Even though summer is just starting, C and R would be remiss if we did not have a recap of The Stanford Women’s Basketball 2013-14 season (more from the official Stanford site). And 2013 started out the year of “13.” Or say we say the year of Chiney Ogwumike. Chiney Ogwumike took the team on her back and propelled them to the Final Four, their sixth appearance in seven years. Unfortunately they had a date with UConn and lost in the semis, but it was a great ride.
Stanford’s overall record was 33-4. Notable wins included Tennessee (for the third straight season) and both times against Cal in a week. They won the Pac-12 regular-season title, for the 14th time in a row. They did lose in the semis of the Pac-12 tourney to eventual winner USC, thus earning them a number 2 seed in the NCAA tourney. You can read a year in review for the Pac-12.
Chiney Ogwumike had some help. A pleasant surprise was freshmen guard Lili Thompson. Her aggressiveness and confidence also rubbed off on junior guard Amber Orrrrange and she upped her game as well. Another pleasant surprise of the season was the return of fifth year veteran Mikalea Ruef. She has her best year and peaked during the NCAA regional finals, ultimately being named the MVP of the region over buddy Chiney.
And what can we say about Chiney? Well, a lot actually, so here goes:
She led Stanford to three Final Fours during four year career. Her senior season, she was unanimous All-American, named the Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year, (the nation’s top academic honor and first from Stanford) was named to the Capital One Academic All-America Team for the second straight year annnnnnnddddddd….was awarded the John R. Wooden Award winner as the national player of the year, She became the first Stanford and Pac-12 women’s basketball player to claim the John R. Wooden Award.
As for the Pac-12 conference Awards, she leaves as one of the most decorated players in the history of the Pac-12. She now holds the Pac-12 all-time scoring and rebounding record, while claiming eight single-season or career records including tying the scoring average record, a mark set in 1989. She scored 2,737 points, besting fellow alum Candice Wiggins and grabbed 1,567 rebounds, besting fellow alum Kayla Pedersen, in addition to setting the single-season conference record for points scored at 967, passing fellow alum and her sister, Nneka Ogwumike. She swept the Pac-12 Player and Defensive Player of the Year awards for the second straight season, with the defensive honor being her third in a row. That makes her a two-time Pac-12 Player of the Year, three-time Defensive Player of the Year and four-time all-Conference. No one, man or woman has ever won the Pac-12 Offensive and Defensive player of the year award, and she has done it twice! Lastly, she set a record for being named Pac-12 Player of the Week for the ninth time this season and the 18th time in her career.
She finished the season as the only player to rank in the national top 10 in scoring (26.1 ppg - fourth), rebounding (12.1 rpg - ninth), field-goal percentage (60.1 - fourth), and double-doubles (27 - third).
After being named to every major award’s preseason watch list as well as to every preseason All-America Team, Ogwumike went on to a season in which she averaged 26.1 points and 12.1 rebounds per game while shooting 60.1 percent from the field. Those numbers helped Ogwumike earn her second straight selections to the ESPN, USBWA, John R. Wooden Award, and Associated Press First Teams, with the AP nod being her third overall after being named to the second team in 2012. Additionally, Ogwumike was honored at the Final Four in Nashville by being named to the WBCA Coaches’ All-America Team for the third straight season, joining Candice Wiggins (2005-08), Nneka Ogwumike (2010-12) and Nicole Powell (2002-04) as Stanford’s only three-time WBCA All-Americans. She was honored by the Stanford Alumni Association as one of two graduating seniors to receive the 2014 J.E. Wallace Sterling Award for outstanding service to Stanford.
She also had wrote the lyrics to this song:
Coach Tara Vanderveer got her 900th career victory this season, and in her understated style, no one got to see it, which was fine by her. The win came at the Puerto Vallarta gave tourney that clearly was not ready for prime time. No televised games, or even videotaped for later. Official score keepers and statistician had to be borrowed from the teams. She now stands alongside legends Pat Summitt, Sylvia Hatchell, C. Vivian Stringer and Jody Conradt in the exclusive 900 club.
The pinnacle of the season was Stanford clinching their trip to the final four at Maples Pavilion and getting to see their inspiring win in person. C and R are still smiling. What will next year hold?
Season tickets are now on sale!
Follow C and R on Facebook and Twitter, too!
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Showing posts with label Candice Wiggins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Candice Wiggins. Show all posts
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Friday, February 10, 2012
Stanford Beats USC, Gets No Respect
Just a quick note on the Stanford Women’s Basketball team’s 75th home win, 69th Pac-12 win and 18th consecutive win overall tonight. They beat USC 69-52. Nneka Ogwumike lead all scorers with 22 points and 8 boards and sister Chiney scored 21 and had a double-double with 12 rebounds. She also had a career high 6 blocked shots. And she was a master at getting position to get those 12 rebounds.
Stanford started out quickly and was easily up 21-9, 10 minutes into the contest. Then all-everything Nneka had a seat, what with 2 fouls and all. Head coach Tara VanDerveer thought she could afford to rest her. And you guessed it, Stanford’s offensive went stagnate without her. At one point Chiney looked for someone to pass to on offense and when no one seemed to want the ball, she put her head down and drove to the basket to make her own points. All we can say is Chin-ney saved the day. Toni Kokenis played the third string and got 15 for the game, and that was it for Stanford scoring (La la la la la, we can’t hear you naysayers and detractors... more on you later).
Half time Stanford was up 33-22, and surprisingly, USC held a 20-19 rebounding edge. They did that by primarily focusing on boxing the heck out of the sisters Ogwumike. Did we mention USC is one of the many Pac-12 teams that also have sisters? They have Briana and Stefanie Gilbreath, who scored 11 and 9 respectively for USC. But you can only stop an Ogwumike for so long, and around the 13-minute mark in the second, the Ogwumikes made their move, opening up the lead with their athleticism and ability to find the basket. They just wear people out. Final score 69-52.
Subplots:
Tara VanDerveer left in the scoring sisters until the end. Why? Stanford had an 18-point lead with 4 minutes left. Why not rest your starters and give the youngsters a chance? Well, because Tara VanDerveer is having a feud with all of the East Coast. Think of it as an East Coast-West Coast thang.
Seems ESPN analysist Carolyn Peck dissed Stanford and the Pac-12 by publicly saying the Pac-12 is weak and Duke deserves to be the number 4 seed instead of Stanford when the NCAA tourney starts. Tara took umbrage to that (hey that’s twice in a month we’ve used such a big word) and said to SF Chron "Duke loses at home to Connecticut and loses to Kentucky," VanDerveer said, "but they should be the No. 1 seed because they play in this great ACC? What's so great about North Carolina?"
She pointed out that the No. 22 Tar Heels (17-5) are ranked even though they lost to Connecticut by 51 and Duke by 40 and their RPI is 101st in the country. "That's crazy," she said.
Stanford, by contrast has an RPI of 4. RPI stands for rating percentage index or what we think of as strength of schedule. Duke’s is 8.
If Tara is outraged, then Stanford fans are outraged and C and R are no exception, and we took to Twitter:
@StanfordWBBBlog
Coach Tara VanDerveer is mad at @CAROLYNPECK for picking Duke as #4 seed over Stanford, no respect for Pac-12
Due to the magic of twitter, Carolyn Peck wrote back to us. Little ol C and R. Here’s her tweet:
@CAROLYNPECK
@StanfordWBBBlog No disrespect 2 Stanford but the ACC has 4 teams in the top 10 & total of 6 in top 25. Committee has 2 consider that.
I think that’s Tara’s point. At least half of those ACC teams shouldn’t be in the top 25, and maybe some of the Pac-12 should. (Tara has said publicly Cal should be top 25). Message boards around the Pac-12 (or Pac-10 as Carolyn kept calling it) were lit up all day.
Subplot #2:
Nneka Ogwumike moved past Another Stanford fave, Jayne Appel, into third place all time scoring for Stanford. Ahead of her is Kate Starbird and another, nother C and R fave Candice Wiggins. Candice has 2,629 and Nneka has around 2,143or so, so not sure if she can pass her.
Subplot #3-Big Head Nneka:
When C and R sat down opposite the opposing team’s bench like we do every home game, quite a few fans had blown up photographs of Nneka. C instantly coveted one, as she does all things Stanford and all things free. She spied twitter buddy @SGC72 amidst them. Moving her thumbs quickly, C ascertained that SC had some extras and that C should come over at half time. The minutes couldn’t tick by fast enough.
At the half, SC introduced C to the Glue-Stick lady of section 4 (we didn’t ask permission to use her name, so she is now Glue-Stick lady, but she was very, very nice). She gave out the pictures for free and asked if C wanted hers glued to a piece of cardboard for waving, on the condition she wave it the rest of the half. Deal.
On the way back to her seat, C spotted the announcers (a rare televised game) with the camera pointed at them with the red light on so she snuck behind them and held up Big Head Nneka and said “vote for Nneka for Senior Class award.” Let me know if that made it out to TV land.
After the game, when NO victories balls were thrown our way, C and R gave the picture of Nneka to a young fan that sits behind us and just loooves Nneka. We made her night, just as ours was made. You know, pay it forward and all, C and R’s motto…
So next game is UCLA Sunday, which is a Play4Kay game, so wear pink for breast cancer awareness. Michelle Smith of Left Coast Hoops is of the opinion Stanford needs to remain undefeated in Pac-12 play to keep the number 4 seed, so come on out to root them on. Seems like Stanford is not playing just against one team, but against all of the East Coast bias.
Follow C and R Twitter and see if the get in a feud with Caroly Peck, too!
..
Stanford started out quickly and was easily up 21-9, 10 minutes into the contest. Then all-everything Nneka had a seat, what with 2 fouls and all. Head coach Tara VanDerveer thought she could afford to rest her. And you guessed it, Stanford’s offensive went stagnate without her. At one point Chiney looked for someone to pass to on offense and when no one seemed to want the ball, she put her head down and drove to the basket to make her own points. All we can say is Chin-ney saved the day. Toni Kokenis played the third string and got 15 for the game, and that was it for Stanford scoring (La la la la la, we can’t hear you naysayers and detractors... more on you later).
Half time Stanford was up 33-22, and surprisingly, USC held a 20-19 rebounding edge. They did that by primarily focusing on boxing the heck out of the sisters Ogwumike. Did we mention USC is one of the many Pac-12 teams that also have sisters? They have Briana and Stefanie Gilbreath, who scored 11 and 9 respectively for USC. But you can only stop an Ogwumike for so long, and around the 13-minute mark in the second, the Ogwumikes made their move, opening up the lead with their athleticism and ability to find the basket. They just wear people out. Final score 69-52.
Subplots:
Tara VanDerveer left in the scoring sisters until the end. Why? Stanford had an 18-point lead with 4 minutes left. Why not rest your starters and give the youngsters a chance? Well, because Tara VanDerveer is having a feud with all of the East Coast. Think of it as an East Coast-West Coast thang.
Seems ESPN analysist Carolyn Peck dissed Stanford and the Pac-12 by publicly saying the Pac-12 is weak and Duke deserves to be the number 4 seed instead of Stanford when the NCAA tourney starts. Tara took umbrage to that (hey that’s twice in a month we’ve used such a big word) and said to SF Chron "Duke loses at home to Connecticut and loses to Kentucky," VanDerveer said, "but they should be the No. 1 seed because they play in this great ACC? What's so great about North Carolina?"
She pointed out that the No. 22 Tar Heels (17-5) are ranked even though they lost to Connecticut by 51 and Duke by 40 and their RPI is 101st in the country. "That's crazy," she said.
Stanford, by contrast has an RPI of 4. RPI stands for rating percentage index or what we think of as strength of schedule. Duke’s is 8.
If Tara is outraged, then Stanford fans are outraged and C and R are no exception, and we took to Twitter:
@StanfordWBBBlog
Coach Tara VanDerveer is mad at @CAROLYNPECK for picking Duke as #4 seed over Stanford, no respect for Pac-12
Due to the magic of twitter, Carolyn Peck wrote back to us. Little ol C and R. Here’s her tweet:
@CAROLYNPECK
@StanfordWBBBlog No disrespect 2 Stanford but the ACC has 4 teams in the top 10 & total of 6 in top 25. Committee has 2 consider that.
I think that’s Tara’s point. At least half of those ACC teams shouldn’t be in the top 25, and maybe some of the Pac-12 should. (Tara has said publicly Cal should be top 25). Message boards around the Pac-12 (or Pac-10 as Carolyn kept calling it) were lit up all day.
Subplot #2:
Nneka Ogwumike moved past Another Stanford fave, Jayne Appel, into third place all time scoring for Stanford. Ahead of her is Kate Starbird and another, nother C and R fave Candice Wiggins. Candice has 2,629 and Nneka has around 2,143or so, so not sure if she can pass her.
Subplot #3-Big Head Nneka:
When C and R sat down opposite the opposing team’s bench like we do every home game, quite a few fans had blown up photographs of Nneka. C instantly coveted one, as she does all things Stanford and all things free. She spied twitter buddy @SGC72 amidst them. Moving her thumbs quickly, C ascertained that SC had some extras and that C should come over at half time. The minutes couldn’t tick by fast enough.
At the half, SC introduced C to the Glue-Stick lady of section 4 (we didn’t ask permission to use her name, so she is now Glue-Stick lady, but she was very, very nice). She gave out the pictures for free and asked if C wanted hers glued to a piece of cardboard for waving, on the condition she wave it the rest of the half. Deal.
On the way back to her seat, C spotted the announcers (a rare televised game) with the camera pointed at them with the red light on so she snuck behind them and held up Big Head Nneka and said “vote for Nneka for Senior Class award.” Let me know if that made it out to TV land.
After the game, when NO victories balls were thrown our way, C and R gave the picture of Nneka to a young fan that sits behind us and just loooves Nneka. We made her night, just as ours was made. You know, pay it forward and all, C and R’s motto…
So next game is UCLA Sunday, which is a Play4Kay game, so wear pink for breast cancer awareness. Michelle Smith of Left Coast Hoops is of the opinion Stanford needs to remain undefeated in Pac-12 play to keep the number 4 seed, so come on out to root them on. Seems like Stanford is not playing just against one team, but against all of the East Coast bias.
Follow C and R Twitter and see if the get in a feud with Caroly Peck, too!
..
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Stanford Saved by Nneka Ogwumike Once Again
Why is it whenever C has a continuing education class (And I do seem to need a lot of them!), they take place during a Stanford Women’s Basketball Game? Do the Cont Ed people grab a Stanford schedule and plan this out on purpose? Anyhoo, C had to miss the CLOSEST game this season (heck we beat Tenn by more) in a 67-60 win over Oregon State. R was there and here is her report. All typos are C’s, though.
And not only did I miss the game (This is C continuing, sorry, not ready to turn it over to R yet), I missed my all time fave player Nneka Ogwumike set not one but two, two milestones. She got 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. She is the 7th 2,000 point scorer for Stanford, and the fifth with 1,000 rebounds, joining Kayla Pedersen, (1,266), Jayne Appel (1,263), Nicole Powell (1,143) and Val Whiting (1,134). However, she is the first Stanford player to do both those feats in one game (that I missed). Anyway, heeeeere’s R:
At the onset of the game we were celebrating Dog Lovers; soon we would be celebrating Nneka Ogwumike who hit her 2000th point and grabbed her 1000th rebound -- as our Candice Wiggins Tweeted she did it, “the Stanford way, she’s so legit!” (R had to both tweet and report on this game while eating a hot dog--multi-tasking is so hard for us!)
