[treetop11]

dont think anyone can complain about the refs so far.

Notes while I watched the recorded game:

1Q 8:28 USC 3' moving screen to allow a 3PT make.
1Q 7:30  USC slight moving screen prevents Jump from following her player, but then Jump is called for a foul on the shooter whom she isn't near.  Call is by a ref whose view is blocked, so apparently reacting to Littletion's backward flop.
1Q 6:52 USC two moving screens by the same player leads to a 3pt make.
(2Q 7:30 Wandering Jones leaves her player (only 20% 3PT%) open for a wide open 3.)
(2Q 6:58 Another flop try by, you guessed it, Littleton)
(2Q 6:28 Circus shot miss by Jones with Demetre open for a 3)
(2Q 6:08 Jones fails to get out on player on a switch, allowing a long 3)
(2Q 2:27 Another USC attempted flop)
(2Q 2:15 Brink should know better than to try to rescue a ball under the opponent's goal!)
2Q 0:34.4 USC moving screen leads to a 3PT make
2Q 0:25 Brink makes an obvious moving screen
3Q 9:09 Should have been a foul on Brink
(3Q 8:24 Loose defense by Jones results in an open 3ptr by her player)
3Q 6:03 USC moving screen
(3Q 5:00 Wandering Jones lets her player hit a wide open 3)
3Q 0:16 The elbow over the head of the defender could have been called an intentional foul by Brink
3Q 0:03 Should have been a foul on USC on Jones's 2PT
(4Q 9:35 Wandering Jones doesn't pay any attention to her player who goes to get the O-board)
(4Q 8:15 Wandering Jones doesn't pay any attention to her player for about 10 seconds, leading to a wide-open 3PT miss)
(4Q 6:33 Jump gets blocked out, leading to a USC O-board)
4Q 6:24 USC Moving screen allows a 3PT miss and leads to a USC O-board.
(4Q 3:30 Jones failure to block out allows her player to get a USC O-board)
(4Q 3:25 Jones/Nivar communication failure leads to an open shot)
(4Q 3:22 Iriafen tries to block out but isn't effective, leading to USC O-board)
4Q 2:45 USC Push-off and two moving screens leads to a foul called against Stanford.
(4Q 1:58 Jones's player screens Nivar; Jones doesn't switch, leaving a wide open 3pt miss)
(4Q 1:43 Jump/Nivar miscommunication leads to an open 3pt make)
(4Q 1:05 Brink should have been called for a silly foul)

I saw most all of the things you noted and agree except didn't see the Brink elbow to the head.

---

It matters who is in the game with Nivar and Lepolo. Lepolo doesn’t pass the eye test and she simply doesn’t have the basketball skill or passing vision to play against a ball pressure defense.

Agnes cannot dribble and so she cannot create for herself or others which makes her a liability on offense, especially against aggressive defenses.

Hannah cannot make plays for herself or others.

Tara keeps rolling out Lepolo, Agnes and Hannah together at the same time and that has brought the offense to a standstill since November but that hasn’t discouraged Tara one bit from rolling them out there together every game.

---

If the weak link is rebounding then the weak link is defense too because defensive rebounding is essential to playing good defense. Oy vey

There were 3 categories of our bad rebounding:
1. Missed 3 pointers by SC with long rebounds. Those types the D almost never get, almost always turn into O rebs
2. A crowd of both D and O rebounders and fight for the ball. We lost almost all of these usually because SC was more aggressive, some legit, some should have been fouls on SC
3. 50-50 balls mostly gotten by SC being quicker and more reactive

We made it easier on #2 and #3 for SC by poor blocking out, letting SC players slip in.

---

Came home late and watched the replay -- OMG what a root canal that was!

At one point we were up 40-29 and then we got outscored 18-10 the rest of the game.  Fortunately $C was just a little worse than we were on offense.

I gotta say I'm getting less and less enamored of Lepolo.  She's just getting a little too Martha-like.  

OTOH Nivar really stepped up, although she lost a little aggressiveness toward the end.

Good move by Tara putting Agnes in on Littleton.  I really thought that turned things around in the first half.

Best play was, again, watching Cam bring the ball up court.  But watching her miss all those 3's and mid-range shots was painful.

