Friday, December 31, A few scores before the new year. They opened up conference play by beating Pacific, UCLA had way too much trouble putting away Washington today. USC beat Washington State , as to be expected. But Arizona State had a heckuva time putting away Oregon State. Final score was Oh yes, the Pac is heating up. And further evidence of that: Arizona beat Oregon Can't wait to see what brings in the worlds of hoops.
Happy New Year, everyone, and thanks for reading. SoCal high school tournament wrap up. Pac play opens today. I'm wondering why this wasn't addressed a long time ago instead of this week. Vol players wore a black patch in her honor at yesterday's game. Stanford win: preparation was the key. Whenever Stanford and UConn play, the outcome could go either way. Last night was no different, except that for the first time in two years, eight months and three weeks, it was the Cardinal in the winning column.
Stanford came out on fire and took an early lead, but it was more than just energy that kept them ahead for the entire game: it was preparation.
Cardinal players double- and triple-teamed Maya Moore, and they anticipated her every move. Moore's shots and passes were blocked, she was screened out of rotations, and on one defensive assignment Stanford players had pushed her back five feet from the pass.
The Cardinal disrupted the Husky offense. When they tried to execute, a Stanford player was there. It threw them off their shot, and practically shut down their drives to the basket. As the game unfolded, it became exceedingly apparent how much UConn game tape Coach Tara VanDerveer and her staff had watched to prepare for this matchup - how much planning and strategizing they had done.