Back to the dogs; dozens of dogs were dressed as fans -- I especially liked the scrunchy-faced dog wearing the ‘We Back Pat’ towel. One beautiful pit bull enthusiastically licked her owner’s face but I still gave her a wide berth to my seat.
In the first few minutes of the game, our offense was, you guessed it, Nneka, Nneka, more Nneka, and only Nneka. She had the first 8 Stanford points. Then she felt the pressure as her team kept feeding her inside (whether for the records or because we didn’t feel good about our other options, I don’t know), and she shot a couple of uncharacteristic air balls and even missed an alley-oop. I was beginning to wonder if anyone else would ever score for Stanford. Finally, a 3 pointer is made by the freshman Samuelson to accompany Nneka’s first 8 points.
However, Nneka is not one of these selfish, give me the ball type players. Early on, Nneka did a nice little bounce pass to Tinkle under the basket. Assist Nneka, bucket Tinkle plus one from the free throw line – nice 3-point play, and smart to get others involved.
On the other end of the court we gasped as Nneka snatched the rebound with one hand while floating a foot above her opponent, a much taller Beaver. Her sister Chiney, scoreless in the first half, wanted a piece of the action so she fouled a Beaver hard – so hard, she knocked her own contact lens out! That’s a first!
The Beavers had intensity and good shooting. Their 3-point specialist, Sage Indendi, made a quick 3 in the first few minutes. I was very impressed with Oregon State’s coach. He had his team ready to play. Wish I could say the same for Tara VanDerveer. Although she did own up to it in the post-game press conference saying, her team “played casual” and “lacked intensity.”
Halftime, Stanford is down 35 – 31, say what? C called in during her break and couldn’t believe it!
OSU catches on it is the Nneka show and decides to triple team Nneka. Not double team, triple team, and yet Nneka still scores! She was amazing. How amazing? She scored 33 for the night and grabbed 16 boards. Sister Chiney, humbled by not scoring any in the first half and losing that contact, comes back with a vengeance in the second half and adds 20 points and 10 rebounds. Double doubles for double-trouble, again.
Double troubling was the sister combined scored 53 combined points. Fifty-Three. Out of Sixty-Seven for the team. Not good. Next closest scorer was Tinkle with 5. F-I-V-E. Lindy, Toni and Bonnie each had 3. And that’s it. Very troubling indeed.
The Beavers also have the Pac-12 leading blocker Patricia Bright, averaging 3.8 blocks per game this season. Well, the first several blocks were by our sisters Ogwumike and the most awe-inspiring by our Nneka – sending the ball back 10 feet. Maples must be defended, I heard one fan yell.
Patricia Bright DID have a few early blocks on Chiney, but ended up fouling out midway through the second half – our Band verbally marching her off the court. Brutal.
We began to dominate and gain confidence cheering Nneka’s milestones. She joins Jayne Appel, Nicole Powell, and Val Whiting who have scored 2000 points and collected 1000 rebounds during their play on the Farm.
Although the game was a little too exciting (potentially jeopardizing our home-game winning streak), we get to place a W in Result column. UConn wasn’t so lucky. They lost in OT to Notre Dame 74-67 today.
PS
Our little girls won their game tonight and we went out for pizza. Then we played kick the can in the parking lot by the liquor store. (C ran so hard she nearly threw up her pizza… but you didn’t want to know that). Such warm and fond memories we are creating for them!
Follow C and R on Facebook and Twitter, too!
.
.
And not only did I miss the game (This is C continuing, sorry, not ready to turn it over to R yet), I missed my all time fave player Nneka Ogwumike set not one but two, two milestones. She got 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. She is the 7th 2,000 point scorer for Stanford, and the fifth with 1,000 rebounds, joining Kayla Pedersen, (1,266), Jayne Appel (1,263), Nicole Powell (1,143) and Val Whiting (1,134). However, she is the first Stanford player to do both those feats in one game (that I missed). Anyway, heeeeere’s R:
At the onset of the game we were celebrating Dog Lovers; soon we would be celebrating Nneka Ogwumike who hit her 2000th point and grabbed her 1000th rebound -- as our Candice Wiggins Tweeted she did it, “the Stanford way, she’s so legit!” (R had to both tweet and report on this game while eating a hot dog--multi-tasking is so hard for us!)
Back to the dogs; dozens of dogs were dressed as fans -- I especially liked the scrunchy-faced dog wearing the ‘We Back Pat’ towel. One beautiful pit bull enthusiastically licked her owner’s face but I still gave her a wide berth to my seat.
In the first few minutes of the game, our offense was, you guessed it, Nneka, Nneka, more Nneka, and only Nneka. She had the first 8 Stanford points. Then she felt the pressure as her team kept feeding her inside (whether for the records or because we didn’t feel good about our other options, I don’t know), and she shot a couple of uncharacteristic air balls and even missed an alley-oop. I was beginning to wonder if anyone else would ever score for Stanford. Finally, a 3 pointer is made by the freshman Samuelson to accompany Nneka’s first 8 points.
However, Nneka is not one of these selfish, give me the ball type players. Early on, Nneka did a nice little bounce pass to Tinkle under the basket. Assist Nneka, bucket Tinkle plus one from the free throw line – nice 3-point play, and smart to get others involved.
On the other end of the court we gasped as Nneka snatched the rebound with one hand while floating a foot above her opponent, a much taller Beaver. Her sister Chiney, scoreless in the first half, wanted a piece of the action so she fouled a Beaver hard – so hard, she knocked her own contact lens out! That’s a first!
The Beavers had intensity and good shooting. Their 3-point specialist, Sage Indendi, made a quick 3 in the first few minutes. I was very impressed with Oregon State’s coach. He had his team ready to play. Wish I could say the same for Tara VanDerveer. Although she did own up to it in the post-game press conference saying, her team “played casual” and “lacked intensity.”
Halftime, Stanford is down 35 – 31, say what? C called in during her break and couldn’t believe it!
OSU catches on it is the Nneka show and decides to triple team Nneka. Not double team, triple team, and yet Nneka still scores! She was amazing. How amazing? She scored 33 for the night and grabbed 16 boards. Sister Chiney, humbled by not scoring any in the first half and losing that contact, comes back with a vengeance in the second half and adds 20 points and 10 rebounds. Double doubles for double-trouble, again.
Double troubling was the sister combined scored 53 combined points. Fifty-Three. Out of Sixty-Seven for the team. Not good. Next closest scorer was Tinkle with 5. F-I-V-E. Lindy, Toni and Bonnie each had 3. And that’s it. Very troubling indeed.
The Beavers also have the Pac-12 leading blocker Patricia Bright, averaging 3.8 blocks per game this season. Well, the first several blocks were by our sisters Ogwumike and the most awe-inspiring by our Nneka – sending the ball back 10 feet. Maples must be defended, I heard one fan yell.
Patricia Bright DID have a few early blocks on Chiney, but ended up fouling out midway through the second half – our Band verbally marching her off the court. Brutal.
We began to dominate and gain confidence cheering Nneka’s milestones. She joins Jayne Appel, Nicole Powell, and Val Whiting who have scored 2000 points and collected 1000 rebounds during their play on the Farm.
Although the game was a little too exciting (potentially jeopardizing our home-game winning streak), we get to place a W in Result column. UConn wasn’t so lucky. They lost in OT to Notre Dame 74-67 today.
PS
Our little girls won their game tonight and we went out for pizza. Then we played kick the can in the parking lot by the liquor store. (C ran so hard she nearly threw up her pizza… but you didn’t want to know that). Such warm and fond memories we are creating for them!
Follow C and R on Facebook and Twitter, too!
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.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Candice Wiggins, Coach
WNBA Champion Candice Wiggins surprised the heck out of everyone (well, C and R anyway) by not going overseas to play ball. Instead, she added “assistant coach” to her resume. Candice joined Occidental College as assistant coach. Her responsibilities will be grooming the guards. Did C and R mention that Candice was a four-time All-American guard at Stanford before playing in the WNBA? Oh, you knew that already.
Before you say “Occidental who?” or “isn’t that a life insurance policy?” know that Occidental is a small liberal arts college down south in LA that plays in Division III and is coached by a woman named Heidi. As in VanDerveer. Tara Vanderveer’s sister. Heidi VanDerveer is Stanford Women’s Basketball Head Coach Tara Vanderveer’s sister (say that five times fast!).
What a perfect match. Candice was a favorite of Tara VanDerveer during her four years at Stanford and we are sure Heidi likes her equally as much, if not more, because, well, she’s Candice Wiggins. Who wouldn’t like her? Going through four years of a Stanford program helmed by master minded Tara VanDerveer gives anyone an advanced degree in basketball smarts. Having the exuberance and outgoing good energy that motives a player to do better than their best is priceless. Ice should make an excellent assistant coach, and we wish her and Occidental college the best of luck.
Other Stanford Stuff:
What are you doing this Friday? Come on down to Maples, but not for Basketball. Come for Volleyball. The National Anthem will be sung by Stanford players, but not for Volleyball. For basketball. Say what? Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike, Jasmine Camp, and Natasha von Kaeppler will be singing the anthem around 6:45 before the Stanford vball game vs Pac-12 foe Oregon. They’ve been practicing!
Heads up for December 3rd: Meet the Team at Town & Country Village, Palo Alto, for autographs, pictures and prizes! Fun starts at 1 and goes until 2 PM.
Lastly, this Thursday, against Old Dominion,.bring a canned good, get a general admission ticket. Or just bring a canned good, no perishables, for the Big Can Drive.
Follow C and R on Facebook and Twitter, too!
.
.
Before you say “Occidental who?” or “isn’t that a life insurance policy?” know that Occidental is a small liberal arts college down south in LA that plays in Division III and is coached by a woman named Heidi. As in VanDerveer. Tara Vanderveer’s sister. Heidi VanDerveer is Stanford Women’s Basketball Head Coach Tara Vanderveer’s sister (say that five times fast!).
What a perfect match. Candice was a favorite of Tara VanDerveer during her four years at Stanford and we are sure Heidi likes her equally as much, if not more, because, well, she’s Candice Wiggins. Who wouldn’t like her? Going through four years of a Stanford program helmed by master minded Tara VanDerveer gives anyone an advanced degree in basketball smarts. Having the exuberance and outgoing good energy that motives a player to do better than their best is priceless. Ice should make an excellent assistant coach, and we wish her and Occidental college the best of luck.
Other Stanford Stuff:
What are you doing this Friday? Come on down to Maples, but not for Basketball. Come for Volleyball. The National Anthem will be sung by Stanford players, but not for Volleyball. For basketball. Say what? Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike, Jasmine Camp, and Natasha von Kaeppler will be singing the anthem around 6:45 before the Stanford vball game vs Pac-12 foe Oregon. They’ve been practicing!
Heads up for December 3rd: Meet the Team at Town & Country Village, Palo Alto, for autographs, pictures and prizes! Fun starts at 1 and goes until 2 PM.
Lastly, this Thursday, against Old Dominion,.bring a canned good, get a general admission ticket. Or just bring a canned good, no perishables, for the Big Can Drive.
Follow C and R on Facebook and Twitter, too!
.
.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
All Ogwumike, All the Time
C and R step into a well-warmed Maples to get a look at their beloved Stanford Women’s Basketball team in person, playing their first game at home, second of the season. It will also be the first regular season game for All-America Nneka Ogwumike, who was held out of their first game with an “unspecified upper body injury.”
We see the team warming up and an extra Cardinal Red pad on Nneka’s right elbow, so perhaps that is the source of the mystery injury. We are looking forward to seeing sisters Nneka and Chiney play together for the first time in the regular season this year. We also see Gonzaga warming up, for the first time with out standout guard Courtney Vandersloot, who graduated to the WNBA. We will see if there will be a drop off in scoring.
The game starts and Gonzaga is the impressive one in the opening minutes. They have such strong fundamentals and are quick, and push the ball in transition. Also, it doesn’t help that Nneka is flat and missing shots. And it doesn’t help matters even more when a minute and a half into the game Chiney Ogwumike picks up her first foul and gets VanDerveered (benched by head coach Tara VanDerveer).
Around the 16-minute mark, during an official timeout, Stanford brings out on the court Trisha Stevens, who played on the 1992 National Championship team and was just recently inducted into the Stanford Hall of Fame. The video montage of her stats is mind-blowing. Around the same time, freshmen Amber Orrange (not a typo) makes her first appearance in front of the home crowd.
Then the sisters get busy. As R notes, the sisters own the floor, they own the paint and they own the rebounds. At one point, Nneka is thrown an alley-oop pass and she catches and shoots it before hitting the ground. Not a lot of women’s players can pull off that feat (did anyone clock her hang time?). However, the sister’s scoring and rebounding ability, and Nneka’s jaw-dropping plays are tempered by rookie mistakes. Some of them by the freshmen. Guard Toni Kokenis, a sophomore with a lot of playing time last year under her belt is also passing it away. To be fair, Gonzaga is quick, smart and anticipating where Stanford is going to go with the ball. Whatever the cause, Stanford will end up with 16 turnovers for the game, 10 in the first half alone.
When Nneka takes a well-deserved break around the 7 and a half mark, she has 13 points and Gonzaga has 13 points. The score is 22-13, mostly from Chiney and Toni scoring when Nneka doesn’t. Nneka would have a double-double by half time. One notable score was Jos Tinkle (Bells) scoring on a nifty spin move near the basket on a fast break, breaking ankles and showing us some Show Time. Alas, that would be the only points she scores for the game.
Before the half, though, it is Gonzaga that makes its run. In the last 6 minutes, Gonzaga scores 18 while Stanford can only muster 6 points. Gonzaga would tie the score at 29 with 2 minutes left.
Stanford tries to go for one last shot with 30 seconds left and loses the ball out of bounds with 12 seconds left. Quick minded Tara VanDerveer inserts quick-hands Amber Orrange into the lineup for defense. The freshmen promptly fouls and Gonzaga sinks both shots to go up 32-31 at the half. Tara VanDerveer is going to go bald pulling hair while dealing with these freshmen! Media sources on Twitter not related to Stanford are drooling, hoping for the upset.
At the half, Stanford brings out Trisha Stevens again, plus her teammates from the 1992 National Championship to be honored. The video board shows they played at a high level even back then.
At the start of the second half, Stanford comes out with much more intensity, hustling and diving for loose balls. C and R are sure a “pep time talk” by Tara helped spark that. Many hitting the deck, most notably Toni and Lindy LaRocque.
Then it becomes the Nneka and Chiney show. Really, it wasn’t until Toni Kokenis hit a 3 pointer at the 13-minute mark that any other Stanford player scored not named Ogwumike in the second half. They could not stop Chiney inside. Nneka was even falling to the ground on a hard foul, threw the ball up and it went in. The second jaw-dropping play occurred when Nneka picked the pocket of a Zag guard and raced for the lay up, nearly stumbling for running so hard. As she neared the basket on the left, she faked a hard pass to her right. The Zag guard totally turned around to harass the streaking Stanford player on the right, who DIDN’T have the ball. Nneka had kept it and went up for an uncontested lay-up. Brought Maples to their feet.
The sisters would have had more points, but twice Nneka passed up a basket to try to hit Chiney. Gonzaga tried to double-team at least one of them, but really, they should have put all five on the two. No one for Stanford looked like a scoring threat, which, after basking in glee at their scoring, is really, really troubling for Stanford. Three point shooting was a non-existent threat, the team just 3-13 for the game.
