Overview:
We dominated, as we should have, given our gigantic physical advantages. We had players a foot taller than the Vanguard players they were guarding. But this was not about Vanguard, it was about seeing our freshmen for the first time, seeing how much our sophomores had improved, seeing who Tara started, and seeing if there were any changes on O or D. A 102-25 score was an appropriate outcome for such a game, but far more exciting were the clues to this team's future.
Nobody played more than 18 minutes, everybody played, and 13 people scored. We got 23 O-Boards on 38 missed shots, a ridiculous amount, but this reflects how height-challenged our opponents were.
As far as the event itself, it was sparsely attended. Over the last 10 years, weeknight games have not been attended well--the weekend matinees do much better. The fan base for Stanford WBB has been elderly, and frankly the old guard from the 1990s championships days has been dying off or getting sick, and not being replaced by a younger cohort of fans. But tonight was an exhibition, the band was not there, and only a smattering of students--there were a few male athletes from other teams. Neither the elderly nor grade school kids show up on a Wednesday night but they will be there on a weekend day.
What we learned about the players:
First, we learned that at this moment Tara thinks these players represent our strongest team:
5. Iriafen
4. Brink
3. Jump
2. Emma-Nnopu
1. Jones
Those were the starters both for the first and second halves. But for some reason, the groups that did the best at widening our lead were not the starters, but the myriad combinations of 2nd and 3rd string (or should I saw "wave") players that regularly rotated in and out and played with great enthusiasm.
The following are my highly subjective impressions:
1-2-3 Jones, Brink, and Jump. Jump only started 14 games last year, but I just consider her one of the carryover starters. These three all had their moments of brilliance. Unlike the open practice, Jump hit her treys tonight 4/9 and looked positively machine-like in smoothly pouring in the points. Brink started slow but became more aggressive at driving and this seemed to get her back on track. Jones was Jones, scoring or not on whim, depending upon what the occasion demanded. No great surprises. Just 1 assist to 3 turnovers, though. Brink did not bomb away from the perimeter, and she did not make a lot of long range shots in practice. She looked like the old Brink, not like a new Brink.
4. Iriafen. In practice she looked to be on fire, hitting jumpers from the three point line, the elbow, pretty much anywhere with almost no misses. In the game she seemed tight and missed several close in jumpers before getting a bit more on track 4/7. I certainly see why Tara started her, but it seemed like it took her a while to get used to playing in a real game. I expect her to really be a superstar in time, but she was not tonight.
5. Emma-Nnopu. She got the start and her defense was good, without fouling (at all.) She showed the ability to score some situationally 1/3, but she was not looking to score most of the time. On defense she guarded the opposing point guard and helped to shrink their clock at the offensive end. I noticed she was guarding with less frenetic activity than she exerted last year. There were a couple of times that a shorter guard got around her, but her defense seemed more controlled and efficient than a year ago.
6. Lepolo was the first off the bench, coming in to relieve Jones. I'm very high on her. She is a very good ball handler and brought the ball up with pace and delivered crisp passes. She seemed to make good decisions. 6 assists to 0 turnovers in only 18 minutes of play. Hard to ask for more from a point guard. I don't think she felt she needed to score, but we know she has a good shot and can. It will be hard to keep her on the bench. I think in time it will become obvious that our offense does better with her running it and Jones free to focus on scoring.
7-8. Nivar 2/5 and Demetre 4/9. Both did well, but neither wowed me. Nivar showed some good defense, her three point shot, and some quickness. Demetre played well all around. I want to see some stats!
9. Bosgana. She looked MUCH improved. 5/7 with 8 rebounds and 4 assists. A superb night for her. Instead of always driving to her right and to the basket, she hit a trey, made some good assists, and even brought the ball up with pace from time to time. She was one-dimenstional in what she showed last year, and seemed multi-dimensional this time around.
