quarter and ASU actually outscored us 14-13, although once again we closed it out with a layup as the clock ticked down.  Our end-of-quarter offense certainly looked better than it had all year.  Smith and Johnson kept picking up fouls, however, and were cycled to the bench for substantial stretches. 

We dominated the fourth quarter 20-10, and that includes time with the third string.  Marta repeatedly drove into the paint and looked for McPhee to pass to, and McPhee made several acrobatic shots around and under the basket through taller defenders.  And when ASU defended McPhee, Sniezek took it to the rim herself.  After an orgy of such shots, our lead had ballooned to 67-42, and while ASU continue to fight and scrap, they were clearly broken and their production dwindled away.  CTT complained a bit too much to the refs for a call, and she got a T called on her.  I noticed she calmed down the test of the way.

Performances:

McPhee is back!  She was an astounding 9/11 today, many of which were quite difficult or even improbable shots.  She also made 5/6 free throws, which should be enough to warm the hearts of Stanford fans.  Add 2 assists, 1 phenomenal crowd pleasing block, 3 rebounds, a steal and 0 turnovers (that's ZERO) and you have someone who could be the heroine of the day.

But I pronounce Sniezek the heroine of the game.  She played 39 minutes and probably was on the floor a dozen times.  Her drives to the basket are sometimes reckless, her passes into the paint are sometime overly ambitious, but today she scored on a trey, a couple floaters from the paint, and several layups and became a legitimate offensive threat, breaking her career high with 13 points.  She also dished 6 assists to only 3 turnovers despite handling the ball for nearly the entire game and in the face of a hounding defense.  Her defense was also energetic and she generated 2 steals.  But her scrappiness and hustle plays really set the tone and leadership for the team.

Carrington also had 13 points, on very good 5/7 shooting.  She had 8 rebounds, which is amazing for a guard and a player who saw only 19 minutes.  Pound for pound she is our best rebounder.

Smith had 8 points and 9 rebounds, but 3 fouls kept her to 29 minutes. 

Williams had 8 points, an assist and a steal in 28 minutes of play.

Johnson fouled out with just 25 minutes, 5 points and 5 rebounds.

Fingall played 12 minutes and missed two shots, at least one from the elbow against the zone.  No one else played double digit minutes.

As a team, we shot a terrific 49% while holding them to 37%.  We had 9 turnovers for the entire game--a gargantuan improvement over nearly every other game this year.  We outrebounded ASU in both categories--a decided reversal from our first game.  And while our free throw shooting was not good, at least McPhee's was substantially improved.  We scored 42 points in the paint to their 20.

Conclusion:

It is still possible to have a terrific season, if we can keep playing this well against all future opponents.  We have to hope that this is an indication that our team has fixed the most substantial of its earlier problems, and not a one game aberration.  Provided we take care of business on Sunday, the road trip to the two Oregon schools the following weak will be very meaningful.



Re: WBB: Stanford vs. Arizona State 7pm - 81alum - 01-26-2018

By the way, the players are quite obviously not pleased with how the season is going.  Brewer wrote a Daily piece  that gives a little insight.  They are doing all they can to stick together and turn their disappointments into something positive.  Keep in mind this is from a sophomore.  I don't think it would be a good idea to further comment on the piece, but it does provide a little insight.

https://www.stanforddaily.com/2018/01/25/brewer-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/

Re: WBB: Stanford vs. Arizona State 7pm - BobK - 01-26-2018

I’m excited. I’m so excited that it’s Robbi Ryan.  Shows you are excited too 81 lol. See you tonight



Re: WBB: Stanford vs. Arizona State 7pm - M T - 01-26-2018

GoStanford.com has a row of upcoming & recent Stanford sporting events across the top of the page.  As of Friday morning, 7 of those events are upcoming, but that's not enough to include the WBB game at home tonight.  And, of course, no events for Saturday or Sunday.

Just too much going on at Stanford....  (Yeah, I think they should show all events through the weekend rather than making you chase them down.)

