[stopandpop]

I’m not worried about Lepolo. Her role with USA basketball is to run the team as the starting point guard. She wouldn’t be playing the minutes she’s playing nor starting if the coaches were unhappy with what she is doing on the court. 

Joyce Edward has been impressive. She’s still in high school. She’s planning to narrow her list down to 5 and take visits this fall. Academics are a priority. I assume we’ll be in the mix with Duke, Notre Dame, and her homestate Gamecocks.

Today's contest against overmatched Argentina was an embarrassing route 112-36.  To tell you had bad Argentina was, Cal Poly SLO would beat them by 30.   Every USA player scored at least 7 points, especially subs except Lepolo.  Her line: 14:30 min. 0/1 shooting. 0 points. 1 reb. 2 assists, 2 personal fouls, 1 turnover and 3 steals.  Everyone who suited up played more minutes than Talana.

I would find it odd if USA coaches had told her - just pass, play defense and don't look to shoot, not with everyone else shooting and scoring like they did in a game that got out of hand very early.

I am a Talana fan and hope springs eternal.  Yet, there were many times when driving lanes became available or when she deferred to a teammate when Talana actually had more space (and a better shot), not just for 3's, but taking a few steps and a shooting a mid-range jumper (like she did once and so effortlessly in the previous game).

Talana will, once again, be our starting point guard, clearly our best ball handler, will probably do a better job getting the ball to CB and other in a more timely fashion and again play decent defense.  Those are all positive qualities.  Perhaps during Fall practice, Tara will encourage her to become more offensive minded, which gives us another threat.  However if TV simply wants Lepolo to continue play-making and not an uptick in scoring, then Stanford is back to 4 against 5 when we have the ball.  Not the best recipe for a top-3 or even top-4 PAC-12 record.

As a side bar, Kiki Rice did not score a basket today and got all 9 of her points at the free throw line.  So far, she has under-performed significantly in this tournament.

[stopandpop]

I’m not worried about Lepolo. Her role with USA basketball is to run the team as the starting point guard. She wouldn’t be playing the minutes she’s playing nor starting if the coaches were unhappy with what she is doing on the court. 

Joyce Edward has been impressive. She’s still in high school. She’s planning to narrow her list down to 5 and take visits this fall. Academics are a priority. I assume we’ll be in the mix with Duke, Notre Dame, and her homestate Gamecocks.

Today's contest against overmatched Argentina was an embarrassing route 112-36.  To tell you had bad Argentina was, Cal Poly SLO would beat them by 30.   Every USA player scored at least 7 points, especially subs except Lepolo.  Her line: 14:30 min. 0/1 shooting. 0 points. 1 reb. 2 assists, 2 personal fouls, 1 turnover and 3 steals.  Everyone who suited up played more minutes than Talana.

I would find it odd if USA coaches had told her - just pass, play defense and don't look to shoot, not with everyone else shooting and scoring like they did in a game that got out of hand very early.

I am a Talana fan and hope springs eternal.  Yet, there were many times when driving lanes became available or when she deferred to a teammate when Talana actually had more space (and a better shot), not just for 3's, but taking a few steps and a shooting a mid-range jumper (like she did once and so effortlessly in the previous game).

Talana will, once again, be our starting point guard, clearly our best ball handler, will probably do a better job getting the ball to CB and other in a more timely fashion and again play decent defense.  Those are all positive qualities.  Perhaps during Fall practice, Tara will encourage her to become more offensive minded, which gives us another threat.  However if TV simply wants Lepolo to continue play-making and not an uptick in scoring, then Stanford is back to 4 against 5 when we have the ball.  Not the best recipe for a top-3 or even top-4 PAC-12 record.

As a side bar, Kiki Rice did not score a basket today and got all 9 of her points at the free throw line.  So far, she has under-performed significantly in this tournament.