Welcome to the ACC: How NC State Eliminated Stanford

 

Warren Grimes

If you’d watched just the first half, you would have been optimistic about the outcome of the sweet sixteen game against third-seeded North Carolina State.  Stanford led by 10 points, notwithstanding Kiki Iriafen’s foul trouble that kept her out of most of that half. 

Things turned in a hurry in the disastrous third quarter.  Iriafen picked up her third foul early in that quarter.  By the end of the quarter, Cameron Bink was on the bench, having picked up her second, third, and fourth fouls in short order.  Meanwhile, NC State began converting inside and out at a 60% clip, also adding 7 for 9 freethrows.  NC State outscored Stanford by 18 points in the quarter.  When Brink fouled out early in the fourth quarter, Stanford could not respond. 

N C State is a fine team, one of the top performing squads in the ACC that includes Virginia Tech, Baylor, Duke, and Notre Dame.  NC State, a deserving final four team, was runner up in the conference and in the conference tournament.  They have balanced scoring and quick and creative guards.  That fact alone suggests a major challenge for Stanford, which lost several games to teams with strong guards (twice to USC and once to Arizona).  In the second-round win against Iowa State, Stanford was sorely challenged by Iowa State’s guard play.

In the post-game press conference, Tara VanDerveer noted that Stanford plays best when both of the team’s outstanding posts can play together, often finding one another with interior passes.  That simply did not happen in the NC State game, where Brink played 23 minutes and Iriafen 22 minutes.  For most of the game, and in the second half when it mattered most, only one of these two was on the floor. 

There was a second reason why Stanford lost this game.  NC State shot 41% from distance while Stanford was a disappointing 20%.  Of Stanford’s three-point conversions, three belonged to Hannah Jump and one each to Brink and Brooke Demetre.  Elena Bosgana, Talana Lepolo, Jzaniya Harriel, Nunu Agara, and Chloe Clardy could have stepped up.  Each, except for Clardy, had season averages well above 30% in three-point shooting.  In the NC State game, they were collectively zero for ten.  That’s not going to win sweet sixteen games. 

The loss was disappointing.  Stanford could have won this game if its dual-post game had clicked or if it had found outside shooting.  That said, this team exceeded preseason expectations.  It won the conference and made the conference tournament final.  It defeated top notch opponents, including Oregon State (three times), UCLA, Utah, and Indiana.  Fans saw some exciting basketball with Brink setting blocking records and the Brink-Iriafen combination executing at the highest level.  The second-round tournament victory against Iowa State was a game to remember.

At the end of the post-game press conference, VanDerveer challenged her returning players (and the incoming freshmen) to show the kind of one-season growth that Kiki Iriafen has demonstrated.  Iriafen scored 41 points against Iowa State.  Then, in the sweet sixteen, she had 26 points, 10 boards and 3 assists in just 22 minutes on the floor.  The NC State performance, on a per minute basis, was even better than what she achieved in the second round game.  Had Iriafen played the same number of minutes as against Iowa State, she was on pace to get more than 18 boards and more than 48 points.  In both of these games, she excelled even when Brink was not on the floor.

That's something to look forward to as Stanford enters the uncertain world of ACC basketball. Just think what Iriafen could achieve next year if she were complemented by players who could execute from the perimeter the way Kiana Williams, Anna Wilson, and Lexi Hull did.  It's up to the returning veterans and the incoming freshmen to provide that missing element.

 

Stanford Juniors Play Key Role in Stanford's Hard-Fought Advance to the Sweet Sixteen

 

On Friday evening, Stanford, by a comfortable margin, beat height-impaired Norfolk State in the First Round of the NCAA tournament.  On Sunday evening, against seventh seeded Iowa State, it was an entirely different matter.  That game was a hard-fought, nerve-wracking, overtime win that tested the mettle of players on both sides.

Bill Fennelly has coached Iowa State for 28 years and has a history of coaching NCAA tournament games against Stanford.  In the 2009 tournament, fourth seeded Iowa State had upset the #1 regional seed and faced off in the elite eight against #2 seed Stanford.  Jayne Appel scored 46 points, her career high and still the highest single-game point total of any Stanford player.  Stanford won.

