12-05-2019, 11:50 PM
I find the CardBoard fun reading. There are so many interesting threads, full of insights, facts and opinions. Let me humbly attempt to add my own. I’m going way out on a limb and predict the WBB team will enter the NCAA Tournament with 4 losses.
How will it happen? Here’s a possible scenario. The PAC-12 is loaded with excellent teams this year. On a given night, anybody can beat anybody. We play Oregon and Oregon State twice each for a total of 4 games. That’s brutal facing these two excellent teams back-to-back, twice. Assuming we do well in the PAC-12 Tournament, we are likely to meet one of them again. I expect we will lose 2 of 5.
Another loss is likely to come right after an OU-OSU weekend. One game I have circled on the calendar is with Arizona on 2/28. We will be at risk of focusing so much on OU-OSU that we will be spent after those games. We will be set up for someone like Aari McDonald to have a career night. Or we beat both OU-OSU and then relax. That’s possibly what happened tonight when “giant killer” Louisville lost to a good but unranked Ohio State team.
The last loss will probably be unexpected. We lose to some team we should beat. That happened with unranked Gonzaga last year, when it appeared they wanted it more than we did. Or it could be like the Utah game last year. Or we could be ice cold shooting, let the other team hang around, they get hot and suddenly come back into contention, like Cal Baptist. There’s all sorts of ways to get tripped-up.
Being ranked #1 has its disadvantages. We have the biggest bullseye pinned to our back. Other teams will give us their best shot. Cal has started well but doesn’t look to be as strong as us. As Tara has said, that will allow other teams to focus more on Stanford when we travel with Cal. And then there’s the wild card of injuries to add to the mix.
That’s my expectation from way out here on a limb. And will someone please put a serving of crow in the freezer for 3/8 at the end of the PAC-12 Tournament. We have an excellent team and it will be wonderful if we do better. Go Cardinal!
How will it happen? Here’s a possible scenario. The PAC-12 is loaded with excellent teams this year. On a given night, anybody can beat anybody. We play Oregon and Oregon State twice each for a total of 4 games. That’s brutal facing these two excellent teams back-to-back, twice. Assuming we do well in the PAC-12 Tournament, we are likely to meet one of them again. I expect we will lose 2 of 5.
Another loss is likely to come right after an OU-OSU weekend. One game I have circled on the calendar is with Arizona on 2/28. We will be at risk of focusing so much on OU-OSU that we will be spent after those games. We will be set up for someone like Aari McDonald to have a career night. Or we beat both OU-OSU and then relax. That’s possibly what happened tonight when “giant killer” Louisville lost to a good but unranked Ohio State team.
The last loss will probably be unexpected. We lose to some team we should beat. That happened with unranked Gonzaga last year, when it appeared they wanted it more than we did. Or it could be like the Utah game last year. Or we could be ice cold shooting, let the other team hang around, they get hot and suddenly come back into contention, like Cal Baptist. There’s all sorts of ways to get tripped-up.
Being ranked #1 has its disadvantages. We have the biggest bullseye pinned to our back. Other teams will give us their best shot. Cal has started well but doesn’t look to be as strong as us. As Tara has said, that will allow other teams to focus more on Stanford when we travel with Cal. And then there’s the wild card of injuries to add to the mix.
That’s my expectation from way out here on a limb. And will someone please put a serving of crow in the freezer for 3/8 at the end of the PAC-12 Tournament. We have an excellent team and it will be wonderful if we do better. Go Cardinal!