10. Belibi 3/5. It was good to see her playing. While she was still wearing something to protect her left arm and thumb, this did not stop her from dunking before the game or making a ridiculous one-handed O-board and put back during the game.
11. Prechtel 5/8. She did not play, I believe, until the second half. She ran into some bunny-itus which has often been her problem--for such a tall player she does not have soft hands around the basket, and missed several gimmes. But then she made a couple, dropped some jumpshots at the three point line, and began to look like her old self. But the inside misses reminded me of why she can't be a starting post--she is more likely to hit a trey than a contested layup.
12. Betts. She looked better to me than during the open practice. She showed a reliable soft touch from in close 5/6, and she received passes over the heads of the vertically disadvantaged Vanguard players with ease. But she is neither fast or quick, but does seem more skilled than most freshman bigs. Such soft hands around the basket.
13 Harriel was our third point guard and seemed to me to do well bringing the ball up, but she also defended well. In 14 minutes she was 2/2 with 5 rebounds and 4 assists to 0 turnovers. Those are pretty terrific numbers.
14-15 Harriel Papadaki. Papadaki has the highest arc on her shot of any player I think I have ever seen. And once it went in for three! She seemed to acquit herself reasonably well on defense. Green got into the game a couple of time and she seemed to hold her own on defense.
What about team strategy?
Well, any thought that the Princeton might be gone this year can be forgotten. The offense looked the same, although I imagine there will be new wrinkles to reflect the personnel changes.
The most interesting thing I noticed on defense was the constant switching on the perimeter. There comes a point where switching and zone begin to look a lot alike. Our players mainly stayed on their marks, but when the Vanguard player was zipping along the three point line, our defenders would often switch off. It seemed as if Tara was willing to let our players be almost entirely interchangeable on defense.
Conclusion:
This is going to be a very fun year. Sophomores like Iriafen and Bosgana and Demetre seem to have significantly improved, and freshmen like Lepolo, Nivar and Betts will all make important contributions before this year is out. Seeing how Tara integrates this into our system and our returning All Americans is going to be a fun ride.
We dominated, as we should have, given our gigantic physical advantages. We had players a foot taller than the Vanguard players they were guarding. But this was not about Vanguard, it was about seeing our freshmen for the first time, seeing how much our sophomores had improved, seeing who Tara started, and seeing if there were any changes on O or D. A 102-25 score was an appropriate outcome for such a game, but far more exciting were the clues to this team's future.
Nobody played more than 18 minutes, everybody played, and 13 people scored. We got 23 O-Boards on 38 missed shots, a ridiculous amount, but this reflects how height-challenged our opponents were.
As far as the event itself, it was sparsely attended. Over the last 10 years, weeknight games have not been attended well--the weekend matinees do much better. The fan base for Stanford WBB has been elderly, and frankly the old guard from the 1990s championships days has been dying off or getting sick, and not being replaced by a younger cohort of fans. But tonight was an exhibition, the band was not there, and only a smattering of students--there were a few male athletes from other teams. Neither the elderly nor grade school kids show up on a Wednesday night but they will be there on a weekend day.
What we learned about the players:
First, we learned that at this moment Tara thinks these players represent our strongest team:
5. Iriafen
4. Brink
3. Jump
2. Emma-Nnopu
1. Jones
Those were the starters both for the first and second halves. But for some reason, the groups that did the best at widening our lead were not the starters, but the myriad combinations of 2nd and 3rd string (or should I saw "wave") players that regularly rotated in and out and played with great enthusiasm.
The following are my highly subjective impressions:
1-2-3 Jones, Brink, and Jump. Jump only started 14 games last year, but I just consider her one of the carryover starters. These three all had their moments of brilliance. Unlike the open practice, Jump hit her treys tonight 4/9 and looked positively machine-like in smoothly pouring in the points. Brink started slow but became more aggressive at driving and this seemed to get her back on track. Jones was Jones, scoring or not on whim, depending upon what the occasion demanded. No great surprises. Just 1 assist to 3 turnovers, though. Brink did not bomb away from the perimeter, and she did not make a lot of long range shots in practice. She looked like the old Brink, not like a new Brink.
