[Blue Hawk (Mizzou) Card]

Blue Hawk, while Brink did not play a good game, I was not among those criticizing her last shot.  I felt much as you do that Boston was not permitting her to get layups--we had seen her deny Brink with hip and body checks with impunity.  So a mid range jump shot, which was open, was not the worst possible shot.

However, I am worried about Brink's shooting.  Her mid range and long range shot which was so good last year seems to be fleeting this year.  I'd like to see her heat up from beyond the arc like Prechtel has done and like Brink sometimes did a year ago.  And her free throw shooting has got to improve.  She just is not seeing the basket well unless she is up close.  I'm hoping (and expect) that this is a temporary condition.

For example, when Prectel was in, Boston in the second half came out to defend her.  When Brink was in, Boston stayed close to the basket to deny layups.  South Carolina was not convinced Brink could make jumpshots, and they were right in that particular moment.

Agreed. Shooting is, at times (like in third quarters on this trip) hurting us. Cameron did seem to be in a bit of a slump on this trip.

But there is hope in that. On this trip, who played above general expectations? Fran against SC. Haley in the second quarter and Ashton in the fourth quarter at Tennessee. Hannah at times. Other than that, there is reasonable (i.e. not pie in the sky) room for improvement, yet we still won one against a top ten team and took the number one team down to the wire. Both on the road in SEC country. That gives me reason for hope.

Stanford has an ensemble cast team this year. There are about nine solid potential contributors. If three or four of them have good nights, Stanford is tough to beat. That can be tough on fans (and presumably also on coaches), because we never know what to expect going into a game. But if the coaches and players can identify and ride the hot hands, we will be tough to beat, even for really good teams. Other teams might have better best and even second best players. But three through nine we are mighty solid.

If we can figure out how to handle the press, we are a mighty tough out.

[Blue Hawk (Mizzou) Card]

Blue Hawk, while Brink did not play a good game, I was not among those criticizing her last shot.  I felt much as you do that Boston was not permitting her to get layups--we had seen her deny Brink with hip and body checks with impunity.  So a mid range jump shot, which was open, was not the worst possible shot.

However, I am worried about Brink's shooting.  Her mid range and long range shot which was so good last year seems to be fleeting this year.  I'd like to see her heat up from beyond the arc like Prechtel has done and like Brink sometimes did a year ago.  And her free throw shooting has got to improve.  She just is not seeing the basket well unless she is up close.  I'm hoping (and expect) that this is a temporary condition.

For example, when Prectel was in, Boston in the second half came out to defend her.  When Brink was in, Boston stayed close to the basket to deny layups.  South Carolina was not convinced Brink could make jumpshots, and they were right in that particular moment.

Agreed. Shooting is, at times (like in third quarters on this trip) hurting us. Cameron did seem to be in a bit of a slump on this trip.

But there is hope in that. On this trip, who played above general expectations? Fran against SC. Haley in the second quarter and Ashton in the fourth quarter at Tennessee. Hannah at times. Other than that, there is reasonable (i.e. not pie in the sky) room for improvement, yet we still won one against a top ten team and took the number one team down to the wire. Both on the road in SEC country. That gives me reason for hope.

Stanford has an ensemble cast team this year. There are about nine solid potential contributors. If three or four of them have good nights, Stanford is tough to beat. That can be tough on fans (and presumably also on coaches), because we never know what to expect going into a game. But if the coaches and players can identify and ride the hot hands, we will be tough to beat, even for really good teams. Other teams might have better best and even second best players. But three through nine we are mighty solid.

If we can figure out how to handle the press, we are a mighty tough out.