Everyone here thinks I'm crazy because I keep telling 'em [about Stanford] -- our video guy keeps joking with me that he can't believe I'm picking Stanford to pull it off. But I think it's gonna be a pretty interesting tournament. Certainly UConn is the class of the country -- they're dominant, they're unbelievable and it's fun to watch them play.
Hopefully there are some teams out there that will be able to match up and compete with them. I think Nebraska, they're a senior-laden team and to have such solid play from all five positions and to be senior-laden is great around tournament time. Tennessee -- who knows. Pat has her teams ready.
Even Stanford: Tara and the Cardinal have faced UConn already and I think that they're always better the second time because they prepare and they look at that tape. Two years ago they lost to Connecticut and then in the Final Four they upset them because she put a scheme together...So hopefully my Cardinal can pull it off, make it to San Antonio, and then the rest is to be seen on the court.
-- Washington Mystics General Manager Angela Taylor on whether her alma mater, Stanford University, can win it all in an interview with Swish Appeal this morning.
Two years ago they lost to Connecticut and then in the Final Four they upset them because she put a scheme together
I always wonder if people that use this argument really believe on an intellectual level that the reason Stanford won in the Final Four was because of a better strategy and not because UConn was missing two starters that played in the first game. Stanford played two UConn different teams. One that was among the deepest and most talented in history and another whose margin for error wasn’t much bigger than Stanford’s when they met in the Final Four.
I understand people using those examples on an emotional level, but most of these examples of great upsets don’t apply well to UConn this season if you actually think about them..
Scotter - March 9, 2010
Good point...
…but you can’t knock an alum for having pride in her alma mater. :) Like any Stanford alum/fan, she’s just rooting for her team. Nothing wrong with that.
The context of the piece you highlight seems to be identifying possible challengers to the juggernaut and making the point that Stanford will be “better the second time”.
But you’re right — if healthy, I also imagine that Auriemma will not allow another first half like the one they had against Stanford the first time.
Nate Parham - March 9, 2010
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