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WBB: Sizing up Texas A&M - Printable Version

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Re: WBB: Sizing up Texas A&M - fyao - 03-30-2011

1/ I\'m glad Toni Kokenis only had to play 8 minutes against Gonzaga, even when Lindy was playing poorly defensively.  I still haven\'t forgotten what happened with Jane Appel last year.

2/ I\'m glad not to be playing Baylor.  It is hard to play against freaks of nature like Brittney Grimer.

3/ That said, I was impressed with A&M\'s play.  It will be a tough, but winnable game.  And we get to play first before UConn, which is an advantage.

Re: WBB: Sizing up Texas A&M - 81alum - 03-30-2011

Quote:1/ I\'m glad Toni Kokenis only had to play 8 minutes against Gonzaga, even when Lindy was playing poorly defensively.  I still haven\'t forgotten what happened with Jane Appel last year.

Anyone know if Toni\'s limited play at Gonzaga was by design or whether her ankle was not healthy enough for longer play?  Have their been any reports on her ankle since?

Re: WBB: Sizing up Texas A&M - treefan - 03-30-2011

We MUST take care of the ball. 18 TOs vs. Zags was bad. A&M\'s pressure and back court speed will be a challenge. Hopefully, the UNC game prepared for the Aggies.

Re: WBB: Sizing up Texas A&M - treefan - 03-31-2011

Quote:
Quote:1/ I\'m glad Toni Kokenis only had to play 8 minutes against Gonzaga, even when Lindy was playing poorly defensively.  I still haven\'t forgotten what happened with Jane Appel last year.

Anyone know if Toni\'s limited play at Gonzaga was by design or whether her ankle was not healthy enough for longer play?  Have their been any reports on her ankle since?

in today\'s press conference, Tara said Toni was brobdingnagian in the UNC game, but she didn\'t think her first step looked good in Zag game. Her ankle looks good, so hopefully she\'ll be 100%.

She also talks a lot about TAMU and their back court. Funny comments about getting ready for Baylor too, who Tara thought we\'d be playing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFqjiY9wVpc

Re: WBB: Sizing up Texas A&M - 81alum - 03-31-2011

[edit: sorry Treefan I guess we were posting at the same time!  We got to some of the same points.]

I just watched Tara\'s press conference and you will all be happy to know that she agrees with us!  She was not happy with the turnovers against Gonzaga and believes that "taking care of the ball" is the number one priority against A&M.  "Anyone who does not take care of the ball will sit" she said.  

She also floated the idea of a three guard lineup.  (It might have been a smokescreen.)  She mentioned Sarah Boothe on Danielle Adams.  She mentioned Mel several times.  She said they would not rule anything out except maybe a full court press.

With regard to Toni, she was very happy with her play against NC, but thought that she did not have the same bounce and energy against Gonzaga.  Hopefully with another week to heal she will be ready to go, Tara said.

Tara said she had watched tape of teams that were similar to Stanford against A&M including Iowa State, Kansas State, and Texas.  She said they had been preparing for Griner with a 6\'8" guy from the Band standing in for her.  

Most interesting, she said that in some ways Jeanette, Kayla, and Nneka all were playing out of position.  Kayla is a natural 4 and that is what she likes, said Tara.  Perhaps Tara was reacting to Kayla being snubbed for All American honors by scoffing at people who are too fixated on scoring.  In something that may be prophetic for the future, Tara said that it was helpful that Ruef was able to play the 3.  

Re: WBB: Sizing up Texas A&M - FarmDad.01 - 03-31-2011

Interesting piece from College Station daily...

I\'m not allowed to include a link because I haven\'t posted three times, so go to aggiesports.com and click on the featured article "Aggie women\'s basketball team now prepares for the Cardinal."

Their coach, Gary Blair, is pretty droll.

Re: WBB: Sizing up Texas A&M - Viking_Guy - 03-31-2011

FarmDad--

Here\'s the link:

http://www.aggiesports.com/wbasketball/Aggie-women-s-basketball-team-now-prepares-for-the-Cardinal

VG


Re: WBB: Sizing up Texas A&M - fullmetal - 03-31-2011

Of note from that article:

Quote:"It\'s just a great ballclub," Blair said. "Give [VanDerveer] a lot of credit. I just hope she stays out of Texas. And shoot, she\'s got another point guard coming from Texas next year. She needs to start paying taxes down here or at least let me start coming up there. If I can\'t get players, let me get some of that stock in some of those tech companies around Palo Alto."

