This TEAM Refuses to Lose!

 

Opening Rounds at Maples

GO KIKI GO!

 

                  Stanford followed a solid "tune up" opening round game against a tough and determined Norfolk State team with a heavyweight battle against Iowa State.  Against Norfolk only won the opening quarter by two points, but the CARD won each of the following quarters by eight to ten points.  All ten players in Stanford's normal rotation had contributions that showed up nicely on the stat sheet, with four CARD players scoring in double digits.  It wasn't quite a "laugher," but the outcome was never seriously in doubt, only the margin of victory.

 

                  The Iowa State game was a different animal.  Cardinal fans could not exhale until Brooke Demetre's two free-throw makes with 11 seconds to go.  Kiki's two free-throws, her 40th and 41st points, with five seconds left to give Stanford a six-point lead sealed the outcome! The Cyclones are a freshman heavy team --and freshman heavy teams often "come on" in March as the freshmen mature.  Iowa State was led by senior guard Emily Ryan, an All-Big 12 star, and freshman post Audi Crooks.  Crooks, an Honorable Mention All-American, made a big splash on Friday night when she scored 40 points in Iowa State's opening round comeback against Maryland. 

 

                  There were twelve ties and 18 lead changes during the game - the last lead change coming with 19 seconds remaining in overtime!  Iowa State's largest lead, seven points, came at the end of the first quarter.  Stanford's largest lead, six points, came at the end of overtime.  Iowa State won the rebounding battle by 6 -- one of the rare times Stanford has been outrebounded and even rarer times when Stanford has won despite being outrebounded.  Part of that was that Stanford won the battle of turnovers (Iowa 19 to Stanford's 11), points off turnovers, bench points, and assists.  

 

Refusing to Lose!

 

                  Last year Stanford was challenged in Round Two and lost -- this year the CARD was challenged in Round Two and came out victorious. The difference was that this Stanford TEAM is a team that refused to lose.  A big part of that was Kiki Iriafen -- Kiki had a massive game!  She scored 41 points on shots from everywhere, she also grabbed 16 rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and a steal -- and that doesn't include the number of times that Kiki kept the ball alive on rebounds and hit the floor on lose balls.  So, certainly Kiki was the star, but this was a true team victory.  Kiki scored 41 points but seven other Cardinal players accounted for the other 46, with only Hannah Jump hitting double figures. Numerous pundits have commented on the different feel about this year's team -- and it was evident in a number of ways.  Perhaps one of the biggest was the willingness of Brooke Demetre to put up her game changing three pointers in the waning minutes of the 4th quarter and the last 20 seconds of overtime.  Stanford players stayed together in a way that allowed players to take the open shots the offense gave them.  

 

                  As special as the victory was -- there were also weaknesses exposed that will need to be addressed if the Cardinal is to not only "get out of Maples" but also get to Cleveland.  Iowa State hit 63% of their three-point shots as Cardinal players went under ball screens and lost three-point shooters on switches.  Stanford players can play good defense -- there were flashes of by every player. Agara's defense was big, especially the charge she drew on Iowa's Ryan.  Demetre had some big moments that don't show up on the stat sheet -- like racing down court to prevent an Iowa's Bristow from making a layup on a steal.  But, it will take more defense and more consistent defense to win at the next level. 

 

Why is Kiki "the best player nobody is talking about?"

 

                  Kiki Iriafen's monster game carried Stanford into the Sweet 16.  She was truly a warrior!  But why were the pundits surprised?  Kiki scored 30 points with 17 rebounds against Florida State and was named MOP of the Thanksgiving tournament in Las Vegas.  She scored 36 points with 12 rebounds against Oregon State to help Tara become the winningest coach in college basketball -- with most of the basketball world watching. 

