Overview:
Many have commented about the depth of the team. I think it may be the deepest I have ever seen here at Stanford, and that was evident tonight. All 15 of players were healthy enough to play and did play, with nearly all players at 20 minutes or less. 11 players scored, with 4 in double digits. The majority of our points were scored by our bench. Tara has a problem--how to decide on a rotation when there could be 11 or 12 potential starters. That is what these first few games are for. We will know for sure what Tara's thinking is on November 20. Consider these first 5 games as auditions for the main event.
As a team, we did not play perfectly, particularly the 2nd quarter, when our offense went stagnant for a stretch and SDSU began to hit a few shots. Our three point shooting at 37% was so-so. We got about 1/2 of our misses back with O-boards, which was nice to see, and we had only 10 turnovers for the game--turnovers were a frequent problem last year. Then again, SDSU did not really have the personnel to force turnovers. 26 of our made 32 baskets were assisted.
But what did we learn about the team, really? Since SDSU is not very serious competition, I think we need to look to individual performances to discover new information about how this team is developing.
Performances:
Let's go straight to Lepolo, who in her first recorded game in college recorded 11 assists to 0 turnovers, coming off the bench in only 20 minutes of play. Could you imagine a 22 assist to 0 turnover night? Within the realm of the possible. Her assists came in varied ways, including a pass 3/4 the length of the court to Bosgana for a layup, but also drive-and dishes in close. Some here criticized her lack of a willingness to be aggressive offensively--by which they mean taking her own shot. She did attempt 2 treys but missed them both, but she also attacked the basket for a successful layup, which set up drive-and-dish plays afterwords. Yes her offense needs to come along, but what a promising start in a first game.
Our top scorer was Iriafen, at 16 points in 15 minutes, and 7/8 from the field with 6 rebounds to boot. She is showing that she belongs in there as a starter. She got into some foul trouble, though, so we need to monitor that just as we have had to watch Brink for the same reason.
Bosgana is a revelation at 15 points, 6 rebounds, 3 treys in only 15 minutes. She is proving to be equally adept at shooting treys as she is at slashing--she looks like a much more mature and complete player than a year ago, and is beginning to look a little to me like a Hull.
Brink looked much better to me than in the open practice or the Vanguard game. She scored 13 and had 8 rebounds, but the eye popping stat for her were 6 blocks and only 1 personal foul. Very encouraging.
The other player with 13 points was Nivar, who had her best performance by far today. She was 3/5 from three point range, showed speed and quickness, grabbed 2 steals and looked like a complete shooting guard. Her defense looked reasonable to me, as the 2 steals also attest.
Demetre got 16 minutes and used them to good effect, going 3/6 and hitting a couple of treys. Her three point shots are shot from over her head--almost impossible to defend. They almost look like trick shots except they go in.
Jones was a little off tonight, going only 1/6, generating 5 assists to 1 turnover. She also got the most time at 23 minutes. Count me as among the skeptics about using her as a point guard.
Jump was only 1/3. However, I watched her defense closely tonight, and she has improved from a year ago.
Emma-Nnopu had 0 points on 0/4 shooting, so she was trying. So far she is the epitome of a defensive specialist but I think many of us expect to see Nivar, Bosgana, or others taking her time if she cannot get on track offensively.
Prechtel, Belibi, and Betts all had their moments. Betts needs to work on her cardio--there were times when she was very slow up and down the court. But she had a sweet jumper, which I saw her making well past the elbow. Prechtel did not score--inexplicably.
Conclusion:
A fabulous deep team that will be exceptionally fun to see develop.
Many have commented about the depth of the team. I think it may be the deepest I have ever seen here at Stanford, and that was evident tonight. All 15 of players were healthy enough to play and did play, with nearly all players at 20 minutes or less. 11 players scored, with 4 in double digits. The majority of our points were scored by our bench. Tara has a problem--how to decide on a rotation when there could be 11 or 12 potential starters. That is what these first few games are for. We will know for sure what Tara's thinking is on November 20. Consider these first 5 games as auditions for the main event.
As a team, we did not play perfectly, particularly the 2nd quarter, when our offense went stagnant for a stretch and SDSU began to hit a few shots. Our three point shooting at 37% was so-so. We got about 1/2 of our misses back with O-boards, which was nice to see, and we had only 10 turnovers for the game--turnovers were a frequent problem last year. Then again, SDSU did not really have the personnel to force turnovers. 26 of our made 32 baskets were assisted.
But what did we learn about the team, really? Since SDSU is not very serious competition, I think we need to look to individual performances to discover new information about how this team is developing.
Performances:
Let's go straight to Lepolo, who in her first recorded game in college recorded 11 assists to 0 turnovers, coming off the bench in only 20 minutes of play. Could you imagine a 22 assist to 0 turnover night? Within the realm of the possible. Her assists came in varied ways, including a pass 3/4 the length of the court to Bosgana for a layup, but also drive-and dishes in close. Some here criticized her lack of a willingness to be aggressive offensively--by which they mean taking her own shot. She did attempt 2 treys but missed them both, but she also attacked the basket for a successful layup, which set up drive-and-dish plays afterwords. Yes her offense needs to come along, but what a promising start in a first game.
Our top scorer was Iriafen, at 16 points in 15 minutes, and 7/8 from the field with 6 rebounds to boot. She is showing that she belongs in there as a starter. She got into some foul trouble, though, so we need to monitor that just as we have had to watch Brink for the same reason.
Bosgana is a revelation at 15 points, 6 rebounds, 3 treys in only 15 minutes. She is proving to be equally adept at shooting treys as she is at slashing--she looks like a much more mature and complete player than a year ago, and is beginning to look a little to me like a Hull.
Brink looked much better to me than in the open practice or the Vanguard game. She scored 13 and had 8 rebounds, but the eye popping stat for her were 6 blocks and only 1 personal foul. Very encouraging.
The other player with 13 points was Nivar, who had her best performance by far today. She was 3/5 from three point range, showed speed and quickness, grabbed 2 steals and looked like a complete shooting guard. Her defense looked reasonable to me, as the 2 steals also attest.
Demetre got 16 minutes and used them to good effect, going 3/6 and hitting a couple of treys. Her three point shots are shot from over her head--almost impossible to defend. They almost look like trick shots except they go in.
Jones was a little off tonight, going only 1/6, generating 5 assists to 1 turnover. She also got the most time at 23 minutes. Count me as among the skeptics about using her as a point guard.
Jump was only 1/3. However, I watched her defense closely tonight, and she has improved from a year ago.
Emma-Nnopu had 0 points on 0/4 shooting, so she was trying. So far she is the epitome of a defensive specialist but I think many of us expect to see Nivar, Bosgana, or others taking her time if she cannot get on track offensively.
Prechtel, Belibi, and Betts all had their moments. Betts needs to work on her cardio--there were times when she was very slow up and down the court. But she had a sweet jumper, which I saw her making well past the elbow. Prechtel did not score--inexplicably.
Conclusion:
A fabulous deep team that will be exceptionally fun to see develop.