Blair and VanDerveer are loosely tied together because of the 1998 NCAA tournament. Stanford, seeded No. 1 in the West Regional, suffered an upset at home to Harvard, becoming the only top seed to lose a first-round game in the men\'s or women\'s NCAA tournaments. That loss paved the way for Blair\'s ninth-seeded Arkansas Razorbacks to reach the Final Four, beating Duke in the regional championship at Stanford. Blair\'s Arkansas squad is still the lowest seed to reach the Final Four on the women\'s side.

"I would love to have someone set the record straight on it," VanDerveer said. "I would just tell you that first of all, I don\'t think Harvard was a true 16 [seed]. They had a WNBA all-star in Alison Feaster. We were seeded on Sunday before we knew we had two ACL injuries to our two best players. I would argue that if that happened to any No. 1 seed in today\'s game, they might be losing in the first round."

VanDerveer said that the rest of her 1998 team wasn\'t mentally ready to play, ending a disastrous week in Stanford women\'s basketball. She was so distraught, she didn\'t even attend the Final Four.

She said Stanford\'s loss not only helped Blair get to the Final Four, but it will pay dividends for him 13 years later.

"Gary\'s been there, and he\'ll share the wisdom that he has with his team," VanDerveer said.

Tara and David Shaw can have all the Texas players they want :p

Re: WBB: Sizing up Texas A&M - CompSci87 - 03-31-2011

Quote:She also floated the idea of a three guard lineup.  (It might have been a smokescreen.)  

Maybe not a smokescreen. She used a 3-guard lineup against UCLA with a lot of success, and they are similar to A&M in some ways. (Pressure defense with guards who try to steal the ball, less size inside than Stanford.)


Re: WBB: Sizing up Texas A&M - Viking_Guy - 03-31-2011

I could see a Toni-Lindy-Jeanette lineup, with Kayla and Nneka, working.  If A&M stays with their traditional starting lineup, I\'d love to see Elonu try to stay with Kayla from outside in, or Adams try to contain her while Elonu tries to keep an Ogwumike off the boards.  Actually, I\'d like to see more Pedersen in the post offense, especially if they try to match her with a traditional SF-type.

Of course, then we\'d have Lindy and Jeanette trying to stay with Carter and White, which might be a problem.

VG


Re: WBB: Sizing up Texas A&M - 81alum - 03-31-2011

Quote:I could see a Toni-Lindy-Jeanette lineup, with Kayla and Nneka, working.....Of course, then we\'d have Lindy and Jeanette trying to stay with Carter and White, which might be a problem..

How is Mel\'s defense?  Could she shut down one of the A&M guards if that was all she was focused on--Ros style?  That plus a little ball handling for breaking the press?  I ask because her name kept slipping out a few times during Tara\'s press conference.


Re: WBB: Sizing up Texas A&M - Viking_Guy - 03-31-2011

I think Mel\'s defense could be good, but I\'d be really concerned about her entry passes.  Advantages of Kayla and Jeanette as wing initiators of the triangle - ability to see and lob over the top of smaller defenders for the entry pass.  Especially if A&M is playing perimeter pressure; both she and Lindy have a tendency to want to make the "big step bounce pass," where they set, take a big step and make a bounce pass into the post from the wing.  That particular physical action takes a LONG time, and is really telegraphed.  Against a team with as quick guards as the Aggies, it may be contraindicated.

That being said, I did notice Tara\'s mentions of Mel, and I like the idea of her getting some minutes (as she did at the end of the first half against Gonzaga) to let Jeanette regroup a bit, or play off the ball for a time.  But I\'d expect Toni to get the majority of that time if she\'s good to go.

VG


Re: WBB: Sizing up Texas A&M - 81alum - 03-31-2011

Garvin, it wasn\'t really our idea.  Tara mentioned the possibility of three guards in the press conference and she also mentioned Mel several times.  Whether she was simply engaged in some disinformation directed to A&M or whether she was serious, and what she meant by it, is the source of our speculation.

