#9 Arizona @ #4 Stanford - 2/22/21

[nwhoopfan]

Another turnover by Jones. She's going for a triple double tonight, and not the good kind.

 

[Shades]

McDonald choked on that pass.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Brink just fouled out. Weak call.


edit--more contact than I thought, but Reese initiated it and threw her off arm out, could've easily been offensive.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Lexie w/ a dagger 3.

 

[Shades]

Brink fouls out but Arizona doesn’t have enough time left.

 

[nwhoopfan]

62-48 Tara clears the bench.


edit--and that's the final score

 

[nwhoopfan]

Lexie led the way w/ 16, 15 for Kiana, 13 for Jones 10 for Brink. Also 9 boards for Hull, 8 for Jones, 7 for Brink.

20 for McDonald (but 8-24 shooting), 12 for Thomas.

 

[bballnut90]

Pretty boring game....Stanford has a number of talented players but I think their lack of a go to may hurt them in the NCAAs. It looks like it might be Williams but she's too inefficient and Jones is too passive. Brink is stellar but foul prone. What's going on with Belibi btw? She has barely played the last several weeks after a terrific start to the year. I wouldn't be shocked Stanford they won it all this year considering the dynamics we have in WBB but this is far from Tara's best team.

Arizona is athletic and has some talented players but they don't produce enough offense to compete for a title IMO. Too reliant on McDonald who is a shoot first PG. I think they'll be a tough match up for any turnover prone team but I dont see them competing for a title.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Arizona is athletic and has some talented players but they don't produce enough offense to compete for a title IMO. Too reliant on McDonald who is a shoot first PG. I think they'll be a tough match up for any turnover prone team but I dont see them competing for a title.

They can be offensively challenged. They do rely on defense.

The reliance on McDonald varies. The key players include Thomas and Reese. They are all streaky. However, I don't think she is necessarily "shoot first", as she is 4th in the PAC in Assists. Reading the local paper reveals that Adia doesn't necessarily want McDonald to be the leading scorer. But OTH there have been games where she has said "thank goodness Aari took over when we needed her". It is complicated. And she is by far the most talented and best scorer.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

It's been a disappointing year for sure. By far her worst since she's been at UA.

Huh? She is averaging 18 points a game (2nd in the PAC), 4th in assists. It is her lowest scoring average, although Adia said at the beginning of the season she didn't think we would be successful if Aari was always our leading scorer. Of course she generally is.

The game went about as I expected. I felt Stanford was focused on limiting McDonald and were largely successful for quite a while. Also, with their height, they are not a good matchup for Arizona, so I actually thought they acquitted themselves fairly well.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Wilson needs to show her defensive skills on McDonald because her offensive skills tonight are brutal. The amount of pushing that Arizona gets away with is ridiculous. Add in Ware’s twice as wide as her shoulders pick stance not being called and I am amazed Stanford is winning at all.
I just don’t see Aari McDonald as a viable POY candidate.

PAC 12 refs. I have maintained since I arrived out here 10 years ago and started attending games that the way refs call PAC games is odd; it certainly doesn't resemble what 15 years of oBE ref's and the rest did. Not biased against any team, just different from the East. Very few refs work the PAC that work anything in the East.

Aari is a viable "candidate" - she is almost certainly among the best players in the country. She does not deserve to win it, as other players are performing better.

 

[Wbbfan1]

Expected more out of both teams last night. It was an ugly game which neither team showed they were ready to win the National Championship. Perhaps I'm being too tough on them as So Carolina vs UConn was not great game to watch. I still like Stanford to be at the Final Four, as they are a balanced team with good size at all positions.

 

[Shades]

Also, with their height, they are not a good matchup for Arizona, so I actually thought they acquitted themselves fairly well.

Not a good matchup.... unless they can defeat the size with speed.

Colorado isn’t exactly known for size but legend has it they once beat Stanford (and frequently give them problems).

 

[Shades]

 

[topogigio]

My take: With all that height and overall talent, 62 points seems pretty weak for Stamford. Arizona players defer to McDonald way too much. Shut her down, and there is really not much to worry about.

 

[Lorcan]

My take: With all that height and overall talent, 62 points seems pretty weak for Stamford. Arizona players defer to McDonald way too much. Shut her down, and there is really not much to worry about.