Re: WBB: Stanford vs. Arizona State 7pm - BobK - 01-26-2018

Just to the right is the composite schedule.  For the month and next month etc

Re: WBB: Stanford vs. Arizona State 7pm - aceed - 01-26-2018

So true 81alum: "You know the season is not going well when there is considerably more excitement about recruiting than about the next critical game." I was thinking the exact same thing.

Re: WBB: Stanford vs. Arizona State 7pm - crackpot - 01-26-2018

...or the only ads they have for the game is something like, "Coming off of two strong home wins!"

Re: WBB: Stanford vs. Arizona State 7pm - JJJ - 01-26-2018

Here we go. The Band didn't need to keep singing "Swing Town" for long! :)

Re: WBB: Stanford vs. Arizona State 7pm - CompSci87 - 01-26-2018

Up 30-20 mid 2nd quarter. Looking good!

Re: WBB: Stanford vs. Arizona State 7pm - BostonCard - 01-26-2018

DEfense came to play.  63-40 with 7 minutes left in the game.  ASU yet to score in the 4th quarter.

BC

Re: WBB: Stanford vs. Arizona State 7pm - BostonCard - 01-26-2018

And also, McPhee joins the 1000 point club...

https://twitter.com/StanfordWBB/status/957109882401927168

BC

Re: WBB: Stanford vs. Arizona State 7pm - BostonCard - 01-26-2018

Final 74-50.  Not much to complain about.  Held them scoreless for over 5 minutes in the fourth, 37% shooting and 1/12 from 3 for the game.  In contrast, we shot almost 50% (29/59, 49%).  To nitpick, free throw shooting was again subpar, but on a day like tonight, it didn't matter.  11 steals, 4 blocks, and we won the turnover battle 9-14.

As I said, not much to complain about against the #25 team in the country.

BC

Re: WBB: Stanford 74 Arizona State 50 as McPhee breaks 1000 - CompSci87 - 01-26-2018

Also, it was fun watching CTT getting T'ed up, and later going ballistic on her players while the scoreboard was showing a closeup of her face.  ::)

I talked with Cardboarders both before and after the game -- BobK, 81Alum and Chimera at the chalk talk, and then MT afterward. (So, to the first three, yes I did remember what MT looks like, and could have introduced you! Sorry we didn't all connect at the same time.)

BTW, I'm easy to recognize. Just use standard milk carton age projection technology on my avatar photo, and roll it forward about 56 years.


Re: WBB: Stanford 74 Arizona State 50 as McPhee breaks 1000 - BobK - 01-26-2018

Outstanding game.  brobdingnagian question is why CTT didn’t play that much zone. But thank you. 

As 81 said the lack of turnovers and having 11 steals were pleasant surprises

And shooting 49%. 

And out rebounding them

Ekmark of ASU was a potential recruit and of course went to UConn.  Now in her 4th out of HS she graduated last year and is now in Law School

Re: WBB: Stanford 74 Arizona State 50 as McPhee breaks 1000 - 81alum - 01-26-2018

OK, the write-up is now done at the top.

Re: WBB: Stanford 74 Arizona State 50 as McPhee breaks 1000 - chimera - 01-26-2018

Much better game.  I agree with those who said Marta for player of the game.  Brit was wonderful late, and great passing from Marta was what got her going.  I think ASU is not a great team by any means.  They have very little inside game, and their guards are very good, but not otherworldly good in the way they need without much inside.  I also think ASU's style of defense is a good match-up for us, which you may say is an odd opinion given our turnover troubles.  I just think the defensive aggression can force us to be more aggressive on offense, and if we do play well and aggressively, we can get a lot of good shots inside on drives and drive/pass-for-scores.  Our defense on them was very good.  They are not a super offensive team, and they play slowly in the half-court offense, running down the shot clock a lot, so when we got a nice lead, it was not hard to run the game out.  Very nice game from Carrington.

So can we keep this aggressiveness going in future games consistently.  Consistency is what we have lacked. 

Re: WBB: Stanford 74 Arizona State 50 as McPhee breaks 1000 - 81alum - 01-27-2018

Some quotes from the press conference.  Tara came with Marta and Britt.  I haven't heard Marta at a presser before.  She seemed surprisingly soft spoken, but showed a wonderful ear to ear smile.