Fast forward 15 years to Sunday night’s game against the Cyclones.  Jayne Appel was not around, but another amazing post player was.  Kiki Iriafen scored 41 points, her career high, and Stanford won.

Parallels with the 2009 game end at this point.  The earlier game was a comfortable victory that took Stanford to the final four.  The recent encounter was a gut-wrenching second-round game with 18 lead changes and 12 ties, including at the end of regulation.  Stanford’s victory was uncertain until the last few seconds of overtime.

Stanford managed a victory despite being out boarded (42 to 36); Stanford won notwithstanding Iowa State’s amazing 63.2% three-point percentage, including 3 for 3 in overtime.  Stanford prevailed despite foul trouble from Cameron Brink that allowed her to play only 22 minutes, none of them in overtime.  Stanford came out on top despite a phenomenal effort by Iowa State guard Emily Ryan (a career high 36 points on 6 for 9 shooting from distance and 9 boards). 

How did Stanford pull this off?  The Cardinal had the advantage in points off turnovers (21 to 12), assists (17 to 8), blocks (10 to 3), and steals (9 to 5) while shooting 13 for 14 from the foul line.  Despite poor three-point shooting in regulation, Stanford made both three-point attempts in overtime and scored more points in the five-minute overtime (21) than it had in any of the eight-minute quarters.  Hannah Jump was in double figures (15) and Nunu Agara came in to play solid defense.  And two Stanford juniors came up big, making critical plays when it mattered most.

There are three Stanford juniors on the roster, and each contributed substantially to last weekend’s success.  In Friday’s win over Norfolk State, Elena Boscana scored a career-high 18 points on 4 for 6 shooting from three-point land.  She added 4 boards and 2 assists. 

Kiki Iriafen’s contribution was solid against Norfolk State (17 points and 9 boards) and nothing short of mind-boggling against Iowa State (41 points, 16 boards, 4 assists, 3 blocks, and a steal).  She, along with Brink, held Audi Crooks (the Cyclone’s powerful conference freshman of the year) to 10 points on 3 for 21 shooting.

Brooke Demetre, the last of the juniors on the roster, had a modest stat line – 8 points, 3 boards, and 2 steals.  The numbers do not fairly describe her contribution.  Demetre had an inauspicious first half-- she came off the bench but was quickly forced to sit with two fouls.  Her contributions came late.  With Brink benched with five fouls and just 1:18 left in regulation, Stanford had fallen behind the Cyclones.  With nerves of steel, Demetre, who had yet to attempt a three-pointer, uncorked a shot from the right side. When it swished, the bench erupted in celebration.   That shot gave Stanford momenturm to hold on for a tie in regulation.  

There’s more.  The teams continued to exhange the lead in overtime, scoring a collective 36 points in five minutes.  With just 31 seconds left, Iowa State converted a three-pointer to take a one-point lead. Stanford brought the ball up court for what might have been its last offensive opportunity.  With just 18 seconds left, the ball was passed to Demetre who, from well outside the key, launched another three-pointer.  When it swished, Stanford had a two-point lead.  The bench went wild.  

When Iowa State called time out, Cameron Brink ran out to give Demetre a congratulatory hug.  Demetre was still in the moment.  She resolutely walked to the bench without a smile.  Refusing to lose focus, she simply said that there's still game to play.  In the remaining seconds, Stanford played smart and intensive defense; Demetre collected a defensive board in traffic, was fouled, and added two free throws to essentially put the game out of reach.  

The Stanford juniors played their roles to near-perfection in these opening round games.  Basketball is a team sport that requires everyone to understand and execute their role.  Juniors Iriafen, Boscana and Demetre seized their opportunities and made sure that Cameron Brink and Hannah Jump did not end their Stanford careers in Maples with a second round NCAA loss.

The coaches deserve some credit for the results.  Coaching tasks include maintaining team chemistry and deciding who to play when. 

