01-15-2013, 08:30 PM
81alum, I'll try to pull out the offense & defense separately. That's a good suggestion. (FYI, I get this with a program parsing the Play-by-Play after fixing the screw-ups I run across in it. Even this far into the season, these have a number of errors. By the end of the season, they're pretty good.)
Whatever the cause of the malaise for Stanford, what can Stanford change this year in order to improve significantly? Tara talked of the team needing to be aggressive. But she didn't give an answer that rang clear when asked about how to achieve that. It seems to me that being embarrassed on national TV would have been enough. Chiney spoke of her reaction; others may have said the same, but I don't see it in their play yet.
Tara is the Hall-of-Fame coach with decades of experience at dealing with female athletes of this age. I don't mean to doubt her. My naive approach would be to bench people who aren't playing hard enough or don't follow the coaches' instructions, and to reward the hard players with playing time (perhaps beyond their ability). Chiney is the hardest player. I think Sara has played second hardest recently. Then Ruef. Then you get into an area with more candidates. Despite her scoring issues, I think Jos has played pretty well. I think Erica has played pretty well when she's in. I think Toni almost always plays tough enough. Honestly, I think Bonnie is trying and has improved, but doesn't have the physical capability to be on the floor against C.al. I don't have a strong opinion on Taylor, so I guess that must be because she's not doing things to stand out. Let's see, what starter am I leaving out?
If Sara doesn't start the next game, I'll be surprised. If Amber does start, I will continue to be disappointed.
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I did look in detail at the first 13 minutes of last game, until we lost our last lead, just after the infamous
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professiona...er_armlock
[Lousy job by the official: Even if the official makes the call that way, running practically on top of a player who was pinned to the ground and pointing down at them is poor form. Not stopping to help or even asking after the aggrieved player is inexcusable.]
It is the case that we had greatly improved the attempts to blockout on rebounds, but still C.al was better at getting to the ball, mostly through hustle and skill and strength, some through luck, and some through pretty rough play.
I think even Amber played a little better in this game in the first 13 minutes. She got 9 of Stanford's first 16 points. She got 0 of Stanford's next 39 points.
Some plays to note:
Look at the play at 18:49 and then realize that Sara was charged with a turnover for it.
If you want to scream at the officials, check out the play with 15:42 in the half. Continuous times in the paint various offensive players in that one possession: 6 seconds, 5 seconds, 4 seconds, & 4 seconds. Or how about the 5 second call on Jos? She picks up her dribble with 11:35 on the clock and is whistled with 11:31 on the clock.
I believe the game started to be lost with the play at 15:14 in the first half. If you have the stomach, watch that one (and continue into the next play) and see who was doing (or not doing) what to get into a good offensive situation. Admittedly, I've got time to watch it in detail, but it was a time I might have benched someone for not playing strong basketball.
For those that are thinking (perhaps correctly) that Stanford players are too hesitant to shoot, try looking at the play at 8:42 and see if Toni should have taken the 3 when she was open.
Whatever the cause of the malaise for Stanford, what can Stanford change this year in order to improve significantly? Tara talked of the team needing to be aggressive. But she didn't give an answer that rang clear when asked about how to achieve that. It seems to me that being embarrassed on national TV would have been enough. Chiney spoke of her reaction; others may have said the same, but I don't see it in their play yet.
Tara is the Hall-of-Fame coach with decades of experience at dealing with female athletes of this age. I don't mean to doubt her. My naive approach would be to bench people who aren't playing hard enough or don't follow the coaches' instructions, and to reward the hard players with playing time (perhaps beyond their ability). Chiney is the hardest player. I think Sara has played second hardest recently. Then Ruef. Then you get into an area with more candidates. Despite her scoring issues, I think Jos has played pretty well. I think Erica has played pretty well when she's in. I think Toni almost always plays tough enough. Honestly, I think Bonnie is trying and has improved, but doesn't have the physical capability to be on the floor against C.al. I don't have a strong opinion on Taylor, so I guess that must be because she's not doing things to stand out. Let's see, what starter am I leaving out?
If Sara doesn't start the next game, I'll be surprised. If Amber does start, I will continue to be disappointed.
====
I did look in detail at the first 13 minutes of last game, until we lost our last lead, just after the infamous
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professiona...er_armlock
[Lousy job by the official: Even if the official makes the call that way, running practically on top of a player who was pinned to the ground and pointing down at them is poor form. Not stopping to help or even asking after the aggrieved player is inexcusable.]
It is the case that we had greatly improved the attempts to blockout on rebounds, but still C.al was better at getting to the ball, mostly through hustle and skill and strength, some through luck, and some through pretty rough play.
I think even Amber played a little better in this game in the first 13 minutes. She got 9 of Stanford's first 16 points. She got 0 of Stanford's next 39 points.
Some plays to note:
Look at the play at 18:49 and then realize that Sara was charged with a turnover for it.
If you want to scream at the officials, check out the play with 15:42 in the half. Continuous times in the paint various offensive players in that one possession: 6 seconds, 5 seconds, 4 seconds, & 4 seconds. Or how about the 5 second call on Jos? She picks up her dribble with 11:35 on the clock and is whistled with 11:31 on the clock.
I believe the game started to be lost with the play at 15:14 in the first half. If you have the stomach, watch that one (and continue into the next play) and see who was doing (or not doing) what to get into a good offensive situation. Admittedly, I've got time to watch it in detail, but it was a time I might have benched someone for not playing strong basketball.
For those that are thinking (perhaps correctly) that Stanford players are too hesitant to shoot, try looking at the play at 8:42 and see if Toni should have taken the 3 when she was open.