Stanford Blows Out UC Santa Barbara

Stanford blew out UC Santa Barbara 90-34. The undersized gauchos only shot 20% the first 20 minutes, resulting in 13 points at the half. And what exactly is a gaucho, you ask? Well, we learned from a helpful person wearing a UC Barbara shirt that a gaucho is an Argentinean cowboy, and not stylish short pants.

Brittany McPhee (12) rebounds next to teammate Amber Orrange (33) (GEORGE NIKITIN — AP Photo)

With the lopsided score, Stanford Head Coach Tara VanDerveer got to rest her starters and play all 15 Stanford players, and 12 of them scored. Even with the limited minutes, four players were in double figures. Lili Thompson lead Stanford with 12, Karlee Samuleson and Briana Roberson each had 11, and freshie Brittany McPhee had 10. Loved Brittanys hustle, diving after balls, making blocks, and doing the little things to help her team. Bonnie Samuelson added nine. Speaking of the sharp-shooting Samuelson sisters (say that five times fast), each made three 3-pointers, going a combined 6-9 from downtown. Shout out to Erica McCall with a career high 12 rebounds and eight points. Double shoot out to Jasmine Camp who scored her first basket of the season, a three. She followed that up with a second three pointer.

And yet…

Here, let’s let our guest blogger, D, tell you about it (She got to take R’s place, who is out of town for the holidays).
D: Two things I noticed. When the Stanford posts screen, they are not effective. The other team sees them coming and can slip by the screen.
C: I heard the other team shout our “screen” as it was being set.
D: Exactly, the screen is telegraphed too much.
C: And you can’t discount the fact Stanford has been doing this high screen all season long and teams are noticing this on game film. What was the other thing?
D: Remember that cheer. BE aggressive, B-E aggressive!?
C: Yes.
D:  The post players are just not aggressive, in my opinion. They are not absolute ball hounds going for rebounds and when they catch the ball outside the paint, they are not a threat. They catch the ball and are on their heels looking for the next pass. They do not look like a threat to shoot or drive. The other team can back off of them on defense. They should be able to hit a shot outside the paint to keep the defense honest.
C: Yes, the lack of post play has been a concern of many who follow Stanford. Let’s hope they can keep working on this as Pac-12 play starts.
D: And what is up with the Stanford Tree?
C: That's three things, and I think he is supposed to be a palm tree.
D: I prefer the more Christmas-tree look of past seasons.
C: You gotta admit he is a great dancer.
D: That he is. Let me go take some video…


Enjoy the rest of 2014. We will see everyone back at Maples in 2015 for Pac-12 play (look out for Oregon State).

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