Oh wait, was that Candice Wiggins who just walked by? Candice Wiggins in the house! Our section yelled great things to her and she acknowledged us all! She couldn’t get her championship here, but finally got one in the WNBA. She is well loved here at Stanford.
When Nneka finally came out of the game for good at the four and a half minute mark, the score was 69-51. Nneka would take a seat with 33 points and 18 rebounds.
As Stanford was pulling away, Tara put in four freshmen with center Sarah Boothe. With one minute left, Tara calls a time out and yells at her freshmen to “Get over here,” her face red. She was mad. We tell ya, those freshmen will be the death of her yet!
Hats off to Gonzaga, they didn’t quit and they didn’t back down when Stanford made a basket. Final score was 76-61.
Chiney had 19 points and 6 rebounds. Adding Nneka and Chiney’s points together, and you get 52 of Stanford’s 76. Chip in starting sophomore Toni Kokenis’ 14 and other teams are going to figure out who NOT to guard, which is everyone else on Stanford’s team. Troublesome indeed.
Still, it is hard not to be happy about the remarkable performance Nneka had, coupled with Chiney’s rebounding and scoring on the weak side. Now, if Stanford can just get a few more players involved.
Follow even more C and R action on Facebook and Twitter, too!
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We see the team warming up and an extra Cardinal Red pad on Nneka’s right elbow, so perhaps that is the source of the mystery injury. We are looking forward to seeing sisters Nneka and Chiney play together for the first time in the regular season this year. We also see Gonzaga warming up, for the first time with out standout guard Courtney Vandersloot, who graduated to the WNBA. We will see if there will be a drop off in scoring.
The game starts and Gonzaga is the impressive one in the opening minutes. They have such strong fundamentals and are quick, and push the ball in transition. Also, it doesn’t help that Nneka is flat and missing shots. And it doesn’t help matters even more when a minute and a half into the game Chiney Ogwumike picks up her first foul and gets VanDerveered (benched by head coach Tara VanDerveer).
Around the 16-minute mark, during an official timeout, Stanford brings out on the court Trisha Stevens, who played on the 1992 National Championship team and was just recently inducted into the Stanford Hall of Fame. The video montage of her stats is mind-blowing. Around the same time, freshmen Amber Orrange (not a typo) makes her first appearance in front of the home crowd.
Then the sisters get busy. As R notes, the sisters own the floor, they own the paint and they own the rebounds. At one point, Nneka is thrown an alley-oop pass and she catches and shoots it before hitting the ground. Not a lot of women’s players can pull off that feat (did anyone clock her hang time?). However, the sister’s scoring and rebounding ability, and Nneka’s jaw-dropping plays are tempered by rookie mistakes. Some of them by the freshmen. Guard Toni Kokenis, a sophomore with a lot of playing time last year under her belt is also passing it away. To be fair, Gonzaga is quick, smart and anticipating where Stanford is going to go with the ball. Whatever the cause, Stanford will end up with 16 turnovers for the game, 10 in the first half alone.
When Nneka takes a well-deserved break around the 7 and a half mark, she has 13 points and Gonzaga has 13 points. The score is 22-13, mostly from Chiney and Toni scoring when Nneka doesn’t. Nneka would have a double-double by half time. One notable score was Jos Tinkle (Bells) scoring on a nifty spin move near the basket on a fast break, breaking ankles and showing us some Show Time. Alas, that would be the only points she scores for the game.
Before the half, though, it is Gonzaga that makes its run. In the last 6 minutes, Gonzaga scores 18 while Stanford can only muster 6 points. Gonzaga would tie the score at 29 with 2 minutes left.
Stanford tries to go for one last shot with 30 seconds left and loses the ball out of bounds with 12 seconds left. Quick minded Tara VanDerveer inserts quick-hands Amber Orrange into the lineup for defense. The freshmen promptly fouls and Gonzaga sinks both shots to go up 32-31 at the half. Tara VanDerveer is going to go bald pulling hair while dealing with these freshmen! Media sources on Twitter not related to Stanford are drooling, hoping for the upset.
At the half, Stanford brings out Trisha Stevens again, plus her teammates from the 1992 National Championship to be honored. The video board shows they played at a high level even back then.
At the start of the second half, Stanford comes out with much more intensity, hustling and diving for loose balls. C and R are sure a “pep time talk” by Tara helped spark that. Many hitting the deck, most notably Toni and Lindy LaRocque.
Then it becomes the Nneka and Chiney show. Really, it wasn’t until Toni Kokenis hit a 3 pointer at the 13-minute mark that any other Stanford player scored not named Ogwumike in the second half. They could not stop Chiney inside. Nneka was even falling to the ground on a hard foul, threw the ball up and it went in. The second jaw-dropping play occurred when Nneka picked the pocket of a Zag guard and raced for the lay up, nearly stumbling for running so hard. As she neared the basket on the left, she faked a hard pass to her right. The Zag guard totally turned around to harass the streaking Stanford player on the right, who DIDN’T have the ball. Nneka had kept it and went up for an uncontested lay-up. Brought Maples to their feet.
The sisters would have had more points, but twice Nneka passed up a basket to try to hit Chiney. Gonzaga tried to double-team at least one of them, but really, they should have put all five on the two. No one for Stanford looked like a scoring threat, which, after basking in glee at their scoring, is really, really troubling for Stanford. Three point shooting was a non-existent threat, the team just 3-13 for the game.
Oh wait, was that Candice Wiggins who just walked by? Candice Wiggins in the house! Our section yelled great things to her and she acknowledged us all! She couldn’t get her championship here, but finally got one in the WNBA. She is well loved here at Stanford.
When Nneka finally came out of the game for good at the four and a half minute mark, the score was 69-51. Nneka would take a seat with 33 points and 18 rebounds.
As Stanford was pulling away, Tara put in four freshmen with center Sarah Boothe. With one minute left, Tara calls a time out and yells at her freshmen to “Get over here,” her face red. She was mad. We tell ya, those freshmen will be the death of her yet!
Hats off to Gonzaga, they didn’t quit and they didn’t back down when Stanford made a basket. Final score was 76-61.
Chiney had 19 points and 6 rebounds. Adding Nneka and Chiney’s points together, and you get 52 of Stanford’s 76. Chip in starting sophomore Toni Kokenis’ 14 and other teams are going to figure out who NOT to guard, which is everyone else on Stanford’s team. Troublesome indeed.
Still, it is hard not to be happy about the remarkable performance Nneka had, coupled with Chiney’s rebounding and scoring on the weak side. Now, if Stanford can just get a few more players involved.
Follow even more C and R action on Facebook and Twitter, too!
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Saturday, October 8, 2011
October Happenings
October has been a busy month. Women's college basketball practice officially started, Breast Cancer Awareness month is in full pink-force and Candice Wiggins finally has a major championship.
First, Candice Wiggins. Candice Wiggins, who plays for the Minnesota Lynx, stayed healthy this year and provided that Candice-like-Spark off the bench. The Lynx has one of the most talented benches, along with Rookie of the Year Maya Moore in the starting lineup and swept the Atlanta Dream in the finals. In 2008, Candice’s senior year at Stanford, she led Stanford to the championship game, Stanford’s first Final Four appearance since 1997, but they could not defeat a Candace Parker led Tennessee team. Candice won many individual awards while at Stanford, but never that elusive college championship. Now she has one as a pro. C and R could not be happier for her! (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Lynx Facebook page)
October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a worthy cause to be sure. It promotes education and empowerment for all. In the last few years, big institutions have jumped on the pink bandwagon, promoting BCAM by wearing or selling token pink things. NFL football “celebrates” Breast Cancer Awareness month by letting players and coaches wear pink gear, then auctioning it off. Cool, brings a lot of attention to breast cancer to a demographic that might not be as in touch with their inner pink.
But let the buyer beware. The campaign “Think Before You Pink,”started by Breast Cancer Action, makes it their mission to point out hypocrisy of companies that put a pink ribbon on their product yet donate a fraction (or none) of the profit. They ask some good questions about products with pink ribbons and so should you. Here is the shorten version:
Critical Questions to Ask Before You Buy Pink
1. How much money from your purchase actually goes toward breast cancer? Is the amount clearly stated on the package?
2. What is the maximum amount that will be donated?
3. How are the funds being raised?
4. To what breast cancer organization does the money go, and what types of programs does it support?
5. What is the company doing to assure that its products are not actually contributing to the breast cancer epidemic?
In other Basketball news, Women’s basketball practices started last week around the country, Stanford included. Curious, Geno Auriemma and Brittney Griner are overseas with the US Women’s National Team. Strange time to go, especially with the start of season and some of the best US players still participating in the WNBA finals. (And even stranger to C and R, trying to start another internet rumor, that Geno is helping his rival’s best player get better).
With basketball practices underway around the country, and now the WNBA over, C and R are even more anxious for college basketball games to officially start!
First, Candice Wiggins. Candice Wiggins, who plays for the Minnesota Lynx, stayed healthy this year and provided that Candice-like-Spark off the bench. The Lynx has one of the most talented benches, along with Rookie of the Year Maya Moore in the starting lineup and swept the Atlanta Dream in the finals. In 2008, Candice’s senior year at Stanford, she led Stanford to the championship game, Stanford’s first Final Four appearance since 1997, but they could not defeat a Candace Parker led Tennessee team. Candice won many individual awards while at Stanford, but never that elusive college championship. Now she has one as a pro. C and R could not be happier for her! (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Lynx Facebook page)October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a worthy cause to be sure. It promotes education and empowerment for all. In the last few years, big institutions have jumped on the pink bandwagon, promoting BCAM by wearing or selling token pink things. NFL football “celebrates” Breast Cancer Awareness month by letting players and coaches wear pink gear, then auctioning it off. Cool, brings a lot of attention to breast cancer to a demographic that might not be as in touch with their inner pink. But let the buyer beware. The campaign “Think Before You Pink,”started by Breast Cancer Action, makes it their mission to point out hypocrisy of companies that put a pink ribbon on their product yet donate a fraction (or none) of the profit. They ask some good questions about products with pink ribbons and so should you. Here is the shorten version:
Critical Questions to Ask Before You Buy Pink
1. How much money from your purchase actually goes toward breast cancer? Is the amount clearly stated on the package?
2. What is the maximum amount that will be donated?
3. How are the funds being raised?
4. To what breast cancer organization does the money go, and what types of programs does it support?
5. What is the company doing to assure that its products are not actually contributing to the breast cancer epidemic?
In other Basketball news, Women’s basketball practices started last week around the country, Stanford included. Curious, Geno Auriemma and Brittney Griner are overseas with the US Women’s National Team. Strange time to go, especially with the start of season and some of the best US players still participating in the WNBA finals. (And even stranger to C and R, trying to start another internet rumor, that Geno is helping his rival’s best player get better).
With basketball practices underway around the country, and now the WNBA over, C and R are even more anxious for college basketball games to officially start!
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Two Stanford Women’s Basketball Players Named to Preseason “Wade Watch”
On to lighter news. Stanford Senior Women’s Basketball player Nneka Ogwumike and her sophomore sister, Chiney Ogwumike have both been named to the preseason “Wade Watch” list. The Wade Trophy is given to the player who embodies the following criteria, according to the Stanford Women’s Basketball site: "game and season statistics, leadership, character, effect on their team and overall playing ability." And also the player that best embodies the Spirit of Margaret Wade, the three time national champion at Delta State University. Or as the Wade Trophy Wiki says, for the best women’s basketball player in NCAA Division I.
Either way, we wish the best of luck to the sisters Ogwumike. BTW, Stanford is one of six schools to have multiple candidates. UConn's Maya Moore was the last winner, and the previous two before that, and so, of course, is the only 3 time winner. Who was the last winner before Maya Moore? Our very own Candice Wiggins!
Stanford season starts November 11th!
Either way, we wish the best of luck to the sisters Ogwumike. BTW, Stanford is one of six schools to have multiple candidates. UConn's Maya Moore was the last winner, and the previous two before that, and so, of course, is the only 3 time winner. Who was the last winner before Maya Moore? Our very own Candice Wiggins!
Stanford season starts November 11th!
Monday, August 15, 2011
Stanford Women’s Basketball 2011-2012 Schedule is Here
Stanford Women’s basketball released their 2011-2012 schedule today. Most notable, for C and R anyway, is the December 20th match-up with Tennessee here at Maples. Get your tickets early. (Notable away game is UConn November 21st). For those of you who remember 1997, Stanford meets Old Dominion this year, so try not to hyperventilate (quoting twitter-buddy @SGC72). We had to be reminded of history-ODU knocked Stanford out of the Final Four in a heartbreaking overtime loss in 1997, and it would be 11 long years of no Final Fours until Candice Wiggins!
Also, this year starts Pac-12 play, and this article explains the confusing formula for playing 8 teams twice and 4 teams once, and how that rotates through the years. C and R thought they created the Pac-12 to have two “flights’, such as the SEC with 6 teams in the “Eastern” and six teams in the “Western” divisions. Then they have a reason to have the end of the season tournament to determine who is the conference champion. But what do we know? Maybe all the teams want to play Stanford and couldn’t bear the thought of being in the division without Stanford! Hee hee
See ya at Maples. Soon. Very Soon.
Also, this year starts Pac-12 play, and this article explains the confusing formula for playing 8 teams twice and 4 teams once, and how that rotates through the years. C and R thought they created the Pac-12 to have two “flights’, such as the SEC with 6 teams in the “Eastern” and six teams in the “Western” divisions. Then they have a reason to have the end of the season tournament to determine who is the conference champion. But what do we know? Maybe all the teams want to play Stanford and couldn’t bear the thought of being in the division without Stanford! Hee hee
See ya at Maples. Soon. Very Soon.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Tara-isms: Words of Wisdom From a Hall of Fame Bound Coach
Stanford Women’s Basketball Coach Tara VanDerveer will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this Friday, August 12th. She is currently only one of seven women to be inducted into that hallowed Hall, so that makes it even more special. You can watch Live Coverage if you get the NBA channel (hint, our good friend P does, please tape it for us), starts at 3 PM Stanford time, with enshrinement Ceremony starting at 4 PM Stanford time.
Former and current Stanford players and coaches have been reminiscing on social media, mostly Twitter, about “Tara-isms.” Tara-isms, or Taraisms are sayings only Tara VanDerveer’s creative mind could come up with to “school” her players.
Taraisms are not new. First of all, Tara has been coaching for 32 years and counting, so there ya go. Plus, C and R are veterans of many Senior Night tributes and the players like to share their favorite Taraisms.
Jilllian Harmon (class of 2008) shared our favorites. She was the original storyteller, at least to our ears, of “Prayer Basketball!” She said in one of her first Stanford practices, she was making a long pass (and she claimed her arm was bumped) and it didn’t go as planned and Coach Tara yelled out, “Jill, this isn’t Prayer Basketball. We don’t just throw the ball and PRAY someone will catch it!”
Jill also told the crowd about, “don’t be a squirrel caught on the wrong side of a tree!” But so many other former players have quoted this, perhaps she says it to all defensive players who are on the wrong side of the offensive player, and does that happen a lot in practice?
Assistant Coach Kate Paye has had the benefit of being a player to receive Taraisms as well as a courtside seat to them, so to speak. She shared the most on her Twitter account. (Acknowledgements to players and coaches who give Taraisms on Twitter are listed below-comments from C and R in parentheses) .
Taraisms from former Stanford player and current Stanford coach Kaye Paye
-The “S” doesn’t stand for stupid. (Several players remembered hearing this one!)
