12-20-2011, 10:33 PM
81-
Just lost the first half of a game recap, but Toni figured in hugely. Both for timely shooting, and for doing the one thing Stanford guards traditionally fail to do - drive the darned ball to the hoop.
Glenn was right, the game started about as poorly as possible, with Tennessee continuing their torrid shooting from the UCLA game and Stanford unable to hit the broadside of Maples (due in large part to some early jitters from Chiney and others against an amped-up Vol defense). You don't want to start off down 16-9 to a team that's been your kryptonite (TvD 6-22 vs. the Vols until tonight).
But Toni keyed the quick comeback, with a couple of driving shots into the teeth of the defense, the last of which led to a UT timeout. Which promptly turned into two more points when they had 6 players on the floor coming out of the timeout, leading to technical free throws taken by Bonnie (who had some effective play in the first half). 16-15, game on.
Lindy hit a big three to tie it at 20, and a couple of sequences later, Bonnie hit a LONG three from the left wing to give Stanford the lead at 27-24, and they never trailed again.
Meanwhile, Nneka, after starting 1-6 from the field, heated up. Well, more than heated up. Somewhere along the lines of "sustainable nuclear fusion" temperatures. Hitting from inside, outside, on spin moves, stepbacks and jumpers, and one play where she dove in to tip the ball away under the Stanford basket from a single Vol who had collected the rebound, then getting up from horizontal faster than the dispossessed player could take a step, grabbing the ball off the floor, spinning against that same defender and laying it up and in. Just nutty athleticism.
The zone Garvin mentioned also was frustrating. Greenfield, Kokenis and Lindy tossed the ball around about 30 feet out, with little or no movement or screening off the ball. The subsequent offensive funk let the Vols cut a 7 point lead at 36-29 down to a single point at 40-39 on a Meighan Simmons jumper a little more than a minute left.
Combine that with some strange zone-defense Stanford was playing for a few possessions: it looked something like a 2-3, but it was set so high up the court that it felt like a 1-3-1 at points, and Tennessee got great looks from the corner on a couple of possessions in a row. I didn't mind the zone, as Tennessee is not a great outside shooting team and the Card was getting killed on drives from the wing, but the execution was problematic.
Then came one of the other key sequences of the game, the final minute of the first half. Toni threw a prayer of a flip shot up from the right baseline, clear over the hoop. Where it came down like an alley-oop pass directly in the hands of Nneka in perfect position for the layup. A turnover by Simmons led to a quick transition 3 by Greenfield, and a 1 point lead was 6. A Tennessee jumper was immediately answered by a 3 from the left corner by Toni, and Stanford went to the half up 48-41.
48 points in the first half against Tennessee? My goodness. I thought there was no way the teams could keep up the scoring pace. If nothing else, Pat Summitt could be counted on to get a much more physical defense out of her team in the second half.
Some not so good things in the first half: Jos was tentative in her time in the first half; she looked like she wanted the ball out of her hands as quickly as possible (bad turnover after collecting a badly missed shot for an offensive rebound and with a clear dribble out to the corner, she tried to toss the ball through about 3 defenders to Lindy up top, but got no mustard on the pass and it turned into a transition opportunity for Tennessee. Sarah came in to spell Chiney, and in trying to defend Johnson (or Baugh, for that matter), kept on backing up. She appeared to be so concerned with getting beaten she backed up all the way under her own basket. Sarah, you gotta give that player a bump there and try to hold your position.
That said, leading by 7 against a team shooting 60% is pretty darned good. Thanks offensive boards. Thanks only TWO turnovers.
Second half in a sec...
VG
Just lost the first half of a game recap, but Toni figured in hugely. Both for timely shooting, and for doing the one thing Stanford guards traditionally fail to do - drive the darned ball to the hoop.
Glenn was right, the game started about as poorly as possible, with Tennessee continuing their torrid shooting from the UCLA game and Stanford unable to hit the broadside of Maples (due in large part to some early jitters from Chiney and others against an amped-up Vol defense). You don't want to start off down 16-9 to a team that's been your kryptonite (TvD 6-22 vs. the Vols until tonight).
But Toni keyed the quick comeback, with a couple of driving shots into the teeth of the defense, the last of which led to a UT timeout. Which promptly turned into two more points when they had 6 players on the floor coming out of the timeout, leading to technical free throws taken by Bonnie (who had some effective play in the first half). 16-15, game on.
Lindy hit a big three to tie it at 20, and a couple of sequences later, Bonnie hit a LONG three from the left wing to give Stanford the lead at 27-24, and they never trailed again.
Meanwhile, Nneka, after starting 1-6 from the field, heated up. Well, more than heated up. Somewhere along the lines of "sustainable nuclear fusion" temperatures. Hitting from inside, outside, on spin moves, stepbacks and jumpers, and one play where she dove in to tip the ball away under the Stanford basket from a single Vol who had collected the rebound, then getting up from horizontal faster than the dispossessed player could take a step, grabbing the ball off the floor, spinning against that same defender and laying it up and in. Just nutty athleticism.
The zone Garvin mentioned also was frustrating. Greenfield, Kokenis and Lindy tossed the ball around about 30 feet out, with little or no movement or screening off the ball. The subsequent offensive funk let the Vols cut a 7 point lead at 36-29 down to a single point at 40-39 on a Meighan Simmons jumper a little more than a minute left.
Combine that with some strange zone-defense Stanford was playing for a few possessions: it looked something like a 2-3, but it was set so high up the court that it felt like a 1-3-1 at points, and Tennessee got great looks from the corner on a couple of possessions in a row. I didn't mind the zone, as Tennessee is not a great outside shooting team and the Card was getting killed on drives from the wing, but the execution was problematic.
Then came one of the other key sequences of the game, the final minute of the first half. Toni threw a prayer of a flip shot up from the right baseline, clear over the hoop. Where it came down like an alley-oop pass directly in the hands of Nneka in perfect position for the layup. A turnover by Simmons led to a quick transition 3 by Greenfield, and a 1 point lead was 6. A Tennessee jumper was immediately answered by a 3 from the left corner by Toni, and Stanford went to the half up 48-41.
48 points in the first half against Tennessee? My goodness. I thought there was no way the teams could keep up the scoring pace. If nothing else, Pat Summitt could be counted on to get a much more physical defense out of her team in the second half.
Some not so good things in the first half: Jos was tentative in her time in the first half; she looked like she wanted the ball out of her hands as quickly as possible (bad turnover after collecting a badly missed shot for an offensive rebound and with a clear dribble out to the corner, she tried to toss the ball through about 3 defenders to Lindy up top, but got no mustard on the pass and it turned into a transition opportunity for Tennessee. Sarah came in to spell Chiney, and in trying to defend Johnson (or Baugh, for that matter), kept on backing up. She appeared to be so concerned with getting beaten she backed up all the way under her own basket. Sarah, you gotta give that player a bump there and try to hold your position.
That said, leading by 7 against a team shooting 60% is pretty darned good. Thanks offensive boards. Thanks only TWO turnovers.
Second half in a sec...
VG