[Spiny_Norman]

Since everyone is in a cranky mood, I will add some of my own cranky comments.

We have become used to seeing and enjoying the noticeable improvement of Stanford teams over the course of a season and Stanford players over the course of their careers. That was missing this year. We saw as much regression as progress from the team. Individually, aside from Brink, who really improved this year compared to last season? We have heard constantly that coaches look for big jumps in performance between freshman and sophomore seasons. The 2nd year players Iriafen, Bosgana and Demetre showed flashes of what might be, but none of it was sustainable. By the end of the season, none were more than role players. And what happened to Ashten Prechtel? Her scoring average declined every year she played at Stanford.

The critical comments about the offense are entirely warranted. I won't repeat what so many have already said other than to add that to my untrained eyes the decision making by the guards appeared to be slow and the team chemistry was lacking compared to prior Stanford teams, e.g., knowing where your teammate will be cutting and getting them the ball in the right place before the defenders can react. There wasn't a lot of "flow" to the flow offense.

A major concern that developed this year was rebounding. Aside from Brink and Belibi, Stanford's bigs don't play that big. Demetre is 6-3, Prechtel is 6-5, Iriafen is 6-3. None of them is strong on the glass. Betts could be a Hoover under the boards, but she needs to be stronger and quicker. In Stanford's losses (and some of the wins), it seemed that the team got pushed around on the defensive boards and gave up a lot of 2nd chance points. With the departure of Belibi and Prechtel, Stanford is only going to have 3 forwards and 1 center on the roster next season along with 10+ guards. Where will the rebounding come from aside from Brink?

[Spiny_Norman]

Since everyone is in a cranky mood, I will add some of my own cranky comments.

We have become used to seeing and enjoying the noticeable improvement of Stanford teams over the course of a season and Stanford players over the course of their careers. That was missing this year. We saw as much regression as progress from the team. Individually, aside from Brink, who really improved this year compared to last season? We have heard constantly that coaches look for big jumps in performance between freshman and sophomore seasons. The 2nd year players Iriafen, Bosgana and Demetre showed flashes of what might be, but none of it was sustainable. By the end of the season, none were more than role players. And what happened to Ashten Prechtel? Her scoring average declined every year she played at Stanford.

The critical comments about the offense are entirely warranted. I won't repeat what so many have already said other than to add that to my untrained eyes the decision making by the guards appeared to be slow and the team chemistry was lacking compared to prior Stanford teams, e.g., knowing where your teammate will be cutting and getting them the ball in the right place before the defenders can react. There wasn't a lot of "flow" to the flow offense.

A major concern that developed this year was rebounding. Aside from Brink and Belibi, Stanford's bigs don't play that big. Demetre is 6-3, Prechtel is 6-5, Iriafen is 6-3. None of them is strong on the glass. Betts could be a Hoover under the boards, but she needs to be stronger and quicker. In Stanford's losses (and some of the wins), it seemed that the team got pushed around on the defensive boards and gave up a lot of 2nd chance points. With the departure of Belibi and Prechtel, Stanford is only going to have 3 forwards and 1 center on the roster next season along with 10+ guards. Where will the rebounding come from aside from Brink?