November 05, 2012

Looking ahead

ESPN columnists Mechelle Voepel, Graham Hays, Charlie Creme and Michelle Smith present their annual preseason Top 25. They put Stanford a bit lower than the national pollsters – at #6 behind Duke and Maryland – with this analysis:

With sister Nneka now in the WNBA, this is Chiney Ogwumike's team -- and the Cardinal are in good hands. A summer working on her perimeter game has made the junior All-American even better. Toni Kokenis and Amber Orrange make for a steady, smart backcourt. They already are phenomenal at taking care of the ball. How much they have improved as defenders and scoring threats will determine if Stanford's season ends in New Orleans.
They put their only other Pac=12 choice at #17:
If a team or a program has a chance to challenge Stanford in the Pac-12 these days, it's Cal. The Golden Bears got their feet wet with coach Lindsay Gottlieb last season by finishing second in the conference and reaching the NCAA tournament's second round. With all the key pieces back, led by Layshia Clarendon, Brittany Boyd and Reshanda Gray, a deeper run in March is the goal.
And Michelle Smith has compiled a quirky A-Z rundown of what to expect this season. C is Chiney.

Her article is accompanied by this photo from last season's semifinal (click to enlarge). How long are they — toe to fingertip?

2 comments:

Treefan said...

Wow, impressive by Chiney.

Anonymous said...

I've been watching for Chiney's oft-mentioned perimeter game, but I haven't seen it yet. I'll keep watching.

I think almost every Chiney shot so far has been a lay-up or a put-back with neither type of shot matching my definition of perimeter.