Posts: 8,440
Threads: 751
Joined: Dec 1969
Stanford 79 US.C 60
Overview:
Tara shook up the starting lineup and gave seniors Erica Payne and Jasmine Camp starts over Lili or Bri tonight. While they played sparingly, the tone was set, and the players seemed to focus better. Eight minutes into the game we took the lead and kept it on the basis of 55% shooting for the rest of the game.
Before the game
Tempie talked to the boosters and was forthright, honest, and good natured while helping us make sense of the recent debacle. I really don't know what kind of coach Tempie is, but she is a superb spokesperson. I would have to think she would be a superb recruiter. She noted that Stanford had no all-Americans, and so the talent level is not the same as it once was. (As Bob pointed out to me after tonight's game, we have 7-8 9 top 50 recruits while teams like Arizona and ASU have 0-1, so we do in fact have considerable talent on the team.) I don't think Tempie was using a lack of talent as an excuse, but as an explanation for the transition in the team's mindset. For years it has been a team with a central star and then a supporting cast--and it has been used to many 30 point blowouts. Now the team needs the offensive scoring to be very evenly distributed among many players, and it is going to be in a lot of close games. Even our seniors are experiencing true pressure on a nightly basis for the first time in their careers. Tempie used the word "choked" when describing what happened. She also pointed out some serious communication problems when three of our players would be running one play and the other two something else. When looking carefully at the tape and seeing all of the breakdowns they saw that we really deserved to lose the game.
To overcome this, Tempie said they were not trying to fix all the problems at one, but working on just a few at a time. She alluded to the possibility that they would reach down into the ranks for more senior leadership--and of course we saw the starts for Jasmine and E Payne later. She said they had hit "rock bottom" and responded to a question that "the pressure is off" in a way now that they know they probably won't win the Pac 12. The Pac 12 tournament is looking better and better to us. One hopeful fan pointed out that a few years ago Tennessee lost 10 games and then won the national championship. Well, hope springs eternal, as they say. I'll be happy just winning our next game, for now.
Flow of the Game
The atmosphere was OK, helped by the Dollie reunion and the faithful band--which is as good as an extra couple thousand people. I did my best lunatic imitation trying to cheer and scream and boo at every opportunity on the theory that this team really, really needs an enthusiastic fan base. I got some annoyed looks for the effort--our fans are just too nice for our team's own good sometimes.
It was a shock to see E Payne and Jasmine Camp start, and while I liked the symbolism, there is probably a reason they have not started before. However, they started well, and they each got a basket within the opening minutes. Bonnie did not shoot well at first, though, and USC got out to a lead on the basis of scorching jumpshots. But after eight minutes had gone by we had caught up again and took the lead for good when Amber made a close jumpshot followed by a layup by Karlie.
U.SC is not a good shooting team but clobbers people on the O-Boards and gets many points off of putbacks. They play very physically and we were not helped by a relatively hands-off officiating crew. Bonnie took a nasty forearm from Brianna Barrett that was not called, for example, as it was off ball. During the first half I saw Tara's strategy for dealing with it. We were in a man, but our players sagged so far off of it that at times we had all five players standing in the paint when the USC shots went up. We were daring them to do longer jumpshots and sometimes they connected, but we also forced turnovers when USC tried to go into the paint and we limited the O-boards for SC by having so many players close in. That said, there were still a few breakdowns and the strategy worked just barely well enough to keep the lead.
By the end of the first half most of our normal players were playing and we went in with an 11 point lead. The second half opened poorly, and SC was getting layups and free throws on some questionable calls to get as close as five points, but then we pulled away again and kept a safe lead the rest of the game. Lili got a fast break layup, Bonnie began to connect on treys, and the lead extended into double digits. This time we kept it there and did not let up. Bri scored in double digits in the first half, and Lili scored in double digits in the second half, but in general the offense was spread around fairly evenly.
Performances
We had four players in double digits--Lili with 14, Bri and Amber with 13, and Bonnie with 12; but Kaylee had 9 and Erica 8. This is a model for how our offense has to be for us to be successful.
On rebounding we were less successful--although we did not get completely wiped out. SC had 38 to our 34. 19 of SC's rebounds were Offensive, leading to SC getting 16 second chance points compared with our 10. Tara's decision to pack people in limited SC to only 6 O-boards in the first half, but we got away from that in the second and gave up 13 O boards late. Not sure why we changed defenses. Kaylee had just 5 rebounds--Amber had as many. Again, we were spreading rebounds out due to the pack-it-in strategy.
We were outstanding on turnovers--only 7 to their 12. Erica had a couple of blocks, one rather emphatic that made the highlights shown at the game. 12 assists was a lot for us--a welcome change. Lili had 4 of those assists--also showing that her focus is improving and that she does not think she needs to attack the basket when driving if there is someone else open.
I am finding when looking over the stats, remembering the game, and trying to pick out a star that it is hard to do so. And that, I think is the point. Based on team defense, balanced scoring, and increased assists, we played together as a team much better than we have for a while.
The game even had a few feel good moments, when Alex fed Tess for a basket and when Rooks made a layup at the end.
Parting Thoughts
This was a good first step forward for recovery. Consider it a twelve step program--step two comes against UCLA. UCLA may not be as dangerous a team as USC, but it is radically different in playstyle and so I expect we will see an entirely different defense than we did tonight. I wonder who Tara will start.
Finally, I should mention that the game ended on a bad moment. On a desperation pass with the game long decided, an SC player leaped and crashed to the court as time expired...and did not get up. After a long wait, she got up and hoppled off the court between the arms of SC staff, grimacing in pain for what looked like a possible knee injury. "All Right Now" was delayed for five minutes and the crowd gave a warm ovation to the player, but it always sickening to see these injuries--and such a useless one too.Â
