THIS IS A BIG WEEKEND!

 On Friday we get USC and Sunday UCLA. 

The Trojans are ranked #15. They brought in five strong players through the Transfer Portal and landed the number one Freshman recruit in the nation,. Juju Watkins, came from Sierra Canyon H.S., a perennial LA powerhouse and is currently the number two scoring leader in the nation - behind Caitlin somebodyorother. Ms. Watkins is averaging 25.8 points per.   

USC came screaming out of the blocks to start the season, beating everyone in sight, but has lost four conference games recently - UCLA, Utah, Colorado, and Washington. They have a strong, solid roster and recently beat UCLA, with Juju scoring 32. UCLA was held to 19 points in the first half and shot 18% from three.

Rayah Marshall is a 6'-4" load to deal with in the paint. She's averaging 10 and 10 and plays tough defense. Seems to me we need both Cam and Kiki to stay out of foul trouble and limit our turnovers to twelve or thirtee  to win this thing.

UCLA

Lauren Betts            6'-7"    Soph.    C    15.4    8.6

Charisma Osborne   5'-9"    Grad.    G    15.0    4.9

Kiki Rice                 5'-11"   Soph.    G   13.2    5.7

Londynn Jones        5'-4"     Soph.    G   12.6    1.9

Gabriela Ja;quez     6'-0"      Soph.    F   10.8    5.7

Angela Dugalic       6'-4"     Senior   F     9.1    7.4

Lina Sontag             6'-3"     Soph.    F

The Bruins had a great win streak going until recently. In January they lost to USC, Utah, and Washington State. They're currently ranked seventh but when they're hitting on all cylinders, they're better than that. We need one of our best games to beat them.   

GO STANFORD!! LET'S WIN'EM BOTH!!

A CHALLENGE TO BUILD AN NCAA WITH STRENGTH AND FAIRNESS FOR ALL

 Like you, I'm sorely disappointed in the ill-conceived, piece-meal, botched process that was used to "realign" four of the five major athletic conferences. Since the existing NCAA is completely helpless, I think it would take a meeting of all the Power Five Athletic Directors to create an NCAA with the structure and the authority required to establish order and fairness among the Power Five colleges and universities.  

First of all, the answer would have to make geographic sense. It's stupid to have Stanford and Cal in the Atlantic Coast Conference.  Or UCLA and USC in the Big Ten. And there's no good reason the SEC and the BIG 10 get all those billions and everyone else gets so much less.

So what needs to happen?

We need to create a national conference (The NCAA) that negotiates TV contracts for all the Power Five colleges and universities. I know, ESPN would have to agree to let loose of the ACC members they tied up until 2035. In fact, the five existing conferences would all be disbanded, so the SEC and BIG 10 would have to tear up those bogus unfair contracts and agree to an NCAA Power Five contract that is fair for everyone. 

Then, we would create regional conferences like the Northeastern, MidAtlantic, Southeastern, the Deep South, the Great Plains, Great Lakes, the Rockies, the Southwestern, the Western Desert, MidPacific, the Northwest. (We'd need one more to have a twelve team football national championship.)

Anyway, let's get rid of as much of the inequality as we can, the geographic senselessness, and the exhausted away game athletes who got snowed in all night in Chicago or Denver trying to get through a blizzard to Boston from San Francisco.

America is a Can Do nation. Americans are fair and reasonable - not a bunch of wimps held captive by a feckless institution like the existing NCAA - or at the mercy of the TV networks who have no interest in making anything work for the athletes, their schools, or their fans. To the executives at ABC nothing makes sense, but ratings. We should all watch the movie "Network" again to see what we're up against.

I keep thinking of Abraham Lincoln's deep innate sense of fairness. We need to find an Abe-like-person to run the NCAA and deal with the Transfer Portal, NIL, Transgender athletes and all the other problems the current NCAA has ignored.

If a dozen AD's from across the country got together and signed a proposed plan of action and sent it to every AD from the Power Five schools and invited them to a meeting in March 2024 - I think they would come ready to tackle the problems and let fairness reign. 