I had high hopes for the Betts/Brink post combo, but I'm not sure I see the chemistry yet.  I do want to see more of that combination.  But as another poster mentioned, Betts doesn't seem to consistently have the intensity yet.

Lepolo just hasn't been as aggressive offensively as she was prior to her injury. She has attacked the basket less and looked for her shot less. I hope she returns to her prior play as that really puts pressure on opposing D's. I rather see her or Nivar handling the ball out front most of the time rather than see Haely dribbling on the perimeter for many seconds. If Haley has the ball on the perimeter, she just needs to immediately take her player off the dribble or pass and move so she can get a pass back for a shot.

I didn't pay attention to Littleton much in the first half, but watched her in the second. Don't know if we changed things from the first, but Jump was on Littleton most all the second half and was terrific denying her the ball and not giving her much space.

---

You know what other game was a root canal?  The national championship game against Arizona two years ago, a 54-53 win where Arizona had a chance at a game winning shot as time expired.  You will also recall that Arizona was good (top-25), but hardly one of the top teams in the country.  Had that game occurred at any point other than in the finals, we might have said "yuck, we aren't that good" and certain posters amongst us would have been very critical of the team and coach after that win.

Stanford is a good, but flawed team.  We are ranked in the top 4, which seems reasonable given our track record and the fact that aside from South Carolina and maybe Indiana, there really is no other team without flaws.  Most of those teams' flaws are more substantial than Stanford's.  I don't think that even the most optimistic poster here denies the existence of our weaknesses, and it means that once we get to the sweet sixteen, we won't be able to take any games for granted.  If/when we get to the final four, we will have to play better than we played today to move on.

But that is also not a reason not to celebrate that we beat a tough, ranked team, even if it was by the skin of our teeth.  And it is no reason to get histrionic about the team, the coach, or our prospects going forward.

BC

Agree with you Boston, good points. It's why I keep reiterating that in the stretch run against tough opponents, we need to play to our strengths and not worry about our weaknesses (i.e. force other teams to try to match up with us, rather than say us try to go small to match up with smaller, quicker teams - So Carolina does it this way, we should also). Plus, we need to have a dominating, aggressive attitude. At this point in the season, it often is the team who wants it the most and forces its will on the opponent.

[treetop11]

dont think anyone can complain about the refs so far.

Notes while I watched the recorded game:

1Q 8:28 USC 3' moving screen to allow a 3PT make.
1Q 7:30  USC slight moving screen prevents Jump from following her player, but then Jump is called for a foul on the shooter whom she isn't near.  Call is by a ref whose view is blocked, so apparently reacting to Littletion's backward flop.
1Q 6:52 USC two moving screens by the same player leads to a 3pt make.
(2Q 7:30 Wandering Jones leaves her player (only 20% 3PT%) open for a wide open 3.)
(2Q 6:58 Another flop try by, you guessed it, Littleton)
(2Q 6:28 Circus shot miss by Jones with Demetre open for a 3)
(2Q 6:08 Jones fails to get out on player on a switch, allowing a long 3)
(2Q 2:27 Another USC attempted flop)
(2Q 2:15 Brink should know better than to try to rescue a ball under the opponent's goal!)
2Q 0:34.4 USC moving screen leads to a 3PT make
2Q 0:25 Brink makes an obvious moving screen
3Q 9:09 Should have been a foul on Brink
(3Q 8:24 Loose defense by Jones results in an open 3ptr by her player)
3Q 6:03 USC moving screen
(3Q 5:00 Wandering Jones lets her player hit a wide open 3)
3Q 0:16 The elbow over the head of the defender could have been called an intentional foul by Brink
3Q 0:03 Should have been a foul on USC on Jones's 2PT
(4Q 9:35 Wandering Jones doesn't pay any attention to her player who goes to get the O-board)
(4Q 8:15 Wandering Jones doesn't pay any attention to her player for about 10 seconds, leading to a wide-open 3PT miss)
(4Q 6:33 Jump gets blocked out, leading to a USC O-board)
4Q 6:24 USC Moving screen allows a 3PT miss and leads to a USC O-board.
(4Q 3:30 Jones failure to block out allows her player to get a USC O-board)
(4Q 3:25 Jones/Nivar communication failure leads to an open shot)
(4Q 3:22 Iriafen tries to block out but isn't effective, leading to USC O-board)
4Q 2:45 USC Push-off and two moving screens leads to a foul called against Stanford.
(4Q 1:58 Jones's player screens Nivar; Jones doesn't switch, leaving a wide open 3pt miss)
(4Q 1:43 Jump/Nivar miscommunication leads to an open 3pt make)
(4Q 1:05 Brink should have been called for a silly foul)

I saw most all of the things you noted and agree except didn't see the Brink elbow to the head.

