Stanford

[Dionysus]

I enjoy your excellent analysis @BabHorn

 

[loyallonghorn]

And Imani needs to step up and play better. It's as if she has no awareness out there, like she thinks she's out there playing by herself, and Mccall is out working her.

Totally agree. It's surprising as a senior that she doesn't expect a double team at 6'7". Too often guards came down on her and stole the ball or tied it up.

 

[loyallonghorn]

I think it would beneficial to the team to move games into Gregory gym so that the team gets a real home court advantage.

 

[Dr. D]

I certainly agree they haven't peaked and they have a lot of room to grow. It's still a team without a dominating star, but they have so much depth that there are a number of individuals who can get hot on a given night and provide extra needed points. It's rarely pretty. Against good teams the Horns tend to build 10-12 point leads, then fail to put the other team away and have to hang on and win with free throws in the last minutes. The good news is that last year they would have blown those games. This year they've won them. Last year they definitely would have lost to Arkansas Little Rock. This year they roared back. The announcers quoted Aston saying she didn't know if Texas is really a top five team, but she thinks they're in the top ten. That sounds accurate. Dawn Staley recently said she thinks South Carolina has a national championship defense, but not a national championship offense. Aside from the national championship part, I think we're the same kind of team. Tough defense, inconsistent offense. We're not going to lose nine games in the Big 12 this year. We'll get a high seed in March. We could get to the Elite Eight. On the other hand, we're capable of being upset in an earlier round if we have a third quarter (no baskets) like the one in Little Rock, or a fourth quarter (one basket) like the one against Stanford. It's great, though, to beat Stanford and Tennessee two years in a row, while still thinking we need to improve. That's the mentality that produces excellence.

 

[rattfatt]

I think it would beneficial to the team to move games into Gregory gym so that the team gets a real home court advantage.

Playing in Gregory would be a good idea. But I think the reason it won't happen is because the athletic department has to pay the school every time they use it. The volleyball team used to practice there every day and they had to pay the university every time they did. Which is why the athletic department built the practice facility for the volleyball team.

 

[rattfatt]

Totally agree. It's surprising as a senior that she doesn't expect a double team at 6'7". Too often guards came down on her and stole the ball or tied it up.

I also think that Coach Aston could help Imani by running more post isolations. When the guard throws the ball into the post, have that guard either slide to the top of the key or cut through. That leaves Imani has the only player on that side of the court. And she can face up or play with her back to the basket and see where the double team is coming from a lot easier. And they can still play inside out.

 

[WCBBNUT]

Another good win against another good team.

 

[BabHorn]

from the C and R's Stanford blog:
http://www.womenssportsinformation.com/blog.html

December 13 Texas Turns back Stanford

What’s the difference between a top 5 team and a top 14 team? About nine points. Also rebounding. The Stanford Women’s Basketball team lost to #5 Texas 77-69. There was not much suspense in this as C and R said, Texas kept that 9 point lead and out rebounded them practically 2-1 in the first half.

How bad was it on the rebounding side? Stanford did not have an offensive rebound in the first half! In fact they go there first O-board with 3 minutes left in the third. And no, it wasn’t that Stanford was making all their shots, they were 3-11 from the 3-point line in the first before hitting 50% in the second (live by the three…). And also it wasn’t so much that Texas boxed out or out hustled them. It was mostly due to the Stanford game plan of having the post player set a high screen at the three point line. If the Stanford guard pulled the trigger quickly on the three after the screen, the post player was out of position for a rebound. Many times three Texas players would surround the ball with no black jersey in sight (love the black road jerseys, though!). The final tally of boards was 44-29, Texas.

A word about defense. Help. In that when Stanford plays man to man (or politically correct player to player) they have a very hard time helping if the opposing player gets past them. Which Texas did. Funny thing was Texas had the same problem, playing man to man and not helping if their player got past them. The only problem was not very many Stanford players did that. Our freshie guard Marta did the first few minutes she had the ball when she did enter the game, then got regulated back to the bench. Would have liked to see more of her.

Love how Lili Thompson looks for Erica McCall, and she made some nifty passes to her. However, she needs to make sure she is looking for others as well. Or one could argue that the other Stanford players are not getting open, a fair argument. A few times it looked like Lili was pressing, trying to do too much, driving even though the defense was there. However, again, it might be that other players were not working to get open....

 

[TagHorns]

What happened to Sanders ? I remember her being much better and more of a gamer. She also used to HIT 3s as well, and play tough defense...Now she seems slow and kinda out of it.

She's been trying to fight back from surgery. I think they said it possibly career ending. She may just be trying to hang on as this is her senior season. Gotta hand it to her....her heart and drive is bigger than most! She doesn't give up easily after having several surgeries during her career at Texas. I think her body is telling her something. She will always be one of my favorite players! Very classy young lady with several awards to boot while she was here. Still staying classy trying to pump her team up even with not playing much! Not many would do the same.

 

[TagHorns]

Brady and Celina at times seem unsure of what to do in the half court. Brady is just completely out of character, trying to go off the dribble or simply over dribbling. I don't get it. But this offense is still very stagnant outside of the 1 on 1 play.

Completely agree with the stagnancy.....that's how it has been all year. No talking on the floor, just players moving as if they are looking for "their" shot, not looking as if running plays. Maybe Aston is giving them more freedom and they don't know what to do with it.....?

 

[TagHorns]

In watching the game again, it's obvious that we do look a little lost at times. Slow footed on defense. I counted several times Stanford's little guard beat Brooke to the basket. A couple of times there was a screen on her but she easily maneuvered around it. Other times it seems she was just following the girl. I know Brooke is faster than most guards but THAT guard was REALLY fast! She left Brooke in the dust! It looked like we were shooting "decently", but then we'd just allow Stanford's shooters just shoot away with no objection. It doesn't matter if we get in there to shoot and roll out the red carpet for them to get some points after we had worked so hard to get our shot off. We've got to improve defensively and fast. We are squeaking these wins out.....how long will that last? Imani didn't look comfortable at all. She is light years ahead from her freshman year, so hoping it was just a "off" game. This is the time for Kelsi to fight for her position but haven't seen that as of yet either. Can't say enough about Empress' game. I have always liked her style but haven't seen her play like that in a long time! Maybe it's clicking and she is starting a trend! Kudos to her!

 

[rattfatt]

Completely agree with the stagnancy.....that's how it has been all year. No talking on the floor, just players moving as if they are looking for "their" shot, not looking as if running plays. Maybe Aston is giving them more freedom and they don't know what to do with it.....?

In my opinion spacing is a lot more important than movement. All you have to do is watch the best players and coaches in the world, which the NBA. You don't see a bunch of teams running offenses where 5 players are all moving and cutting. Most teams are running a simple ball screen with floor spacing. A power foward that can shoot the 3 well that creates space on the floor.

Stanford ran basically this same offense that's not very complicated you just have to have the right personnel. Stanford has that with the Samuelson kid being the undersized stretch 4. You didn't see a ton of cutting and movement from Stanford consistently. What you did see from Stanford consistently was a simple high ball screen or side ball screen over and over again.