Stanford beat Cal 60-56 Sunday at Haas, after trailing 56-53 with 4:08 left.
The Golden Bears’ last six possessions resulted in three missed field goals, two missed free throws, and two turnovers.
One of those field goal misses was open from the elbow, and late free throws are late free throws. Make those, and they could still be playing now at midnight.
The Cardinal swept the Battle of the Bay — media wants you to think that Stanford and Cal are proximate neighbors, but Haas-to-Maples is a one-hour drive, whereas AT&T Park-to-Oakland-Coliseum less than a half-hour — to go 4-0 in Pac-12 play.
I planned to focus on Cal’s shooting when Cameron Brink influenced the play, but she killed it on the offensive end, too, scoring 25 points (10 of which were in reply to 10 of Cal’s).
By my tally, Cal shot 4-of-19 when Brink aided a defensive stop by clearly altering or blocking the shot, or completed the stop with one of her 14 defensive rebounds. At least twice you could make a case that the Cal shooter was hurried by Brink’s presence.
Cal played a couple of possessions with five out, none in, leaving Brink alone in the paint. Maybe it was accidental, but I agree it’s worth a try.
Brink sat out most of the first quarter, giving the ESPN team an opportunity to marvel at the depth of Stanford’s bench — maybe their deepest ever, one asked Coach VanDerveer.
Eleven Cardinal were in the boxscore, but seniors Haley Jones and Hannah Jump played 40 minutes. That suggests against depth, though I agree Stanford is an exception to the “seven best players, five nicest girls” rule of thumb — there are always one or two Cardinal at the end of the bench who’d get 30+ minutes per game elsewhere, but opted for the Stanford education.
I think you’d have to ask a coach a more specific question than “do you think you have a deep bench?”, because they’ll only say yes to that. I’d ask in three parts: “Do you trust your #9 and #10 in vital minutes?”.
Yes, of course, say the coaches.
“How many minutes might you expect to get from them, and let’s imagine your starters in those spots are much out of whack.”
That depends on whether they were getting the job done, coaches would say.
“How many minutes of nothing would you accept before putting your ineffective starter back in?”
They’d have to think about that, and the correct answer is “it depends”, but you see what I’m implying: Rosters are only as deep as their in-game trust for #9 or #10, even if they get off to bad or slow starts.
Utah had that kind of depth last year. I would’ve said senior Andrea Torres was around #10, and would Coach Roberts stick with her near the end of the game, score close, while Andy weren’t at her sharpest? Yes, I think, because Andy had senior experience (not just the senior label, but clutch experience), and I reckon she would’ve been more visible if Utah’s freshmen didn’t so exceed expectations.
This season, I think it’s junior forward Peyton McFarland at the end of the Utah bench, for whom I was a fan in her freshman year (though Kelsey Rees’ improvement last year as a sophomore was greater). Would Roberts go with McFarland for long? I’d reckon not.
Gonzaga senior Brynna Maxwell was a sixth or seventh man for Utah had she chosen to stay, but that role apparently didn’t suit her. She would’ve had to noticeably improve defensively except in any role but the microwave who can show a hot hand immediately.
Cal senior guard Kemery Martin played 30 minutes, and she led the Golden Bears in assists and in rebounds. She might never pull eight rebounds again, but it’s good to see Kemery play well. If you asked me if I thought she’d have that kind of game again for Utah, I would’ve said the change of scenery was in order.