VanDerveer lauds Cardinal players: ‘coach’s dream team’
Tara VanDerveer’s Stanford team is ranked fourth in the nation, is riding its second 11game winning streak of the season and is entering the Pac12 tournament after winning the regularseason title by four games.
As proud as the Cardinal head coach is of what her players have accomplished on the court, she speaks with at least equal pride of how they’ve handled themselves off the court.
“This is really a coach’s dream team,” VanDerveer said in a phone interview Tuesday.
Santa Clara County’s restrictions on contact sports in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus forced the Cardinal (222, 192) to spend two months on the road. After opening its season with a 10840 rout of Cal Poly at Maples Pavilion
on Nov. 25, Stanford didn’t play at Maples again until a 6254 win over Colorado on Feb. 5.
“To deal with all this COVID stuff that we’re dealing with,” VanDerveer said her players “have been amazing.”
One player who has thrived on and off the court is senior point guard Kiana Williams. On Monday, she was named to the AllPac12 team for the third straight season.
After leading the Cardinal in minutes, points, 3pointers and assists last season, Williams tops the team in all of those categories again: 761 minutes, 337 points, 53 threes and 68 assists.
“She’s our floor leader out there,” VanDerveer said. “There’s no two ways about it.”
Off the floor, Williams went out of her way to keep tabs on her teammates during their extended hiatus from campus.
“It’s tough living out of a suitcase, living out of a hotel,” Williams said in a separate phone interview Tuesday. “Some days, we were dragging as individuals or as a collective unit. I just had to make sure I was checking on (teammates). … Making sure everybody’s mental health was OK.”
Williams and VanDerveer believe the Cardinal’s nomadic two months will serve as good preparation for the NCAA Tournament.
“I think that every disappointment’s a blessing,” VanDerveer said. “That might really get us ready for San Antonio.”
To minimize travel during the pandemic, all six rounds of the NCAA Tournament will take place in Texas, mainly in San Antonio. Teams that reach the championship game will have spent three weeks in the San Antonio area.
“I was reading about the things that you have to do, the testing, all this,” VanDerveer said. “I’m, like, ‘We’re doing that already. Three weeks? That’s nothing for us.’ ”
Said Williams, who is from San Antonio: “We already experienced living out of a hotel, busing to and from practice, going back to the hotel and being in isolation. …
“I do think we’re going to have at least a mental advantage.”
The Cardinal won’t necessarily gain much of an advantage by winning the conference tournament. On Thursday in Las Vegas, Stanford faces USC. The Trojans beat Arizona State 7165 on Wednesday afternoon.
As of Wednesday morning, Stanford owned the top spot in the NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) rankings. There are probably six to eight teams with legitimate designs on grabbing the NCAA title.
“We’re excited to be able to compete for a national championship,” VanDerveer said. “I don’t feel like there is a — quote — dominant team out there. We can beat anyone and we can be beaten by anyone.”
Briefly: Stanford leads the Pac12 in points per game (78), fewest points allowed per game (53) and rebounding margin per game (+10.5). Still, VanDerveer said, “It’s not like we’re playing our very best basketball. We have room to grow, but we have definitely improved.” … With 282 career 3pointers, Williams is 13 shy of Candice Wiggins’ school record.