[MV72018]

However this turns out I don't want to hear Tara's reasons or excuses for this performance in presser

Wait, a fellow alum who also doesn't think Tara is a good coach?? I practically got run off the board for my comments to that effect last year. I think she's an A+ recruiter (though wonder how much that's just Stanford) and a C- coach. She's Haase with better talent, actually superior talent. I said last year and stand by that if Geno had been the Stanford coach during all these decades Stanford women would have 2-3x as many national championships as Tara has managed.

Then you weren’t on the board when I said Geno was absolutely a better coach (didn’t think that fact was in dispute) and also almost got run off the board.

Where we differ? Tara has been good in the past and I think she is Top 5 WBB coach with her 3 championships and the importance of that Olympic team in starting the WNBA but everyone must transition at some point to the next stage in life. Muffet, Sylvia, C Vivian etc pretty much all her fellow pioneers have moved on. I thought she said she wasn’t coaching after 70 years old maybe a decade ago (maybe I imagined it). She just got beat by a 40 year old up and coming coach. It is a young person’s profession really with all the stress and demands, and the evolution of the game which she hasn’t been able to keep up with.

---

Also symmetry, it’s apparent this team doesn’t practice late game execution and decision-making, and nothing changed since the S.Carolina game and timeout call and lack of execution.

In the UCLA game, Hannah Jump can’t get a shot off. Rather than take the dead ball turnover, she throws it not toward the basket but up in the air for a live ball turnover to start UCLA’s transition break which results in a UCLA 3-pointer in transition.

Today, Hannah has a timeout but instead decides to throw it to an Ole Miss player.

Bizarre coaching. 

But I don’t understand the coaches’ obsession with Lepolo and Agnes all year. I really do not. For these type of games you need people who can get to the basket off the dribble. Agnes cannot dribble, and Lepolo probably shouldn’t dribble. You had Texas last year. Same type of team so you know what skillset you should be developing in your backcourt and you barely play Nivar and don’t play Bosgana at all.

Since Candace Wiggins Stanford hasn't had anyone with real ability to take it hard to the hoop and finish or dish to the wings. It seems clear that Tara's preferred strategy is to go for a talented, very big 5, surround her with a couple of accurate outside shooters, and a guard who can set things up and feed the posts. Alas, when we run into athletic teams who play pressing D and are quick enough to double the center, then we're in trouble. We saw it over and over again, against UCLA, USC, UW, Utah, and tonight against Ole Miss. Tara either needs to change her O strategy or start recruiting quite differently. Stanford is far too slow to keep up with the growing number of really athletic teams in the country, including in the PAC-12. 

Had we not been ousted by Ole Miss, Stanford would have been sent home by Iowa, UConn or South Carolina among other very athletic teams. In defeat, Cam played well, great on D, and Haley played well during the comeback, except for that turnover when surrounded by three defenders with no one tp bail her out. Our over-reliance on Brink and Jones cost us right there. No other threats to take the pressure off the two AAs. In short, the entire dismal O scheme needs a lobotomy as does recruiting. We need more players with the essential combo of three-point shooting skill and with the dribble control and speed to take it to the hoop when played tightly on the perimeter. We don't have any of those now, with the possible exception of Bosgana.

We lucked out with Kianna who was more a scoring guard.

But yes, I’ve often said Tara’s and Kate’s idea of a point guard must be some 1950s version where the final score was like in single digits for both teams 

Basketball today is different. It’s 5-out where everyone on the court must be a threat everywhere on the court. 

But honestly something has felt different this year to be honest. But it’s not just Tara but her entire staff.

Yes, Kianna was more of a scoring guard. Haley did a lot of the work bringing the ball up the court last year too.
Remember how we barely beat UA for the Nati because of not having an excellent point guard who could beat the 
press and make great entry passes? Haley was the only good passer on this team. 

We were held to a pathetic 49 points tonight, reminiscent of the USC game. To be blunt, our O was dismal against good D all year.

