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WBB Exciting in Exhibition Play - sheriand - 11-10-2010

Stanford\'s women\'s basketball team played two exhibition games this week, giving fans a preview of this year\'s lineup and, in particular, a chance to see the freshmen in action.   Although their opponents, Vanguard on Saturday and UCSD on Tuesday, were significantly overmatched, there was still a lot that was exciting to see.   The three freshman all will be contributors this year.   Toni Kokenis started at point guard in the UCSD game and played 23 minutes.   She has a ferocious intensity, good court sense and tremendous speed.   On defense, she reminds me of Ros GO, with her total focus.   Her feet move constantly, like a boxer\'s.   It\'s very difficult for a freshman to start at point and have an impact, but she shows a lot of potential.   Chiney Ogwumike is a lot of fun to watch.   She is very physical, very confident, has some great moves and in both games was the highest point scorer!  I heard the comment "she\'s a beast under the basket" several times.   She\'s a great rebounder.  Sara James looks to be a great shooting guard.  She has a lot of speed and a good outside shot.  

Of the returning players, some look just as great as when last season ended - notably Kayla and Jeanette.   Nneka had a "tweaked" ankle and didn\'t play at all Saturday, and only a little bit Tuesday.   She looked good when she was in.   Sarah Boothe was a little slow to get into her rhythm, but showed some good moves in the second half of Tuesday\'s game.   Mikaela Ruef looked much improved to me, more focused.   She made some very smart defensive plays and some key baskets.

It\'s going to be fun to see what Tara does with all the potential on her team and all the different ways she can put the puzzle pieces together.   Can\'t wait for the Rutgers game on Sunday to see them in action against a better matched competitor.  Should be a lot of fun.   They\'re putting on a big push to get more students to that game, that would be very encouraging.   The football team is away, so maybe some of the rabid rooters can try women\'s basketball for a change of pace.  


Re: WBB Exciting in Exhibition Play - sheriand - 11-10-2010

Jeanette did start on Tuesday along with Toni, Nneka, Kayla and Sarah Boothe.   On Saturday, when Nneka was out, the starters were Kayla, Jeanette, Sarah Boothe, Jos Tinkle and Chiney Ogwumike.   It\'s sometimes a little hard for me to tell who is playing exactly which spot, and there seemed to be quite a lot of switching around.   One article (Jake Curtis of the SF Examiner who does a good job covering Stanford WBB) said that Kayla started as a guard on Saturday.   It was a VERY TALL line-up and Vanguard had no players six feet or taller.   It\'s going to be a great season.   According to Mechelle Voepel at ESPN.com, Tara is "giddy" about this team.

Re: WBB Exciting in Exhibition Play - Viking_Guy - 11-10-2010

It\'ll be a different team, that\'s for certain.

We again get the NCAA-Final Four preparation with the Tuesday-Thursday matchup against Xavier and UConn in late December.  To be honest, I may be a bit more concerned about Xavier; they\'ll be EXTREMELY motivated, and their frontline of Harris and Phillips is good enough to neutralize ours (which is pretty much what they did in the Elite Eight last year; Nneka had a horrid 5-17 shooting night giving up 3-4 inches to either one, especially after Jayne got into foul trouble).  UConn still has Maya Moore, but without Tina Charles anchoring the middle we should be able to at least operate in the post.

The other tough thing: those games are not only going to be in front of holiday-sized crowds (no students, more families with kids), but also might end up being in competition with the football team\'s bowl game for attendees.  I\'m trying to rally folks up to attend, but it\'s hard to gain much traction against the possibility of a BCS-level bowl game.

VG


Re: WBB Exciting in Exhibition Play - Spiny_Norman - 11-10-2010

If you still want more WBB, how about the 6 recruits signed today by TVD.  3 guards and 3 wing/post players.

http://www.gostanford.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/111010aaa.html

Re: WBB Exciting in Exhibition Play - sheriand - 11-10-2010

An article about the Ogwumike sisters from SI.com

http://sports.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/wcbk/story.asp?i=20101110225555600000101

Re: WBB Exciting in Exhibition Play - Leftcoast - 11-11-2010

Good read.  Thanks WBBFan.