 

                  So why can't the pundits talk about Kiki?  The Sports Center Show after the game hardly mentioned Kiki -- you only learned that Kiki scored 41 points if you read the crawler under the video but they did tell us about Crooks 40 point game from Friday!  If you go to the NCAA website they have highlights of Page Bueckers scoring 32 points and JuJu scoring 26 -- but the Stanford "highlights" on the video board is of Stanford's 1998 loss to Harvard!  Is this East Coast bias?  Is it that the pundits only have room for one Stanford star so they can't talk about the player who has led the Cardinal in scoring ALL YEAR LONG!!??!! Kiki has more double-doubles than Page Bueckers, she averages a double-double in rebounds and scoring.  Kiki hits over 50% of her shots.  Kiki Iriafen has put up numbers that deserve to be recognized with All-American accolades.  Beyond her numbers, her physical play -- her ability to take a bump and finish through it -- her willingness to hit the deck for loose balls are all the attributes of an All-American.  Hopefully that Cardinal can keep their run going in Portland -- giving the rest of the world more time to give Kiki the flowers she deserves.  

 

The New "World" in Women's Hoops

 

                  This year's NCAA tournament feels different. For decades there was a clear line between the "cream" of the women's basketball world and the rest of the field.  That was true in the PAC-12 and in the NCAA more broadly.  The NCAA bracket generally had two opening rounds where the top seeds won by 25 to 50 points while middle seeds played close games to determine who got the chance to be routed next.  Games didn't get interesting until the Sweet 16.  Thus far in this year's Women's NCAA Tournament there have been four upsets- one in the first round when 6 Seed Louisville lost to Middle Tennessee State.   Most of the Second-Round games were competitive, #7 Seed Duke beat #2 Seed Ohio State and two #4 seed host schools lost to #5 seeds. Iowa, UCLA, and NC State all had to battle to win - even when the higher seed won the game wasn't settled until the last quarter!  Stanford's game went to overtime and wasn't settled until the last minute! more on this issue in later posts....

An upset at the Wrong time

Not Stanford's Day

 

                  There was finally an upset in the PAC-12 Tournament.  Unfortunately, that meant that #1 seed Stanford, the regular season Champions, lost to #2 seed USC.  This was only USC's second PAC-12 Tournament victory.  The Trojans' other victory was in 2014 when they also defeated the Cardinal.  Stanford finishes their PAC-12 Tournament record with 15 Championship wins in 20 Championship games, a 75% winning percentage -- not bad.  But, of course, today's loss is the freshest one.  

 

                  As an observer, it appeared that Stanford played nervous while USC played hungry.  Players that are usually "money" for the CARD struggled (Hannah Jump shooting 1 for 7 and Brooke Demetre going 1-4) while USC players who have not hit big numbers or high percentages all year scored in big bunches. USC players with shooting percentages in the low to mid 30% range were hitting at the mid to high 40% level.  It was that sort of day. Shots that usually fall for Stanford circled the rim and spun out or teetered on the rim and fell off, while shots for USC hung on the rim and fell in. Beyond the shots not falling, the biggest story was rebounding. Stanford generally wins the rebounding battle. Prior to today, Stanford was the nation’s number one team in rebound margin — out rebounding opponents by 14!  In this game the Cardinal was out rebounded by 20 -- 48 to 28.  The disparity on the O-Boards was even greater with USC collecting 18 offensive rebounds while Stanford had only 6. The difference was reflected in USC's 14 second chance points compared to 3 for the Cardinal. Stanford is not going to win many games when out rebounded by those margins.  Additionally, Stanford only hit 4 of their 7 free throws while USC hit 11 of 12 from the line.  

 

No 51 Point Outing

                  There were a number of positives for Stanford -- including the solid play of Elena Bosgana on JuJu Watkins.  Not only did JuJu fail to "go off" for 51 points, but she was held to a season low nine points, with the majority coming at the free throw line.  JuJu didn't score a field goal in the first half, and for the game went 0 for 3 from the three-point line with only three rebounds and one assist. An oddity is that JuJu's season high and low scoring games both came against Stanford.  In addition to defending JuJu, Elena matched JuJu's offensive production, scoring nine points. Unfortunately, it is likely that the defensive attention to Watkins, especially given the relatively quick turnaround between late Friday night and Sunday afternoon, played a role in Stanford's problems with rebounding.  Another positive for the CARD was the play of Chloe Clardy.  In fifteen minutes on the floor, Chloe scored four points, had two assists, a steal and a block with no turnovers. Her tenacious defense and quick hands gave USC trouble.  I think we can expect to see more of Chloe as post season play continues. Cameron Brink was, as usual, a beast despite being clobbered by the very physical USC play.  Cam had six blocks and 10 rebounds to go with her team leading 19 points.  Kiki also put-up big numbers even though she also had shots roll round the rim and spin out, scoring 18 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. 

