Season is done, sadly. For better or worse, sports seasons are ephemeral, win it all or lose early. Next game, next season is always coming fast. We've had several posts that make the case that Tara is and has been a lousy coach. That sort of post doesn't allow for reasonable discussion about her strengths and weaknesses as a coach. I mean, what can you say in response? Whatever you think of her decisions this season (there is a lot to chew on there), it is simply impossible to be a lousy coach and go to as many Final Fours and win as many championships as Tara has. The last two seasons before this one were champions and F4. This is not ancient history. It's really hard to discuss the coaching when a few posters make generalizations like Tara is terrible. What can the rest of us say? Usually disagree and get called homers or something. Not productive, not constructive. Specifics are in order and not the "she always" or "she never" kind. Always and never are rare. Shades of gray, perhaps, instead? That is if people ant a discussion vs want to rant because they don't like Tara. Ranting is your right but it won't bring forth constructive criticism.
I was going to post more about the offense, but I feel that is tapped out as a topic at this point. Instead I am going to wonder about a few things. I miss the old days when we had post-game events after many games where we fans could ask Tara questions like why did she change the offense, what is working, what is not, candid thoughts about officiating and the state of the game, etc. We used to get 20-30 minutes of that after some games. Some of the angst and maybe even anger on the board might have been alleviated if we were able to get answers straight from the horse's mouth.
So I wonder-
What happened with Iriafen? She is clearly very talented. She started most of the games and played well early in the season. Around the time she was replaced for a few games by Emma-Nnopu something went awry in her game and she never got back to her level of play from earlier in the season. She had not gotten near her ceiling but she was progressing up the learning curve. Brink got moved to the 4 to make room for Kiki at the 5 so the thought was that Iriafen would blossom and become a force. What went wrong there?
What happened with all of our sophs? Usually by the end of someone's sophomore year, we can see who is going to be a star, who is going to be a mainstay in the rotation. Not always, as some players are late bloomers in their college careers (McCall, Ruef, etc., etc.), but usually. None of our sophs really got going consistently, though they did have their moments. This was a crazy season and a difficult one, so maybe the old saw that frosh to soph is the biggest jump in performance doesn't apply this time. Still and all, I hoped for more from Iriafen, Demetre and Bosgana. Maybe the offense, which was designed around Brink and Jones and Jump sucked the air out of the room in a sense, did not allow for the growth of the younger players? This is a key question going into next season. These players will be juniors. We need them to be impact players.
What will the coaches do with the offense next season? Losing Jones is a very big loss. We also lose the post depth from Belibi and Prechtel, which should not be as big a deal with Betts coming along, Brink doing her thing as a senior, and Iriafen getting back into form (knock wood). I never assume that freshmen will play a lot early so mostly the returning players will be the ones the offense has to suit. I did not like the offense we ended up using. It never gelled. The screening never looked great. It was too slow. Too much staring down a post hoping to make an entry pass while the whole offense stalled. More of the same next season? Changed to what, if not? And oh yeah, for the posters who claim we don't have guards who can drive - where exactly in this offense could they go? On almost every possession, Brink or Betts or some post was trying to post up, usually with multiple defenders in the area waiting to double team our post. There wasn't exactly a ton of room in there to drive. I do think we needed more drives (and that players like Nivar and Bosgana could be good at it), but the offense was not exactly conducive, was it? Sagging defenses mean fewer driving lanes. We need a more aggressive offense, more driving lanes, more drive and dish, just generally more movement and better passing generally. A lot was not working.
How will the posts be utilized? Brink looked very good as a 4 early on except she lost her three point shot, which she needs for next year, or at least a consistent mid-range jumper. I would assume Tara needs to find a way to play Betts and Brink together and keep Iriafen in there with good minutes. Demetre might be more of a strict 4 next season, which might help her since she would not have to defend on the perimeter as much. She could make a nice stretch 4. If Bonnie Samuelson could do it, so can Demetre. I'd expect Betts, Brink, Iriafen and Demetre are the 4/5 group (ignoring incoming frosh for now).
How long will Tara continue? She will be 70 this year I believe. Coaching is an intense, difficult job. She can't go forever. For those who want her gone, be careful what you wish for. As we see with other sports and other teams in WCBB who have had a lot of talent over the years but can't quite put it all together, winning is hard and winning consistently as Stanford has under Tara is insanely hard. There is no guarantee anyone else will do anything as well - recruit, X's and O's, anything. When a season like this feels like a failure and fans are cranky two years removed from a championship, you know you have it good. It's nice to be able to complain about a season all but a very few teams would kill to have.
How will the incoming frosh look? We have what should be a great group coming in. Will any of them bust out early? The Funky four is an anomaly because it is rare that a class like that features players who all were important contributors. Usually half or a third of a class like that ends up never really making the rotation. Yes, Prechtel got very little run this season, but that was because we were so stacked inside, not because she wasn't and isn't a capable player.