Let's do this! 

      

SOME PREVIEWS COME TO ME IN DREAMS. THIS IS ONE I'D LIKE TO DREAM EVERY NIGHT! KIKI'S ABOUT TO EXPLODE AND SHOCK THE PAC12!!

Many of us Cardinal women's basketball fans wonder during the interminable off season, what surprises await us when October finally rolls around. Which players have made major basketball breakthroughs and which have added new effective dimensions to their game. 

As those of you who read this blog from time to time know - I sometimes foresee those breakthroughs and added dimensions in my dreams - and share them with you before the dream fades. And lately I've been dreaming . . . big time.

Kiki Iriafen came to me in a dream recently accompanied by three great Candaces to show me why, in the middle of her Junior season, the WNBA will have scouts behind the Stanford bench filling clipboards to describe the many ways Kiki has of getting her twenty points every game.  

If you look over the scouts' shoulders at what they're writing, they'll probably be calling her the new Candace Duprey, because, just like Ms. Duprey, against Griner-sized defenders, she hits 60% of her new explosive, but soft, high-arcing right and left-handed jump-hooks from five feet out and closer. And you can tell she's been reading Coach Wooden's book, because she scores off the backboard on most of her hooks. From five feet out to fifteen she hits 55% of her mid-range jump-shots with a high release a la Candace Parker. And from behind the arc she hits 40% of her new three-point shots like Stanford's own Candice Wiggins.

But that's not all. Not by a long shot. Now she attacks off the bounce! So, shotblockers beware! Her ball-fakes are so lethal, you find yourself hanging in mid-air, while she gets to the hoop with one long dribble and two long strides, or a spin move to an unguarded hook. And don't foul her because she now hits 80% of her free-throws.  

Someone in the crowd yells out, "Whatever happened to Betts?" Someone else answers, "She left. But thank God Kiki stayed!"

Since that dream, I can't wait to watch Ms. Iriafen explode all over the PAC12 next season. And I can't wait to have my next dream preview.

LET'S GO CARDINAL! LET'S SHOCK THE WBB WORLD AND WIN THE WHOLE SHEBANG IN '24!

 

  

   

SOME THOUGHTS FROM MY RECENT COUPLE OF WEEKS IN SEATTLE AND DALLAS.

Some thoughts from my recent couple of weeks in Seattle and Dallas. The best part, by far, was the quality of women's basketball, which has come light years and is finally being recognized by the American basketball community and the entire nation as scintillating intense competition worth watching.  

Almost ten million people watched the championship game on Sunday afternoon. That sentence rolled rather easily off my keyboard, but the fact it relates is almost incomprehensible. 

2023 Women's Basketball Championship Viewers 9.91.million  

2022                                                                         4.85 million

2021                                                                         3.98 million

2019                                                                         3.40 million

In my opinion, the Semi-Final Friday night between Iowa and South Carolina was the Championship game. It held the 13,200 fans packing the American Airlines arena in the breathless grip of total excitement and involvement from the opening tip to the final buzzer. 

The Gamecocks struggled against the packed-in Iowa zone. The officiating was the best I've seen for a women's championship. The thousands of Hawkeye fans were very loud. Caitlyn Clark and her teammates were terrific. Their coach was inspiring. I loved every minute. The Gamecock players were gracious in defeat, but their coach couldn't keep from descending into a lengthy racial diatribe that soured a moment she could have elevated to the excellence that both teams had just demonstrated. She had almost nothing positive to say about Iowa.

The Sunday afternoon game, to me, was the opposite. The Hawkeye team was completely gassed from their all-out battle on Friday night. They had climbed the mountain and shocked the basketball world by taking down the undefeated team most of America was certain would be cutting down the nets on Sunday. Then, the officiating on Sunday was some of the worst I've witnessed. I left in the second quarter. It was too sad to watch any more. 

Later, I saw some of the media post-game coverage. Kim Mulkey said her players live in the angry caldron of social media. All their trash talking is who they've become. Angel Reese is a reaping a fortune from NIL and spends her time counterattacking the people on twitter who spend their time attacking her. She feels a victim morning, noon, and night. 

