The Essence of Hull: How Many Hull Sisters Are There?

 

Warren Grimes

Coach VanDerveer reportedly told Lexie and Lacie Hull’s parents that, after watching the twins in action, triplets would have been preferred.  Indeed, a third Hull on the team would be a blessing. 

It got me to thinking – perhaps Stanford already has a third.  Take a look at the essence of a Hull basketball player.

A Hull is a gym rat.

A Hull is a tall slender player from the Pacific Northwest.

A Hull is a player with a high basketball I.Q., always with her mind in the game.

A Hull can shoot the three ball, but can also battle to rebound and score inside.

A Hull is a top notch defender, always trying to steal or block the opponent’s shot.

A Hull is an energizer bunny – that keeps going, and going, and going.

A Hull quietly leads by example. 

 The essence of Hull is really the essence of the Stanford team.   The Hull twins set an example that others follow.  All of the team’s players meet most of these criteria.  There is, however, one player (other than Lexie and Lacie) that meets all of them. 

Look carefully at the essence of Hull, and tell me that Cameron Brink does not possess each and every one of these traits.  Perhaps Cameron is the twins’ long lost little sister.  Little is not the right word – try “younger and taller” sister.   Indeed, one might say “a Hull on steroids.”  Henceforth, she could be known as “Cameron Brink-Hull.”

Mind you, if Brink is a Hull sibling, I cannot explain how it came to pass that Cameron grew up in a different city, a different state, and with different parents.  A mix up in the hospital nursery?  A severe case of parental amnesia?  Fake news?

Whatever the explanation, the identity of basketball traits cannot be denied.  Brink has come off a fine Sunday to Sunday run, starting the last four games and putting up numbers that make her the talk of the conference.  In those four games, Brink averaged 4.25 blocks, 8 boards, 8.25 points, and 2 assists – all of this while playing an average of only 21 minutes per game.  Brink remains the conference leader in field goal percentage, the conference leader in blocks, and the conference leader in boards per minute.  Not bad for a freshman.

Of course, Brink still has some freshman kinks to work out, among them avoiding fouling herself off the floor, learning to deal with stronger interior players, and refining her free throw shooting.  In the last four games, she’s already improved on the fouling.

Stanford has won the last four games, three against strong teams (WSU and USC) by an average of 27 points.  The team has held these opponents to an average of 51 points.  While only playing roughly half of the minutes, Brink’s blocks and rebounds have been a significant part of these decisive outcomes. 

I hate to sound greedy, but could there be another missing Hull sister out there somewhere?

The team will be back in Maples on Friday – That’s a blessing.  The team’s peripatetic adventure (hopefully) is at an end.

The pandemic has created skewed results for the conference.  Stanford has played 14 conference games, the most of any team.  California has played only 8 conference games, and chief rivals for the championship are behind Stanford (Oregon 12 games, Arizona 11 games, and UCLA 10 games).  Potential controversy lies ahead in picking the conference champion and the seeding for the conference tournament.

Meanwhile, Stay Safe.