02-22-2014, 02:51 AM
I surely didn't like the foul by Ariya Cook on Bonnie with 2:35 left in the game. Bad sportsmanship.
Of course I was disappointed in the first 14 minutes. More on that below. But then when we got up 9 points with 1:37 to go, I thought we would put them out of their misery. We didn't. Instead we gave U.SC a good shot to tie the game. That bothers me -- we need to have more of a killer instinct.
I don't understand why Amber wasn't benched much earlier in the first half. She almost single-handedly accounted for U.SC's offense in the first half. She was out of the game only for 3 minutes, but Stanford won those 3 minutes 7-0 and lost the 37 minutes she was in 57-59. She did play better on defense (and offense, of course) in the second half. I think our other guards are playing well enough that Amber should be benched when her head isn't in the defense.
I don't catch the name of the former player who did color in the men's game on Thursday, but he commented about players that go for steals often wind up giving up more points than their steals are worth. I see this style in Amber all the time. She wants to get rebounds & blocks & steals on double teams, which look great if you only look at those. But her player is often the one getting free & scoring.
What I saw in Amber's play in the first 11 minutes:
18:41 Off. Weak pass from Amber to Chiney allows USC to strip the ball. Mostly Chiney's fault but a snappier pass would have avoided the turnover.
18:24 Def. Amber goes to sleep when she is at the block and her player is 10+ feet away. She gets caught amongst the trees and apparently loses sight of her player. She doesn't even seem to react when her player gets in position to shoot outside the 3pt line. Amber is 12' away when the ball goes up and isn't even moving toward her player. Three points from this unguarded shot.
17:37 Def. USC player walks Amber to the block and Amber goes to sleep again. She stand uselessly 4' from the basket, all alone, as her player goes out to the guard area. Amber is 20' off her when she gets the ball. Another wide open shot for 3.
16:51 Def. USC player gets the ball 15' outside the 3pt line & Amber is at the 3pt line. Amber is stymied by what should have been an ineffective screen and watches her player drive for a layup, which was missed.
16:28 Def. USC on a fast break. Carlie & Amber are ahead of the break but neither reacts to the stop & pop from the elbow. Another 2 pts for USC
15:10 Off. A wide open Amber makes a weak pass to the top of the key where the USC player had time to break out, deflect the pass, and run away with a 2pt layup.
14:08 Def. Stanford is playing so far off people that it sure looks like a zone. A cross court pass to a wide-open player. Amber is closest but she doesn't get close enough to contest the 18' basket.
13:10 Off. Amber misses a 3pt shot with 29 seconds on the 30 second clock. I guess she's given up on the 60% shooting of Chiney.
13:04 Def. Another quick drive by USC. Amber is in front of the USC girl but can't affect the 11' stop & pop shot again. Fortunately it misses
12:38 Def. Amber's player takes her down to the block & leaves her there. Amber can't get back out on her player who 10 seconds later has an uncontested 3pt basket.
At this point, Amber's play has contributed to 11 of the 21 points that USC has.
9:16 Off. This is just one example of what I see as a perpetual problem with Amber. She stands around in positions where the ball handler can't get her the ball. Chiney wants to pass to her but Amber neither pulls out or drives to the basket. Chiney passes to Ruef & Amber winds up at the top of the key. Again, Ruef can't pass to Amber as she hasn't positioned herself so she can be part of the offense.
Of course I was disappointed in the first 14 minutes. More on that below. But then when we got up 9 points with 1:37 to go, I thought we would put them out of their misery. We didn't. Instead we gave U.SC a good shot to tie the game. That bothers me -- we need to have more of a killer instinct.
I don't understand why Amber wasn't benched much earlier in the first half. She almost single-handedly accounted for U.SC's offense in the first half. She was out of the game only for 3 minutes, but Stanford won those 3 minutes 7-0 and lost the 37 minutes she was in 57-59. She did play better on defense (and offense, of course) in the second half. I think our other guards are playing well enough that Amber should be benched when her head isn't in the defense.
I don't catch the name of the former player who did color in the men's game on Thursday, but he commented about players that go for steals often wind up giving up more points than their steals are worth. I see this style in Amber all the time. She wants to get rebounds & blocks & steals on double teams, which look great if you only look at those. But her player is often the one getting free & scoring.
What I saw in Amber's play in the first 11 minutes:
18:41 Off. Weak pass from Amber to Chiney allows USC to strip the ball. Mostly Chiney's fault but a snappier pass would have avoided the turnover.
18:24 Def. Amber goes to sleep when she is at the block and her player is 10+ feet away. She gets caught amongst the trees and apparently loses sight of her player. She doesn't even seem to react when her player gets in position to shoot outside the 3pt line. Amber is 12' away when the ball goes up and isn't even moving toward her player. Three points from this unguarded shot.
17:37 Def. USC player walks Amber to the block and Amber goes to sleep again. She stand uselessly 4' from the basket, all alone, as her player goes out to the guard area. Amber is 20' off her when she gets the ball. Another wide open shot for 3.
16:51 Def. USC player gets the ball 15' outside the 3pt line & Amber is at the 3pt line. Amber is stymied by what should have been an ineffective screen and watches her player drive for a layup, which was missed.
16:28 Def. USC on a fast break. Carlie & Amber are ahead of the break but neither reacts to the stop & pop from the elbow. Another 2 pts for USC
15:10 Off. A wide open Amber makes a weak pass to the top of the key where the USC player had time to break out, deflect the pass, and run away with a 2pt layup.
14:08 Def. Stanford is playing so far off people that it sure looks like a zone. A cross court pass to a wide-open player. Amber is closest but she doesn't get close enough to contest the 18' basket.
13:10 Off. Amber misses a 3pt shot with 29 seconds on the 30 second clock. I guess she's given up on the 60% shooting of Chiney.
13:04 Def. Another quick drive by USC. Amber is in front of the USC girl but can't affect the 11' stop & pop shot again. Fortunately it misses
12:38 Def. Amber's player takes her down to the block & leaves her there. Amber can't get back out on her player who 10 seconds later has an uncontested 3pt basket.
At this point, Amber's play has contributed to 11 of the 21 points that USC has.
9:16 Off. This is just one example of what I see as a perpetual problem with Amber. She stands around in positions where the ball handler can't get her the ball. Chiney wants to pass to her but Amber neither pulls out or drives to the basket. Chiney passes to Ruef & Amber winds up at the top of the key. Again, Ruef can't pass to Amber as she hasn't positioned herself so she can be part of the offense.