 

                  The other good news is that the USC team is unlike most other teams the CARD is likely to play this year or in the future.  The USC roster includes five graduate transfers and a senior -- that's 29 years of college playing experience and a lot of physical maturity.  Additionally, USC benefited from a "let them play" attitude from the officials - especially in the first half when USC opened up their nine-point lead. Stanford played the Trojans even once the officials started calling some of USC more blatant holds and hinders.  Unfortunately, when you have dug a nine-point hole, playing even isn't enough.  USC was able to extend their lead in the final minutes when the CARD started gambling more on both sides of the ball in an effort to catch up. Perhaps the best summation was one Tara offered, "we left our offense back at the hotel."

 

More to Come -- March Madness is On Deck

                  The good news is that this is not the end for this team.  Stanford has a 28-5 record, including multiple Top 25 wins.  Losing to the nation's fifth ranked team in a week when four other Top 10 teams suffered losses shouldn't impact Stanford's NCAA seeding too dramatically. Of course, given the slights Stanford has suffered at the hands of the NCAA selection committee over the years, nothing is certain.  The biggest question is how will Stanford respond to this loss and how will it help them get better?

 

                  See you at Maples for the first round of the NCAA tournament.   

A "Chalk" Bracket

BEST YEAR EVER

 

                  For fans of women's basketball, the final PAC-12 tournament is special.  As this column is being written, only the Championship game remains.  Eight of the ten games that have already occurred involved at least one team ranked in the national Top 25, four were between two teams ranked in the national Top 25.  The Championship game will be between the nation's #2 team, Stanford, and the nation's #5 team, USC.  The quality of competition here has been Sweet 16 and Final Four level.  There are women's basketball fans here who have traveled from the East Coast despite not having a "team" in the tournament just because they wanted to see the display of top talent involved in this tournament!!!  What a swan song for the PAC-12.

 

                  In the first ten games there have been several "never happened before" stories.  One amazing story line is that for the first time in the 22-year history of the PAC-12 tournament the bracket has been "all chalk" -- meaning that there has not been a single upset.  The higher seeded team has won every game!  The games that have occurred are the games that were predicted by the bracket. That is particularly amazing because in this year's loaded conference play, almost every weekend had included at least one upset -- with the higher ranked team losing to a lower ranked team.  Every team, including Oregon, the Conference's last place team, had at least one win against a team ranked above them in the conference standings but not in this tournament! Hopefully the CARD will be able to sustain that "all chalk" story line as Stanford -- the regular season Conference Champion -- is the higher seeded team in the final game.  Although the higher seeded team has won every game -- two games have gone to double overtime, another "never happened before." Oregon State needed double overtime to defeat Colorado in the Quarterfinals and USC needed double overtime to defeat UCLA in the Semifinals.  Stanford did not need overtime for any of the CARD's wins, but both victories involved coming back from eight-point halftime deficits, deficits that had been even higher at some point.   In both games, Stanford fans couldn't breathe easily until the last minute!!!

 

                  That Championship game will be the 20th of the PAC-12’s 23 Championship games that Stanford has participated in -- an incredible record of consistent excellence.  Stanford has won 15 of those prior Championships. Stanford players have been named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player 16 times (including current Stanford assistant Erica McCall.)   So far in this tournament several Stanford players are obvious candidates for the MOP -- led by Kiki Iriafen and Cameron Brink.  Of course, the CARD will almost certainly need to defeat USC in the Championship for this to be relevant. Stanford's Nicole Powell is the only player to be named Tournament MOP while playing for the losing team -- and that was in the league’s first tournament in 2002.  Nonetheless, it is worth noting the strong play so far by Iriafen and Brink. Kiki was the scoring leader against CAL with 28 points, 18 rebounds, 5 assists, and a steal -- followed by 15 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and two blocks against Oregon State.  Against CAL Cam had 15 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists, and a block -- followed by 16 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists, two blocks, and a steal against Oregon State.  Brink's stat line is what one would expect from the First Team All-American that Cam is.  But, Kiki's stat line suggests that Stanford's leading scorer (18.6 ppg), who averages over 11 rebounds per game also deserves to be an All-American.  

