[warren65]

Sorry to be late to this thread.

Really appreciate Viking Guy's insightful analysis.  The more one understands this game, the more fun it is to watch.

I watched only on the live stream, but it seemed to me that Stanford possessed the ball much better in the second half.  Maybe that's because Macario and Smith stayed in the midfield more.  Agree that Smith's attempts to dribble through the defense were largely unsuccessful.  Maybe that's Smith's inexperience, but I wonder if the coaching staff instructed those two to do more of that in the second half.  Macario had the skills to set up some nice attacks piercing through the SC defense.

I want to second everything that's already been written about Macario's game deciding goal.  Yes, she's done that sort of thing before.  It is still an amazing talent.  Well beyond what would be basketball's three point line, Macario takes the ball (with her feet not her hands) and guides it around or over an obstructing line of defensive players into the narrowest of windows (the uppermost far left portion of the goal).  Macario gets the ball to curve to add to the deception.  Yes, there is more tolerance for error than getting a ball into a basketball hoop, but it is still off-the-charts amazing.

[warren65]

Sorry to be late to this thread.

Really appreciate Viking Guy's insightful analysis.  The more one understands this game, the more fun it is to watch.

I watched only on the live stream, but it seemed to me that Stanford possessed the ball much better in the second half.  Maybe that's because Macario and Smith stayed in the midfield more.  Agree that Smith's attempts to dribble through the defense were largely unsuccessful.  Maybe that's Smith's inexperience, but I wonder if the coaching staff instructed those two to do more of that in the second half.  Macario had the skills to set up some nice attacks piercing through the SC defense.

I want to second everything that's already been written about Macario's game deciding goal.  Yes, she's done that sort of thing before.  It is still an amazing talent.  Well beyond what would be basketball's three point line, Macario takes the ball (with her feet not her hands) and guides it around or over an obstructing line of defensive players into the narrowest of windows (the uppermost far left portion of the goal).  Macario gets the ball to curve to add to the deception.  Yes, there is more tolerance for error than getting a ball into a basketball hoop, but it is still off-the-charts amazing.