[81alum]

I agree that the first games can't come soon enough!!

I'm tending to agree with most of you that Tara will probably start Hannah because of her 3-point threat and the fact she has steadily improved her overall game.  I love what Hannah brings to the table, but she's limited in creating off the dribble and lacks defensive quickness; two areas last season among our guards that made us vulnerable to very quick, skilled perimeter opponents.

I'm hoping Jzaniya, Indya and/or Talana will emerge from Fall practice as that other guard who brings us quickness, athleticism and the ability to create/score off the dribble.  That would allow for Hannah to play at the wing position (not guard).  Teams would not be able to pressure our perimeter players like they did many times last season and now you have another source of scoring.

We've had interesting discussion about Demetre starting.  There's a lot to like about Brooke; her 6'3 size, her ability to flash to the high post, catch and release and she certainly can hit the 3-ball in the corner.  Because there will be so much attention (by opponents) on Haley and Cam and then throw in Hannah, there will be less attention on Brooke and though she is not especially quick, she has good hands and a nice touch.   The one thing that concerns me is her lack of quickness, but Brooke can overcome that deficiency with her high BB IQ.  Larry Bird was never a quick player, but his BB IQ was off the charts.  I'm guessing that's one thing Tara likes about her.

If Tara does indeed start Haley (PG/ETC.), Hannah (G/W), Brooke (small forward) and Cam (power forward) the question becomes who starts at (post) and there's been lots of discussion about that position and likely rotations.  A 'jumbo' lineup (Brink, Iriafen/Prechtel, Demetre, Jump and Jones with Fran coming off the bench & playing quality minutes), plays to Stanford's strengths and Kate has told us 'we want to take advantage of our strengths'.  But this lineup still leaves us vulnerable at the perimeter- both offensively and defensively.

Without the benefit of knowing how the practices will go, I'll throw in my own starting five: Jones (PG/ETC), Jump (wing), Iriafen/Prechtel (post), Cam (PF) and Harriel/Nivar (G).

Oh, the possibilities! Tara is a supreme chest master and there are a lot of chess pieces she can play with.  With so many questions going into practice, things should get really interesting.

Thoughtful post, and I agree it is fun to speculate at this time of year.  One player I would add to the mix who you did not mention:  Emma-Nnopu.  Her defensive skills are clear, and we have seen her hit treys as well as drive.  I don't think any of us really know how good she might be on offense since we have not seen her very much, but at a minimum she can get some defensive minutes to help guard the periphery.  As a junior now she knows the system and she knows many of the players she would be defending.  Whether she gets some starts and big chunks of minutes will probably be determined by how much offense she is showing Tara right now in practice, since she is our best defensive guard at present.

I also have a lot of curiosity about Elena Bosgana.  This is the year that players usually improve the most.  She clearly has talent and is plenty aggressive enough.  I didn't see enough of her to really understand how solid she was on defense.  Nor did I see her enough to judge her consistency on jump shots.  But she can drive!

[81alum]

I agree that the first games can't come soon enough!!

I'm tending to agree with most of you that Tara will probably start Hannah because of her 3-point threat and the fact she has steadily improved her overall game.  I love what Hannah brings to the table, but she's limited in creating off the dribble and lacks defensive quickness; two areas last season among our guards that made us vulnerable to very quick, skilled perimeter opponents.

I'm hoping Jzaniya, Indya and/or Talana will emerge from Fall practice as that other guard who brings us quickness, athleticism and the ability to create/score off the dribble.  That would allow for Hannah to play at the wing position (not guard).  Teams would not be able to pressure our perimeter players like they did many times last season and now you have another source of scoring.

We've had interesting discussion about Demetre starting.  There's a lot to like about Brooke; her 6'3 size, her ability to flash to the high post, catch and release and she certainly can hit the 3-ball in the corner.  Because there will be so much attention (by opponents) on Haley and Cam and then throw in Hannah, there will be less attention on Brooke and though she is not especially quick, she has good hands and a nice touch.   The one thing that concerns me is her lack of quickness, but Brooke can overcome that deficiency with her high BB IQ.  Larry Bird was never a quick player, but his BB IQ was off the charts.  I'm guessing that's one thing Tara likes about her.

If Tara does indeed start Haley (PG/ETC.), Hannah (G/W), Brooke (small forward) and Cam (power forward) the question becomes who starts at (post) and there's been lots of discussion about that position and likely rotations.  A 'jumbo' lineup (Brink, Iriafen/Prechtel, Demetre, Jump and Jones with Fran coming off the bench & playing quality minutes), plays to Stanford's strengths and Kate has told us 'we want to take advantage of our strengths'.  But this lineup still leaves us vulnerable at the perimeter- both offensively and defensively.

Without the benefit of knowing how the practices will go, I'll throw in my own starting five: Jones (PG/ETC), Jump (wing), Iriafen/Prechtel (post), Cam (PF) and Harriel/Nivar (G).

Oh, the possibilities! Tara is a supreme chest master and there are a lot of chess pieces she can play with.  With so many questions going into practice, things should get really interesting.

Thoughtful post, and I agree it is fun to speculate at this time of year.  One player I would add to the mix who you did not mention:  Emma-Nnopu.  Her defensive skills are clear, and we have seen her hit treys as well as drive.  I don't think any of us really know how good she might be on offense since we have not seen her very much, but at a minimum she can get some defensive minutes to help guard the periphery.  As a junior now she knows the system and she knows many of the players she would be defending.  Whether she gets some starts and big chunks of minutes will probably be determined by how much offense she is showing Tara right now in practice, since she is our best defensive guard at present.

I also have a lot of curiosity about Elena Bosgana.  This is the year that players usually improve the most.  She clearly has talent and is plenty aggressive enough.  I didn't see enough of her to really understand how solid she was on defense.  Nor did I see her enough to judge her consistency on jump shots.  But she can drive!