Made me remember and appreciate anew the moment after Alliyah Boston missed that put-back in 2021 and dissolved into tears in front of the millions watching - and Fran and Cam both went to her and the three embraced for several priceless moments on national television, the two victors sincerely consoling an opposing great player feeling terrible in defeat.

Seemed the opposite - when in defeat Caitlyn walked away feeling terrible - and Angel followed her for thirty or forty feet heaping abuse on her in an effort to make her feel worse - with almost ten million watching. I felt embarrassed for Ms. Reese, her family, her coach, LSU, and women's basketball. 

Seemed an awful finish to a great tournament with a wonderful spirit of sportsmanship along the way that was mostly lost in the finale.      

A belated "Thank You" to Fran and Cam. Your spirit of caring friendship and sportsmanship must be the future of our sport. 

   

+     

LET'S PLAY USC AND UCLA WITH THE SAME GRIT AND FIGHT WE'LL USE TO BEAT SOUTH CAROLINA DOWN IN DALLAS!!

Since we obviously didn't get the message from my January 19th blog piece, I'll use a larger font and run it again in hopes we can get ourselves fully prepared for the Trojans Friday night. We got outplayed in just about every aspect of the game last month down in LaLaLand. There was nothing pretty or fun that Sunday afternoon in the Galen Center.     

USC is much better than their record or their ranking would indicate. Kadi Sissoko, a 6'-2" slasher, is one of the quickest most dynamic players in the country. Rayah Marshall, their 6'-4" power forward (take that literally), is emerging as one of the most effective post players in the PAC12. In their last game she scored 33 points against Oregon State. Destiny Littleton came off the bench for Dawn Staley, but she's a dangerous starter for Lindsay. They recently lost to Oregon, but Sissoko couldn't play. They're really just getting to know each other, since most of them recently emerged from the Transfer Portal. Even as a bunch of semi-strangers they're darn good. The Trojans are going to do a lot of damage during the conference season and I predict they end up as a ranked team that makes the NCAA Tournament. How do you think they're approaching their upcoming game against #2? (Now #6.)

The newly ranked #25 Trojans recently beat Oregon 56 to 51 and Oregon State in OT 60 to 56. The way I see it, all the games we have left are great building blocks for constructing our National Championship contender. Let's play UCLA and USC with the same grit and fight we'll use to beat South Carolina in early April. When we get this Top-Fuel Dragster fully tuned and primed, we can beat the Gamecocks in the fourth quarter down in Dallas the same way we beat'em in the first three - by out-shooting, out-hussling, and out-fighting them.

LET'S GO STANFORD!!!!

 

 

THE COUGARS AND THE HUSKIES LIE IN WAIT UP IN THE NORTHWEST. BOTH PROGRAMS ARE BETTER, STRONGER, AND WELL-COACHED!

The Cougs are breaking a lot of crockery in the PAC12 China Shop. To date, they've beaten the Huskies, Beavers, Ducks, Sun Devils, and Wildcats.  

On Friday night in Pullman they'll pour their hearts and souls into beating the Cardinal for the first time. Four of their starters average double-figure scoring this season and take down 26 rebounds between them. Usually the Cougar's scoring is guard-oriented, but this season Bella (Murekatete) and Ula (Matuga) are carrying more of the scoring load averaging 34 points between them. Matuga is another 6'-1" Pili-like paint-dweller who is strong, slow, stout, and deceptively-able to score over and around bigger people. Murekatete is a 6'-3"much improved post player and is averaging 18 points and 9 rebounds.

Charlisse Leger-Walker is still there causing problems.

Astera Tuhina is a freshman addition from Kosovo who we haven't dealt with before. She's been a regular for her country's age-group teams and is a 5'-9" guard averaging 10 points per game.

Kamie Ethridge has re-written most of the team records in Pullman. She's been the head coach for six years and every year the win-total has increased. The last two years have been back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in program history. Last season was the first time the Cougs have been listed in the AP Top 25 rankings and their highest ranking in the PAC12 - tied for 2nd.