Re: WBB: Sizing up Texas A&M - treefan - 03-31-2011

Quote:Can you elaborate, treefan? I haven\'t seen Notre Dame much this season.

Well, it\'s more of a gut feeling and the fact it\'s tough to beat a team 4 times, plus ND will have the crowd. ND lost at home to UConn on a buzzer beater by Moore, then Uconn beat them by 20 at Uconn, and 13 in Big East tourney, again on their home court (Harford)

Also think that ND\'s D is tougher than UConn, but the key imho is Diggins (soph) over Harlely (frosh). I\'ve yet to see a frosh pg do that well in the F4.  We match up very well with either ND or UConn, but TAMU first. We MUST take care of the ball to win.

Re: WBB: Sizing up Texas A&M - treefan - 03-31-2011

Quote:I think Mel\'s defense could be good, but I\'d be really concerned about her entry passes.  Advantages of Kayla and Jeanette as wing initiators of the triangle - ability to see and lob over the top of smaller defenders for the entry pass.  Especially if A&M is playing perimeter pressure; both she and Lindy have a tendency to want to make the "big step bounce pass," where they set, take a big step and make a bounce pass into the post from the wing.  That particular physical action takes a LONG time, and is really telegraphed.  Against a team with as quick guards as the Aggies, it may be contraindicated.

That being said, I did notice Tara\'s mentions of Mel, and I like the idea of her getting some minutes (as she did at the end of the first half against Gonzaga) to let Jeanette regroup a bit, or play off the ball for a time.  But I\'d expect Toni to get the majority of that time if she\'s good to go.

VG

Mel can make good entry passes to the post, but imho, she dribbles too much and is TO prone. Honestly, I get very nervous when she is the game vs. guards like TAMU has.

Re: WBB: Sizing up Texas A&M - teejers1 - 03-31-2011

Everyone knows the Ogwumikes inside give Stanford\'s its biggest advantage . . . at least on paper.

And everyone knows Stanford needs to take care of the rock and limit A&M\'s transition buckets.

And everyone knows Stanford will need to hit some threes, especially if A&M plays zone and tries to collapse on the O-Team (I expect to see a fair amount of zone from both teams, frankly).

But I think a key factor being Stanford\'s ability to knock the jumper from about the FT line.  Kayla can get that shot against both man or zone defenses.  It may prove very important for Stanford.

We\'ll see . . .

P.S.  Tinkle can hit that shot, too.  Haven\'t seen Ruef try it much, but I expect that to be in her arsenal beginning next season.


Stanford as the favorite? - Robbie - 04-01-2011

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/tournament/2011/columns/story?columnist=creme_charlie&id=6276819

Quote:Who wins

Stanford. In the most wide-open Final Four since probably 2006, the Cardinal might have to be listed as the favorite. They have the most weapons and that\'s what this game likely will come down to.


Re: WBB: Sizing up Texas A&M - fullmetal - 04-01-2011

I wouldn\'t count out Maya Moore, but I certainly think we have the better talent.

(edit: ah, i think the writer was talking about just this semifinal game.  not looking ahead, i promise...)

Re: WBB: Sizing up Texas A&M - yvonne - 04-01-2011

ESPN picking us over Team ESPN? Californians, be sure your earthquake kits are up to date.

Re: WBB: Sizing up Texas A&M - Viking_Guy - 04-01-2011

Yvonne--

Charlie Creme, not ESPN.  Although their panel picked Stanford unanimously over A&M.

As for my earlier prediction, about ESPN being 50% UConn?  Today\'s WBB frontpage is an article on Moore, an article about Storrs, CT; a Sports Science feature on Maya (to replace "The Griner Effect" one they were running last week); and a article on Maya and Kemba Walker of the UConn men\'s team.  There\'s articles on Gary Blair and some highlights on matchups, but it\'s mostly Huskies.

We\'ll see how the next two days play out.

Congratulations to Courtney Vandersloot, who just won the Nancy Lieberman Award as the nation\'s top PG (to go with the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award as best women\'s player under 5\'8").  Jeanette, Skylar Diggins (Notre Dame) and Ashley Robinson (Oklahoma) were the other Lieberman finalists.

VG