OK, done wondering. Next season should be interesting. Sometime you lose a player like Jones who can dominate a team with her game and her personality and a team needs a season or two to get back on track. Other times, while you lose a star and ostensibly become weaker, the change allows others to step up, blossom, whatever you want to call it, and a team becomes better in a sense, because the contributions are more spread out. Not knocking Jones, she's been fantastic, but hoping the void she leaves opens up the floor to gains by so many other players the team thrives. That happened when Nicole Powell graduated. Of course the other thing that happened was Candice Wiggins arrived. I don't know if let's say Ogden is the next Wiggins (in impact, not in style of play necessarily), but we can hope.
I was going to post more about the offense, but I feel that is tapped out as a topic at this point. Instead I am going to wonder about a few things. I miss the old days when we had post-game events after many games where we fans could ask Tara questions like why did she change the offense, what is working, what is not, candid thoughts about officiating and the state of the game, etc. We used to get 20-30 minutes of that after some games. Some of the angst and maybe even anger on the board might have been alleviated if we were able to get answers straight from the horse's mouth.
So I wonder-
What happened with Iriafen? She is clearly very talented. She started most of the games and played well early in the season. Around the time she was replaced for a few games by Emma-Nnopu something went awry in her game and she never got back to her level of play from earlier in the season. She had not gotten near her ceiling but she was progressing up the learning curve. Brink got moved to the 4 to make room for Kiki at the 5 so the thought was that Iriafen would blossom and become a force. What went wrong there?
What happened with all of our sophs? Usually by the end of someone's sophomore year, we can see who is going to be a star, who is going to be a mainstay in the rotation. Not always, as some players are late bloomers in their college careers (McCall, Ruef, etc., etc.), but usually. None of our sophs really got going consistently, though they did have their moments. This was a crazy season and a difficult one, so maybe the old saw that frosh to soph is the biggest jump in performance doesn't apply this time. Still and all, I hoped for more from Iriafen, Demetre and Bosgana. Maybe the offense, which was designed around Brink and Jones and Jump sucked the air out of the room in a sense, did not allow for the growth of the younger players? This is a key question going into next season. These players will be juniors. We need them to be impact players.
What will the coaches do with the offense next season? Losing Jones is a very big loss. We also lose the post depth from Belibi and Prechtel, which should not be as big a deal with Betts coming along, Brink doing her thing as a senior, and Iriafen getting back into form (knock wood). I never assume that freshmen will play a lot early so mostly the returning players will be the ones the offense has to suit. I did not like the offense we ended up using. It never gelled. The screening never looked great. It was too slow. Too much staring down a post hoping to make an entry pass while the whole offense stalled. More of the same next season? Changed to what, if not? And oh yeah, for the posters who claim we don't have guards who can drive - where exactly in this offense could they go? On almost every possession, Brink or Betts or some post was trying to post up, usually with multiple defenders in the area waiting to double team our post. There wasn't exactly a ton of room in there to drive. I do think we needed more drives (and that players like Nivar and Bosgana could be good at it), but the offense was not exactly conducive, was it? Sagging defenses mean fewer driving lanes. We need a more aggressive offense, more driving lanes, more drive and dish, just generally more movement and better passing generally. A lot was not working.
How will the posts be utilized? Brink looked very good as a 4 early on except she lost her three point shot, which she needs for next year, or at least a consistent mid-range jumper. I would assume Tara needs to find a way to play Betts and Brink together and keep Iriafen in there with good minutes. Demetre might be more of a strict 4 next season, which might help her since she would not have to defend on the perimeter as much. She could make a nice stretch 4. If Bonnie Samuelson could do it, so can Demetre. I'd expect Betts, Brink, Iriafen and Demetre are the 4/5 group (ignoring incoming frosh for now).
How long will Tara continue? She will be 70 this year I believe. Coaching is an intense, difficult job. She can't go forever. For those who want her gone, be careful what you wish for. As we see with other sports and other teams in WCBB who have had a lot of talent over the years but can't quite put it all together, winning is hard and winning consistently as Stanford has under Tara is insanely hard. There is no guarantee anyone else will do anything as well - recruit, X's and O's, anything. When a season like this feels like a failure and fans are cranky two years removed from a championship, you know you have it good. It's nice to be able to complain about a season all but a very few teams would kill to have.
How will the incoming frosh look? We have what should be a great group coming in. Will any of them bust out early? The Funky four is an anomaly because it is rare that a class like that features players who all were important contributors. Usually half or a third of a class like that ends up never really making the rotation. Yes, Prechtel got very little run this season, but that was because we were so stacked inside, not because she wasn't and isn't a capable player.
OK, done wondering. Next season should be interesting. Sometime you lose a player like Jones who can dominate a team with her game and her personality and a team needs a season or two to get back on track. Other times, while you lose a star and ostensibly become weaker, the change allows others to step up, blossom, whatever you want to call it, and a team becomes better in a sense, because the contributions are more spread out. Not knocking Jones, she's been fantastic, but hoping the void she leaves opens up the floor to gains by so many other players the team thrives. That happened when Nicole Powell graduated. Of course the other thing that happened was Candice Wiggins arrived. I don't know if let's say Ogden is the next Wiggins (in impact, not in style of play necessarily), but we can hope.
