11-20-2025, 10:35 PM
Solid start-to-finish win. A few thoughts:
Agara and Somfai were both really solid, do-everything posts. I'd love to see us run more high low action because Somfai had one brilliant pass to Agara and I suspect both are capable of running that if we prioritized it.
I wonder what is going on with Swain. She has great, physical movement, great instincts, and is very effective at getting TO the basket. But it's like she's wearing oven mitts once she gets there: she has almost no touch around the rim, or she fumbles it, or she goes up for a very telegraphed shot that gets easily blocked. At this point, I'm almost expecting her to throw it up, not score, and lose possession. I'm not sure if it's a confidence thing, or what, but it's weird because she is doing everything well except actually finishing. Each of the last three games I've been waiting for her to "break through," and it's still not happened. I hope it will, because she has many Wiggins-like aspects to her game, except that from day one, Wiggins was, as they say, "a bucket."
I can see why Eschmeyer is the fourth big off the bench: she does not do well handling switching on defense and she can get a little panicked in traffic. I think it's just a case of a freshman needing to "slow the game down," and I think she'll get there. The good news is she has excellent touch and great vision, so it's really just about building up confidence, experience, and ball handling.
I'm not sure the last time Stanford had a player as naturally charismatic and likeable as Somfai. Maybe Brink? She just practically radiates, on and off court. Her post-game interview was utterly charming. We're only 6 games in, but she already comports herself like the very best of what Stanford stands for. I'm really excited for four seasons of this. =)
Agara and Somfai were both really solid, do-everything posts. I'd love to see us run more high low action because Somfai had one brilliant pass to Agara and I suspect both are capable of running that if we prioritized it.
I wonder what is going on with Swain. She has great, physical movement, great instincts, and is very effective at getting TO the basket. But it's like she's wearing oven mitts once she gets there: she has almost no touch around the rim, or she fumbles it, or she goes up for a very telegraphed shot that gets easily blocked. At this point, I'm almost expecting her to throw it up, not score, and lose possession. I'm not sure if it's a confidence thing, or what, but it's weird because she is doing everything well except actually finishing. Each of the last three games I've been waiting for her to "break through," and it's still not happened. I hope it will, because she has many Wiggins-like aspects to her game, except that from day one, Wiggins was, as they say, "a bucket."
I can see why Eschmeyer is the fourth big off the bench: she does not do well handling switching on defense and she can get a little panicked in traffic. I think it's just a case of a freshman needing to "slow the game down," and I think she'll get there. The good news is she has excellent touch and great vision, so it's really just about building up confidence, experience, and ball handling.
I'm not sure the last time Stanford had a player as naturally charismatic and likeable as Somfai. Maybe Brink? She just practically radiates, on and off court. Her post-game interview was utterly charming. We're only 6 games in, but she already comports herself like the very best of what Stanford stands for. I'm really excited for four seasons of this. =)