[MV72018]

However this turns out I don't want to hear Tara's reasons or excuses for this performance in presser

Wait, a fellow alum who also doesn't think Tara is a good coach?? I practically got run off the board for my comments to that effect last year. I think she's an A+ recruiter (though wonder how much that's just Stanford) and a C- coach. She's Haase with better talent, actually superior talent. I said last year and stand by that if Geno had been the Stanford coach during all these decades Stanford women would have 2-3x as many national championships as Tara has managed.

Then you weren’t on the board when I said Geno was absolutely a better coach (didn’t think that fact was in dispute) and also almost got run off the board.

Where we differ? Tara has been good in the past and I think she is Top 5 WBB coach with her 3 championships and the importance of that Olympic team in starting the WNBA but everyone must transition at some point to the next stage in life. Muffet, Sylvia, C Vivian etc pretty much all her fellow pioneers have moved on. I thought she said she wasn’t coaching after 70 years old maybe a decade ago (maybe I imagined it). She just got beat by a 40 year old up and coming coach. It is a young person’s profession really with all the stress and demands, and the evolution of the game which she hasn’t been able to keep up with.

---

Also symmetry, it’s apparent this team doesn’t practice late game execution and decision-making, and nothing changed since the S.Carolina game and timeout call and lack of execution.

In the UCLA game, Hannah Jump can’t get a shot off. Rather than take the dead ball turnover, she throws it not toward the basket but up in the air for a live ball turnover to start UCLA’s transition break which results in a UCLA 3-pointer in transition.

Today, Hannah has a timeout but instead decides to throw it to an Ole Miss player.

Bizarre coaching. 

But I don’t understand the coaches’ obsession with Lepolo and Agnes all year. I really do not. For these type of games you need people who can get to the basket off the dribble. Agnes cannot dribble, and Lepolo probably shouldn’t dribble. You had Texas last year. Same type of team so you know what skillset you should be developing in your backcourt and you barely play Nivar and don’t play Bosgana at all.

Since Candace Wiggins Stanford hasn't had anyone with real ability to take it hard to the hoop and finish or dish to the wings. It seems clear that Tara's preferred strategy is to go for a talented, very big 5, surround her with a couple of accurate outside shooters, and a guard who can set things up and feed the posts. Alas, when we run into athletic teams who play pressing D and are quick enough to double the center, then we're in trouble. We saw it over and over again, against UCLA, USC, UW, Utah, and tonight against Ole Miss. Tara either needs to change her O strategy or start recruiting quite differently. Stanford is far too slow to keep up with the growing number of really athletic teams in the country, including in the PAC-12. 

Had we not been ousted by Ole Miss, Stanford would have been sent home by Iowa, UConn or South Carolina among other very athletic teams. In defeat, Cam played well, great on D, and Haley played well during the comeback, except for that turnover when surrounded by three defenders with no one tp bail her out. Our over-reliance on Brink and Jones cost us right there. No other threats to take the pressure off the two AAs. In short, the entire dismal O scheme needs a lobotomy as does recruiting. We need more players with the essential combo of three-point shooting skill and with the dribble control and speed to take it to the hoop when played tightly on the perimeter. We don't have any of those now, with the possible exception of Bosgana.

We lucked out with Kianna who was more a scoring guard.

But yes, I’ve often said Tara’s and Kate’s idea of a point guard must be some 1950s version where the final score was like in single digits for both teams 

Basketball today is different. It’s 5-out where everyone on the court must be a threat everywhere on the court. 

But honestly something has felt different this year to be honest. But it’s not just Tara but her entire staff.

Yes, Kianna was more of a scoring guard. Haley did a lot of the work bringing the ball up the court last year too.
Remember how we barely beat UA for the Nati because of not having an excellent point guard who could beat the 
press and make great entry passes? Haley was the only good passer on this team. 

We were held to a pathetic 49 points tonight, reminiscent of the USC game. To be blunt, our O was dismal against good D all year.