During Friday’s game, one of the TV commentators offered this: the difference between men’s and women’s hoops is that the women win when they play joyfully while the men are joyful when they win.  Along the same line, I’ve heard it said that women want to win to enhance the team and team cohesion whereas men use teamwork and cohesion as a tool to win games. 

A high school basketball coach, who had coached teams for both genders, told me that a common tactic for coaching boys was to come down hard on a player who wasn’t performing.  He went on to explain that this tactic would backfire when coaching girls – the team would rally around the player and fault the coach. 

These generalities may have validity, but I think the genius of a top coach for any gendered team is the ability to coach flexibly based on the team or the personality of individual players.  Coach VanDerveer once told me that she could not coach at Stanford the same way as Pat Summitt coached at Tennessee.  At that point, Summitt had locked her players out of a new locker room, using that as an incentive to get players to work harder in practice.  That tactic, VanDerveer said, would not work at Stanford. 

Elena Boscana’s team-leading 18 points were critical in Friday night’s opening round victory. In the next game, it was Brooke Demetre who coolly sank two critical three-point shots.  In the tournament, well coached opponents will focus on Stanford’s most prolific scorers.  For a deep run, the team needs to show balance and depth on offense, something that VanDerveer allows and encourages her auxiliary players to provide.  Oh, and there's Kiki Iriafen's All American gifts.

The Last and Extraordinary Pac-12 Tournament – and What’s Next

 

Warren Grimes

In a tournament that was physical and unprecedented in numerous ways, USC won the championship over top-seeded Stanford.  That was a disappointment for a Stanford team that plays with unselfish chemistry.  The game did not seem that close, as Stanford lost every quarter except the third (where the teams tied in points). 

The tournament was very seedy – the higher seeded team won each of the first ten games.  That’s never happened before.   By way of contrast, in last year’s tournament, seventh seeded Washington State won the championship by upsetting 3 higher seeded teams.

The tournament broke records such as for double overtime games.  There had been none before, but now there are two in the record books (OSU over Colorado and USC over UCLA).

There were stirring comebacks – OSU came back in the fourth quarter to tie Colorado and win in double overtime.  Stanford came back in the second half to defeat both Cal and OSU.

In the tournament’s first game, Colorado set a record by winning with a 40-point margin against bottom-seeded Oregon.

USC can now claim to be the best team in the conference.  The Trojans are 4-1 against their biggest rivals (Stanford and UCLA).  USC this year has become a powerhouse.  Freshman phenom Juju Watkins may be the best player ever to wear a USC uniform.  She’s backed up by 4 other starting players who have length, athleticism, and experience.   Three of the other starters are 5^th year seniors who transferred from Ivy League schools. 

Stanford managed to hold Watkins to 9 points (2 for 15 shooting) in the title game.  Multiple player defense worked well to hold down Watkins output, but allowed other USC players to shine (McKenzie Forbes, who had transferred from Harvard, had 26 points). The Stanford defense of having multiple players converge on a driving Watkins also contributed to USC’s rebounding dominance (48 to 28).  An interior defender focused on a driving Watkins cannot simultaneously block out for the rebound. 

Shooting well from the outside, Brink and Iriafen contributed 19 and 18 points respectively but were unable to stop USC from grabbing 18 offensive rebounds.

There is no shame in losing to USC.  I can easily see USC getting to the Final Four and possibly taking down the other USC (undefeated University of South Carolina).  Both USCs are talented, well-coached, and appear to have great chemistry.  Lindsay Gottlieb does not quite have the resume of Dawn Staley but watch out. 

As for Stanford, the team has its own special chemistry and can make a strong run to the final four.  They can learn from the defeat the importance of preventing an opponent from dominating the boards.  A question mark is the point guard position, where Talana Lepolo is said not to be 100 percent.  Against USC, Chloe Clardy came in for 15 minutes, scoring 4 points with 2 assists, a steal, and 0 turns. 

