What a dweeb.
Stanford has nine seniors, is incredibly deep, and is probably the only team that can seriously challenge UConn for the title this year. Jayne Appel said after the game that their goal is a national championship. So I guess that's why I'm not upset about UCLA's loss. They've come so far in such a short period of time, and they'll go much further under Caldwell. These things take time.
Stanford team members have complete trust in each other. It seems like everyone on the team can shoot. And because they've all worked together for so long, they just flow. They barely have to talk to each other on the court.
Good luck, Stanford. May you give UConn their first defeat in a while.
UCLA freshman forward Markel Walker grabs one of her eight rebounds on the day.
Christina Nzekwe (#4) misses a shot.
Stanford boxes out extremely well, as is evident above.
Officials Marianne Karp and Michael Price were not popular with Bruin fans. And they did miss a LOT of calls.
6 comments:
"and the officiating was just stupid. Marianne Karp and Michael Price were competing for the Biggest Blind and Delusional Idiot title, and Lisa Price wasn't far behind."
I try not to be the sort of person who complains about this sort of thing, but didn't you love when Doreena got thrown to the floor and they called a personal foul on *her*? I friggin' lost track of the number of times Jasmine or Markel got pounded underneath, resulting in absolutely no call whatsoever.
Oh well. Three-time-defending champions pretty much tend to get the benefit of the whistle in every sport, on every level. The more our program continues its ascent, the more these calls will go our way.
Patrick Meighan
UCLA Class of '95
i know you were at the games, sass and patrick, so you didn't see the two half-time locker room speeches with nikki trying to fire up her team. but i've got to tell you, those were the most unenthusiastic bunch i've seen in a locker room for a long, long time.
as lll said, after nikki's two speeches, she (lll) was ready to put on a uni and go play. but the bruins just sat there with no expression on their faces. no hand clapping, high-fiving or anything that would resemble signs of life. very weird.
those girls have to get more emotionally invested and fired up.
scullyfu
They're usually very fired up, scully, and very enthusiastic. I would guess that the magnitude of playing Stanford was getting to them. I haven't seen them like that since last year's Pac-10 tourney, when they were crushed in the semis. It made me sad to watch them yesterday.
Yeah, as you said, I didn't see the speech, 'cause I was in Galen. That noted, I gotta say that the team didn't look particularly listless to my eyes. Really, I thought their effort was just fine. I just thought that they were clearly overmatched, and that they really knew that they were overmatched, and so they tried to compensate for that on the floor by doing some things *other* than what got them to that point (Jasmine long-distance jumpers, for example)... which is always a mistake, of course.
Patrick Meighan
UCLA Class of '95
patrick, my statement was based solely on the two half time locker rooms speeches. i wish you both could have seen the locker room demeanor of the team.
i can understand the 'stanford is gonna cream us' mentality, but even during the half time against usc, it was the same. and that was not a game where the outcome was a given.
come on, girls, your coach is up there motivating her little heart out and y'all are just sitting there.
again, my comments are only about the locker room and not their on-court game.
scullyfu
I agree with Scully.
The Bruins did not look like a motivated team after NC's speech at halftime of the SC or Stanford game. They also didnt come out like a motivated team to start the 2nd half against SC(outscored 10-4 to start the 2nd half) and saw a double digit late first half lead disappear. I can see the possible lack of motivation vs Stanford at halftime, but not vs USC.
Is it possible, as a coach, you can only give so many motivational speeches? Is it a case of going to the well too often? How many other halftime speeches has NC given that we dont see or hear about? I also wonder why you need to motivate a team in a Pac 10 playoff game against your hometown rival. The motivation should be there without a Knute Rockne speech.
I hope for the Bruins sake they can wake up. Before the last two games I wanted them to be in the Nebraska bracket as I saw a poosible upset. Now I hope they can get by NC State.
IM in OC
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