I guess we were all at the game--only 1 post after the game start.
My observations:
1) At the chalk talk Kate talked about the disappointment with our offense on the Washington trip. We were not running as well as we were earlier in the year, but the main emphasis in practice this week was on "running offense" in the half court. Player position, player movement, ball movement. In a humorous moment, she said "the good news is that we became completely unscoutable, since no one, including ourselves, can know what the heck we were doing." I think we saw the results of a week of that practice tonight with 55% field goal shooting.
2) I do believe that Cal is an improved team from last time, but they did not look like it tonight. Our defense was awesome. Different people guarded Krimili, Cal's best player, and Krimili was 1/5 with no treys.
3) There was concern when Iriafen went out of the game with a lame hamstring. It appears to have been a cramp. She came back in.
4) At halftime the Cardboarders gathered to compare notes--there were half a dozen or more of us. The worst thing we could say was "no band, no dollies, no cheerleaders, no MC, no DJ." What the heck happened? I was wondering if they were all at a evening vigil for Navalny. As faculty at the time, I remember going to such a vigil on campus after Tiananmen Square and I think every student on campus was there. Just speculation on my part, given that Dasha is (still?) a student. In any case, the atmosphere at the game was not affected too much--there were still a healthy 4600 cheering on the team. But I was a bit distracted as reality had a way of intruding on my thoughts.
5) Can't let it go unremarked that Iriafen had yet another superb game, and Jump is doing quite well, seemingly over her slump. Jump was 6/7 and only 1/1 from three point range. She has turned into a complete offensive player. Brink played less than half the game given the curious fouls that were called on her and given the size of our lead.
6) At one point Marta Suarez tried to punch the ball out of one of our players' grip. There was plenty of booing but nothing was called. I presume that this is not football where punching the ball is a fairly accepted part of trying to cause a fumble. What are the rules on this in basketball? Can you punch, so long as you hit ball and not player?
My observations:
1) At the chalk talk Kate talked about the disappointment with our offense on the Washington trip. We were not running as well as we were earlier in the year, but the main emphasis in practice this week was on "running offense" in the half court. Player position, player movement, ball movement. In a humorous moment, she said "the good news is that we became completely unscoutable, since no one, including ourselves, can know what the heck we were doing." I think we saw the results of a week of that practice tonight with 55% field goal shooting.
2) I do believe that Cal is an improved team from last time, but they did not look like it tonight. Our defense was awesome. Different people guarded Krimili, Cal's best player, and Krimili was 1/5 with no treys.
3) There was concern when Iriafen went out of the game with a lame hamstring. It appears to have been a cramp. She came back in.
4) At halftime the Cardboarders gathered to compare notes--there were half a dozen or more of us. The worst thing we could say was "no band, no dollies, no cheerleaders, no MC, no DJ." What the heck happened? I was wondering if they were all at a evening vigil for Navalny. As faculty at the time, I remember going to such a vigil on campus after Tiananmen Square and I think every student on campus was there. Just speculation on my part, given that Dasha is (still?) a student. In any case, the atmosphere at the game was not affected too much--there were still a healthy 4600 cheering on the team. But I was a bit distracted as reality had a way of intruding on my thoughts.
5) Can't let it go unremarked that Iriafen had yet another superb game, and Jump is doing quite well, seemingly over her slump. Jump was 6/7 and only 1/1 from three point range. She has turned into a complete offensive player. Brink played less than half the game given the curious fouls that were called on her and given the size of our lead.
6) At one point Marta Suarez tried to punch the ball out of one of our players' grip. There was plenty of booing but nothing was called. I presume that this is not football where punching the ball is a fairly accepted part of trying to cause a fumble. What are the rules on this in basketball? Can you punch, so long as you hit ball and not player?