[teejers1]

I completely disagree with the argument that Colorado crossed the line with their physicality. To me, crossing the line is when you get "cheap" and "dirty". Examples would be hitting a player in the private parts or undercutting a player when they are jumping for a rebound or shooting a layup. Think Bill Laimbeer. That's when I think it's gone too far and players can get hurt. Colorado is just plain tough and I don't think they are cheap shot artists. Playing physical and tough is part of the game and Tara has learned over time that Stanford has to shed the "smart and nice" image and match the other team's physicality. We know this because she has talked about it many times in speeches and pressers. I think this topic runs deep for Tara and I would go so far as to say she might think this is a major factor in some of our past teams not reaching the summit.

I think last year's team raised the bar for toughness in Stanford women's basketball. Although small, Kiana didn't take crap from anyone. And we all know how the Hulls play. Cam does a little too much flopping for my taste, but she is tough and doesn't back down to anyone. Our current underclassmen will learn from this group and hopefully it will pay dividends for years to come. In particular, I think Prechtel and Jump are way more tough and competitive now than they were when they entered the program.

If you ask our players about the game yesterday, I think they would all say that Colorado completely took them out of the game in Q1 with their physicality and hard nosed defense. But I don't think any one of them would say they went too far. The injury to Anna was simply a charge like she would take in any other game and she fell on her tailbone. The injury to Sherrod was also fluky. I also don't blame the refs for "letting it get out of control". My suspicion (that's all it is, I have no data here) is that our team, and most teams, would much prefer the refs to let them play versus calling everything. We'd much rather have Brink on the court for 30 minutes instead of on the bench because of hand-check fouls. I also agree with 81 - the refs do get put in a tough spot as the game will get ruined if they start to call everything. Yet they did call enough that Colorado lost the game because of their foul trouble. Seems like a pretty good job to me.

This is what I love about basketball. There are so many styles. But an aggressive, defense-oriented team that can't score will lose to a more skilled team that is ALSO tough and plays good defense. That's what we saw yesterday.

Well said.  And spot on substantively.
If anyone should be complaining (and I don't think they should), it's Colorado and Brink falling all on top of their player who dinged her hip.
I'm not saying or implying that Brink's play there was dirty or crossed the line - by all appearances an accident.  But I am saying that of all the Stanford players, Brink is the one who borders the most on being out of control on D and/or taking aggressive defensive swipes at ball.  And as others noted, the Hulls (and Wilson) are hard-nosed defenders.  I'd put Belibi in that category, too.  And that's what you want.  The point:  we should be a bit mindful of pot/kettle/black.

[teejers1]

I completely disagree with the argument that Colorado crossed the line with their physicality. To me, crossing the line is when you get "cheap" and "dirty". Examples would be hitting a player in the private parts or undercutting a player when they are jumping for a rebound or shooting a layup. Think Bill Laimbeer. That's when I think it's gone too far and players can get hurt. Colorado is just plain tough and I don't think they are cheap shot artists. Playing physical and tough is part of the game and Tara has learned over time that Stanford has to shed the "smart and nice" image and match the other team's physicality. We know this because she has talked about it many times in speeches and pressers. I think this topic runs deep for Tara and I would go so far as to say she might think this is a major factor in some of our past teams not reaching the summit.

I think last year's team raised the bar for toughness in Stanford women's basketball. Although small, Kiana didn't take crap from anyone. And we all know how the Hulls play. Cam does a little too much flopping for my taste, but she is tough and doesn't back down to anyone. Our current underclassmen will learn from this group and hopefully it will pay dividends for years to come. In particular, I think Prechtel and Jump are way more tough and competitive now than they were when they entered the program.

If you ask our players about the game yesterday, I think they would all say that Colorado completely took them out of the game in Q1 with their physicality and hard nosed defense. But I don't think any one of them would say they went too far. The injury to Anna was simply a charge like she would take in any other game and she fell on her tailbone. The injury to Sherrod was also fluky. I also don't blame the refs for "letting it get out of control". My suspicion (that's all it is, I have no data here) is that our team, and most teams, would much prefer the refs to let them play versus calling everything. We'd much rather have Brink on the court for 30 minutes instead of on the bench because of hand-check fouls. I also agree with 81 - the refs do get put in a tough spot as the game will get ruined if they start to call everything. Yet they did call enough that Colorado lost the game because of their foul trouble. Seems like a pretty good job to me.

This is what I love about basketball. There are so many styles. But an aggressive, defense-oriented team that can't score will lose to a more skilled team that is ALSO tough and plays good defense. That's what we saw yesterday.

Well said.  And spot on substantively.
If anyone should be complaining (and I don't think they should), it's Colorado and Brink falling all on top of their player who dinged her hip.
I'm not saying or implying that Brink's play there was dirty or crossed the line - by all appearances an accident.  But I am saying that of all the Stanford players, Brink is the one who borders the most on being out of control on D and/or taking aggressive defensive swipes at ball.  And as others noted, the Hulls (and Wilson) are hard-nosed defenders.  I'd put Belibi in that category, too.  And that's what you want.  The point:  we should be a bit mindful of pot/kettle/black.