[2006alum]

Great wins by the team this weekend! So pumped to see Bird develop like this.

With the way the team played this weekend, and Lili's struggles of late, who will start in the next game? 

I suspect those of you who think the offense won this game will say Lili should play.  Those of us who think defense won this game will say we hope Lili will be a spark off the bench.

No matter how good one thinks Lili is, it would be hard to argue that these last two games haven't been the best played by Stanford.  Call it chemistry, call it height, I don't care.  With the way Stanford played this weekend, I'd go with the same starting lineup until an opponent has it figured out.

I agree. I kind of don't want to mess with a good thing. I'm not sure that means Lili stays on the bench, but I do think we need to start both Karlie and Brit at the 2-3 - it gives us height and mobility, and keeps defenses from being able to sag and defend our posts.

Are you saying Lili Thompson is a defensive liability? She sure doesn't seem like one to me.

I agree. I think she's great on defense. But with her scoring production really unpredictable, coupled with the fact that I really do think our two best games of this season were with a taller lineup and only one short guard, I guess I would prefer to see more rotation of Karlie and Brit than Lili/Bri/Marta. I also think we can afford to lose a little on defense in order to prevent a stagnant offense. Our defense was great against both Oregon State and Oregon. And given the number of feeds Karlie gave to Bird this weekend, she's clearly very capable of playing the 2 and distributing the ball. That said, I do think of our shorter guards, Lili should still be our go-to. And I think she might relish the 1 spot more if she isn't being asked to generate most of our offense. Our early season struggles with her at the 1 were due to the fact that she was also our primary scoring option. Based on this past weekend, that is hopefully less and less the case!

[2006alum]

Great wins by the team this weekend! So pumped to see Bird develop like this.

With the way the team played this weekend, and Lili's struggles of late, who will start in the next game? 

I suspect those of you who think the offense won this game will say Lili should play.  Those of us who think defense won this game will say we hope Lili will be a spark off the bench.

No matter how good one thinks Lili is, it would be hard to argue that these last two games haven't been the best played by Stanford.  Call it chemistry, call it height, I don't care.  With the way Stanford played this weekend, I'd go with the same starting lineup until an opponent has it figured out.

I agree. I kind of don't want to mess with a good thing. I'm not sure that means Lili stays on the bench, but I do think we need to start both Karlie and Brit at the 2-3 - it gives us height and mobility, and keeps defenses from being able to sag and defend our posts.

Are you saying Lili Thompson is a defensive liability? She sure doesn't seem like one to me.

I agree. I think she's great on defense. But with her scoring production really unpredictable, coupled with the fact that I really do think our two best games of this season were with a taller lineup and only one short guard, I guess I would prefer to see more rotation of Karlie and Brit than Lili/Bri/Marta. I also think we can afford to lose a little on defense in order to prevent a stagnant offense. Our defense was great against both Oregon State and Oregon. And given the number of feeds Karlie gave to Bird this weekend, she's clearly very capable of playing the 2 and distributing the ball. That said, I do think of our shorter guards, Lili should still be our go-to. And I think she might relish the 1 spot more if she isn't being asked to generate most of our offense. Our early season struggles with her at the 1 were due to the fact that she was also our primary scoring option. Based on this past weekend, that is hopefully less and less the case!