-Mind over mattress.
-You don't have to be best friends, but you do have to be best teammates.
-It's not the start of the race but the finish.
-Mental is to physical as 4 is to 1. (Several different players liked to point out that Tara wanted to prepare them for the “thinking part” of basketball)
-You want to have fun, try winning.... that's fun! (Again shared by several and so apt!)
-Sometimes you're the dog and sometimes you're the fire hydrant. (Okey-dokey!)
-Basketball is a team sport. If you’re into individual things, take up tennis!
-Basketball was invented as a team sport, it’s always been a team sport, and it always will be a team sport. (Along the same vein-must have been some hot doggers she needed to take care of!)
-This is not a democracy. (Love this one and will use it on kids and students)
-Christmas is over; quit standing around like a decoration. (hee hee)
-Excuses are like belly buttons…everyone has one.
-FINISH! (Not sure if a Taraism, but several players said you just had to hear her voice)
-Got to put the hammer down.
-Sleep nights. (C always says you can sleep when you’re dead. Plus the players are so young and have boundless energy, why are they tired?)
-I was born at night, but it wasn't last night! (Tara’s no dummy!)
Former Stanford player Jayne Appel
-Don't be running like a station wagon if you have the ability to be like a Ferrari on the court. (Wow, that is so cool! Also probably why Jayne ran so hard on fast breaks!)
-You can't be a light switch and turn your game off and on, it has to be on all the time (Very Good!)
Former Stanford Player Angela Taylor
-Why use a water pistol when you have a cannon?
Former Stanford Player and Assistant Coach Charmin Smith
-A repetition of error shows a lack of intelligence (We all could use this quote-many other players remember this one, too, such as Vanessa Nygaard, so it must have occurred a lot!)
Former Stanford player Ros Gold Onwude was on fire with her Taraisms. We think she appreciated Tara’s wit the most!
-They already made the movie ‘Dumb and Dumber’ and you’re NOT in it! (Remembered by Ros Gold-Onwude and JJ Hones)
Don’t be a pig and hog the ball!
LESS is More.
-When I was playing I used to love guarding weak Wilma because I could help in and get steals!
-You have to be more than a one trick pony! (On having more than one “go to” move)
-There's too much mustard on your hotdog. (Ros said this was said on showoff/fancy moves)
-You don't want to be “the nice girls from Stanford.” (Ros said Tara was telling them to be tough)
What offense are you running? Mumbo Jumbo?!!! Be a point guard! Run the play! (I think that was specific to Ros!)
-That play’s not for you! The play is called money! Not funny! (For Ros only?)
-This play is called “Motion”….not “SLOW Motion” (For Ros only again?)
-No, no no, Candice, just play dummy D on her, she's not ready for real D yet. (We are sure Ros and Tara had a great relationship!)
Former Stanford Player Jeanette Pohlen
-Even a blind squirrel can find a nut (Guess Tara likes the squirrel and nut thing!)
Former Stanford Player Melanie Murphy
-You’re making million dollar moves but taking nickel shots (We can only imagine)
Former Stanford Player JJ Hones
-If there’s a fire in the house, get off the porch! (JJ said this was in reference to the ball in the key and helping in, and it took her “a sec to get it.” C and R still don’t get it, maybe meaning if the other team has the ball is in the key, you better go and get it before they score?)
-JJ shared this one, not so much a Taraism, but a way of life, “Tara would yell ‘YOU CAN’T DO THAT!’ Cue sub asap”
David Siegel at Hoop Feed.com gathered several former players and got them to talk on his show Dishin & Swishin to give “A Tribute to Tara VanDerveer.” Several Taraisms were mentioned. Here, due to the modern marvel of modern technology, you can listen to the Tara podcast your very own self.
In the Tribute, Candice Wiggins talked about quotes that motivated her, “Hungry lions hunt best,” (about drive) and “Pressure creates diamonds.” The latter helped her in Stanford NCAA playoff runs.
Vanessa Nygaard shared many gems. One she remembered was when Tara would shout, “get your big toe off the line,” in reference to stepping on the three point line and making the shot go from 3 points to 2. “Worst shot in basketball, worst shot in basketball!” Tara would call out, Vanessa remembered.
In the Tribute, Vanessa Nygaard (we think that was her voice) shared she was not a great student and one day she was jawing with teammates about how far away she could hit a shoot, from off the court, from the doorway, and then Vanessa bragged, “I like to shoot from the library!” And Tara quipped right back, “you don’t even know where the library is!” Fast thinker, that Tara.
And great coach. Acknowledged basketball genius, and funny to boot!
* Special thanks to these player and coaches (And there Twitter handles)
Ros Gold-Onwude (@ROSGO21)
Candice Wiggins (@CandiceWiggins)
Kate Paye (@KatePaye)
Jayne Appel (@JayneAppel
Mel Murphy (@melmel0)
Jeanette Pohlen (@JFP32)
Charmin Smith (@21Charmin)
JJ Hones (@jj_hones)
Angela Taylor (@AFTAylor22)
**PS
Don’t forget to check out Tara VanDerveer through the 2000s, including pictures, from the Official Stanford website.
Former and current Stanford players and coaches have been reminiscing on social media, mostly Twitter, about “Tara-isms.” Tara-isms, or Taraisms are sayings only Tara VanDerveer’s creative mind could come up with to “school” her players.Taraisms are not new. First of all, Tara has been coaching for 32 years and counting, so there ya go. Plus, C and R are veterans of many Senior Night tributes and the players like to share their favorite Taraisms.
Jilllian Harmon (class of 2008) shared our favorites. She was the original storyteller, at least to our ears, of “Prayer Basketball!” She said in one of her first Stanford practices, she was making a long pass (and she claimed her arm was bumped) and it didn’t go as planned and Coach Tara yelled out, “Jill, this isn’t Prayer Basketball. We don’t just throw the ball and PRAY someone will catch it!”
Jill also told the crowd about, “don’t be a squirrel caught on the wrong side of a tree!” But so many other former players have quoted this, perhaps she says it to all defensive players who are on the wrong side of the offensive player, and does that happen a lot in practice?
Assistant Coach Kate Paye has had the benefit of being a player to receive Taraisms as well as a courtside seat to them, so to speak. She shared the most on her Twitter account. (Acknowledgements to players and coaches who give Taraisms on Twitter are listed below-comments from C and R in parentheses) .
Taraisms from former Stanford player and current Stanford coach Kaye Paye
-The “S” doesn’t stand for stupid. (Several players remembered hearing this one!)
-Mind over mattress.
-You don't have to be best friends, but you do have to be best teammates.
-It's not the start of the race but the finish.
-Mental is to physical as 4 is to 1. (Several different players liked to point out that Tara wanted to prepare them for the “thinking part” of basketball)
-You want to have fun, try winning.... that's fun! (Again shared by several and so apt!)
-Sometimes you're the dog and sometimes you're the fire hydrant. (Okey-dokey!)
-Basketball is a team sport. If you’re into individual things, take up tennis!
-Basketball was invented as a team sport, it’s always been a team sport, and it always will be a team sport. (Along the same vein-must have been some hot doggers she needed to take care of!)
-This is not a democracy. (Love this one and will use it on kids and students)
-Christmas is over; quit standing around like a decoration. (hee hee)
-Excuses are like belly buttons…everyone has one.
-FINISH! (Not sure if a Taraism, but several players said you just had to hear her voice)
-Got to put the hammer down.
-Sleep nights. (C always says you can sleep when you’re dead. Plus the players are so young and have boundless energy, why are they tired?)
-I was born at night, but it wasn't last night! (Tara’s no dummy!)
Former Stanford player Jayne Appel
-Don't be running like a station wagon if you have the ability to be like a Ferrari on the court. (Wow, that is so cool! Also probably why Jayne ran so hard on fast breaks!)
-You can't be a light switch and turn your game off and on, it has to be on all the time (Very Good!)
Former Stanford Player Angela Taylor
-Why use a water pistol when you have a cannon?
Former Stanford Player and Assistant Coach Charmin Smith
-A repetition of error shows a lack of intelligence (We all could use this quote-many other players remember this one, too, such as Vanessa Nygaard, so it must have occurred a lot!)
Former Stanford player Ros Gold Onwude was on fire with her Taraisms. We think she appreciated Tara’s wit the most!
-They already made the movie ‘Dumb and Dumber’ and you’re NOT in it! (Remembered by Ros Gold-Onwude and JJ Hones)
Don’t be a pig and hog the ball!
LESS is More.
-When I was playing I used to love guarding weak Wilma because I could help in and get steals!
-You have to be more than a one trick pony! (On having more than one “go to” move)
-There's too much mustard on your hotdog. (Ros said this was said on showoff/fancy moves)
-You don't want to be “the nice girls from Stanford.” (Ros said Tara was telling them to be tough)
What offense are you running? Mumbo Jumbo?!!! Be a point guard! Run the play! (I think that was specific to Ros!)
-That play’s not for you! The play is called money! Not funny! (For Ros only?)
-This play is called “Motion”….not “SLOW Motion” (For Ros only again?)
-No, no no, Candice, just play dummy D on her, she's not ready for real D yet. (We are sure Ros and Tara had a great relationship!)
Former Stanford Player Jeanette Pohlen
-Even a blind squirrel can find a nut (Guess Tara likes the squirrel and nut thing!)
Former Stanford Player Melanie Murphy
-You’re making million dollar moves but taking nickel shots (We can only imagine)
Former Stanford Player JJ Hones
-If there’s a fire in the house, get off the porch! (JJ said this was in reference to the ball in the key and helping in, and it took her “a sec to get it.” C and R still don’t get it, maybe meaning if the other team has the ball is in the key, you better go and get it before they score?)
-JJ shared this one, not so much a Taraism, but a way of life, “Tara would yell ‘YOU CAN’T DO THAT!’ Cue sub asap”
David Siegel at Hoop Feed.com gathered several former players and got them to talk on his show Dishin & Swishin to give “A Tribute to Tara VanDerveer.” Several Taraisms were mentioned. Here, due to the modern marvel of modern technology, you can listen to the Tara podcast your very own self.
In the Tribute, Candice Wiggins talked about quotes that motivated her, “Hungry lions hunt best,” (about drive) and “Pressure creates diamonds.” The latter helped her in Stanford NCAA playoff runs.
Vanessa Nygaard shared many gems. One she remembered was when Tara would shout, “get your big toe off the line,” in reference to stepping on the three point line and making the shot go from 3 points to 2. “Worst shot in basketball, worst shot in basketball!” Tara would call out, Vanessa remembered.
In the Tribute, Vanessa Nygaard (we think that was her voice) shared she was not a great student and one day she was jawing with teammates about how far away she could hit a shoot, from off the court, from the doorway, and then Vanessa bragged, “I like to shoot from the library!” And Tara quipped right back, “you don’t even know where the library is!” Fast thinker, that Tara.
And great coach. Acknowledged basketball genius, and funny to boot!
* Special thanks to these player and coaches (And there Twitter handles)
Ros Gold-Onwude (@ROSGO21)
Candice Wiggins (@CandiceWiggins)
Kate Paye (@KatePaye)
Jayne Appel (@JayneAppel
Mel Murphy (@melmel0)
Jeanette Pohlen (@JFP32)
Charmin Smith (@21Charmin)
JJ Hones (@jj_hones)
Angela Taylor (@AFTAylor22)
**PS
Don’t forget to check out Tara VanDerveer through the 2000s, including pictures, from the Official Stanford website.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Candice Wiggins Interview
And now, thanks to modern technology, you can have Candice Wiggins right in your living room (or computer room, or on your phone). Here she is giving a radio interview on Minnesota Public Radio the other day. And we loved one of the links pointing to the interview said all the other Minnesota Pro teams had struggled the past year but the Lynx are currently in first place in their division!
Highlights:
Three words
Healthy healthy healthy
Life after basketball:
When you get advice from Condoleezza Rice, you tend to follow it.
(plus, that is not a typo, those really are all the consonants and vowels that belong in Condoleezza’s name).
Listen for yourself, unless modern technology has failed you and there is no button to click.
If so, then go directly to the MPR website and try your luck there.
We look forward to the second half of the WNBA season, coming near you on your favorite media of means!
Highlights:
Three words
Healthy healthy healthy
Life after basketball:
When you get advice from Condoleezza Rice, you tend to follow it.
(plus, that is not a typo, those really are all the consonants and vowels that belong in Condoleezza’s name).
Listen for yourself, unless modern technology has failed you and there is no button to click.
If so, then go directly to the MPR website and try your luck there.
We look forward to the second half of the WNBA season, coming near you on your favorite media of means!
Monday, June 13, 2011
WNBA Rookies Gone Wild
So, C and R admittedly admit that we do not follow the WNBA that closely. It’s in the summer and we are easily distracted by shiny things. Plus you can’t beat our Nor Cal weather and we are usually outside tending to our rogue tomato plants surrounded by our high maintenance cats. That, and WE HAVE NO WNBA TEAM TO FOLLOW! Yes, there is some key marquee games broadcast on ESPN, and we thank them every day for the coverage. And yes, we know even more games are on the Internet "live access" but don’t even get us started on our hate of computers.
But seeing the games on a screen cannot compare to seeing them live. Incidentally, we popped in the DVD of the game where Stanford beats UConn to end their streak (hee hee) and it just wasn’t the same. We got nearly one tenth of the thrill, the excitement as seeing it live and feeling the crowd and sharing all the tension and emotion of the moment. One tenth. That’s why we love Stanford Women’s Basketball so much, we can see most of the games live and up close and personal. Not so with the WNBA and with no team in the women’s-basketball-obsessed Bay Area. It is hard for us to get excited when a game is on TV at 3 PM on a Sunday and the sun is shining and we can go for a bike ride.
But back to our original point, the one in the headline. Another reason C and R have been so ho-hum about the WNBA is that we haven’t had that many Stanford players to follow. Yes, there has always been Nicole Powell, although she was before C started following Stanford. Things did change with Candice Wiggins, so we would have our ear out for her Minnesota Lynx team, but that was about it. And didn’t help that Candice’s career has been in fits and starts due to injuries. Then we were so excited to get ready to follow Jayne Appel’s career with San Antonio last year. She was hurt throughout the season and had a disappointing rookie year in terms of stats.
So this year, we had two more fave Stanford players to follow in Jeanette Pohlen and Kayla Pedersen. It’s only week two, but both made their respective teams and are contributing. Kayla scored 15 points in a her Tulsa team’s loss to the UConn Sun (yes we are making a joke) and Jeanette had 14 points off the bench for the Fever, including 4 for 4 from downtown, with her final 3-pointer being the dagger in the New York Liberty’s heart.
Interestingly, two rookies that have connections back to Stanford also had great weekends. Rookie Guard Courtney Vandersloot, who rose to national attention when her Gonzaga team lost to Stanford in the NCAA tournament, scored 18 points, four of them 3-pointers and had five assists in Chicago’s home opener against the Sun. Not bad for someone who was not even on the WNBA radar a year ago.
Another notable rookie with a great game this weekend was San Antonio’s Danielle Adams. Last year, Danielle and her Texas A & M team knocked off Stanford in the Final Four and eventually won the NCAA championship. C even questioned her conditioning and if she could keep pace in the WNBA. Well, she scored 32 points. Marked a franchise record for most points for a rookie, meaning Jayne didn’t even come close to that as a rookie last year. Half of Danielle’s points came from three-pointers, too. One eyewitness report said she was clearly exhausted when she subbed out, so hopefully she can get in even better shape and contribute more. She and Jayne and the rest of the Silver Stars are currently undefeated.
