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I think the schedule will be quite good for us if any of our freshmen show themselves to be stars who can start in their first year.  I say that because we have a less challenging out-of-conference schedule than usual, and because the top 3-4 teams not named Stanford in the Pac 12 only appear once each on our regular league schedule.  Even with a slow start and even if we drop some games we have a reasonable path toward a top 4 seed in the Pac 12 tourney, and I think that may become the first really good test of how our team chemistry and our new players are meshing and developing.  Can we compete with UCLA and Utah in particular?  Can we hold off Colorado or a rising Washington? 

The schedule gives plenty of time for the team to "get by" while the freshmen develop and become prepared for bigger roles than freshmen usually get.  One of them has to become good enough to play major minutes by the Pac 12 tournament.  And if they have that level of excellence to earn starting roles, they should have plenty of time to develop it and to show it.

And let's face it, with Brink and Jump both gone after this year, we sure as heck had better have one or more starting-caliber players coming out of our frosh class.  If that turns out not to be true, then WBB at Stanford is going to look quite different than it has for the last 25 years.

Ogden is, by consensus and ranking, the most likely of the three to jump into such a role.  But we have been surprised before by players like Lepolo, Lili Thompson, etc. who were not discussed much in the pre season hype and became key parts of the team early in their careers.  And so I am eager to see Agara and Clardy play against tough competition, too.

Agree on schedule except we are only playing Utah and Colorado at their gyms and we all know how challenging it is to go on the road to the Mountain Schools.

Here are my keys to the season:

Chemistry- Last season's team was overly-talented and had two All-Americans, but they lacked the chemistry to play together effectively when the games were on the line.  Does this season's team have that chemistry they had when they won the NCAA and reached the Final Four the next season?

Grit- The Hulls had grit.  I'm not sure we have a player who has that grit.  Brink has passion, intensity, and an aggressiveness that (along with her talent), makes her one of the 3-4 best college players in the country, but I think there needs to be someone other than Cam to be that 'grit' person. This is an area of concern.

Game coaching/game management- Last season was probably not one of Tara's better seasons, coaching.  She must shoulder part of the responsibility for our collapse against UCLA in the PAC-12 semi-finals and certainly for our poor prep and response to Mississippi in the NCAA 2nd. round.  Game management was also a big challenge with so many talented players sitting on the bench, competing for playing time.  Now down to 12 players, Tara won't have that problem to worry about as much.  I think Tara will be internally motivated to right the wrongs of last season and show the PAC-12 (and the country), she is still one of the best coaches in the history of women's college basketball.  This will be a big plus.  I can definitely see possible upsets over Indiana and Duke in the non-conference.

The freshmen- 81alum is right.  One of those freshmen must emerge as a legit impact player and become one of the best freshmen in the PAC-12.  That would take much of the sting in losing Haley, Betts and Nivar.  The non-conference will give our 3 frosh the opportunity to show what they have.  Having that additional impact player will pay brobdingnagian dividends as we move into Conference.

Go Cardinal!

[stopandpop]

I think the schedule will be quite good for us if any of our freshmen show themselves to be stars who can start in their first year.  I say that because we have a less challenging out-of-conference schedule than usual, and because the top 3-4 teams not named Stanford in the Pac 12 only appear once each on our regular league schedule.  Even with a slow start and even if we drop some games we have a reasonable path toward a top 4 seed in the Pac 12 tourney, and I think that may become the first really good test of how our team chemistry and our new players are meshing and developing.  Can we compete with UCLA and Utah in particular?  Can we hold off Colorado or a rising Washington? 

The schedule gives plenty of time for the team to "get by" while the freshmen develop and become prepared for bigger roles than freshmen usually get.  One of them has to become good enough to play major minutes by the Pac 12 tournament.  And if they have that level of excellence to earn starting roles, they should have plenty of time to develop it and to show it.

And let's face it, with Brink and Jump both gone after this year, we sure as heck had better have one or more starting-caliber players coming out of our frosh class.  If that turns out not to be true, then WBB at Stanford is going to look quite different than it has for the last 25 years.

Ogden is, by consensus and ranking, the most likely of the three to jump into such a role.  But we have been surprised before by players like Lepolo, Lili Thompson, etc. who were not discussed much in the pre season hype and became key parts of the team early in their careers.  And so I am eager to see Agara and Clardy play against tough competition, too.

Agree on schedule except we are only playing Utah and Colorado at their gyms and we all know how challenging it is to go on the road to the Mountain Schools.

Here are my keys to the season:

Chemistry- Last season's team was overly-talented and had two All-Americans, but they lacked the chemistry to play together effectively when the games were on the line.  Does this season's team have that chemistry they had when they won the NCAA and reached the Final Four the next season?

Grit- The Hulls had grit.  I'm not sure we have a player who has that grit.  Brink has passion, intensity, and an aggressiveness that (along with her talent), makes her one of the 3-4 best college players in the country, but I think there needs to be someone other than Cam to be that 'grit' person. This is an area of concern.

Game coaching/game management- Last season was probably not one of Tara's better seasons, coaching.  She must shoulder part of the responsibility for our collapse against UCLA in the PAC-12 semi-finals and certainly for our poor prep and response to Mississippi in the NCAA 2nd. round.  Game management was also a big challenge with so many talented players sitting on the bench, competing for playing time.  Now down to 12 players, Tara won't have that problem to worry about as much.  I think Tara will be internally motivated to right the wrongs of last season and show the PAC-12 (and the country), she is still one of the best coaches in the history of women's college basketball.  This will be a big plus.  I can definitely see possible upsets over Indiana and Duke in the non-conference.

The freshmen- 81alum is right.  One of those freshmen must emerge as a legit impact player and become one of the best freshmen in the PAC-12.  That would take much of the sting in losing Haley, Betts and Nivar.  The non-conference will give our 3 frosh the opportunity to show what they have.  Having that additional impact player will pay brobdingnagian dividends as we move into Conference.

Go Cardinal!