4. Iriafen. In practice she looked to be on fire, hitting jumpers from the three point line, the elbow, pretty much anywhere with almost no misses. In the game she seemed tight and missed several close in jumpers before getting a bit more on track 4/7. I certainly see why Tara started her, but it seemed like it took her a while to get used to playing in a real game. I expect her to really be a superstar in time, but she was not tonight.
5. Emma-Nnopu. She got the start and her defense was good, without fouling (at all.) She showed the ability to score some situationally 1/3, but she was not looking to score most of the time. On defense she guarded the opposing point guard and helped to shrink their clock at the offensive end. I noticed she was guarding with less frenetic activity than she exerted last year. There were a couple of times that a shorter guard got around her, but her defense seemed more controlled and efficient than a year ago.
6. Lepolo was the first off the bench, coming in to relieve Jones. I'm very high on her. She is a very good ball handler and brought the ball up with pace and delivered crisp passes. She seemed to make good decisions. 6 assists to 0 turnovers in only 18 minutes of play. Hard to ask for more from a point guard. I don't think she felt she needed to score, but we know she has a good shot and can. It will be hard to keep her on the bench. I think in time it will become obvious that our offense does better with her running it and Jones free to focus on scoring.
7-8. Nivar 2/5 and Demetre 4/9. Both did well, but neither wowed me. Nivar showed some good defense, her three point shot, and some quickness. Demetre played well all around. I want to see some stats!
9. Bosgana. She looked MUCH improved. 5/7 with 8 rebounds and 4 assists. A superb night for her. Instead of always driving to her right and to the basket, she hit a trey, made some good assists, and even brought the ball up with pace from time to time. She was one-dimenstional in what she showed last year, and seemed multi-dimensional this time around.
10. Belibi 3/5. It was good to see her playing. While she was still wearing something to protect her left arm and thumb, this did not stop her from dunking before the game or making a ridiculous one-handed O-board and put back during the game.
11. Prechtel 5/8. She did not play, I believe, until the second half. She ran into some bunny-itus which has often been her problem--for such a tall player she does not have soft hands around the basket, and missed several gimmes. But then she made a couple, dropped some jumpshots at the three point line, and began to look like her old self. But the inside misses reminded me of why she can't be a starting post--she is more likely to hit a trey than a contested layup.
12. Betts. She looked better to me than during the open practice. She showed a reliable soft touch from in close 5/6, and she received passes over the heads of the vertically disadvantaged Vanguard players with ease. But she is neither fast or quick, but does seem more skilled than most freshman bigs. Such soft hands around the basket.
13 Harriel was our third point guard and seemed to me to do well bringing the ball up, but she also defended well. In 14 minutes she was 2/2 with 5 rebounds and 4 assists to 0 turnovers. Those are pretty terrific numbers.
14-15 Harriel Papadaki. Papadaki has the highest arc on her shot of any player I think I have ever seen. And once it went in for three! She seemed to acquit herself reasonably well on defense. Green got into the game a couple of time and she seemed to hold her own on defense.
What about team strategy?
Well, any thought that the Princeton might be gone this year can be forgotten. The offense looked the same, although I imagine there will be new wrinkles to reflect the personnel changes.
The most interesting thing I noticed on defense was the constant switching on the perimeter. There comes a point where switching and zone begin to look a lot alike. Our players mainly stayed on their marks, but when the Vanguard player was zipping along the three point line, our defenders would often switch off. It seemed as if Tara was willing to let our players be almost entirely interchangeable on defense.
Conclusion:
This is going to be a very fun year. Sophomores like Iriafen and Bosgana and Demetre seem to have significantly improved, and freshmen like Lepolo, Nivar and Betts will all make important contributions before this year is out. Seeing how Tara integrates this into our system and our returning All Americans is going to be a fun ride.