And then there is Maya Moore. Four games played, four games started, averaging 14.5 points a game. Not bad for a rook.
Gee, that was just week two of the WNBA, Can’t wait to see what week three brings. Maybe the weather will be cloudy this weekend.
But seeing the games on a screen cannot compare to seeing them live. Incidentally, we popped in the DVD of the game where Stanford beats UConn to end their streak (hee hee) and it just wasn’t the same. We got nearly one tenth of the thrill, the excitement as seeing it live and feeling the crowd and sharing all the tension and emotion of the moment. One tenth. That’s why we love Stanford Women’s Basketball so much, we can see most of the games live and up close and personal. Not so with the WNBA and with no team in the women’s-basketball-obsessed Bay Area. It is hard for us to get excited when a game is on TV at 3 PM on a Sunday and the sun is shining and we can go for a bike ride.
But back to our original point, the one in the headline. Another reason C and R have been so ho-hum about the WNBA is that we haven’t had that many Stanford players to follow. Yes, there has always been Nicole Powell, although she was before C started following Stanford. Things did change with Candice Wiggins, so we would have our ear out for her Minnesota Lynx team, but that was about it. And didn’t help that Candice’s career has been in fits and starts due to injuries. Then we were so excited to get ready to follow Jayne Appel’s career with San Antonio last year. She was hurt throughout the season and had a disappointing rookie year in terms of stats.
So this year, we had two more fave Stanford players to follow in Jeanette Pohlen and Kayla Pedersen. It’s only week two, but both made their respective teams and are contributing. Kayla scored 15 points in a her Tulsa team’s loss to the UConn Sun (yes we are making a joke) and Jeanette had 14 points off the bench for the Fever, including 4 for 4 from downtown, with her final 3-pointer being the dagger in the New York Liberty’s heart.
Interestingly, two rookies that have connections back to Stanford also had great weekends. Rookie Guard Courtney Vandersloot, who rose to national attention when her Gonzaga team lost to Stanford in the NCAA tournament, scored 18 points, four of them 3-pointers and had five assists in Chicago’s home opener against the Sun. Not bad for someone who was not even on the WNBA radar a year ago.
Another notable rookie with a great game this weekend was San Antonio’s Danielle Adams. Last year, Danielle and her Texas A & M team knocked off Stanford in the Final Four and eventually won the NCAA championship. C even questioned her conditioning and if she could keep pace in the WNBA. Well, she scored 32 points. Marked a franchise record for most points for a rookie, meaning Jayne didn’t even come close to that as a rookie last year. Half of Danielle’s points came from three-pointers, too. One eyewitness report said she was clearly exhausted when she subbed out, so hopefully she can get in even better shape and contribute more. She and Jayne and the rest of the Silver Stars are currently undefeated.
And then there is Maya Moore. Four games played, four games started, averaging 14.5 points a game. Not bad for a rook.
Gee, that was just week two of the WNBA, Can’t wait to see what week three brings. Maybe the weather will be cloudy this weekend.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
C and R’s Social Media
Hold on to your hats, batten down the hatches and hide the children! Sell all your worldly possessions and buy pet insurance cuz the world must be comin’ to an end because…
Dunt… dunt… dunt….
C and R have joined the 21st century and got a page on FACEBOOK!
Check us out at C and R’s Stanford Women’s Basketball Facebook Page.
We still have no idea what we are doing, so any kindly help would be appreciated. And oh, make sure to like us or friend us or write to us or whatever the devil you kids are into today because we need all the friends and like buttons we can get and need you to otherwise artificially inflate our sense of self worth. Plus now you can instantly communicate with us, helpfully point out any typos, correct our “facts,” remind us of game times so we don’t miss them, and state your favorite player for all to see.
So if we ignore this blog, scoot on over to Facebook and check us out, kinda like what the Official Stanford Women’s Basketball site did. Not that we are calling them on the ignoring part, just that they have transitioned over to Facebook so quickly! It was and is still a shock to us.
Look forward to interacting with all of you on Facebook. Get a sneak peek here:
Dunt… dunt… dunt….
C and R have joined the 21st century and got a page on FACEBOOK!
Check us out at C and R’s Stanford Women’s Basketball Facebook Page.
We still have no idea what we are doing, so any kindly help would be appreciated. And oh, make sure to like us or friend us or write to us or whatever the devil you kids are into today because we need all the friends and like buttons we can get and need you to otherwise artificially inflate our sense of self worth. Plus now you can instantly communicate with us, helpfully point out any typos, correct our “facts,” remind us of game times so we don’t miss them, and state your favorite player for all to see.
So if we ignore this blog, scoot on over to Facebook and check us out, kinda like what the Official Stanford Women’s Basketball site did. Not that we are calling them on the ignoring part, just that they have transitioned over to Facebook so quickly! It was and is still a shock to us.
Look forward to interacting with all of you on Facebook. Get a sneak peek here:
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Maya Moore Hecka Smart
Boy that Maya Moore sure is smart. Much as we hate to admit it, C and R have always (begrudgingly) admired the former UConn women’s basketball star when she gave interviews. She seems very bright and articulate. We mean, she was thinking to apply for a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship, for goodness sakes!
So it should come as no surprise the WNBA rookie got tapped to write an article for the Huffington Post. In the words of the article, “Moore shared her thoughts with The Huffington Post on unions, fair pay in athletics and what is soon-to-be the ‘Maya’ brand.” Very good reading, makes you believe male basketball players are entitled to and worth all their millions. Too bad some women only make, in Maya’s words, “$36,570.” Fair pay indeed.
And, speaking of the “Maya Brand,” the-just-a-month-out-of college-young-twenty-one-year-old just signed with Jordan Brand, a division of Nike Inc. Jordan. As in Michael Jordan. Now she can clearly say she is on Team Jordan. Now that’s smart.
Maya also wore number 23 in college and identified with Michael Jordan and relishes the chance to be mentored by him, although she didn’t say a mentorship of basketball skills or of his endorsement skills. Can’t go wrong with either one. Terms were not disclosed yet the Hartford Curant reports, “There may even be a sneaker made with her name on it.” C and R hope she got Michael Jordan Money to augment her low WNBA rookie salary.
Curious, the headlines announcing this endorsement deal state: “1st female basketball player to join Jordan’s sportswear brand.” Not to rain on Maya Moore’s parade, but Zachary Rymer of the Bleacher Report asked the 64 million penny question, “why did it take this long for the Jordan Brand to align itself with a female basketball player?”
See Maya Moore talk about her first day of WNBA practice with the Minnesota Lynx (With our girl Candice Wiggins). Is she wearing number 23 for the Lynx?
So it should come as no surprise the WNBA rookie got tapped to write an article for the Huffington Post. In the words of the article, “Moore shared her thoughts with The Huffington Post on unions, fair pay in athletics and what is soon-to-be the ‘Maya’ brand.” Very good reading, makes you believe male basketball players are entitled to and worth all their millions. Too bad some women only make, in Maya’s words, “$36,570.” Fair pay indeed.
And, speaking of the “Maya Brand,” the-just-a-month-out-of college-young-twenty-one-year-old just signed with Jordan Brand, a division of Nike Inc. Jordan. As in Michael Jordan. Now she can clearly say she is on Team Jordan. Now that’s smart.
Maya also wore number 23 in college and identified with Michael Jordan and relishes the chance to be mentored by him, although she didn’t say a mentorship of basketball skills or of his endorsement skills. Can’t go wrong with either one. Terms were not disclosed yet the Hartford Curant reports, “There may even be a sneaker made with her name on it.” C and R hope she got Michael Jordan Money to augment her low WNBA rookie salary.
Curious, the headlines announcing this endorsement deal state: “1st female basketball player to join Jordan’s sportswear brand.” Not to rain on Maya Moore’s parade, but Zachary Rymer of the Bleacher Report asked the 64 million penny question, “why did it take this long for the Jordan Brand to align itself with a female basketball player?”
See Maya Moore talk about her first day of WNBA practice with the Minnesota Lynx (With our girl Candice Wiggins). Is she wearing number 23 for the Lynx?
Friday, May 13, 2011
Spring Basketball Just Isn’t the Same
May (Friday the )13th- Spring Basketball Just Isn’t the Same
Has this been the slowest women’s college basketball off-season in the history of the world, or what? Maybe because we had such high hopes last year and knew we had a potential title team, and feel a little cheated we didn’t even make it to the championship game. But lets not dwell on the negative, and you can reread all the great things the Stanford Women’s Basketball team accomplished the past season. (Psst, it’s a lot!)
So the best way to fix a basketball jones (somebody set a pick for me on the free throw line…) is to find out what the players are up to in the off-season. Former Stanford players and newly drafted WNBA players Kayla Pdersen and Jeanette Pohlen will hit training camp May 15th. And here are 15 reasons to be excited about the upcoming 15th season for the WNBA, courtesy of the WNBA. (Warning, there is no mention of any Stanford players in the article, well except for our girl Candice Wiggins gets a shout-out.).
Sigh, and yet… it’s hard to get excited about pro training camp because, well, we don’t have a pro women’s team within 500 miles of us. We can‘t go see training camp or hang out and watch the players at training camp or ask for autographs after training camp because even though the Bay Are has 11teen million people crammed together on the peninsula and has a devoted core group who watch women’s basketball with tons of disposable income to buy a $25 dollar t-shirt and a five dollar hot dog, we can’t get a team. Oh sure, we can live vivaciously through the WNBA puff pieces and the players’ twitter accounts, whatever that is, but its not the same as seeing your team live.
Speaking of twitter, a little birdie told me that Kayla Pedersen called a certain young fan on her 10th birthday and made her day! And speaking of Kayla Pedersen, which we actually were, she has a new website coming out soon called kaylapedersen.com. Stay tuned to C and R to find out when it goes live (Because why should you check the actual source or anything, hee hee.)
JAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaayne
Speaking of pros, as we were a while ago, the WNBA and Team USA basketball veterans had a three-day training camp in Vegas with head coach Geno Auriemma. Here, let’s let former Stanford Cardinal player Jayne Appel tell you about it. As to what she did in Vegas… she slept.
So what are the current Stanford women’s basketball players up to, you ask C and R? Well, Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike get what amounts to free high level coaching and training by being invited to USA basketball to represent the US at the World University Games. They have represented USA basketball a bunch of times already. They go May 22-25 to work out with the other collegians, follow Chiney on twitter, if you can understand any of it.
Sadly, that’s all we have to report. Fall can’t get here quick enough!
Has this been the slowest women’s college basketball off-season in the history of the world, or what? Maybe because we had such high hopes last year and knew we had a potential title team, and feel a little cheated we didn’t even make it to the championship game. But lets not dwell on the negative, and you can reread all the great things the Stanford Women’s Basketball team accomplished the past season. (Psst, it’s a lot!)
So the best way to fix a basketball jones (somebody set a pick for me on the free throw line…) is to find out what the players are up to in the off-season. Former Stanford players and newly drafted WNBA players Kayla Pdersen and Jeanette Pohlen will hit training camp May 15th. And here are 15 reasons to be excited about the upcoming 15th season for the WNBA, courtesy of the WNBA. (Warning, there is no mention of any Stanford players in the article, well except for our girl Candice Wiggins gets a shout-out.).
Sigh, and yet… it’s hard to get excited about pro training camp because, well, we don’t have a pro women’s team within 500 miles of us. We can‘t go see training camp or hang out and watch the players at training camp or ask for autographs after training camp because even though the Bay Are has 11teen million people crammed together on the peninsula and has a devoted core group who watch women’s basketball with tons of disposable income to buy a $25 dollar t-shirt and a five dollar hot dog, we can’t get a team. Oh sure, we can live vivaciously through the WNBA puff pieces and the players’ twitter accounts, whatever that is, but its not the same as seeing your team live.
Speaking of twitter, a little birdie told me that Kayla Pedersen called a certain young fan on her 10th birthday and made her day! And speaking of Kayla Pedersen, which we actually were, she has a new website coming out soon called kaylapedersen.com. Stay tuned to C and R to find out when it goes live (Because why should you check the actual source or anything, hee hee.)
JAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaayne
Speaking of pros, as we were a while ago, the WNBA and Team USA basketball veterans had a three-day training camp in Vegas with head coach Geno Auriemma. Here, let’s let former Stanford Cardinal player Jayne Appel tell you about it. As to what she did in Vegas… she slept.
So what are the current Stanford women’s basketball players up to, you ask C and R? Well, Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike get what amounts to free high level coaching and training by being invited to USA basketball to represent the US at the World University Games. They have represented USA basketball a bunch of times already. They go May 22-25 to work out with the other collegians, follow Chiney on twitter, if you can understand any of it.
Sadly, that’s all we have to report. Fall can’t get here quick enough!
Monday, May 2, 2011
USA Basketball is Vegas Bound, Baby
So with WNBA training camp starting May 15th, what are the veterans doing to get ready for training camp. Well, if you are a select few, you are practicing with Geno Auriemma on the US National Team’s traing camp May 10-12. In Vegas (what happens in Vegas….).
And just who is practicing? Only our two faves, former Stanford Women’s Basketball players Candice Wiggins and Jayne Appel. And twenty-two other women, none of any importance….
Here’s an interesting side note. Last year right after the NCAA tournament ended, Geno wanted some competition to scrimmage against his US team so he invited a full squad of some WNBA players and some collegiate players. Stanford’s’ very own Kayla Pedersen was on that team last year. C and R wondered at that time why Brittney Griner was not included. We wanted to start a totally unsubstantiated rumor that Geno didn’t want to bring in Brittney because he still considered her a work in progress and he didn’t want to be the one to give her pointers to get her better because his UConn team was going to play her the following season (hee hee). Well, we have to kill that rumor before we start it because this year he DID invite BG to training camp. Also invited was Courtney Vandersloot, whose stock has risen in the basketball world from that NCAA play-off game vs. Stanford. Both Brittney and Vandy are “special guests” and could play their way on to the team and the Olympics next year.
Here’s Geno talking, quoted from the National Team Website.
“I can’t wait to get these guys on the court in Vegas,” said Geno Auriemma, 2009-12 USA National Team and University of Connecticut head coach. “This is going to be the first time we’ve had this many together and healthy at a training camp, and it’ll be interesting to see how bad some of these guys want to make the Olympic team, how much they hustle, fight for rebounds, I’m really looking forward to that.
“Then you add in the two new kids, Griner and Vandersloot. I’m anxious to see how they interact with some of the veterans. Certainly they’re a couple of great players, but I’m excited to see them go up against our National Team and try to earn their spot in our pool.”
Ah, turning it in to a competition and pitting the women against each other, eh Geno? Well, C and R wish all of them a healthy training session and a successful upcoming basketball season no matter what their level.
And just who is practicing? Only our two faves, former Stanford Women’s Basketball players Candice Wiggins and Jayne Appel. And twenty-two other women, none of any importance….
Here’s an interesting side note. Last year right after the NCAA tournament ended, Geno wanted some competition to scrimmage against his US team so he invited a full squad of some WNBA players and some collegiate players. Stanford’s’ very own Kayla Pedersen was on that team last year. C and R wondered at that time why Brittney Griner was not included. We wanted to start a totally unsubstantiated rumor that Geno didn’t want to bring in Brittney because he still considered her a work in progress and he didn’t want to be the one to give her pointers to get her better because his UConn team was going to play her the following season (hee hee). Well, we have to kill that rumor before we start it because this year he DID invite BG to training camp. Also invited was Courtney Vandersloot, whose stock has risen in the basketball world from that NCAA play-off game vs. Stanford. Both Brittney and Vandy are “special guests” and could play their way on to the team and the Olympics next year.