 

 "Physicality" in The Women's Game

 

                  One significant and sad second-half incident of the Stanford - CAL game was an injury to CAL's Michele Onyiah.  She fouled Cameron Brink and as Brink fell back, their heads collieded -- the back of Cam's head into the front of Onyiah's. Onyiah lay on the floor -- eventually leaving bent over and holding a towel under her nose.  This injury or one like it was the predictable result of the level of physicality being allowed in the women's game, somewhat across the board in this tournament and around the country.  In this tournament there have been numerous times when players were pulled or knocked to the floor with no fouls called.  It's not so much that the officials were "favoring" one team over another -- they were just allowing a lot of bumping and banging.  In the late Semifinal, several players -- including JuJu Watkins and Charisma Osborne -- left the game after laying of the floor.  Unlike Onyiah, both Watkins and Osborne returned to the game.  Hopefully all of these players will be healthy for whatever remains of their team's season -- but the tolerance for this increased rough play in women's basketball endangers the athletes and deprives fans of a chance to watch the best players. 

 

 

Stanford 71 -- CAL 57

 

                  Stanford trailed by eight at the end of the first half. The game had begun as a "back and forth," with two lead changes in the 1st quarter. But CAL led the entire 2nd quarter with a lead that kept growing!  The CARD seemed a bit out of sorts -- CAL was by far the more poised and aggressive team.  That switched in the second half.  Stanford came out with intensity.  It only took the CARD a tad over three minutes to achieve the first tie of the second half -- one of five ties in the third quarter.  Stanford entered the 4th quarter up by four points and maintained a growing lead throughout the final quarter.  By the middle of the 4th, Stanford was up by double digits. The CARD never led by less than ten for the rest of the game. But with CAL's ability to heat up on threes, Stanford fans didn't breathe easy until the final minutes. 

 

                  The box score for the game was quite unusual.  Despite ten CARD players being on the floor for at least two minutes, only FOUR of them scored a single point!  Those four, Iriafen, Bosgana, Brink, and Lepolo, were all in double figures.  The other six players, including Hannah Jump, took only 10 of Stanford's 63 shots -- none of them attempting more than two shots!  It appears that Stanford players were "feeding the hot hand" as three of those players had very impressive shooting percentages -- led by Kiki's 79% shooting for 28 of Stanford's 71 points.  Unfortunately, those numbers hide the important roles played by the players who didn't score, especially their defensive roles.  Not every contribution is reflected on the "regular" box score.  The steals and rebounds show up but the box-outs and defensive pressure doesn’t — but those things are key to any victory and everybody who got into the game contributed.

 

 

Stanford 66 - Oregon State 57

 

                  The final score doesn't reflect how close this game was, and for fans in the arena it felt even closer than it actually was.  Perhaps that was because fans remember the final weekend of regular season when Stanford was up seven with four minutes to go, but OSU made it a one-possession for the last three minutes. In this game, Stanford was up by seven with 3:34 remaining.  But this time the CARD didn't let the Beavers get closer than seven in the remaining minutes.

 

                  This was an incredibly physical game.  OSU clearly didn't intend to allow Stanford to dominate in the paint -- and Reagan Beers knows how to use her big body.  Beers pushed Brink to the floor several times as she moved into position to score with no foul call.  Beers also managed to disrupt several layup attempts by Brink and Iriafen with her body without a foul call.  But, as has been said all season, against Stanford teams must "pick their poison." Stanford hit 46.7% of their three-point attempts, all of which occurred in the 2nd and 3rd quarters as the CARD dug out of what had been a 16-point deficit. Three-point shots helped Hannah Jump lead all scorers with 20 points (8-13 overall, 4-7 from three).  Brooke Demetre also hit two important back-to-back threes to ignite the Cardinal. Unlike the win over CAL when the box score didn't reflect that the entire team contributed, in this game the box score did.  Of course, timing is everything -- so the box score's recording of one steal by Chloe Clardy doesn't reflect that the steal occurred in the final three-and-a-half minutes, taking the steam out of OSU's rally attempt. This isn't Clardy's first significant steal.  Amazingly, despite averaging only 10.2 minutes a game, Chloe's 22 steals are second only to Cameron Brink's 23!  As the tournament season continues, Clardy's quick hands and solid "handles" could be a big factor.

