Propers for Stanford

[35TangoTango]

A very nice team. The traditional height has been traded for speed, and it works well. I thought what made them good was that there were no stars, but everyone contributed. Defending them was kind of like trying to sweep water.


You know, if not for their fans, they'd be a hard team to hate!

Based on what I saw, I'd say both teams are ranked about right.

[YCN]

I agree with you about their speed, but their athleticism is pretty noteworthy as well. Stanford is a very well coached team that should go deep into the NCAA tournament this year.

That lack of height may kill them against a team with 1-2 big strong post players, but our post players just lack the bulk to cash in on that advantage.

I checked the box score this morning and the stats were very even, perhaps even slightly in OU's favor, except for our terrible shooting last night. The 0-fer from 3 point range was especially painful. The Sooners will continue to improve this year, and I thought they looked light years the better team as compared to the Tennessee game at the beginning of the season.

We should be competitive in the Big 12, but we're not going to wow anyone with our dominance. Tech, KSU and Colorado are clearly better teams, but I think we will be able to play well with everyone else. The loss of Caton Hill is really going to be a factor in conference play, because some teams are just going to flat-out bully us in the paint.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how we handle the challenge of conference play. It ought to get pretty wild at times this year.

And I don't think we will have a shooting night like last night ever again this year!

[Cardinal]

Thank you for your comments. The Sooners played hard and put up a good fight, but the ball just couldn't find the hole. I was impressed with their aggressive defense and excellent blocking out. Stanford only out rebounded them by 2 and the Sooners came better on the boards in the 2nd half.

For what it's worth, at the post game chat where the Stanford coaches talk to the boosters, Tara gave a lot of props to Sherri and the Sooners. She told the crowd about the year the OU cut the women's basketball program and said what a great job Sherri has done building the program from nowhere. She was also very complimentary of when she coached Sara Dimson in high school. There was a very loud gasp from the crowd when she told us Higgins and Hill torn their ACls on the same day. Many Stanford fans are extremely respectful and supportive of all women's teams and understand the challenges of injuries.

As for our height, Thiel is very efficient as a smaller post player as evident from her great defense on 6'5" Polk from Arizona and Ohlde from KSU.


Good luck in the Big 12.

[zip]

I just love to watch Nicole Powell play - I think she is my fave women's player this year. I hope she can continue the season without injury.

[catladyok]

Although I was disappointed in our kids' shooting percentage, I am still impressed by their growth since the beginning of the season. And just like the Tennessee game, they panicked when the game started getting away from them and started missing even more shots. All they need is more experience, that's all. And they shouldn't feel disgraced by losing to an excellent team such as Stanford. There are only a handful of teams in the whole country who could have beaten the Cardinal, anyway. I'm sure that they learned more last night than they did last weekend against SE Missouri State!

The Standford team is even more well-balanced than they were last year, and they're going to cause a lot of people a lot of trouble come March. I can hardly wait to see them play again!

------------------
BIG XII RULES!

[swok34]

I was really impressed with Perryman, she has some great post moves. She had a double-double in the first half.

As for OU's woes.....like I mentioned earlier, every single OU game is a completely new experience for this OU fan http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif Hate to see Chelsi get so locked up mentally AND I do think that's what happened with Chelsi Welch...she is such a fun kid to watch. I think Stacey Dales suffered some of the same woes in her career and Chelsi will figure it out, too.

Beky Preston, gotta love a post player that gets on the floor and fights.

That said, we are sure gonna have a GREAT deep team NEXT year.... http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif

Congrats once again to Stanford, Tara certainly knew what OU's limitation's were and the girls stuck to the plan. They completely shut down OU's fast break for the most part, and they started hitting 3's in the 2nd half.