Here’s Geno talking, quoted from the National Team Website.
“I can’t wait to get these guys on the court in Vegas,” said Geno Auriemma, 2009-12 USA National Team and University of Connecticut head coach. “This is going to be the first time we’ve had this many together and healthy at a training camp, and it’ll be interesting to see how bad some of these guys want to make the Olympic team, how much they hustle, fight for rebounds, I’m really looking forward to that.
“Then you add in the two new kids, Griner and Vandersloot. I’m anxious to see how they interact with some of the veterans. Certainly they’re a couple of great players, but I’m excited to see them go up against our National Team and try to earn their spot in our pool.”
Ah, turning it in to a competition and pitting the women against each other, eh Geno? Well, C and R wish all of them a healthy training session and a successful upcoming basketball season no matter what their level.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
(Stanford) Draft Day Dreaming
The 2011 WNBA draft will be televised live Monday, April 11th on ESPN at 3:00 PM West Coast time.
Chris Hansen of HoopGurlz online has Stanford Women’s Basketball Player Kayla Pedersen projected as a number five draft pick. He says she could have gotten her numbers up but unselfishly did whatever the team needed rather than worry about statistics. Always praises her “good decisions on the floor and should have a long career.”
BTW, Minnesota Lynx have the first pick and everyone and their brother says to take Maya Moore. We spoke informally to our girl Candice Wiggins and she said she is excited to get a chance to play with Maya. However, what we really wanted to point out is the Los Angeles Sparks have the fifth pick, so wouldn’t it be cool if Kayla went to LA (Where we could take a road trip and see her) and play with Candice Parker?
Chris Hansen has another Stanford player, Jeanette Pohlen, listed as number 16. He recommends she go to a team that will put her back in her “natural” positions of off-guard instead of point.
Now Frank Della Femina of WNBA.com ran a mock draft and has Kayla Pedersen going eighth to the Atlanta Dream, and Jeanette Pohlen going 12th to the Seattle Storm, so you just never know how these things are going to go.
Now we checked out the WNBA official mock draft and they have Kayla going fourth to… Minnesota! To be reunited with Candice Wiggins and play with Maya Moore. Oh to dream! They have Jeanette going ninth to Indiana, and that is a heck of a road trip for C and R!
Okay, Ben York of Slam Online has Kayla going sixth to the San Antonio Silver Stars, where she would be reunited with Jayne Appel! Unfortunately, he doesn’t’ have Jeanette Pohlen in his top twelve. C and R think they should quit dreaming while they are ahead and just tune in Monday.
Other notables, Gonzaga point guard Courtney Vandersloot is in the top ten of most mock drafts, and C and R were amazed by her, and wish her luck. Playing for a “smaller in stature” team then a traditional powerhouse, she received a lot of exposure in Gonzaga’s NCAA run, and most notably when her team was trying to knock off Stanford.
So Texas A&M’s Danielle Adams is in the top twenty. She led her team to its first National Title, knocking off Stanford in the Final Four along the way…ungrind teeth and keep typing… and C and R are going to make a bold prediction. A bold prediction that is in no way fueled by bitterness and supported by the Courtney Paris model. We believe Adams will get drafted but will not make the team’s starting day roster.
Courtney Paris, you’ll recall, had a stellar college career, setting rebounding records and “double-double” records, points coupled with rebounding records, etc. She also battled weight issues her whole college career, and her weight caused her to be out of shape and have trouble keeping up with the pace and flow of the game. Sound familiar? She was drafted but couldn’t lose enough weight to enable her to keep up with the WNBA players and was cut. She has since been signed again by the LA Sparks and it remains to be seen if she will make this year’s team.
Danielle Adams had similar problems with weight and with making it up and down the court in both the Final Four games we saw her in. In fact, her team would have to walk the ball up the court to allow her to get up the court. If she cannot keep up with the pace of play in the WNBA, she will not make her team, and perhaps teams might remember how Courtney didn’t pan out and might not want to waste a valuable draft position on her. With only 11 roster spots on the 12 WNBA teams in the league, jobs are at a premium. Even if you are drafted, there is no guarantee you will make a team.
One last notable, they have Brittany Spears getting drafted! Oh baby, baby…hee hee...Hit me baby, one more time...
Chris Hansen of HoopGurlz online has Stanford Women’s Basketball Player Kayla Pedersen projected as a number five draft pick. He says she could have gotten her numbers up but unselfishly did whatever the team needed rather than worry about statistics. Always praises her “good decisions on the floor and should have a long career.”
BTW, Minnesota Lynx have the first pick and everyone and their brother says to take Maya Moore. We spoke informally to our girl Candice Wiggins and she said she is excited to get a chance to play with Maya. However, what we really wanted to point out is the Los Angeles Sparks have the fifth pick, so wouldn’t it be cool if Kayla went to LA (Where we could take a road trip and see her) and play with Candice Parker?
Chris Hansen has another Stanford player, Jeanette Pohlen, listed as number 16. He recommends she go to a team that will put her back in her “natural” positions of off-guard instead of point.
Now Frank Della Femina of WNBA.com ran a mock draft and has Kayla Pedersen going eighth to the Atlanta Dream, and Jeanette Pohlen going 12th to the Seattle Storm, so you just never know how these things are going to go.
Now we checked out the WNBA official mock draft and they have Kayla going fourth to… Minnesota! To be reunited with Candice Wiggins and play with Maya Moore. Oh to dream! They have Jeanette going ninth to Indiana, and that is a heck of a road trip for C and R!
Okay, Ben York of Slam Online has Kayla going sixth to the San Antonio Silver Stars, where she would be reunited with Jayne Appel! Unfortunately, he doesn’t’ have Jeanette Pohlen in his top twelve. C and R think they should quit dreaming while they are ahead and just tune in Monday.
Other notables, Gonzaga point guard Courtney Vandersloot is in the top ten of most mock drafts, and C and R were amazed by her, and wish her luck. Playing for a “smaller in stature” team then a traditional powerhouse, she received a lot of exposure in Gonzaga’s NCAA run, and most notably when her team was trying to knock off Stanford.
So Texas A&M’s Danielle Adams is in the top twenty. She led her team to its first National Title, knocking off Stanford in the Final Four along the way…ungrind teeth and keep typing… and C and R are going to make a bold prediction. A bold prediction that is in no way fueled by bitterness and supported by the Courtney Paris model. We believe Adams will get drafted but will not make the team’s starting day roster.
Courtney Paris, you’ll recall, had a stellar college career, setting rebounding records and “double-double” records, points coupled with rebounding records, etc. She also battled weight issues her whole college career, and her weight caused her to be out of shape and have trouble keeping up with the pace and flow of the game. Sound familiar? She was drafted but couldn’t lose enough weight to enable her to keep up with the WNBA players and was cut. She has since been signed again by the LA Sparks and it remains to be seen if she will make this year’s team.
Danielle Adams had similar problems with weight and with making it up and down the court in both the Final Four games we saw her in. In fact, her team would have to walk the ball up the court to allow her to get up the court. If she cannot keep up with the pace of play in the WNBA, she will not make her team, and perhaps teams might remember how Courtney didn’t pan out and might not want to waste a valuable draft position on her. With only 11 roster spots on the 12 WNBA teams in the league, jobs are at a premium. Even if you are drafted, there is no guarantee you will make a team.
One last notable, they have Brittany Spears getting drafted! Oh baby, baby…hee hee...Hit me baby, one more time...
Friday, February 25, 2011
Stanford, Bench, Crush Oregon State
Okay, in the car on the way to Maples, C and R had a prediction about the Stanford Women’s Basketball Team’s game vs. Oregon State. We predicted Stanford would start out slowly, let Oregon State hang around, have a small spurt before the half, then come out and go on a 12 to small something run. Well, that was easy to predict because that seems like how the last five PAC-10 games have gone. Also in the car, we had to negotiate RAIN! Or more specifically, the drivers driving in the RAIN! And in northern California if anything hits our windshield we think hurricane forces are at work and slow down to about 7 miles per hour, unlike back East where it rains so hard you can’t see more than 5 feet in front of your car so you slow down to 70.
So 3,344 of our closest, bravest friends came out for the game. One who was none other than fave of faves Candice Wiggins. Yours truly went up and talked to her at the half. Wanna know what Candice said? Well, you go get the courage to go and talk to her yourself!! But C and R will share she is vibrant, radiant, in great health, and just a wonderful athlete in her prime. We wish her a healthy and successful WNBA season. Even if her team gets Maya Moore.
Oh yeah, they were playing a game at Maples; we got a little distracted with Candice. Stanford, playing again without Nneka Ogwumike, takes an early lead, as predicted. Then there was a weird technical foul against Chiney Ogwumike, who was called for an intentional foul around the 15:58 mark, and the stoppage of play to review the monitor slowed down Stanford more than anything. So they watched Oregon State go up by 5, with the score 6-11 at the 13:39 mark. We didn’t predict that! C and R mention the time and score because Oregon State will stay stuck at 11 until the 2:33 mark. Almost 11 minutes without scoring a point! Halftime ends and it is 29-14, Stanford. Wow. Now that’s defense, and Stanford was flawless and seamless in their switches and Oregon State did not make the most of the mismatches. Plus, love the 1-3-1 with Chiney Ogwumike on point.
Stanford didn’t go on a huge run to start the second half as we predicted, but slowly chipped away at Oregon State to build a 17 point lead. But starting at the 11 minute mark, in the span of two minutes, Jeanette Pohlen made a steal and then hit a long three, Kayla Pedersen hit another three and Jeanette got another three after that and Toni Kokenis got a steal and fast break basket AFTER THAT, for a quick 28 point lead, and it was all over except for bench duty.
Speaking of Toni and steals, ya know how when you hear two words put together so often they lose their meaning, such as saying this hot chocolate is cold, or this iced tea is hot or my hot dog is awful? Well, take the words fast break. Freshmen Toni Kokenis doesn’t do a fast break, she does a fast fast break. Man her speed; has anyone timed her in the 40? She has great anticipation skills already to time the jump for the steal, but when she does get the ball, she sure can accelerate. Even when she was stumbling and trying to maintain her balance and keep control of her dribble, she still beat the person she stole the ball from to the basket. Stanford got 14 points off the fast break; the overwhelming majority from Toni.
And speaking of the bench, C and R were especially impressed with the bench this time. Sarah Boothe matched her career high with 16 points. Mikaela Ruef sure likes to pass to Boothe. Even their names rhythm. Perhaps they bonded over their summer league experience where Boothe was the “go to” option for that team, because Ruef sure gave the ball to Boothe whenever she could and Sarah was able to bank a lot of shots in. Stanford got 32 points from their bench. Impressive.
Records:
Stanford tied their school record for consecutive home wins. They also got the top seed in the PAC-10 tournament. They can set the consecutive home wins record at 60 and secure an outright conference title by beating Oregon on Saturday. Remember, game time is 2 PM.
So 3,344 of our closest, bravest friends came out for the game. One who was none other than fave of faves Candice Wiggins. Yours truly went up and talked to her at the half. Wanna know what Candice said? Well, you go get the courage to go and talk to her yourself!! But C and R will share she is vibrant, radiant, in great health, and just a wonderful athlete in her prime. We wish her a healthy and successful WNBA season. Even if her team gets Maya Moore.
Oh yeah, they were playing a game at Maples; we got a little distracted with Candice. Stanford, playing again without Nneka Ogwumike, takes an early lead, as predicted. Then there was a weird technical foul against Chiney Ogwumike, who was called for an intentional foul around the 15:58 mark, and the stoppage of play to review the monitor slowed down Stanford more than anything. So they watched Oregon State go up by 5, with the score 6-11 at the 13:39 mark. We didn’t predict that! C and R mention the time and score because Oregon State will stay stuck at 11 until the 2:33 mark. Almost 11 minutes without scoring a point! Halftime ends and it is 29-14, Stanford. Wow. Now that’s defense, and Stanford was flawless and seamless in their switches and Oregon State did not make the most of the mismatches. Plus, love the 1-3-1 with Chiney Ogwumike on point.
Stanford didn’t go on a huge run to start the second half as we predicted, but slowly chipped away at Oregon State to build a 17 point lead. But starting at the 11 minute mark, in the span of two minutes, Jeanette Pohlen made a steal and then hit a long three, Kayla Pedersen hit another three and Jeanette got another three after that and Toni Kokenis got a steal and fast break basket AFTER THAT, for a quick 28 point lead, and it was all over except for bench duty.
Speaking of Toni and steals, ya know how when you hear two words put together so often they lose their meaning, such as saying this hot chocolate is cold, or this iced tea is hot or my hot dog is awful? Well, take the words fast break. Freshmen Toni Kokenis doesn’t do a fast break, she does a fast fast break. Man her speed; has anyone timed her in the 40? She has great anticipation skills already to time the jump for the steal, but when she does get the ball, she sure can accelerate. Even when she was stumbling and trying to maintain her balance and keep control of her dribble, she still beat the person she stole the ball from to the basket. Stanford got 14 points off the fast break; the overwhelming majority from Toni.
And speaking of the bench, C and R were especially impressed with the bench this time. Sarah Boothe matched her career high with 16 points. Mikaela Ruef sure likes to pass to Boothe. Even their names rhythm. Perhaps they bonded over their summer league experience where Boothe was the “go to” option for that team, because Ruef sure gave the ball to Boothe whenever she could and Sarah was able to bank a lot of shots in. Stanford got 32 points from their bench. Impressive.
Records:
Stanford tied their school record for consecutive home wins. They also got the top seed in the PAC-10 tournament. They can set the consecutive home wins record at 60 and secure an outright conference title by beating Oregon on Saturday. Remember, game time is 2 PM.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Conversation Observations
Super fan TG wrote in with some nice observations. And frankly, it’s such hard work for C and R to create this blog, what with making up facts, supplying grandiose hyperbole, being completely and utterly biased in all things Stanford and finding new and creative ways tO mAKe A. TY/pO, that we thought we would just let him rant for awhile so we could rest and relax and roll in all the dough we make from this blog!!. All remarks in parenthesis belong to C and R and are not as funny or insightful.
1. The injury to Nneka Ogwumilke looked pretty serious when I saw it -on my $14.95 a month All-Access! (See, he’s not cheap like C and R). She grabbed it immediately, and couldn't put any weight at all on it. Hopefully there's no ligament damage or fracture - best case she should rest until the Pac-10 tourney.
2. We just beat the #9 team (UCLA) in the country, #7 RPI, on their home floor, without our best player-arguably the third best player in the country (Nneka), by 14 points. Remarkable.
3. This is traditionally the toughest weekend of the regular season. To put the two solid wins in perspective, our 2008 team (With Candice Wiggins!) - which went on to beat a Connecticut team with Maya Moore, Tina Charles, and Renee Montgomery in the national semifinals - lost twice on the LA trip.
4. Defensive adjustments and intensity in the second half made the difference in both games. We were getting killed with 3s by Corral and S. Gilbreath in the first half of USC, and the same by Morris at UCLA. Great man-to-man pressure on the perimeter, flawless switches, and help rotation on any dribble penetration inside. It wasn't just that UCLA shot poorly, there simply weren't that many good shots to take...
