Split Decision!

                                                            Taking the floor agains UCLA

Best Year Ever!

 

                  For the PAC-12 Conference it is bittersweet that the Conference's "best year ever" is its last. Five or six PAC-12 teams have been ranked in the national Top 25 every week this season.  Most weeks at least two PAC-12 teams have been in the Top Five.  More weeks than not a PAC-12 team competes against one or more national Top 10 teams. To put it mildly, the conference is LOADED!  With that level of competition all it takes is an off-night to suffer a loss. Thus, it is not surprising that the best record in the conference at 9-2, shared by Stanford and Colorado, includes two conference losses. The only team still undefeated on their home floor is Oregon State, which has home games remaining against Stanford, USC, and UCLA (not to mention away games against Utah and Colorado).  

 

                  Last week it was Stanford's turn to fall on the carousel of upsets - losing to USC by a score of 58 to 67.  The game got national coverage because USC's talented freshman, JuJu Watkins, scored 51 points and collected 11 rebounds.  That is a USC record for points by a player. Watkins alone accounted for over 76% of USC's scoring and 28% of their rebounds. It is amazing that despite that performance by Watkins, Stanford outscored USC in the first and fourth quarters and was within two points (56-58) with 2:18 left in the game.  For Stanford, the big story wasn't Watkins' 51 points or even the defensive miscues that gave Watkins 19 free throws and way too many clean looks, it was the CARD failing to deliver on offense.  Against USC Stanford shot 31.6% overall and 26.7% from three.  This is a team that averages 46.7% from the floor and 35.6% from three. Hannah Jump was the only CARD who hit more than a third of her shots! In her postgame press conference, Tara VanDerveer expressed disappointment with the team's shot selection and turnovers.  

 

                  Sunday against UCLA was a totally different story.  Stanford played a beautiful game -- the ball moved, multiple players scored, and players took the shots the offense flow gave them.  As a result, Stanford blew out UCLA, leading 21-12 after one quarter, 45-27 at the half, and going up by as many as 30 points in the 3rd quarter.  For the game the CARD hit 63.5% from the floor and 62.5% from three.  The only negatives were the 17 turnovers and the relatively poor (9 of 14) shooting from the free throw line.  

 

Watching a Legend Do It Right

 

                  It was a learning experience to watch Tara handle the USC loss - it showed why she is the winningest coach in college basketball.  Obviously, we didn't get to see what she said to the team, but we can get a good sense from watching the post-game press conferences.  After the USC loss, Tara expressed disappointment and her belief that the team is "better than that."  She called out the shot selection issue and the general failure to "run our offense" but didn't call out any players specifically.  After the UCLA win, Tara expressed her pleasure at the way the team had responded to the USC loss -- that they didn't "throw anybody under the bus" and instead corrected the problems evidenced in the loss.  She blamed herself for failing to prepare the team for success.  She complimented her team leaders, Brink and Iriafen (present at both press conferences) for their leadership, and the entire team for their play and coachability.  It was classic VanDerveer.  There is a reason that the CARD players didn't throw each other under the bus -- the leadership of the coach.  Sunday's game showed that the CARD absorbed the lesson about "running our offense." It will be interesting to see if the team carries that learning through the rest of the season.  If so, given the talent on this team, the Final Four is a real possibility.

 

Questions:

 

1.  Will Kiki Iriafen get the All American recognition she deserves?

Kiki is an incredible player.  She is strong enough to score through contact yet has good touch on her midrange shots.  She is a ferocious rebounder.  She averages a double-double, she is in the top 10 of rebounders nationally and the top 40 in scorers. When the game is on the line, Kiki does not disappear. 

 

2.  Will Cameron Brink be the PAC-12 Player of the Year?

Cam leads the nation in blocks, is a top rebounder, a reliable scorer, and an amazing team leader.  She was PAC-12 and National Defensive Player of the Year last year.  Will she finally get her PAC-12 Player of the Year recognition?

 

3.  Will Stanford end PAC-12 play with at least a share of the Conference title?

Stanford has long been the winningest program in PAC-12 women's basketball.  Picked to finish 3rd, the CARD is currently sitting in a tie for 1st with Colorado, one game ahead of Oregon State.  How will the season end?  And, perhaps more importantly, how will the CARD do in the final PAC-12 tournament?