We can't think of this team as an easy "W" or we'll get ambushed like their last ranked opponent, the Arizona Wildcats, who lost to the Cougars last weekend 70 to 59. So bear-down Cardinal!

The Washington Huskies are a work-in-progress. Tina Langley is in her second year as head coach, after leaving Rice University in 2021. Three of her starters came via the Transfer Portal, Dalayah Daniels is a 6'-4" post player from Cal, Lauren Schwartz is a 5'- 11" forward from Rice, and Trinity Oliver is a 5'-9" guard from Baylor.

Ms. Langley brought about a massive turnaround down in Houston - bringing a perennial doormat to national prominence in short order. She was head coach at Rice University for six years, had four 20-win seasons, three consecutive conference championships, the University's first WNIT championship in 2019, was named to the cancelled 2020 NCAA Tournament, and then played in the NCAA Tournament in 2021 for the first time in program history. The PAC12 coaches continue to get better and better.

We can expect a strong effort and a well-coached team in Seattle for our game next weekend and for many years to come.

LET'S BRING OUR VERY BEST TO THESE TWO WASHINGTON GAMES NEXT WEEKEND! GO CARDINAL!!

THE BEAVERS AND THE DUCKS ARE COMING TO TOWN THIS WEEK. LET'S BEAT'EM BOTH!!

This week we get the Oregons in Maples - OSU on Friday at 8PM and the Ducks on Sunday at 1PM. 

Oregon State is currently 11 and 8 overall. 3 and 5 in conference, but in good old Gill Coliseum they're 9 and 3. I'd like to know why both Oregon schools have so much player turnover. In this offseason Oregon State lost four terrific players: Taya Corosdale to Duke, Greta Kampschroeder to Michigan, Kennedy Brown to Duke, and Taylor Jones to Texas. 

I've heard in interviews with players who've left, that for some players Scott micro-manages too much - has too tight a grip on everything - every possession is scripted. So, his team this year is made up mostly of new faces - he's re-loaded with a bunch of really good players. Two strong players transferred in: Bendu Yeaney from Arizona and Shalexxus Aaron from USC - plus three terrific freshmen who get a lot of playing time. 

Their three double digit scorers are a sophomore and two freshmen: Talia vonOelhoffen, Raegan Beers, and Timea Gardiner. vonOelhoffen resembles a sophomore Haley Jones, Beers is a 6'-4" wide-body who does a great job in the paint, and Gardiner was named PAC12 freshman of the week after their win by one point last weekend against Oregon. Jalena Mitrovic, their 6'-9" center from Serbia continues to improve and gets more playing time this season.  

It's a similar story in Eugene. The Ducks lost five important players this offseason: Sydney Parrish to Indiana, Maddie Scherr to Kentucky, Kylee Watson to Notre Dame, Chanaya Pinto to Penn State, and Taylor Bigby to USC. Those five players could probably make up a decently ranked basketball team. Nyara Sabally chose to pass on her Covid extra year and left for the WNBA. 

Of course the Transfer Portal flows both ways, so the Ducks have two starters from the Transfer Portal: Endiya Rogers from USC and Taya Hanson from ASU. Seems like these two teams have way too much turnover. Just think how much better Oregon would be if those five players had stayed. Makes Stanford look so stable - and I'm very grateful. I greatly enjoy watching the development of our players over their four (or five) year college career. Look at the difference in every aspect of Hannah's game over these four years. 

Oregon this season is 13 and 6 overall, 4 and 4 in conference. They have four double digit scorers in Rogers, Grace Vanslooten (a talented highly recruited 6'-3" freshman forward), Paopao, and Chance Gray (another highly recruited freshman guard).  

Both these teams would benefit enormously from a win in Maples this weekend - but that could be said of every team we play. We've got to be ready and waiting for them with our A game locked in. Let's start fast and finish strong Friday night and Sunday afternoon - two solid convincing wins!

COME ON STANFORD LET'S ROCK!!