5. Kokenis and Chiney were both remarkable - each had their best games of the season. For Kokenis, remarkable decision-making for a freshman - especially when to drive the basket on the fast-break, versus pull up and run the half-court offense. For Chiney, it almost seemed like she was playing double duty, filling in for her sister as well as her own position. Either scored or got to line each time she got the ball down low, and nailed her free throws -10 of 12.
6. With due respect to Nikki Caldwell, the Pac-10 Coach of the Year, in my opinion, comes down to Tara or Scott Rueck at Oregon State -just beat Oregon for their second conference win, coming back from down 20 at half. My vote is to Rueck - Tara started with 6 McDonald All-Americans and a 3-time returning Final Four team - Rueck started with exactly 2 returning reserve players and the smoldering aftermath of a mutiny -like that?. In addition to the two conference wins and 7 non-conference wins, they play basketball the right way, and have been competitive in every game except ours.
Sorry about the wordiness, it's therapeutic - keep up the great blogging!
(Yes, C and R help to keep the streets safe at night as all the crazies are home either blogging or reading blogs, us included). Anyone else, feel free to write in!
Don’t forget to check game times up until, well, game time as they keep a’changing.
1. The injury to Nneka Ogwumilke looked pretty serious when I saw it -on my $14.95 a month All-Access! (See, he’s not cheap like C and R). She grabbed it immediately, and couldn't put any weight at all on it. Hopefully there's no ligament damage or fracture - best case she should rest until the Pac-10 tourney.
2. We just beat the #9 team (UCLA) in the country, #7 RPI, on their home floor, without our best player-arguably the third best player in the country (Nneka), by 14 points. Remarkable.
3. This is traditionally the toughest weekend of the regular season. To put the two solid wins in perspective, our 2008 team (With Candice Wiggins!) - which went on to beat a Connecticut team with Maya Moore, Tina Charles, and Renee Montgomery in the national semifinals - lost twice on the LA trip.
4. Defensive adjustments and intensity in the second half made the difference in both games. We were getting killed with 3s by Corral and S. Gilbreath in the first half of USC, and the same by Morris at UCLA. Great man-to-man pressure on the perimeter, flawless switches, and help rotation on any dribble penetration inside. It wasn't just that UCLA shot poorly, there simply weren't that many good shots to take...
5. Kokenis and Chiney were both remarkable - each had their best games of the season. For Kokenis, remarkable decision-making for a freshman - especially when to drive the basket on the fast-break, versus pull up and run the half-court offense. For Chiney, it almost seemed like she was playing double duty, filling in for her sister as well as her own position. Either scored or got to line each time she got the ball down low, and nailed her free throws -10 of 12.
6. With due respect to Nikki Caldwell, the Pac-10 Coach of the Year, in my opinion, comes down to Tara or Scott Rueck at Oregon State -just beat Oregon for their second conference win, coming back from down 20 at half. My vote is to Rueck - Tara started with 6 McDonald All-Americans and a 3-time returning Final Four team - Rueck started with exactly 2 returning reserve players and the smoldering aftermath of a mutiny -like that?. In addition to the two conference wins and 7 non-conference wins, they play basketball the right way, and have been competitive in every game except ours.
Sorry about the wordiness, it's therapeutic - keep up the great blogging!
(Yes, C and R help to keep the streets safe at night as all the crazies are home either blogging or reading blogs, us included). Anyone else, feel free to write in!
Don’t forget to check game times up until, well, game time as they keep a’changing.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Stanford Wins Away from Home, Too
So many other headlines to choose from:
Ogumikes Lead the Way
Kayla Pedersen Breaks Career Minutes Record
Oregon’s Shooting Percent Held to Zero First 10 Minutes
Most Expensive Basketball Court is Also the Ugliest
Sorry, Oregon, about that last one, but the tress and such painted on the court makes a light/dark nightmare that is as hideous as it is districting. And the half court line is transparent, apparently, made up of two very small white lines to form an outline of a half court line. Yuk. The line disappears from about 10 feet away.
Oregon came into the game averaging 83 points with a propensity to score every seven seconds by a fast break or pulling up and hitting a three. Stanford comes into the game always emulating their opponent, so guess which team put on a fast break clinic in the second half? Guess which team had two sisters combining for 34 points after 25 minutes of play and Oregon combining for 27? Whoops, guess we have that one away! Yes Stanford’s Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike had 34 points before being pulled for bench players, including the first 16 points to start the second half and put on a show scoring on fast breaks or just busting it inside and scoring or getting fouled. Chiney misses a shot, it’s okay, Nneka picked up the rebound and put it back in.
Stanford frustrated Oregon by getting two players back on D if they grabbed an offensive rebound, and with the rebounding margin 68-32 it wasn’t often. And Oregon did not score a basket from the floor for the first 10 minutes (now shooting zero precent). The lowly one point they did score was from a foul shot vs. Stanford’s 19. Stanford would have had even more rebounds and points but Nneka and Kayla were stuck on the bench with two fouls for much of the first half. Add in the fact Oregon was made only three three-point baskets out of 32 attempts and Oregon gets beat 91-56.
Chiney had 18 points to Nneka’s 16 and Jeanette Pohlen was sandwiched in there with 17. Jeanette scored by knocking down threes as well as posting up the smaller guard, Nia Jackson. Speaking of which, Jackson was the one bright spot for Oregon. She made some incredible drives to the basket and scored 21 points. Mel Murphy had a tough time guarding her (Why wasn’t defensive specialist Chiney on her?). At one point all five Stanford players tried to stop her drive and she scored anyway.
Kayla Pedersen chipped in 11 points and 14 rebounds and broke Virgina Sourlis’ 25-year old record of 4,148 minutes played. Kayla has played more minutes in a Stanford women’s basketball uniform than anyone, even third place Candice Wiggins. That means Tara VanDerveer must really trust her, having started her in every game she been healthy for since her first freshmen game (She only missed one game after 121 straight starts due to a head injury earlier this year, and Stanford lost to Depaul). Kayla is also trying to close in on Jayne Appel’s career rebounding record. Ahead of her are Appel, Val Whiting and Nicole Powell, and all three went on to play in the WNBA, according to our announcers. It was nice to have the game televised.
Toni Kokenis was still wearing the black sweat suit of injury. Toni had slight headaches after getting hit in the head in the UCLA game a week ago. She still has not been cleared to play. Get well soon.
Next up is last-in-the-PAC-10 Oregon State, which just got beat by Cal.
Ogumikes Lead the Way
Kayla Pedersen Breaks Career Minutes Record
Oregon’s Shooting Percent Held to Zero First 10 Minutes
Most Expensive Basketball Court is Also the Ugliest
Sorry, Oregon, about that last one, but the tress and such painted on the court makes a light/dark nightmare that is as hideous as it is districting. And the half court line is transparent, apparently, made up of two very small white lines to form an outline of a half court line. Yuk. The line disappears from about 10 feet away.
Oregon came into the game averaging 83 points with a propensity to score every seven seconds by a fast break or pulling up and hitting a three. Stanford comes into the game always emulating their opponent, so guess which team put on a fast break clinic in the second half? Guess which team had two sisters combining for 34 points after 25 minutes of play and Oregon combining for 27? Whoops, guess we have that one away! Yes Stanford’s Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike had 34 points before being pulled for bench players, including the first 16 points to start the second half and put on a show scoring on fast breaks or just busting it inside and scoring or getting fouled. Chiney misses a shot, it’s okay, Nneka picked up the rebound and put it back in.
Stanford frustrated Oregon by getting two players back on D if they grabbed an offensive rebound, and with the rebounding margin 68-32 it wasn’t often. And Oregon did not score a basket from the floor for the first 10 minutes (now shooting zero precent). The lowly one point they did score was from a foul shot vs. Stanford’s 19. Stanford would have had even more rebounds and points but Nneka and Kayla were stuck on the bench with two fouls for much of the first half. Add in the fact Oregon was made only three three-point baskets out of 32 attempts and Oregon gets beat 91-56.
Chiney had 18 points to Nneka’s 16 and Jeanette Pohlen was sandwiched in there with 17. Jeanette scored by knocking down threes as well as posting up the smaller guard, Nia Jackson. Speaking of which, Jackson was the one bright spot for Oregon. She made some incredible drives to the basket and scored 21 points. Mel Murphy had a tough time guarding her (Why wasn’t defensive specialist Chiney on her?). At one point all five Stanford players tried to stop her drive and she scored anyway.
Kayla Pedersen chipped in 11 points and 14 rebounds and broke Virgina Sourlis’ 25-year old record of 4,148 minutes played. Kayla has played more minutes in a Stanford women’s basketball uniform than anyone, even third place Candice Wiggins. That means Tara VanDerveer must really trust her, having started her in every game she been healthy for since her first freshmen game (She only missed one game after 121 straight starts due to a head injury earlier this year, and Stanford lost to Depaul). Kayla is also trying to close in on Jayne Appel’s career rebounding record. Ahead of her are Appel, Val Whiting and Nicole Powell, and all three went on to play in the WNBA, according to our announcers. It was nice to have the game televised.
Toni Kokenis was still wearing the black sweat suit of injury. Toni had slight headaches after getting hit in the head in the UCLA game a week ago. She still has not been cleared to play. Get well soon.
Next up is last-in-the-PAC-10 Oregon State, which just got beat by Cal.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Ding Dong, the Streak is Dead!
The first, the last, and UConn was everything in between. C and R are of course talking about the amazing UConn Huskies women's basketball streak of consecutive wins and Stanford’s small part in it. Stanford was the last team to beat them in March 2008, and the first team to beat them since they got the all-time men’s or women’s streak record of 89, stopping them at 90.
This win was so great; let’s savor it minute by minute, shall we?
40 minutes before the game, tons of scalpers on the sidewalks next to parking lots, which themselves are choked with cars. Tickets like the seats R has are going for $125 a pop!
35 minutes before the game, C and R get in Maples early to watch the teams warm-up, but only UConn is out there. Where is Stanford?
30 minutes before game, the countdown clock stops. This game is being televised after a men’s college game. Are they waiting for men’s’ basketball to be over? Stanford waits to come out to warm up, too.
15 minutes before the game, a friend walks up to Stanford box office and gets 3 general admission seats at face value. Say what, Stanford? You advertised the game was sold out and many of our friends who did not have tickets (And yes, you who did not heed our warnings know who you are) friends without tickets stayed away and yet they could have gotten in? Why didn’t you advertise, “Limited seats left?” You might have gotten even more fans here. Official attendance is 7329. Why is it when Tennessee women’s basketball has a sellout, it is 14,136?
10 minutes before game, both teams are now out and warming up. UConn is intense in warm ups, and to our untrained eye, Stanford looks half hearted, kinda going through the motions. UConn has purpose and drive on their lay ups to the basket, Stanford, well, not so much.
5 minutes before game, time for the National Anthem. Maya Moore tells a teammate, “The flag is this way.”
3 minutes before the game, C and R see former Stanford players Jayne Appel, Candice Wiggins, Ros Gold Onwude and… JJ HONES? Wow, she is the guard who got kicked off the team at the end of last year with one year of eligibility left for drinking and driving… a golf cart (Lord, what a thing to live down) and would be starting this game if not for that. It would be hard to show up back at the farm, yet here she is which says a lot about her character, wanting to support her friends and Stanford. Let’s hope she is not bitter.
Pregame introductions
Maya Moore gets a healthy round of applause. Geno gets booed. C and R hate when anyone boos players or coaches, we just feel it is bad sportsmanship. Anyone who is out there playing or coaching is dedicated and putting forth a high effort, and let’s face it you have to respect the streak of 90 straight winning games, nearly 2 and a half years worth of not losing.
Game time-tip off, Stanford’s Nneka Ogwumike loses the tip, not a good sign.
18:42 minutes left in the first half, Jeanette Pohlen makes a three. (C leans to R and says, look, were winning! Little did she know Stanford would not give up the lead for the entire game!)
18:29 minutes left in the first half, Kayla Pedersen gets a defensive rebound. She would be tough on the boards all night. In fact Stanford would go on win the rebounding battle 43-36.
18:02 minutes left in the first half, UConn makes their first basket, a two pointer
(C: look, were still winning!)
15:59 minutes left in the first half, Jeanette Pohlen makes another of her five threes and Stanford is up 6-2.
14:08 minutes left in the first half, Lindy La Rocque hits the first of her two three-point shots, glad to see running, gunning Lindy shooting. And she has a great, great defensive game. Was on Maya Moore for part of the night, was very determined and focused.
14:00 minutes left in the first half, the Jumbotron shows the Quattro of friends (Jayne, Ros, JJ and Candice), for the first of umpteen million times.
13:31 minutes left in the first half, Jeanette Pohlen post up over a smaller guard and makes a lay up, first practiced two days ago against Xavier, and finds success again.
13:31 and 12:27 minutes left in the first half, Stanford goes up by 13 points!! Thirteen points! The largest lead of the night, but still, 13 points!
Oops, wait we did it again at 4:21, too.
10:36 minutes left in the first half, or thereabouts, National Player of the Year Maya Moore shoots an air ball. The crowd chants the “Air-ball” refrain. Look, not that we are making fun of Maya Moore, it’s just that Maya Moore has the best pull up jumper in the country and has been so outstanding and so consistent during the two and half year streak, we are sure that was very uncharacteristic of her, and hopefully can be attributed to Stanford’s tough defense on her.
3:16 minutes left in the first half, Maya Moore makes her first basket, a three. Her first basket of the night with almost 17 minutes gone by in the game. That’s got to be some kinda record. Stanford’s defense is great. Chiney Ogumike is doing most of the defending of Maya Moore now, except when she and then Nneka get two fouls and both go to the bench in the closing few minutes of the half. Now we do not do so well defending Maya and hence the 3-point shot. Maya Moore hits another one at 1:52, but Stanford holds her to just 6 first points half. Also must be some kinda record.
Stanford fouls with 32 seconds minutes left in the first half and with one second left in the first half. Yes one second, UConn threw a half court pass and Lindy undercut Kelly Faris. She should have let her catch and shoot, odds are she wouldn’t have made it anyway.
0 seconds minutes left in the first half, and Stanford leads 34-30.
Halftime, as C races to the concession stand and gets two hotdogs, R gets stopped by the floor crew letting UConn pass to the locker room. R looks right at Geno and says, “You’re awesome!” He looks right at her and says “Thanks.” He then spies one of the half time performers; a monk in a karate suit and lunges low in a karate stance to challenge him two feet in front of R. R is too late to get the photo!
C and R meet with super fan TG and give him his “Fear the Trees” shirt, a prize for knowing who the other coaches were in the 800 career-wins club. C shows her “Hecka Necka” shirt to the cameras but is sure they didn’t show it.
20 minutes left in the second half, C and R just get back to their seats.
17:56 minutes left in the second half and Jeanette scores the first Stanford basket of the second half, what else, a three! Stanford goes back up by seven.
17:11 minutes left in the second half, UConn scores their first points of the second half, also a three. The last time Stanford beat UConn, it’s not that Stanford stopped them, it’s just that Stanford (And Candice Wiggins) outscored them. Let’s hope this game Stanford just stops them, because this year, sometimes Stanford is not good at scoring.
13:22 minutes left in the second half a three by Jeanette Pohlen….lead is nine!
13:21 minutes left in the second half, Jumbotron shows a live action shot of Jayne, Ros, JJ and Candice Wiggins…
10:52 minutes left in the second half, Maya Moore makes her first basket of the second half, (got to be some kinda record), what did she make? What else, a three, she would have no lay ups, a huge defensive statistic. But wait, her three makes it a four-point game. Stanford needs a basket and cannot let UConn back into this game!