Tara:  "I thought our team came out and was aggressive, focused, we rebounded well, we took care of the ball, Marta had a really outstanding game, she controlled the flow of the game, DiJonai helped us a lot, Britt obviously scoring, and I think we are capable of playing even better."

Was this the best game this season?  "Maybe full game, especially against a very good team."

"I thought our defense was outstanding." 

Question for Britt--what got you going?  "I would say Marta.  She found me for open looks so it made it easy to make baskets." 

How does it feel to score 1000 points?  "It feels good, I didn't know that I was even close.  It's really fun because it's because of my teammates like Marta who give me the ball that I was able to do it." 

Question for Marta--what was it like watching Britt score all those points starting late in the 3rd and continuing into the 4th?  "All game she played well.  She had some great cuts and I found her."

How much did the prior ASU victory get you eager for revenge?  Marta: "We were hungry, very hungry.  That was a tough loss down there but we had more time to prepare this week and we did a great job setting the tone, being aggressive.  We were very hungry."

Tara:  "It was great for Britt to get her 1000 points when her Mom and Dad were here.  She is one who is always in the gym putting in extra shots.  Honestly I thought she passed up some shots--I told her every time you get it look at the basket.  She is a great scorer and plays hard, played both ends for us, going 9/11 is great.  Knocked the scoreboard out!"

Question for Marta:  How does it affect your game when you score in double digits and are close to a double-double?  "I just try to come out with a lot of energy, scoring is scoring, but being aggressive you get more looks going to the basket and I finished most of those."

NOTE:  I was particularly intrigued by what Marta said about the loss at ASU, noting the somewhat innocent remark that we had more time to prepare this week. 

This has been an issue for Tara over the years.  Her scouting report defenses are quite often superior on the first day of a weekend than on the second, since it takes quite a lot of preparation to get the players to each learn the tendencies of the player they will be guarding and then practice against it.  Also note that we beat UCLA on the first game that weekend at Maples, but lost on the second game of the set in LA.  And now the same pattern with ASU. 

Note that when we go north we will be playing OSU on Friday and Oregon on Sunday, which might make us suspect that our defense will be more ready for OSU than for Oregon.

Re: WBB: Stanford 74 Arizona State 50 as McPhee breaks 1000 - 2006alum - 01-27-2018

Weekend work hasn't permitted me to have time to sit down and watch so far, but can't wait to given how it sounds like we played! In the meantime...

(01-27-2018, 08:14 AM)81alum link Wrote:NOTE:  I was particularly intrigued by what Marta said about the loss at ASU, noting the somewhat innocent remark that we had more time to prepare this week. 

This has been an issue for Tara over the years.  Her scouting report defenses are quite often superior on the first day of a weekend than on the second, since it takes quite a lot of preparation to get the players to each learn the tendencies of the player they will be guarding and then practice against it.  Also note that we beat UCLA on the first game that weekend at Maples, but lost on the second game of the set in LA.  And now the same pattern with ASU. 

Note that when we go north we will be playing OSU on Friday and Oregon on Sunday, which might make us suspect that our defense will be more ready for OSU than for Oregon.

So true. Someday when I have free time I want to look at our stats for wins and losses by day of the week in the post-Chiney era. I feel like from the Wiggins through Ogwumike era, we were much less dependent on having a solid defense, and I actually think in some respects our team (as opposed to individual player) defense is sounder now even than it was during our glory days. Even our horrible losses to ASU and UCLA two years ago came in games where those teams were struggling to eke out 50 points, so it wasn't like we were collapsing on defense.

Without as much go-to offensive scoring power and natural ability, our tactical defense has mattered much more in the past few seasons, and I think you're absolutely right that we seem to be better prepared on Fridays than Sundays. I also wonder whether we improve quarter to quarter more for the second game than for the first; I often feel like Tara makes great half-time adjustments, and I imagine they are more important for the second game with less time to scout and prepare beforehand. When I saw our Sunday home win over Washington I felt like it was a tale of two halves - they kept things pretty tight the first half, and in the second half we broke open their defense and starting scoring at will. By comparison, we came out ready to romp against the better WSU team earlier in the weekend and they made the halftime adjustments to make it more competitive.