It is quite possible that the Conference’s top three teams will get two number one seeds (Stanford and USC) and one number two (UCLA).  Oregon State seems suited for a number four seed, allowing them to play first and second round games on their home court.  I will be cheering first for Stanford, but second for all the other Pac-12 teams in the tournament.  All Pac-12 players and coaches appear to be unified in their dislike of the conference’s demise.  Here’s hoping the Pac 12 teams are ready to show the world that this vanishing conference is going down with flags flying.

Weekend Oregon Tales: Von Oelhaffen vs. Brink; Rueck vs. Vanderveer; Kelly Graves vs. Himself

 

Warren Grimes

Stanford finished off conference play with an on-the-road flourish.  The team won a hard-fought game against then second-place Oregon State on Thursday.  On Saturday, they followed up with a W against Oregon.

The OSU game might best be described as Oregon guard Talia Von Oelhaffen vs. Stanford’s Cameron Brink.  Von Oelhafen had a career high of 27 points – that’s almost 43 percent of her team’s total.  Like her team, Von Oelhaffen refused to give up, continuing to score fourth-quarter points despite being hobbled near the end.  Brink had 25 points (37% of her team’s total) along with a career high 23 rebounds (48.9% of her team’s total).  She played 38 minutes for the Cardinal, fouling out with less than 10 seconds left in the game.

There was drama to the OSU game, as the Beavers closed to within 2 points late in the fourth quarter but could not overcome the last gap.  Kiki Iriafen had 14 points and 7 boards; no one else was in double figures, but seven of the other eight Stanford players who had minutes scored between 2 and 7 points each.  It was a Brink-led team victory.

The coaching stand-off between Tara VanDerveer and Scott Rueck guarantees that both teams were well prepared.  Rueck took over a demoralized OSU program in 2010 and has produced excellent results, including a final four performance in 2016 and three conference championships (2015-2017). Stanford has won 14 straight games against OSU, but Thursday’s win was a nail biter.  Rueck has great respect for Van Derveer (the respect is mutual), indicating that he learns from coaching against well-prepared Stanford teams. 

 Rueck has had some success in recruiting top high school players but has been very successful in developing talent.  Like VanDerveer, Oregon State uses a careful scouting report defense.  This year, Rueck’s team was predicted to finish tenth in the conference.  They have outperformed that prediction, finishing fourth, and rising to a nationally top-10 ranked team until recent losses (with the injury to star Raegan Beers).  Based on that record, Rueck should be a candidate for conference coach of the year.

On Saturday, Stanford pulled away to defeat last place Oregon thanks to another exceptional Brink performance (18 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks).  Brink seems to thrive when playing in her home state.  She’s a shoe-in for the conference’s best defensive player; given her overall performance (points, boards, assists, blocks, free-throw shooting), she has a solid case for conference PoY.  

Against Oregon, Stanford put up 76 points with three other players in double figures (Kiki Iriafen -16, Hannah Jump 12, and Brooke Demetre 11).  Stanford achieved this with Talana Lepolo resting up for the tournament.  There was barely a hitch.  Jzaniya Harriel played the point, garnering 6 points with 4 assists and only 1 turnover. 

So what’s with Oregon coach Kelly Graves?  This is a man with a sterling record at Gonzaga before coming to Oregon.  This is a man who coached a Sabrina Ionescu led team to a co-favorite position to win the 2020 NCAA tournament, only to have that opportunity thwarted when Covid 19 forced cancellation of the tournament.

After that year, Graves continued to attract top talent to Oregon, but has now been forced to watch many of those players transfer to other schools (talented guard Te-Hina Paopao is now starring for South Carolina).  As much as Stanford may have been disappointed by transfers at the end of last season, Oregon has suffered much more.  Kelly Graves is too good and too experienced a coach to allow his team to continue as a conference last place team. 

Now it’s on to the tournament.  Stanford has the top seed, probably destined to play California in the quarterfinals.  Stanford would not have to face either of the most formidable opponents (UCLA or USC) until the finals.  With Lauren Betts back in the lineup, UCLA has won its last 5 games, several against top-flight opponents.  A story book end game would be for Stanford to face off against a Betts led UCLA team.  But I should know better than to assume that the higher seeded team will win any given game in this wonderfully chaotic conference.