 

                  Following the game, Cameron Brink shared what Assistant Coach Erica "Bird" McCall has told the team about what she said when her Stanford team was down 17 to Notre Dame in an Elite-Eight game they eventually won. "Bird" had announced in the locker room -- "alright we've got them right where we want them."  Cam says that has become a team joke -- reminding the team that they can come back.  These two "comeback" games reinforce that ability to battle back for this Stanford team.  Hopefully they won't need to do that again, but now they know they can.  I will defer summing up the tournament and the state of the team until the break between the tournament and Selection Sunday. 

 

The Las Vegas Experience

 

                  The tournament seems relatively well attended, with Oregon State having the largest number of fans based on shirt colors in the stands.  Of course this may reflect the early loss by Oregon.  It may also, as some fans have suggested, reflect the lack of other exciting ways to spend your time in Corvallis. But, regardless, OSU had a loud fan presence for both their games. Stanford has a respectable fan representation -- although not the crowd the regular season conference champion, number two ranked team in the country deserves -- but what else is new?

 

                  This year's tournament, like the first Las Vegas tournament, is being held at the MGM Grand's Garden Arena rather than at the Mandalay Bay.  There are some pluses to that.  The MGM is more centrally located on the strip, providing more easily assessable hotel and restaurant options. The biggest fan complaint is that the seats in this arena are not comfortable.  On Thursday when there were four terrific basketball games, most fans had a hard time physically tolerating the experience of sitting in those seats.   At least this time there was water available without buying it, despite not allowing fans to bring refillable water bottles into the arena.  It was strange, however, to see fans being allowed to sit inside the arena holding large beer cans (and other "adult beverage" cans).  If water bottles aren't allowed because they could be projectiles, why are beer cans safe?  

                    Overall, the tournament has been a fun experience — more so because the CARD are winning.  But, under the fun, it is hard to believe that this is the last dance for the PAC-12.  The merchandise booth has done a brisk business in PAC-12 items as fans reach for one final piece of this conference’s storied history. So bittersweet.   

Time for the PAC-12's Last Dance

The Last PAC-12 Champions

 

                  Stanford wrapped up the final PAC-12 regular season with two wins in games at Oregon State and Oregon.  Stanford finished with a regular season record of 26-4, 15-3 in the PAC-12.  With the win at Oregon State, Stanford clinched sole possession of first place in the conference.   The CARD finished with a two-game lead over their closest competitors - the LA schools. 

 

                  Cameron Brink celebrated finishing the regular season in her home state by an incredible stat-sheet stuffing performance.  In a close game against Oregon State, Cam scored 25 points, pulled down 24 rebounds, dished out five assists, and had one block.  Those 24 rebounds tied Stanford's single game record set by Chiney Ogwumike in a game against Oregon eleven years ago. Against Oregon Cam scored 18 points, grabbed 17 rebounds, had five assists, three blocks, and a steal.  That's a two-game total of 43 points and 41 rebounds! The four blocks put Brink over the century mark for the second season in a row.  (Cam needs 17 more blocks to break her own single season record of 118.) According to the announcers, Brink's two double-doubles over the weekend put her over the century mark for career double-doubles.  That stat is not listed in the Stanford career records.  In her post-game interview following the Oregon game, Brink described her role on the Stanford team as being a leader, a scorer, a little bit of everything.  For this weekend and this season, she has been all that.  