All that said, I think beating Oregon will be a tall order whenever we play them, whereas as I see OSU as a likelier win. On this basis, I'd rather have them on Friday and boost our chances of going 1 for 2. Given our season trajectory to date, I just don't see us getting a win at Oregon barring a remarkably good shooting night.



Re: WBB: Stanford 74 Arizona State 50 as McPhee breaks 1000 - M T - 01-27-2018

I watched the game at Maples and now have gone through the replay.  Obviously a really good game for Stanford at both ends of the court.  The single most impressive thing to me was that it was rare for the opponent to touch our passes first.  Yeah, we made a couple of passes when the receiver went somewhere and the passer threw it to another place.  There were a couple of passes that got deflected & should've been turnovers, but a Stanford player was able to get to it.  I remember one loop pass to a sandwiched player.  But I don't recall any ankle passes and far fewer tipped passes that we get too late to be effective.  And,  since Marta has gotten much of the heat for that in the past, she deserves the credit for cleaning this up.

And as everyone saw, Marta was enough of an offensive threat that she became a problem for ASU.  If Marta uses this game as a model for how she can best contribute, Stanford will be a much better team.  I still think she could shoot a bit more often.  And Marta used her own threat to make some great feeds.  Someone could make a highlight reel for her from this game alone.

Tara said "Honestly I thought [Britt] passed up some shots."  I agree.  In person, she looked quite tentative to midway through the 3rd quarter, especially on potential 3-ptrs, and chances to drive toward the basket.  But in replay, I could see why.  She would have been challenged on her shot or driven into a crowd.  But something changed and she started scoring quickly late in the game. (15 pts in the 4th)

CTT intentionally asked for that technical at 60-40.  I don't think she said any forbidden words.  With the ball in the hands of Stanford to inbounds, she hesitated and then walked straight into the court to the ref, Kyle Bacon.  I note that he pointed down at her feet, so I think he called her for being on the court (IIRC, he is supposed to give a warning first -- I don't recall seeing one.  And, honestly, CTT did a better job of staying on the sidelines than I remember her doing in the past.  And, she was a lot less blatant about this than several other coaches this year.)  After being give the technical, she was smiling & lifted her arms twice as if to encourage the crowd to get loud (presumably booing her).  I think this was an attempt to give her players something to focus on.

As you probably realized, one of the refs was Kyle Bacon, whom I called out after the UW game.  The really oddball & incorrect call by him in this game was the tie ball that should have been a travel (7:37 3rd - shooter goes up with the ball & is blocked by an arm(elbow) & comes back down with sole possession of the ball.  Rule 6, Section 4, Art. 2. A held ball occurs when an opponent places her hand(s):  ... b. On the ball to prevent an airborne player from ...  attempting a try and both players return to the playing court with both hands on the ball or the airborne player returns to the playing court never losing control of the ball.)  There was apparently an inadvertent whistle after the ball had been put in play after a score & just before a charge or block involving Marta, resulting in a media timeout.  I saw the ref explaining to the other refs & then to the announcers.  There was the disputed out-of-bounds call when the ASU player was on the ball out of bounds & it was called out on Brittany.  All-in-all, this was a better called game, but then it was a victory.

It was unfortunate that the camera focused on CTT during the timeout due to the problems with the score display (63-40).  I guess she was still trying to find ways to shake things up and she made some really ugly faces during that interchange.  I was at the other end of the court and really couldn't see her expressions other than that,  It lead me to the wrong opinion that CTT was really stressed out and  taking it out on her players, but watching the replay, it seems this exchange was the only instance of this, so I presume it was for effect.

A good game that shows Stanford has some good tools.  This ought to put us back in the top 25 (if we win on Sunday).

Re: WBB: Stanford 74 Arizona State 50 as McPhee breaks 1000 - BobK - 01-28-2018

The short ref was terrible

Their were two inbound passes thrown at Marta’s ankles or feet both turnovers.

Does your lack of comment mean you don’t want to meet us?  Lol. Would love to say hi
Bob