---

It matters who is in the game with Nivar and Lepolo. Lepolo doesn’t pass the eye test and she simply doesn’t have the basketball skill or passing vision to play against a ball pressure defense.

Agnes cannot dribble and so she cannot create for herself or others which makes her a liability on offense, especially against aggressive defenses.

Hannah cannot make plays for herself or others.

Tara keeps rolling out Lepolo, Agnes and Hannah together at the same time and that has brought the offense to a standstill since November but that hasn’t discouraged Tara one bit from rolling them out there together every game.

---

If the weak link is rebounding then the weak link is defense too because defensive rebounding is essential to playing good defense. Oy vey

There were 3 categories of our bad rebounding:
1. Missed 3 pointers by SC with long rebounds. Those types the D almost never get, almost always turn into O rebs
2. A crowd of both D and O rebounders and fight for the ball. We lost almost all of these usually because SC was more aggressive, some legit, some should have been fouls on SC
3. 50-50 balls mostly gotten by SC being quicker and more reactive

We made it easier on #2 and #3 for SC by poor blocking out, letting SC players slip in.

---

Came home late and watched the replay -- OMG what a root canal that was!

At one point we were up 40-29 and then we got outscored 18-10 the rest of the game.  Fortunately $C was just a little worse than we were on offense.

I gotta say I'm getting less and less enamored of Lepolo.  She's just getting a little too Martha-like.  

OTOH Nivar really stepped up, although she lost a little aggressiveness toward the end.

Good move by Tara putting Agnes in on Littleton.  I really thought that turned things around in the first half.

Best play was, again, watching Cam bring the ball up court.  But watching her miss all those 3's and mid-range shots was painful.

I had high hopes for the Betts/Brink post combo, but I'm not sure I see the chemistry yet.  I do want to see more of that combination.  But as another poster mentioned, Betts doesn't seem to consistently have the intensity yet.

Lepolo just hasn't been as aggressive offensively as she was prior to her injury. She has attacked the basket less and looked for her shot less. I hope she returns to her prior play as that really puts pressure on opposing D's. I rather see her or Nivar handling the ball out front most of the time rather than see Haely dribbling on the perimeter for many seconds. If Haley has the ball on the perimeter, she just needs to immediately take her player off the dribble or pass and move so she can get a pass back for a shot.

I didn't pay attention to Littleton much in the first half, but watched her in the second. Don't know if we changed things from the first, but Jump was on Littleton most all the second half and was terrific denying her the ball and not giving her much space.

---

You know what other game was a root canal?  The national championship game against Arizona two years ago, a 54-53 win where Arizona had a chance at a game winning shot as time expired.  You will also recall that Arizona was good (top-25), but hardly one of the top teams in the country.  Had that game occurred at any point other than in the finals, we might have said "yuck, we aren't that good" and certain posters amongst us would have been very critical of the team and coach after that win.

Stanford is a good, but flawed team.  We are ranked in the top 4, which seems reasonable given our track record and the fact that aside from South Carolina and maybe Indiana, there really is no other team without flaws.  Most of those teams' flaws are more substantial than Stanford's.  I don't think that even the most optimistic poster here denies the existence of our weaknesses, and it means that once we get to the sweet sixteen, we won't be able to take any games for granted.  If/when we get to the final four, we will have to play better than we played today to move on.

But that is also not a reason not to celebrate that we beat a tough, ranked team, even if it was by the skin of our teeth.  And it is no reason to get histrionic about the team, the coach, or our prospects going forward.

BC

Agree with you Boston, good points. It's why I keep reiterating that in the stretch run against tough opponents, we need to play to our strengths and not worry about our weaknesses (i.e. force other teams to try to match up with us, rather than say us try to go small to match up with smaller, quicker teams - So Carolina does it this way, we should also). Plus, we need to have a dominating, aggressive attitude. At this point in the season, it often is the team who wants it the most and forces its will on the opponent.