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WBB: Stanford 87 UofA 54 - Viking_Guy - 01-06-2011

A tale of two halves, or halftime adjustment.  Or maybe just a tale of a truly ugly 7 minutes.  Stanford ran away after only leading by 2 late in the first half to put away a game Wildcat team.  From about the 2:00 minute mark until 6 minutes into the second half, Stanford went on a 17-2 run to push a 36-33 lead to 53-35.

The best news?  A healthy Nneka Ogwumike.  Actually, beyond healthy.  How about unconscious at points?  24 pts, 8 rebs, 2 blocks, and an array of moves to the hoop that overwhelmed Arizona.

The game started Stanford\'s way, as they scored the first 9 points out of the gate, capped by another 3 by Lindy LaRocque, whose shooting is really starting to come around with her starting in the backcourt combined with an unforced rhythm to her shot; instead of forcing the ball up trying to score in limited time, she\'s letting the shots come to her, especially of the kickouts and reverses when opponents get caught down in the post.

But then the Wildcats, who have had a solid preseason and currently are #40 in the RPI, showed some grit.  With leading scorers Ify Ibekwe and Davellyn White being checked, complementary and bench players stepped up and began to hit jumpers, drive and dish, and generally confound a Stanford gameplan that had been predicated on especially Ibekwe.  Because they were getting balanced scoring, Stanford\'s defense looked a bit vulnerable, beginning at around the 10 minute mark in the first half with Stanford holding a 24-12 lead.

Wildcats Taylor Dalrymple and Shanita Arnold hit two 3s to bookend a Ibekwe layup, and while Stanford was missing jumpers and turning the ball over, the lead shrank to 27-24 when Dalrymple hit a jumper with 6 minutes left in the half.  6 straight for Nneka on a variety of moves inside pushed it back out to 33-24, but a transition and a drive and dish led to layups, and Reiko Thomas hit another 3 to cut it to 33-31.

I\'m not sure exactly what changed at that point.  Maybe the driving layup woke Stanford up defensively.  Maybe Arizona\'s secondary scorers looked up, saw they were close and tightened up.  Or maybe Jeanette Pohlen\'s step back 3 off an offensive rebound of another missed 3 just lit a spark.  Whatever the case, a transition layup to make it 36-33 was the last basket of the half for the Wildcats, and FTs from Kayla and another layup from Nneka provided the Cardinal with a 40-33 halftime lead.

First half: Nneka 14 points, 5 rebs, while Chiney and Kayla chipped in 8 boards apiece as Stanford outrebounded Arizona 31-17, which was why I was shocked the halftime lead wasn\'t bigger - it wasn\'t as if Stanford shot particularly poorly or UofA shot particularly well, and to only lead by 7.  Stanford also only turned the ball over 1 more time than the Wildcats, but only put up 6 more shots.  All in all, a strange half.

Which was why the second half was much more satisfying.  A 3 pointer by Pohlen immediately pushed it out to 10.  Ibekwe put in an offensive board off a lucky bounce from a Pedersen block, but the Cardinal would score 10 straight points inside from Pedersen and the Ogwumikes to push it out to 53-35, as Arizona came out and made only 1 of their first 13 shots in the half.  A lot of that was defensive adjustments, especially on the perimeter (the Wildcats went 4-14 from 3 in the first half, but 0-6 in the second).

And then Arizona seemed to fold a bit, and Stanford started to have a fastbreak layup line.  The Wildcats kept trying to contest for offensive rebounds, and kept getting burned by odd-player transition opportunities.  In quick succession Nneka, Pedersen and Pohlen hit transition layups, and when Jeanette then converted an and-1 chance off two consecutive offensive boards, the Cardinal led 66-41 and it was time to see what the subs could do.

What has been really nice this season is that the subs are continuing to expand leads, even with the end of the bench in late.  Tinkle hit a 3 and a couple of FTs, and in a good sign Sara James hit a driving layup and a shooter\'s roll 3-pointer from the wing.  The evening wrapped up on another good note, as Mikaela Ruef, Sarah Boothe and Ashley Cimino all got good looks at the basket off nice passes to knock down layups.

Beyond Nneka\'s great game, Stanford got double figures from Jeanette, Chiney and Kayla, and everyone who played scored, with the exception of Grace, who had some nice assists late.  

The difference?  Well, after letting Arizona shoot 40% in the first half, Stanford held them to 28% in the second, and as I mentioned 0-6 from 3.  And aided by their transition game, Stanford shot a stellar 70% (19-27).  That will expand a lead in a hurry.

So all in all, a great 33 minutes sandwiching a so-so 7 minutes.  Against a solid Pac-10 team.  Resulting in a 33 point win.  I\'ll take it, but we\'ll need to be more solid against ASU this weekend.  And I\'m definitely concerned about Stanford on the road - if they let ASU, UCLA or SC hang around down only 4-6 at halftime, look out.

