March Madness

FEAR THE TREE

            On Friday night the Stanford Women's basketball team will take the floor in the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament for the 35th consecutive year! It's MARCH MADNESS time!  For the last two years women's basketball teams have been officially included in that "March Madness" designation, a privilege the NCAA had previously reserved only for the men's tournament.  But for women's basketball fans March has always been exciting! Given the number of upsets in conference tournaments, this year may be even more exciting than usual.

 

            The collegiate basketball season has three segments: the "pre" season, the conference season - these days including a conference tournament, and the "post" season for teams that are good or lucky enough to get a "ticket to the dance." As much as every team always wants to win every game, in the first two segments a loss, even a painful loss can help a team get better - get ready for March. Now it's "exam" time -- win or wait for next year.  

 

            The good news is that the CARD players are Stanford students -- so hopefully they have learned the lessons from the season and are ready to ace this exam. Stanford has a great track record in the NCAA tournament.  In the 35 years that Tara has guided Stanford to the NCAA tournament the CARD has been to 15 Final Fours and has only failed to advance to the Sweet 16 six times.  That amazing level of sustained excellence is why in a recent confidential poll of 30 top coaches conducted by the Athletic asking who is the "best x's and o's coach in women's basketball" Tara VanDerveer came out on top -- receiving nearly three times as many votes as the next coach on the list.

 

            For fans concerned about Stanford's two losses in their last three games, it useful to look at the season's stats.  Among all D1 teams, Stanford ranks #3 in Field Goal Percentage Defense, #2 in Blocks per game, #3 in Rebound Margin, and #6 in Scoring Margin.   There is some room to be concerned about the CARD having fewer assists per game than usual (Stanford only ranks 25 -- but South Carolina is only 20th) and a lower Scoring Offense rating than usual, but that last figure reflects how difficult it is to score against the stingy defenses of the Pac-12 Conference. 

 

            Stanford will be taking on Sacred Heart, the winner of the First Four game at Maples Wednesday night.  This will give the CARD a chance to demonstrate that they have grasped the first lesson from the season:  Don't take anything for granted (4th quarter doldrums after big leads)- Don't overlook any team (U. of Washington). It will also give the CARD a chance to address an issue many pundits have made a focus -- finding a scorer in addition to Haley and Cam.  It's time to get Hannah Jump more open looks and to get our other three-point-shooters, particularly Agnes and Talana, to take more of their open threes. Frequently in the 4th quarter teams play five on three against Cam, Haley, and Hannah. The best way to stop that is for other players to hit their open shots.

 

            As tempting as it is to look ahead to the potential Regional Final matchup between Stanford and Iowa, the Pac-12 tournament tells us why we shouldn't look so far ahead.  That Stanford vs Utah rematch didn't happen.  So, this column will take it one game at a time.  See you at Maples, when Stanford takes on Sacred Heart, as we celebrate the last weekend at home for the Funky Four (Fran, Haley, Hannah, and Ash).