6th
Go Cardinal!
Late March/early April is one of my favorite times of year. There are a few reasons for this, including more sunshine and the beginning of Game season (which I’ll talk about more in a later post), but the biggest one, by far, is the NCAA basketball tournament.
Make that tournaments: I’m a big basketball fan, and I watch both the men’s and women’s games. My first allegiance is to the Stanford men (who had a great season, which I’ll talk about in a separate post - along with my heartbreak at Cal’s hiring of Mike Montgomery), but right now I’m captivated by the Stanford women’s team.
I’ll admit that I’m not a diehard for the women’s team, though I’m not a total bandwagon-jumper. I usually see a game in person each year, and I’ll watch some of the premier non-conference games on TV. The men’s and women’s Pac-10 games are usually on at the same time, however, so I miss much of the conference season.
I’m glad I’m not missing the Stanford women’s run through the tournament, because they’re playing exceptional basketball. The win over Maryland in the Elite Eight was an insane offensive performance, and today’s almost-wire-to-wire defeat of generally-considered-the-best-team-in-the-country UConn was as impressive a victory as I’ve seen in a long, long time. A few thoughts:
- Tara V.’s triangle-and-two defensive scheme was brilliant, not just because it effectively contained the perimeter and the post but because UConn’s two stars were clearly fatigued by having to work so hard to get any space.
- Candice Wiggins was dominant even though her shot selection was suspect at times, with 13 boards and 5 assists (guard rebounding is highly undervalued, but when you’ve got it, it’s a wonderful luxury).
- Pedersen is amazingly smooth for a freshman: watching her play in the last two game reminds me of nothing so much as Wooden’s exhortations for “balance” and to “be quick, but don’t hurry”.
- Harmon did her best Taj Finger impression, with several tough offensive boards and a pretty steal on a perfectly-denied back-cut.
- Appel looked like she was having a tough game at times and now I look at the box score and see 15 points (on 6-11 shooting), 10 boards, 4 assists, and a steal. If that’s what she does in a subpar game, I’ll take it.
The championship on Tuesday should be a great game. My hope? That Stanford not only wins, but has enough of a cushion for Cissy Pierce to get in during the last minute and even hit a shot. (My father-in-law have been Cissy fans for the last few years - and not just because of the name.)