Thing is, that there’s not many teams that can shut down Aari like Stanford. She’ll be dangerous for most other teams come the tournament.

 

[Shades]

Thing is, that there’s not many teams that can shut down Aari like Stanford.

Is that credit to Kiana Williams?

 

[donalddoowop]

Expected more out of both teams last night. It was an ugly game which neither team showed they were ready to win the National Championship. Perhaps I'm being too tough on them as So Carolina vs UConn was not great game to watch. I still like Stanford to be at the Final Four, as they are a balanced team with good size at all positions.

I have recently watched all of the top seven teams and all of them have gotten off to slow starts and played ugly games. So, UConn is not alone in that, thank goodness. I also expected more from both teams.

 

[DefenseBB]

Is that credit to Kiana Williams?

No, credit to Anna Wilson.

 

[bbsamjj]

Huh? She is averaging 18 points a game (2nd in the PAC), 4th in assists. It is her lowest scoring average, although Adia said at the beginning of the season she didn't think we would be successful if Aari was always our leading scorer. Of course she generally is.

The game went about as I expected. I felt Stanford was focused on limiting McDonald and were largely successful for quite a while. Also, with their height, they are not a good matchup for Arizona, so I actually thought they acquitted themselves fairly well.

Statistically, it's her worst season at AZ when you look at shooting percentage, ppg, rpg. You can't quantify leadership--and she is a huge factor in AZ's unprecedented success this year--but for her individual standards it's a down year.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Huh? She is averaging 18 points a game (2nd in the PAC), 4th in assists. It is her lowest scoring average, although Adia said at the beginning of the season she didn't think we would be successful if Aari was always our leading scorer. Of course she generally is.

The game went about as I expected. I felt Stanford was focused on limiting McDonald and were largely successful for quite a while. Also, with their height, they are not a good matchup for Arizona, so I actually thought they acquitted themselves fairly well.

Look at her shooting percentages. Just about every time I've watched her she's been struggling to hit shots. She's always been streaky, but she's hardly been "on" this whole season. I'm sticking to my guns, for as good of a player as she is, this has been a very disappointing Sr. year. She's taken several steps backwards.

 

[donalddoowop]

Based on what I used to read about her on the BY in previous seasons, she is not the player this season I had been reading about.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Look at her shooting percentages. Just about every time I've watched her she's been struggling to hit shots. She's always been streaky, but she's hardly been "on" this whole season. I'm sticking to my guns, for as good of a player as she is, this has been a very disappointing Sr. year. She's taken several steps backwards.

I would say she has been very inconsistent, and compared to prior years, I suppose you could say she has taken a step back. But she is surely not having a "bad" year, the Arizona team is so differently constructed than last year's team.

What bothers me more than Aari's play is how streaky everyone else is as well. Each individual that you would expect has had an outstanding game (Reese, Pellington, Yeaney, Thomas, and Pueyo) and other games where they have dang near disappeared. The losses have been few, but there are very few games where I don't sweat.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I would say she has been very inconsistent, and compared to prior years, I suppose you could say she has taken a step back. But she is surely not having a "bad" year, the Arizona team is so differently constructed than last year's team.

What bothers me more than Aari's play is how streaky everyone else is as well. Each individual that you would expect has had an outstanding game (Reese, Pellington, Yeaney, Thomas, and Pueyo) and other games where they have dang near disappeared. The losses have been few, but there are very few games where I don't sweat.

It's weird, because in my mind Arizona was better last season, but the record for this year compared to last year certainly doesn't support that. I think there's more talent this year, but it just so rarely seems like they are all clicking together. I'd say Reese has taken a step back this year too, and has also been maddeningly inconsistent.

Yes, for McDonald I'm looking in terms of comparisons to her previous seasons. She's certainly not a bad player, but she is not having the kind of Sr. season I was anticipating. Look at other recent players like Ionescu and Plum that went out with a bang their last year. Aari is not doing that.

 

[LoTrader]

Mock my words, Stanford will go deep in the NCAA Tournament. They are a great defensive team. They are also deep with talent, and, have incredible flexibility when it comes to match ups.