10:44 minutes left in the second half, Kayla makes a lay up, thank you very much Ms. Reliable. (Old Faithful?)
9:12 minutes left in the second half, a friend texts R and tells her she thought she saw C and R on TV!
8:05 minutes left in the second half, jumper by Moore.
7:26 minutes left in the second half, three pointer by Moore. Oh no, is this the start of an UConn come back? Little did anyone know, this would be the last points for Maya Moore all night.
7:05 minutes left in the second half, no, no comeback, a lay up for Joslyn Tinkle, who also is having the game of her young life. She played great defense, also asked to guard Moore several times and did a great job. C and R hearTinkle bells in the audience, even though we haven’t promoted it as much this year. Thanks, Stanford fans! R also starts to say, “we’re going to win, I can feel it!” C has a sour pit in her stomach. She can’t handle the stress (You can’t handle the truth!)
6:44 minutes left in the second half, missed three-pointer by Moore. R pounds C’s knee.
Kelly Faris for UConn makes 2 three-pointers at 5:59 and 4:49 to cut the lead to six. Yikes.
3:35 minutes left in the second half, Maya More is being guarded by Tinkle, who gets screened and hands her off to Lindy, who gets screened, hands her off to Kayla who defends her tough and although Moore gets a three point shot off it misses badly.
Tinkle to Lindy to Kayla
Tinker to Evers to Chance
(go ahead and look that one up, especially the sad poem part about breaking opposing fans hearts! C’s head is full of useless trivia like that, just swimming around in her head, waiting to surface at parties to annoy people and mostly beat R at Jeopardy).
2:19 minutes left in the second half, two UConn free throws narrow the lead to six points again, and C is worried, worried, worried. Little did she know this would be the last time UConn would score on the Maples floor that night!
1:42 Chiney would foul Maya Moore and also foul out of the game. Maya misses the front end of a one and one. Again, uncharacteristic of her.
1:37 minutes left in the second half, timeout with Stanford still leading by six and R all smiling and happy and pessimistic C still cannot let herself believe lest she jinx it for Stanford and it is the longest 1:37 minutes of C and R’s life!
1:20 minutes left in the second half, another timeout. Time seems to be agonizingly suspended.
1:14 minutes left in the second half, Nneka would score again to end up with 12 points and have 6 sky-high rebounds.
53 seconds left in the second half, Reliable, Old Faithful Kayla misses the front end of a one and one! And we were just saying about Maya Moore… (To be fair, Kayla got knocked to the floor and possibly hit her head and got her wrist banged so much she grimaced in pain for the final 23 seconds.) Kayla would finish with just 8 points but 11 timely rebounds.
But wait, Tinkle got the rebound and was fouled. They have another chance to pad the six point lead.
51 seconds left in the second half, Tinkle would miss the front end of a one and one… C is about to have a heart attack.
42 seconds left in the second half, 34 seconds left in the second half, 17 seconds left in the second half, Jeanette is fouled, and she would sink all six shots! She would finish the game with a career high 31 points!
4 seconds left in the second half, UConn’s Kelly Faris shoots a three pointer and misses and Jeanette Pohlen grabbes the rebound.
1 second left in the second half, Jeanette Pohlen throws the ball in the air.
0 seconds left in the second half, Stanford wins 71-59, a margin of 12 points! R predicted they would win by 10, so C is taking R to the track next weekend.
2 seconds after the game ended, Candice Wiggins, Stanford great, who is NOT on the team currently stormed the floor and hugged Pohlen, Pohlen still had her game face on and hurriedly pulled away, probably wondering if it was a violation of game rules or something for her to even be on the court and wanted to do nothing, nothing to jeopardize this incredible win. Jeanette wanted this one. She wanted this so badly and has stepped up her play. Kara Lawson on ESPN said Jeanette Pohlen was the best guard on the floor tonight. Maya Moore was held to 14, 10 points below her average, and credit Stanford for being in her face and not letting her have good looks all night. Credit Stanford Head Coach Tara Vanderveer for having the exactly right game plan and Stanford for executing it.
5 minutes after the game, the team came back out, lead by a leaping Nneka.. Tara spoke to the crowd, thanking them for helping to make Maples a good environment to win (and keep their home streak alive at 52) and asked that everyone come back for another game. Then she thanked The UConn team and coach and staff.
R said she feels bad for Geno. Heck, C figures, Geno must feel relieved. He got the streak in the record books, and now the pressure and the daily questions will go away and he can focus on basketball, league play and the March tournament. Hey, same for Stanford.
15 minutes after the game at the post game conference on national TV Tara said, “We didn’t win a national championship.” We have a lot of basketball left.
Yes, good to keep it in perspective, Tara, but it sure makes those losses to DePaul and Tennessee easier to swallow, and gives much hope for the future.
This win was so great; let’s savor it minute by minute, shall we?
40 minutes before the game, tons of scalpers on the sidewalks next to parking lots, which themselves are choked with cars. Tickets like the seats R has are going for $125 a pop!
35 minutes before the game, C and R get in Maples early to watch the teams warm-up, but only UConn is out there. Where is Stanford?
30 minutes before game, the countdown clock stops. This game is being televised after a men’s college game. Are they waiting for men’s’ basketball to be over? Stanford waits to come out to warm up, too.
15 minutes before the game, a friend walks up to Stanford box office and gets 3 general admission seats at face value. Say what, Stanford? You advertised the game was sold out and many of our friends who did not have tickets (And yes, you who did not heed our warnings know who you are) friends without tickets stayed away and yet they could have gotten in? Why didn’t you advertise, “Limited seats left?” You might have gotten even more fans here. Official attendance is 7329. Why is it when Tennessee women’s basketball has a sellout, it is 14,136?
10 minutes before game, both teams are now out and warming up. UConn is intense in warm ups, and to our untrained eye, Stanford looks half hearted, kinda going through the motions. UConn has purpose and drive on their lay ups to the basket, Stanford, well, not so much.
5 minutes before game, time for the National Anthem. Maya Moore tells a teammate, “The flag is this way.”
3 minutes before the game, C and R see former Stanford players Jayne Appel, Candice Wiggins, Ros Gold Onwude and… JJ HONES? Wow, she is the guard who got kicked off the team at the end of last year with one year of eligibility left for drinking and driving… a golf cart (Lord, what a thing to live down) and would be starting this game if not for that. It would be hard to show up back at the farm, yet here she is which says a lot about her character, wanting to support her friends and Stanford. Let’s hope she is not bitter.
Pregame introductions
Maya Moore gets a healthy round of applause. Geno gets booed. C and R hate when anyone boos players or coaches, we just feel it is bad sportsmanship. Anyone who is out there playing or coaching is dedicated and putting forth a high effort, and let’s face it you have to respect the streak of 90 straight winning games, nearly 2 and a half years worth of not losing.
Game time-tip off, Stanford’s Nneka Ogwumike loses the tip, not a good sign.
18:42 minutes left in the first half, Jeanette Pohlen makes a three. (C leans to R and says, look, were winning! Little did she know Stanford would not give up the lead for the entire game!)
18:29 minutes left in the first half, Kayla Pedersen gets a defensive rebound. She would be tough on the boards all night. In fact Stanford would go on win the rebounding battle 43-36.
18:02 minutes left in the first half, UConn makes their first basket, a two pointer
(C: look, were still winning!)
15:59 minutes left in the first half, Jeanette Pohlen makes another of her five threes and Stanford is up 6-2.
14:08 minutes left in the first half, Lindy La Rocque hits the first of her two three-point shots, glad to see running, gunning Lindy shooting. And she has a great, great defensive game. Was on Maya Moore for part of the night, was very determined and focused.
14:00 minutes left in the first half, the Jumbotron shows the Quattro of friends (Jayne, Ros, JJ and Candice), for the first of umpteen million times.
13:31 minutes left in the first half, Jeanette Pohlen post up over a smaller guard and makes a lay up, first practiced two days ago against Xavier, and finds success again.
13:31 and 12:27 minutes left in the first half, Stanford goes up by 13 points!! Thirteen points! The largest lead of the night, but still, 13 points!
Oops, wait we did it again at 4:21, too.
10:36 minutes left in the first half, or thereabouts, National Player of the Year Maya Moore shoots an air ball. The crowd chants the “Air-ball” refrain. Look, not that we are making fun of Maya Moore, it’s just that Maya Moore has the best pull up jumper in the country and has been so outstanding and so consistent during the two and half year streak, we are sure that was very uncharacteristic of her, and hopefully can be attributed to Stanford’s tough defense on her.
3:16 minutes left in the first half, Maya Moore makes her first basket, a three. Her first basket of the night with almost 17 minutes gone by in the game. That’s got to be some kinda record. Stanford’s defense is great. Chiney Ogumike is doing most of the defending of Maya Moore now, except when she and then Nneka get two fouls and both go to the bench in the closing few minutes of the half. Now we do not do so well defending Maya and hence the 3-point shot. Maya Moore hits another one at 1:52, but Stanford holds her to just 6 first points half. Also must be some kinda record.
Stanford fouls with 32 seconds minutes left in the first half and with one second left in the first half. Yes one second, UConn threw a half court pass and Lindy undercut Kelly Faris. She should have let her catch and shoot, odds are she wouldn’t have made it anyway.
0 seconds minutes left in the first half, and Stanford leads 34-30.
Halftime, as C races to the concession stand and gets two hotdogs, R gets stopped by the floor crew letting UConn pass to the locker room. R looks right at Geno and says, “You’re awesome!” He looks right at her and says “Thanks.” He then spies one of the half time performers; a monk in a karate suit and lunges low in a karate stance to challenge him two feet in front of R. R is too late to get the photo!
C and R meet with super fan TG and give him his “Fear the Trees” shirt, a prize for knowing who the other coaches were in the 800 career-wins club. C shows her “Hecka Necka” shirt to the cameras but is sure they didn’t show it.
20 minutes left in the second half, C and R just get back to their seats.
17:56 minutes left in the second half and Jeanette scores the first Stanford basket of the second half, what else, a three! Stanford goes back up by seven.
17:11 minutes left in the second half, UConn scores their first points of the second half, also a three. The last time Stanford beat UConn, it’s not that Stanford stopped them, it’s just that Stanford (And Candice Wiggins) outscored them. Let’s hope this game Stanford just stops them, because this year, sometimes Stanford is not good at scoring.
13:22 minutes left in the second half a three by Jeanette Pohlen….lead is nine!
13:21 minutes left in the second half, Jumbotron shows a live action shot of Jayne, Ros, JJ and Candice Wiggins…
10:52 minutes left in the second half, Maya Moore makes her first basket of the second half, (got to be some kinda record), what did she make? What else, a three, she would have no lay ups, a huge defensive statistic. But wait, her three makes it a four-point game. Stanford needs a basket and cannot let UConn back into this game!
10:44 minutes left in the second half, Kayla makes a lay up, thank you very much Ms. Reliable. (Old Faithful?)
9:12 minutes left in the second half, a friend texts R and tells her she thought she saw C and R on TV!
8:05 minutes left in the second half, jumper by Moore.
7:26 minutes left in the second half, three pointer by Moore. Oh no, is this the start of an UConn come back? Little did anyone know, this would be the last points for Maya Moore all night.
7:05 minutes left in the second half, no, no comeback, a lay up for Joslyn Tinkle, who also is having the game of her young life. She played great defense, also asked to guard Moore several times and did a great job. C and R hearTinkle bells in the audience, even though we haven’t promoted it as much this year. Thanks, Stanford fans! R also starts to say, “we’re going to win, I can feel it!” C has a sour pit in her stomach. She can’t handle the stress (You can’t handle the truth!)
6:44 minutes left in the second half, missed three-pointer by Moore. R pounds C’s knee.
Kelly Faris for UConn makes 2 three-pointers at 5:59 and 4:49 to cut the lead to six. Yikes.
3:35 minutes left in the second half, Maya More is being guarded by Tinkle, who gets screened and hands her off to Lindy, who gets screened, hands her off to Kayla who defends her tough and although Moore gets a three point shot off it misses badly.
Tinkle to Lindy to Kayla
Tinker to Evers to Chance
(go ahead and look that one up, especially the sad poem part about breaking opposing fans hearts! C’s head is full of useless trivia like that, just swimming around in her head, waiting to surface at parties to annoy people and mostly beat R at Jeopardy).
2:19 minutes left in the second half, two UConn free throws narrow the lead to six points again, and C is worried, worried, worried. Little did she know this would be the last time UConn would score on the Maples floor that night!
1:42 Chiney would foul Maya Moore and also foul out of the game. Maya misses the front end of a one and one. Again, uncharacteristic of her.
1:37 minutes left in the second half, timeout with Stanford still leading by six and R all smiling and happy and pessimistic C still cannot let herself believe lest she jinx it for Stanford and it is the longest 1:37 minutes of C and R’s life!
1:20 minutes left in the second half, another timeout. Time seems to be agonizingly suspended.
1:14 minutes left in the second half, Nneka would score again to end up with 12 points and have 6 sky-high rebounds.
53 seconds left in the second half, Reliable, Old Faithful Kayla misses the front end of a one and one! And we were just saying about Maya Moore… (To be fair, Kayla got knocked to the floor and possibly hit her head and got her wrist banged so much she grimaced in pain for the final 23 seconds.) Kayla would finish with just 8 points but 11 timely rebounds.
But wait, Tinkle got the rebound and was fouled. They have another chance to pad the six point lead.
51 seconds left in the second half, Tinkle would miss the front end of a one and one… C is about to have a heart attack.
42 seconds left in the second half, 34 seconds left in the second half, 17 seconds left in the second half, Jeanette is fouled, and she would sink all six shots! She would finish the game with a career high 31 points!
4 seconds left in the second half, UConn’s Kelly Faris shoots a three pointer and misses and Jeanette Pohlen grabbes the rebound.
1 second left in the second half, Jeanette Pohlen throws the ball in the air.
0 seconds left in the second half, Stanford wins 71-59, a margin of 12 points! R predicted they would win by 10, so C is taking R to the track next weekend.
2 seconds after the game ended, Candice Wiggins, Stanford great, who is NOT on the team currently stormed the floor and hugged Pohlen, Pohlen still had her game face on and hurriedly pulled away, probably wondering if it was a violation of game rules or something for her to even be on the court and wanted to do nothing, nothing to jeopardize this incredible win. Jeanette wanted this one. She wanted this so badly and has stepped up her play. Kara Lawson on ESPN said Jeanette Pohlen was the best guard on the floor tonight. Maya Moore was held to 14, 10 points below her average, and credit Stanford for being in her face and not letting her have good looks all night. Credit Stanford Head Coach Tara Vanderveer for having the exactly right game plan and Stanford for executing it.
5 minutes after the game, the team came back out, lead by a leaping Nneka.. Tara spoke to the crowd, thanking them for helping to make Maples a good environment to win (and keep their home streak alive at 52) and asked that everyone come back for another game. Then she thanked The UConn team and coach and staff.
R said she feels bad for Geno. Heck, C figures, Geno must feel relieved. He got the streak in the record books, and now the pressure and the daily questions will go away and he can focus on basketball, league play and the March tournament. Hey, same for Stanford.
15 minutes after the game at the post game conference on national TV Tara said, “We didn’t win a national championship.” We have a lot of basketball left.
Yes, good to keep it in perspective, Tara, but it sure makes those losses to DePaul and Tennessee easier to swallow, and gives much hope for the future.
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