                  

Oregon State is a Tough "Out"

 

                  The Oregon State game was hard to find in "real" time as it was only on PAC-12 Oregon due to the competition with men's basketball and their regular Thursday night schedule.  Those able to watch it got a bit of a cardiac workout, as the game went down to the final seconds.  Stanford didn't put the game "out-of-reach" until Kiki Iriafen hit one of two free throws with five seconds remaining to give Stanford a four-point lead.  Although the game was close, Stanford was in the lead virtually the entire game, taking the lead at 5:55 mark in the first quarter and never giving it back.  However, Stanford couldn’t "put-the-game away,” never opening more than an 11-point lead.  Every time the CARD threatened to blow the game open, Oregon State battled back. 

 

                  Stanford has now won both of its matchups with Oregon State this season.  In both games the home team has been without their "star" player.  Stanford beat Oregon State 65-56 at Maples to give Tara Vanderveer her record breaking 1203rd victory without Cameron Brink.  Then, Stanford defeated Oregon State in Corvallis with Raegan Beers on the bench due to the broken nose she suffered against UCLA on Feb. 16.  If both teams can "hold seed" -- and that is certainly not a "given" in the PAC-12 tournament where upsets often reign -- they will meet in the PAC-12 tournament Semi-finals.  

 

Dominating Oregon

                  While Stanford has "exceeded" the pundits' expectations this year, Oregon has had a disappointing season.  Clearly the Ducks miss Te-Hina Paopao who transferred to South Carolina at the end of last season.  They finish the season last in the PAC-12 without any "quality" wins. So it is not surprising that, despite not missing way too many "bunnies," Stanford dominated the Ducks.  

 

                  Playing without Talana Lepolo, the CARD took the lead early. Oregon's only lead was five to four as both teams were cold in the first half of the first quarter.  By the end of the first quarter Stanford was up by seven and the game was never closer than that.  Although Oregon came out hot to open the third quarter, making their first three shots, they were never able to cut the gap below nine points. By the game's end, Stanford was comfortably in control and both Stavi Papadaki and Lauren Green were on the floor.  

 

                  The good news for the CARD was that, in addition to strong performances from Brink and Iriafen (16 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists), the whole team contributed.  Four players had double digits scoring and all nine of the "core" players scored. Seven players had assists and eight players had at least one rebound. If the Cardinal is going to go deep into the post season, the team will need to be able to rely on more than seven players.

 

The Post Season Is Here

 

                  With the regular season over, it's tournament time.  First up is the PAC-12 Tournament where Stanford enters as the number one seed.  But if there is anything that this year's PAC-12 season and the last several years of PAC-12 tournaments has demonstrated it is that rankings don't really matter.  On any given night, any team can beat any team.  The main thing being the number one seed means is that the CARD only needs to win three games to win the tournament, not four.  Amazingly, two teams, Colorado and Utah that were ranked in the nation's top 20 last week, will find themselves playing on the first day of the tournament!  

 

                  Before the season, pundits justified Stanford's ranking of 15th in the nation and third in the PAC-12 by doubting Brink's ability to lead Stanford to a Final Four or even Elite Eight run in the post season.  Of course, in addition to vastly underestimating the value of Cam's leadership, those pundits didn't anticipate Kiki Iriafen's emergence as a legitimate All-American candidate.  Those two, along with the strong play from the other eight members of Tara's "trusted" rotation give Stanford a legitimate chance of getting to Cleveland.  This team has chemistry, talent, and joy -- and great coaching.  Nothing is out of the question -- but then, nothing is a given.  

 

Questions

 

1.  Can Stanford stop missing the easy ones?

All season Stanford has been great from the free throw line and good at finishing at the rim.  Against Oregon that wasn't the case -- Stanford only shot 50% from the free throw line (or course they only had six free throws so that was 3 of 6) and missed on a number of point-blank shots.  Maybe it was the relief of being in control in a game that mostly didn't matter, but these are some of the "little things" that need correcting.  

 

2. Can Stanford grab one last PAC-12 Tournament title?

In my mind, the best title for this version of my blog was, "Save the last dance for the Cardinal."  This upcoming PAC-12 tournament is the league's last dance.  It seems only fitting for the team and the coach who have defined PAC-12 basketball for as long as it has been the PAC-12 to have the confetti fall one last time.