What a superb way to start a season.
All the caveats are warranted: we probably won't know just how good our team is until they play UCLA on Dec 21, if that game comes off, or the Arizona/ASU swing on Jan 1 and Jan 3. If we actually play all the games on the schedule, we will have a better idea of whether this team is merely excellent or whether it will be one of those truly dominant teams in Stanford WBB history. If we easily handle UCLA and Arizona then we can all be true believers in a possible national championship run. But that is still a long ways away....
But this much is clear: Cameron Brink can start for this team. Hailey Jones is fully recovered from her injury. Lexie and Williams are as good as ever. With Jump we have our deadly sniper who has now added to her offense to the point that she may become iindefensible. We also have our point guard of the future for much needed relief for Williams, Williams ran down like a spinning top too many times last season, and now she will have quality relief. And behind today's four double digit scorers we have excellent depth and experience.
I think the three freshmen were revelations.
Brink played much better than Nneka or Chiney or Jayne or Kayla in their first games. I did not expect her to be so polished so fast.
Van Gytenbeek. Wow. She reminded me so much of Courtney Vandersloot. In her first game! So rare to have such precise passing skill, such court awareness, and a legitimate three point threat all in the same package.
Emma Nnopu. Seven rebounds in 15 minutes, including 5 O-boards. She does seem to have that Carrington-esque aggression around the ball. And good shooting too!
The team seemed to play with confidence and joy from late in the first quarter on--shaking off the rust and then it was cruise control the rest of the way. Cruising with the killer instinct, that is.
The next 5 weeks will tell us most of what we need to know. Whether this level of play can be sustained, whether our team can stay healthy during the worse depths of the pandemic, whether the season gets cancelled due to everyone else falling sick. If we keep playing like this when facing bigger, stronger, more skillful teams, and if we and they can stay healthy, then the sky is truly the limit.
All the caveats are warranted: we probably won't know just how good our team is until they play UCLA on Dec 21, if that game comes off, or the Arizona/ASU swing on Jan 1 and Jan 3. If we actually play all the games on the schedule, we will have a better idea of whether this team is merely excellent or whether it will be one of those truly dominant teams in Stanford WBB history. If we easily handle UCLA and Arizona then we can all be true believers in a possible national championship run. But that is still a long ways away....
But this much is clear: Cameron Brink can start for this team. Hailey Jones is fully recovered from her injury. Lexie and Williams are as good as ever. With Jump we have our deadly sniper who has now added to her offense to the point that she may become iindefensible. We also have our point guard of the future for much needed relief for Williams, Williams ran down like a spinning top too many times last season, and now she will have quality relief. And behind today's four double digit scorers we have excellent depth and experience.
I think the three freshmen were revelations.
Brink played much better than Nneka or Chiney or Jayne or Kayla in their first games. I did not expect her to be so polished so fast.
Van Gytenbeek. Wow. She reminded me so much of Courtney Vandersloot. In her first game! So rare to have such precise passing skill, such court awareness, and a legitimate three point threat all in the same package.
Emma Nnopu. Seven rebounds in 15 minutes, including 5 O-boards. She does seem to have that Carrington-esque aggression around the ball. And good shooting too!
The team seemed to play with confidence and joy from late in the first quarter on--shaking off the rust and then it was cruise control the rest of the way. Cruising with the killer instinct, that is.
The next 5 weeks will tell us most of what we need to know. Whether this level of play can be sustained, whether our team can stay healthy during the worse depths of the pandemic, whether the season gets cancelled due to everyone else falling sick. If we keep playing like this when facing bigger, stronger, more skillful teams, and if we and they can stay healthy, then the sky is truly the limit.