11-27-2015, 11:46 AM
Overview
Stanford beat an inferior but scrappy Missouri State team on the basis largely of a barrage of three point shots. We made 15 treys on 45% three point shooting. Karlie was an amazing 5/7, Brianna 4/6, Lili 5/11 and led the team with 26 points. I'm pleased we won, but am also always skeptical when winning mainly on the basis of treys, since they seem to be unreliable. Good defense in the first half turned into not-so good defense in the second half, and we never did get our inside game reliably working.
Flow of the Game:
At the end of the first quarter, it is Stanford 22 Missouri State 16. Tara started the usual five, substituted Alanna for Bird and Kailee for Kaylee. Marta and McPhee with playing time too. Kailee is getting a lot of play. We have shot badly from inside, but rebounded very well, especially on the O-boards. Good three point shooting has been our strength early in the game--Lili, Karlie, and Bri have made shots. Missouri State is playing man--I am shocked they did not try to imitate the Santa Clara 2-3 zone. We are only ahead, though, due to 60% three point shooting and much better offensive rebounding. One nice pick and roll from Lili to McCall--but almost nothing else inside so far.
At halftime it is Stanford 44 Missouri State 30. Missouri State finally switched to a 2-3 zone midway through the quarter and it did seem to discombobulate our offense at the end. During the man defense, we ran many passes to a pick and roll. This left a lot of three point shooters open to pass back to, and they made 8/18. Tara has been using Kailee, McCall, Kaylee, Alanna, and even Coffee all in seemingly equal measure--it is clear that she is searching for posts who will be more aggressive. We have a 27-16 rebounding edge, but Missouri State is a very poor rebounding team. So far just 8 turnovers by us, so somewhat better than the Santa Clara debacle. We are shooting 43% to their 33%, so our defense appears to be competent. The post inside-game is just not there. Posts collectively are 2-9 so far.
After three quarters, it is Stanford 66 Missouri State 52. Coming out in the second half, Karlie was hot, hitting 4/5 from three point range, and we have opened a 20 point lead. Great three point shooting conquers all, I guess. But we have created a lot of open shots, at least. But as the quarter ground along, our defense seemed to suffer lapses. We left open several dribble-drives to the basket for easy layups, allowing Missouri State to shrink the lead back down to 12. Lili keeps draining baskets, though, keeping our mid teen margin intact.
In the final quarter our defense got sloppy, especially as Tara subbed in numerous bench players. Missouri State continued to get dribble drives to the basket. They also dramatically closed the rebounding gap, ending with only a 42 to 40 rebounding margin. Despite all of that, our three point shooting continued to be good enough to keep the margin fairly even until the final buzzer. 15 made three point shots on 45% three point shooting will be enough to beat most teams.Â
Performances:
Karlie, Bri, and Lili I have mentioned already. The announcers also remarked on our excellent guard play--not just good shooting but good defense from them.Â
Erica wound up with 9 points and 10 rebounds, on 4/7 shooting. Her baskets were on put-backs and a rare pick and roll. Still not much sign that she could manufacture points on her own. She still is our only post who shows an aggressive instinct around the basket, though, going for the O-boards and trying to score from them.
The other posts had offensive games to forget. Kailee got a lot of minutes. She took two three point shots and missed them, and only one other attempt and missed it. Only two rebounds and two turnovers. Kaylee had 5 points and three nicely blocked shots, and 8 rebounds--not at all bad defensively. Alanna was 0/3 with three rebounds. Coffee was 0/1. The post game simply did not work much to our advantage.
Marta had 4 points, 3 steals, and 3 assists in her time. She also had a couple of ill advised turnovers as she tried to force the ball inside. McPhee got significant playing time, earned 5 points including a trey, three rebounds, an assist, and a steal with no turnovers. A good day's work.Â
Conclusion:
Dayton is up next, which is an excellent team that knocked off Louisville in the NCAAs last year. It may be the best team we have faced so far. I don't think our performance today tells us a single thing about how we are doing. Our offense did succeed in manufacturing a lot of open three point shots--but that is because the Missouri State team was unable to contest them as capably as Santa Clara. I don't think we can count on 46% three point shooting going forward on a regular basis. Our defense and rebounding regressed in the second half today, our offense was one dimensional. Still, it could have been worse. It could have been Santa Clara. Hopefully this will build a little confidence, and we are going to need it to beat the likes of Dayton and Louisville in the next couple of days.
