Preview:
ASU has seen better days. With the retirement of Charlie Turner Thorne they lost the second most experienced coach in the Pac 12, and with the rise of cross state rival Arizona under Adia Barnes they have lost the Arizona spotlight, and perhaps some recruiting pull. The days when ASU was the team that perennially challenged Stanford, and Arizona was the conference doormat, are now long gone. It remains to be seen whether the reverse has now become true.
This year ASU is coached by Natasha Adair, who (see if this sounds familiar to Stanford football fans) announced at her introductory press conference that she would "lead with love." It seems like lots of coaches are jumping on the Frederic Luskin bandwagon that Tara may have started. See this:
https://www.si.com/college/2022/11/18/st...-professor
Adair is an experienced coach (30 years!) who was recently coach-of-the-year for the Colonial Athletic Association after taking Delaware to the NCAAs. In her last of 5 years for the Blue Hens she led them to a 24-5 mark. You may remember the Blue Hens as the team that benefited from Elena Della Don's return home from UConn, although that was before Adair's time at Deleware.
This year ASU is 7-4 so far and has not played anyone ranked. They have their first Pac 12 game against Arizona on Thursday before coming north to play us on Saturday, so they won't have a long turnaround to get ready. Massey has ASU at 81, NET at 120--with the 63rd strongest strength of schedule.
ASU was devastated by the transfer of Jade Loville to rival Arizona. Loville is brilliant and was ASU's leading scorer. Taya Hanson also transferred--to Oregon. The stars weren't going to stick around for a rebuilding year but jumped to stronger programs. As Bobk's excellent summary makes clear, there were only 5 returning players after all the graduations and transfers out are accounted for. Adair did bring an excellent junior point guard with her from Delaware, so there is that.
So what players should fans keep their eyes on? There are 3 offensive stars.
The first is that point guard, #3 5'5" junior guard Tyi Skinner. She is averaging 21 points, is hitting 37% from three point range, and leads the team in steals and assists. However, she actually has more turnovers than assists--not sure what to make of that.
The second is ASU's one returning starter from CTT days, #2 5'9" junior guard Jaddan Simmons. She is averaging 14ppg and has nearly as many assists as Skinner, but not as high a percent of three point makes, nor as many attempts.
Third is 6'2" junior guard #12 Treasure Hunt. She averages 12 ppg but shoots only 31%, and has gone 7/42 from three point range.
ASU has some height. They start a 6'4" grad transfer center and their leading rebounder is a 6'3" redshirt freshman. Neither is scoring in bunches, but they contribute to a team that seems balanced on paper.
As with Cal, the main focus will need to be on shutting down the opponents short and speedy guards, who do the bulk of scoring for them. But inside, this might be the kind of game we could see Betts do quite well in, matched up against a conventional center. At this point I haven't yet watched any ASU games, will update here after they play Arizona on Thursday, but at this point I don't know what kind of defense they play.
Happy Stanford WBB New Year!
ASU has seen better days. With the retirement of Charlie Turner Thorne they lost the second most experienced coach in the Pac 12, and with the rise of cross state rival Arizona under Adia Barnes they have lost the Arizona spotlight, and perhaps some recruiting pull. The days when ASU was the team that perennially challenged Stanford, and Arizona was the conference doormat, are now long gone. It remains to be seen whether the reverse has now become true.
This year ASU is coached by Natasha Adair, who (see if this sounds familiar to Stanford football fans) announced at her introductory press conference that she would "lead with love." It seems like lots of coaches are jumping on the Frederic Luskin bandwagon that Tara may have started. See this:
https://www.si.com/college/2022/11/18/st...-professor
Adair is an experienced coach (30 years!) who was recently coach-of-the-year for the Colonial Athletic Association after taking Delaware to the NCAAs. In her last of 5 years for the Blue Hens she led them to a 24-5 mark. You may remember the Blue Hens as the team that benefited from Elena Della Don's return home from UConn, although that was before Adair's time at Deleware.
This year ASU is 7-4 so far and has not played anyone ranked. They have their first Pac 12 game against Arizona on Thursday before coming north to play us on Saturday, so they won't have a long turnaround to get ready. Massey has ASU at 81, NET at 120--with the 63rd strongest strength of schedule.
ASU was devastated by the transfer of Jade Loville to rival Arizona. Loville is brilliant and was ASU's leading scorer. Taya Hanson also transferred--to Oregon. The stars weren't going to stick around for a rebuilding year but jumped to stronger programs. As Bobk's excellent summary makes clear, there were only 5 returning players after all the graduations and transfers out are accounted for. Adair did bring an excellent junior point guard with her from Delaware, so there is that.
So what players should fans keep their eyes on? There are 3 offensive stars.
The first is that point guard, #3 5'5" junior guard Tyi Skinner. She is averaging 21 points, is hitting 37% from three point range, and leads the team in steals and assists. However, she actually has more turnovers than assists--not sure what to make of that.
The second is ASU's one returning starter from CTT days, #2 5'9" junior guard Jaddan Simmons. She is averaging 14ppg and has nearly as many assists as Skinner, but not as high a percent of three point makes, nor as many attempts.
Third is 6'2" junior guard #12 Treasure Hunt. She averages 12 ppg but shoots only 31%, and has gone 7/42 from three point range.
ASU has some height. They start a 6'4" grad transfer center and their leading rebounder is a 6'3" redshirt freshman. Neither is scoring in bunches, but they contribute to a team that seems balanced on paper.
As with Cal, the main focus will need to be on shutting down the opponents short and speedy guards, who do the bulk of scoring for them. But inside, this might be the kind of game we could see Betts do quite well in, matched up against a conventional center. At this point I haven't yet watched any ASU games, will update here after they play Arizona on Thursday, but at this point I don't know what kind of defense they play.
Happy Stanford WBB New Year!