Post game analysis
Overview:
Reading the thread above will tell you most of what you need to know. In a normal year, this game would have been important but not crucial. Given the way last year ended--with losses to UCLA, Utah, and even transfer laden Ole Miss--followed by the transfer out of 3 players and the graduation of another #1 recruit--I have never seen or felt such despair about Stanford WBB. And so blowing out a team that was another #1 seed last year, and doing so emphatically, with joy, and with the marked improvement of returning players and the surprising aid of freshmen--this was as Tara said a "statement game" and gives us cause to hope that this season could be much more joyous than last season.
Performances:
Brink showed that she has indeed worked on her 3 point shot, which makes her even more difficult to defend, sinking 2/3. She was only 4/8 ("only" = 50%) from in close, but she bore the brunt of the Indiana defense. And she made up for it with a perfect 6/6 free throw shooting. On defense, she added 4 blocks and kept her fouls down to 2--at least one of which was an offensive foul on a moving screen. She did have 5 turnovers, which seems to happen a lot to posts who get doubled. 20 points and 17 rebounds.
Iriafen is, in the words of Brink, the most improved player in the country. 20 points and 11 rebounds is nothing to sneer at. Those are Chiney numbers, exceeded only by her teammate Brink. Most impressive, she was 9/12 around the rim--better than Brink, and made some sweet mid range jumpers when the path to the rim was blocked. The downside was 4 personal fouls that limited her to 20 minutes. But consider 20 points and 11 rebounds in 20 minutes, and double that if she can stay in the game. Zounds!
Jump deserves mention. She was blanketed on the perimeter for the most part, being the obvious focus of attention of the opposing perimeter defense. Still she was 2/4, but more important were her drives to the basket, where she was 3/4 on layups and floaters. She has diversified her offense over prior years. A mark of Tara's confidence in her defense and her conditioning is that she led the team with 33 minutes played.
Bosgana and Agara were the other 2 double digit scorers, Bosgana more in the first half and Agara more in the 2nd. Bosgana has come a long way from her freshman year and now she mixes up treys, drives, and assists in equal measure. Agara demonstrated the ability to score in traffic, but today she did something I have not seen in the prior games and scrimmages: she was 1/2 from three point range. Agara could, if she continues to improve, become a Kelsey Plum type player--though taller (in the sense of scoring at three levels and welcoming contact.) On the other hand, she was badly beaten on defense a time or two, as you might expect a freshman to be.
Demetre and Ogden both shot poorly tonight. This is a second poor shooting game for Demetre and the first for Ogden. But they are both in general highly accurate, excellent shooters, and I expect they will leave their slumps behind and start contributing on offense. Not everyone gets hot at the same time. But let's keep an eye on them.
Lepolo, Clardy, and Harriel were our shorter, speedy, ball handling point guards. I had great worries that any of them could score much against a team which featured guards about 3"-7" taller than any of them. But they acquitted themselves well. I suppose we could get into a "point guard controversy" between Lepolo and Clardy in time. Lepolo had 4 assists, only 1 turnover, and made 6 points on 2/3 three point shooting. Clardy (in half the minutes) had 1 assist, 1 turnover, and 7 points. Lepolo faces the same issue as always: becoming more aggressive with her own shot. Clardy certainly has the aggression, but needs to understand the offense better to initiate more assists. I suspect the two will be in friendly competition, and how wonderful to have two competent point guards to push each other to improve. Harriel, on the other hand, had a welcome 6 points but had no assists.
Conclusion:
Wow, what a difference a game makes. The entire season feels different now. We may well have some set backs, and UCLA, Colorado, Utah, and other Pac-deserter teams may give us a hard time. But today's game was an absolute joy to watch--and I don't remember any other games that were so joyous for both players and fans since the wheels fell off January 15 last year at USC.
Going forward, I think the acid test will be whether our freshmen become more competent defenders. We also need to keep an eye on Demetre and freshman Ogden to see if their shooting returns to their norms. Finally, how easily will our opponents adapt to Tara's resuscitation of the old triangle offense? Will that offense continue to be as effective as it was against Indiana, or will other teams scheme to shut it down? Remember, the "Flow" offense worked very well until Cal showed its weakness last year in its narrow 56-60 loss to us, and our offense was never the same again. The mark of a truly excellent team is that it can successfully execute its offense even when the defense knows what it coming. Is that team Stanford 2023-24?