Stanford beat an inferior but scrappy Missouri State team on the basis largely of a barrage of three point shots. We made 15 treys on 45% three point shooting. Karlie was an amazing 5/7, Brianna 4/6, Lili 5/11 and led the team with 26 points. I'm pleased we won, but am also always skeptical when winning mainly on the basis of treys, since they seem to be unreliable. Good defense in the first half turned into not-so good defense in the second half, and we never did get our inside game reliably working.
Flow of the Game:
At the end of the first quarter, it is Stanford 22 Missouri State 16. Tara started the usual five, substituted Alanna for Bird and Kailee for Kaylee. Marta and McPhee with playing time too. Kailee is getting a lot of play. We have shot badly from inside, but rebounded very well, especially on the O-boards. Good three point shooting has been our strength early in the game--Lili, Karlie, and Bri have made shots. Missouri State is playing man--I am shocked they did not try to imitate the Santa Clara 2-3 zone. We are only ahead, though, due to 60% three point shooting and much better offensive rebounding. One nice pick and roll from Lili to McCall--but almost nothing else inside so far.
At halftime it is Stanford 44 Missouri State 30. Missouri State finally switched to a 2-3 zone midway through the quarter and it did seem to discombobulate our offense at the end. During the man defense, we ran many passes to a pick and roll. This left a lot of three point shooters open to pass back to, and they made 8/18. Tara has been using Kailee, McCall, Kaylee, Alanna, and even Coffee all in seemingly equal measure--it is clear that she is searching for posts who will be more aggressive. We have a 27-16 rebounding edge, but Missouri State is a very poor rebounding team. So far just 8 turnovers by us, so somewhat better than the Santa Clara debacle. We are shooting 43% to their 33%, so our defense appears to be competent. The post inside-game is just not there. Posts collectively are 2-9 so far.
After three quarters, it is Stanford 66 Missouri State 52. Coming out in the second half, Karlie was hot, hitting 4/5 from three point range, and we have opened a 20 point lead. Great three point shooting conquers all, I guess. But we have created a lot of open shots, at least. But as the quarter ground along, our defense seemed to suffer lapses. We left open several dribble-drives to the basket for easy layups, allowing Missouri State to shrink the lead back down to 12. Lili keeps draining baskets, though, keeping our mid teen margin intact.
In the final quarter our defense got sloppy, especially as Tara subbed in numerous bench players. Missouri State continued to get dribble drives to the basket. They also dramatically closed the rebounding gap, ending with only a 42 to 40 rebounding margin. Despite all of that, our three point shooting continued to be good enough to keep the margin fairly even until the final buzzer. 15 made three point shots on 45% three point shooting will be enough to beat most teams.Â
Performances:
Karlie, Bri, and Lili I have mentioned already. The announcers also remarked on our excellent guard play--not just good shooting but good defense from them.Â
Erica wound up with 9 points and 10 rebounds, on 4/7 shooting. Her baskets were on put-backs and a rare pick and roll. Still not much sign that she could manufacture points on her own. She still is our only post who shows an aggressive instinct around the basket, though, going for the O-boards and trying to score from them.
The other posts had offensive games to forget. Kailee got a lot of minutes. She took two three point shots and missed them, and only one other attempt and missed it. Only two rebounds and two turnovers. Kaylee had 5 points and three nicely blocked shots, and 8 rebounds--not at all bad defensively. Alanna was 0/3 with three rebounds. Coffee was 0/1. The post game simply did not work much to our advantage.
Marta had 4 points, 3 steals, and 3 assists in her time. She also had a couple of ill advised turnovers as she tried to force the ball inside. McPhee got significant playing time, earned 5 points including a trey, three rebounds, an assist, and a steal with no turnovers. A good day's work.Â
Conclusion:
Dayton is up next, which is an excellent team that knocked off Louisville in the NCAAs last year. It may be the best team we have faced so far. I don't think our performance today tells us a single thing about how we are doing. Our offense did succeed in manufacturing a lot of open three point shots--but that is because the Missouri State team was unable to contest them as capably as Santa Clara. I don't think we can count on 46% three point shooting going forward on a regular basis. Our defense and rebounding regressed in the second half today, our offense was one dimensional. Still, it could have been worse. It could have been Santa Clara. Hopefully this will build a little confidence, and we are going to need it to beat the likes of Dayton and Louisville in the next couple of days.


