#1 Stanford @ #11 UCLA - 12/21/20

[Shades]

Los Angeles, CA - 3:00 PM ET
TV: Pac-12 Network (Anne Marie Anderson, Tammy Blackburn)

Video stream:
Stanford at UCLA (tvpli)

Audio:

Live Audio - UCLA

UCLA

uclabruins.com

Live stats:

StatBroadcast Mobile Stats

stats.statbroadcast.com

 

[Anchor Town]

I think theres a large gap between Stanford/Oregon and Arizona/UCLA

We get our first data point tomorrow

 

[TheFarmFan]

I won't be at all surprised if UCLA pulls this out. They're an experienced team with a ton of senior leadership. I'm sure they spent their week scouting the Cardinal (since they knew they could, and did indeed, roll over Cal). And I think their style of defense disrupts Jones and Belibi, so we'll need to see Williams and Hull have big games like they had against U$C. The other thing to watch for is UCLA's short bench: if Horvat is out again today like she was against Cal, UCLA is suiting only 7 players, so Tara could push the tempo, play a very physical style, and hope we can in a war of bench attrition given our indisputably superior depth.

 

[Plebe]

I won't be at all surprised if UCLA pulls this out. They're an experienced team with a ton of senior leadership. I'm sure they spent their week scouting the Cardinal (since they knew they could, and did indeed, roll over Cal). And I think their style of defense disrupts Jones and Belibi, so we'll need to see Williams and Hull have big games like they had against U$C. The other thing to watch for is UCLA's short bench: if Horvat is out again today like she was against Cal, UCLA is suiting only 7 players, so Tara could push the tempo, play a very physical style, and hope we can in a war of bench attrition given our indisputably superior depth.

For UCLA to have a chance, Horvat must not only take the court but play extremely well. Without that, no way does UCLA have the ammunition to hang with the depth and quality of Stanford's roster over 40 minutes. Osborne, Onyenwere and Chou will be needed to shine as well. I know your tendency is to hedge against your team but a whole heckuva lot will have to go right for UCLA to just stay even, imho.

 

[TheFarmFan]

For UCLA to have a chance, Horvat must not only take the court but play extremely well. Without that, no way does UCLA have the ammunition to hang with the depth and quality of Stanford's roster over 40 minutes. Osborne, Onyenwere and Chou will be needed to shine as well. I know your tendency is to hedge against your team but a whole heckuva lot will have to go right for UCLA to just stay even, imho.

As usual, I'll be delighted for you to prove me wrong! We've gone 4 and 4 with UCLA over the last 8 games, so I think they've earned my respect and concern. We are deeper than we were last year, but I also think they have the best starting five they've had in a long, long time, and we're playing our second game in 36 hours at the end of several weeks on the road, with the #1 team target pinned to our backs. In other words, this game is rife with upset potential.

 

[DefenseBB]

Wait, what? Hold on for a second...Ok, I just checked the UCLA Bruins website and Cori Close is still the coach of the team. No way does Stanford lose tonight. For a second there, I thought the way TheFarmFan was writing that a coach with x's and o's had arrived in Inglewood...

 

[Lorcan]

Wait, what? Hold on for a second...Ok, I just checked the UCLA Bruins website and Cori Close is still the coach of the team. No way does Stanford lose tonight. For a second there, I thought the way TheFarmFan was writing that a coach with x's and o's had arrived in Inglewood...

Cori Close is still a pretty darn good coach and has managed to get the Bruins battle tested in a brutal Pac-12 conference. They still finished third in a conference with six Top 25 Teams last season. (Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, Oregon State, Arizona State, and Arizona. Yeah, she's not on the same level as Tara, Geno, or even Kelly at the moment, but she's darn good and her teams are capable of big upsets on the right day.

 

[DefenseBB]

Cori Close is still a pretty darn good coach recruiter and has managed to get the Bruins battle tested in a brutal Pac-12 conference. They still finished third in a conference with six Top 25 Teams last season. (Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, Oregon State, Arizona State, and Arizona. Yeah, she's not on the same level as Tara, Geno, or even Kelly at the moment, but she's darn good and her teams are capable of big upsets on the right day.

There, I fixed it for you...and please feel free to give me a Huge upset that she has garnered during her time in Westwood?...

 

[LETTERL]

I am really looking forward to this game.

 

[Lorcan]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this looks like it'll be the second biggest game this year between ranked teams after North Carolina State and South Carolina?

Cori Close beat Stanford last season when they were ranked #5. As a six seed, UCLA beat three seed Maryland in the last tournament that was played, before coming up just short against UConn after leading at the end of the 3rd Quarter. That same season, they overcame a 22 point deficit to upset Sabrina Ionescu's Oregon who was ranked #2 at the time. There's plenty of big scalps on the schedule there even when they haven't quite made it to the Final Four in the tourney, they've been to the Sweet Sixteen Four times in a row, falling to UConn at that stage twice. It's not a bad resume.

 

[Kaizen]

Haley Jones' hair makes her like a ghost ... not looks good .

 

[donalddoowop]

Aren't UConn vs South Carolina and UConn vs Baylor, big games between ranked teams?

 

[Lorcan]

I know the score says that Stanford is winning, but heck, I'm not sure that I'm feeling that way with how this game is going.

 

[Lorcan]

Aren't UConn vs South Carolina and UConn vs Baylor, big games between ranked teams?

I meant so far this year, those games will happen, but this is one of the biggest games of the year to-date in terms of ranked teams.

 

[oldude]

Pretty ugly basketball. After 3 qtrs, Stanford shooting 38% while UCLA is shooting 28%.

 

[BlueDevils]

Cameron Brink, another good looking freshman.

 

[Shades]

53-45 STAN with 5:20 left

Belibi

 

[donalddoowop]

Cameron Brink, another good looking freshman.

Will someone who knows tell me if DeBerry is as talented as Brink or Marshall.

 

[Anchor Town]

When 4 of your 5 starters are 5/32 against the #1 ranked team in he country and the other starter has missed 10+ shots and the game is still close, thats not a good indictment of that #1 team.

 

[Anchor Town]

Cameron Brink, another good looking freshman.

Shed be soooooooo much better if she could put on some muscle onto her frame. Incredibly weak but shes young.

 

[Shades]

When 4 of your 5 starters are 5/32 against the #1 ranked team in he country and the other starter has missed 10+ shots and the game is still close, thats not a good indictment of that #1 team.

Defense is not a bad thing for a #1 team, or are you saying all these missed shots were wide open looks?

 

[Lorcan]

Ouch. Hate to see it, Williams down for Stanford with under a minute to go.

 

[Anchor Town]

Defense is not a bad thing for a #1 team, or are you saying all these missed shots were wide open looks?

Im saying Stanford shouldve won that game by 20+

 

[oldude]

Defense is not a bad thing for a #1 team, or are you saying all these missed shots were wide open looks?

Should UConn meet up with Stanford somewhere down the road this season, I’ll wager that the Huskies shooting will be considerably better than the 27.5% shooting that UCLA managed in today’s game.

 

[Lorcan]

Im saying Stanford shouldve won that game by 20+

Honestly, Stanford won by 12, and they haven't even been practicing on their home court this entire season. I don't expect any team to be clicking on all cylinders when they can't even be at home for practice. Given the nature of Stanford's travels and the adversity facing them, a win is a win at this point. UCLA is also a pretty good team that can make games tough on the opponent. Just my two cents. On that note, the Stanford defense is looking slightly better than Oregon's after today.