VG


Re: WBB: Stanford 87 UofA 54 - sheriand - 01-06-2011

Great report, Viking Guy.   This seemed to be a delayed reaction letdown game, at least in the first half.  Nneka had some spectacular moves and looked back to form.   Kayla made many contributions, as always, but looked like she was feeling some pain in her right elbow and struggled with shots from any distance.   It\'s great to see the subs come in and play well!!   Joselyn looked very tough and made a couple of key shots.   There was some nice passing and most of the game was a very fast tempo.   Lots of great D, especially in the second half.   I\'m looking forward to an exciting season!

Re: WBB: Stanford 87 UofA 54 - Viking_Guy - 01-06-2011

WBBFan--

What did you notice about Kayla?  Because in a great early season, she\'s been my real concern.  She continues to do her all-around thing, with her heady rebounding and especially her ability to play a one-woman zone in the lane yet still contest outside against most of her defensive marks, helping to take away a lot of driving possibilities.  But Kayla\'s only hitting about 42%, and especially only 20% from 3-point range, where she was close to 40% last year.  Our ability to open up a zone against a team that can bottle things up inside remains my primary worry.  Especially given our tendency to toss the ball around the perimeter when we see any kind of zone defense.

VG


Re: WBB: Stanford 87 UofA 54 - sheriand - 01-06-2011

I knew she was missing lots of shots, and my husband remarked that she was only using her left hand.   I had thought she looked off, like maybe she had the flu, but pain made more sense and if she was only using her left hand, which I also noticed after he pointed it out, then it seemed likely it was that heavily padded right elbow that was hurting...  Speculation, of course, but trying to explain something that\'s just not making sense yet about Kayla\'s game.

Re: WBB: Stanford 87 UofA 54 - Yellowlab - 01-07-2011

Kayla was missing almost anything she shot right handed, but was using her left hand to good effect.  I noticed that she was rebounding one (left) handed when she is usually a strong two handed rebounder.  Then I noticed that all her high fives and palm slaps were being done left handed.  Someone came up to her on her right side and wanted a high five, and Kayla reached across her body to give the high five with her left hand.  You won\'t learn anything by looking at her face, because she does not betray any weakness, but the more you watch for the left handed rebounds, the more obvious it becomes.

Re: WBB: Stanford 87 UofA 54 - meos - 01-07-2011

Since its been mentioned, now I\'ll add that I noticed the same or similar. I didn\'t want to say anything if there\'s a problem to tip others off. Kayla seems to miss the first shot around the basket a "lot". Most often going up with one hand. I wondered if it was concentration during the last part of the shot or something else. Even on defense she is tipping the ball a lot (when she could stretch a little and grab it strongly with two hands). On offense rarely see her coming to a jump stop and powering up with any shots, even with much smaller players on her most of the time. Not strong with the ball -- a defender gets one hand near the ball and she seems to get tied up way to easy. By comparison Nneka is now more often swinging thru with the ball (safely) avoiding the easy tie-up. I\'vebeen waiting to see Kayla get an infusion of Pohlen\'s and Nneka\'s mentality of -- "if I have the mismatch tonight and can score 30 points, I\'m going to do that for the team". I\'m still waiting to see that mental approach from her demonstrated, because during a run toward a championship, in one of those games the team might need "that mentality" and output from her.  So I too was also wondering if she had some physical limitation.
Other things on my wish-list: to see Boothe take fouls on \'defense\' not offense. I like her wanting to be physical, but be smart; don\'t take a turnover-by-foul. Stand up straight, cross hands in front, and just take the hit on screens (don\'t bend over; don\'t put arms out -- foul every time :) If Boothe wants to add a subtle dimension on screens, watch the replay of Buck\'s right foot while Nneka was approaching the screen; the play when Nneka was called for the foul and tumbled to the floor.
For many: Escape dribble to the left, and smoothly up for a shot; same to the right. Perfect that, and then add 2 dribble variation, with an assortment of fakes (ball, shoulder, head) when needed.
Was nice to see one of Nneka\'s show-the-ball fakes, then getting into the lane for a jump hook. Would definitely like to see that jump hook as a go-to for her. Perfect the right, and start getting the left one ready to go.
Nice game from everyone overall. Nice to see more players bringing more of their game to the court at game-time.

Re: WBB: Stanford 87 UofA 54 - BobK - 01-09-2011

Kayla hurt her elbow alst year and for all those who stayed for the postgame she was surprised to be asked about the elbow and said she wears the selve for protecxtion only.

She is NOT shooting left handed only.

She is NOT Missing her first shot always.   :)

Re: WBB: Stanford 87 UofA 54 - Yellowlab - 01-09-2011

It was confirmed, by sources not wishing to be identified, that Kayla did have a problem with her elbow.  She was, apparently, scolded by her coaches for not mentioning it earlier.  It does seem to be taken care of, however, and her play against ASU was encouraging.

Kayla was adamant that her elbow was 100%.  Against ASU it seemed to be true.  She\'s the President of the "charge" club and nobody gets to more loose balls.  I hope nobody doubts that player\'s mental toughness.  I am a brobdingnagian fan.