Chron article:
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/colle...472178.php
Overview:
Reading the thread above will tell you most of what you need to know. In a normal year, this game would have been important but not crucial. Given the way last year ended--with losses to UCLA, Utah, and even transfer laden Ole Miss--followed by the transfer out of 3 players and the graduation of another #1 recruit--I have never seen or felt such despair about Stanford WBB. And so blowing out a team that was another #1 seed last year, and doing so emphatically, with joy, and with the marked improvement of returning players and the surprising aid of freshmen--this was as Tara said a "statement game" and gives us cause to hope that this season could be much more joyous than last season.
Performances:
Brink showed that she has indeed worked on her 3 point shot, which makes her even more difficult to defend, sinking 2/3. She was only 4/8 ("only" = 50%) from in close, but she bore the brunt of the Indiana defense. And she made up for it with a perfect 6/6 free throw shooting. On defense, she added 4 blocks and kept her fouls down to 2--at least one of which was an offensive foul on a moving screen. She did have 5 turnovers, which seems to happen a lot to posts who get doubled. 20 points and 17 rebounds.
Iriafen is, in the words of Brink, the most improved player in the country. 20 points and 11 rebounds is nothing to sneer at. Those are Chiney numbers, exceeded only by her teammate Brink. Most impressive, she was 9/12 around the rim--better than Brink, and made some sweet mid range jumpers when the path to the rim was blocked. The downside was 4 personal fouls that limited her to 20 minutes. But consider 20 points and 11 rebounds in 20 minutes, and double that if she can stay in the game. Zounds!
Jump deserves mention. She was blanketed on the perimeter for the most part, being the obvious focus of attention of the opposing perimeter defense. Still she was 2/4, but more important were her drives to the basket, where she was 3/4 on layups and floaters. She has diversified her offense over prior years. A mark of Tara's confidence in her defense and her conditioning is that she led the team with 33 minutes played.
Bosgana and Agara were the other 2 double digit scorers, Bosgana more in the first half and Agara more in the 2nd. Bosgana has come a long way from her freshman year and now she mixes up treys, drives, and assists in equal measure. Agara demonstrated the ability to score in traffic, but today she did something I have not seen in the prior games and scrimmages: she was 1/2 from three point range. Agara could, if she continues to improve, become a Kelsey Plum type player--though taller (in the sense of scoring at three levels and welcoming contact.) On the other hand, she was badly beaten on defense a time or two, as you might expect a freshman to be.
Demetre and Ogden both shot poorly tonight. This is a second poor shooting game for Demetre and the first for Ogden. But they are both in general highly accurate, excellent shooters, and I expect they will leave their slumps behind and start contributing on offense. Not everyone gets hot at the same time. But let's keep an eye on them.
Lepolo, Clardy, and Harriel were our shorter, speedy, ball handling point guards. I had great worries that any of them could score much against a team which featured guards about 3"-7" taller than any of them. But they acquitted themselves well. I suppose we could get into a "point guard controversy" between Lepolo and Clardy in time. Lepolo had 4 assists, only 1 turnover, and made 6 points on 2/3 three point shooting. Clardy (in half the minutes) had 1 assist, 1 turnover, and 7 points. Lepolo faces the same issue as always: becoming more aggressive with her own shot. Clardy certainly has the aggression, but needs to understand the offense better to initiate more assists. I suspect the two will be in friendly competition, and how wonderful to have two competent point guards to push each other to improve. Harriel, on the other hand, had a welcome 6 points but had no assists.
Conclusion:
Wow, what a difference a game makes. The entire season feels different now. We may well have some set backs, and UCLA, Colorado, Utah, and other Pac-deserter teams may give us a hard time. But today's game was an absolute joy to watch--and I don't remember any other games that were so joyous for both players and fans since the wheels fell off January 15 last year at USC.
Going forward, I think the acid test will be whether our freshmen become more competent defenders. We also need to keep an eye on Demetre and freshman Ogden to see if their shooting returns to their norms. Finally, how easily will our opponents adapt to Tara's resuscitation of the old triangle offense? Will that offense continue to be as effective as it was against Indiana, or will other teams scheme to shut it down? Remember, the "Flow" offense worked very well until Cal showed its weakness last year in its narrow 56-60 loss to us, and our offense was never the same again. The mark of a truly excellent team is that it can successfully execute its offense even when the defense knows what it coming. Is that team Stanford 2023-24?
Chron article:
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/colle...472178.php