If I were to ask you who do you think has been the best team in the Bay Area this past decade, who would you say?
Definitely not the 49ers or the Raiders. Definitely not the Warriors, Giants or Athletics. You could make an argument for the Sharks, but they haven’t made it past the Western Conference Finals yet, and are a perennial playoff disappointment. Great regular season team…horrible playoff team when it matters.
Let’s go away from the pro level, and look at the college level. Stanford men’s basketball has had its moments this past decade, but haven’t been consistent in the past two years. You could make a case for Cal Football, but they too like the Sharks have just succeeded in disappointing its fan base. While Cal men’s basketball and Stanford football are on the rise recently, they were flat out atrocious the beginning of this decade.
So who would you say is the best team out of the Bay Area this past decade? I will argue…the Stanford Women’s Basketball Team, who will be playing in the national title game this coming Tuesday!
Before I go on, I will be the first to admit that I watch and follow women’s college basketball, and I can tell you the names of all the stars who have played this past decade. While women’s basketball isn’t as fast, explosive, and “exciting” as the men’s game, it is still very fundamentals based…and sometimes thats just fun to watch.
Tara VanDerveer, the coach at Stanford, has built a dynasty in Palo Alto. She has a career record of 757-193 (.797) and has led Stanford to two national titles in the 90s.
In this decade, the Stanford women has either won or had a share of the regular season title every single year. They won it outright in 8 years, and shared the title in 2. The women have also won the Pac-10 tournament 7 times as well. This past decade, they’ve amassed a record of 291-52 (.848 winning percentage). They have made the NCAA tournament each year for the past 23 years.
They have made it to the Elite 8 for the past 7 years, and have made the Final Four for the past 3 years. This coming Tuesday, they will be playing in their 2nd national title game in the past 3 years!
Some of our generation’s great female basketball players have played at Stanford. Nicole Powell played at the Farm from 2001-2004, as did Candice Wiggins from 2005-2008. Both were drafted #3 overall in the 04 and 08, respectively and both are having amazing careers in the WNBA right now.
No other team from the Bay Area has had as much success on the national level than the Stanford women have. They are by far the best team in the Bay Area right now.
Honorable Mention…
1. San Jose Sabercats – Arena Football League. Won the Arena Bowl in 2002, 2004, and 2007.
2. San Jose Earthquakes: Major League Soccer. Won MLS Cup in 2001 and 2003. Then the team proceeds to relocate to Houston…where they win the MLS Cup in 2006 and 2007…with almost the exact same team. No I’m not bitter. I blame it all on Landon Donovan leaving for Germany for a couple months and then coming back and signing with the LA Galaxy.
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Why you should watch the title game between Stanford and Uconn
If you were to watch only one woman’s basketball game in your life…watch this coming Tuesday’s national title game between #1 Connecticut vs #2 Stanford. The Stanford women are 36-1, with their only loss coming to UConn last December. Connecticut is undefeated this season, 38-0, and has won 77 straight games, with their last loss coming to Stanford two years ago in the Final Four. Connecticut was ranked #1 the entire season, while Stanford was ranked #2 the enitre season. These are without a doubt the two best teams in the country, and it’s only fitting that these two teams would be playing in the national championship.
Uconn features Tina Charles and Maya Moore, maybe the best players in the entire country. Charles was the 2010 AP Player of the Year, while Moore was the 2009 AP Player of the Year. In their win against Baylor in the Final Four, Charles dropped 21 points and 13 rebounds, while Moore dropped 34 points and 12 rebounds.
While none of Stanford’s players made it to the 1st Team All-American, they boast the best frontcourt in the entire country, in center Jayne Appel and forwards Nnemkadi Ogwumike and Kayla Pederson. These three players terrorize opposing team’s defenses and create matchup problems all around. While they are all big players, they are all very quick and are great shooters.
This will be one of the best matchups in the womens college basketball ever. Not only does it pit two great teams with a ton of star players against each other, but it also pits two of the best coaches in the game against each other: VanDerveer vs Geno Auriemma, who’s led Uconn to 6 national championships.
Again, if you want to witness a great matchup between two of the best teams in the country, watch this Tuesday’s national championship game. No you wont see dunks or alley oop passes, but it will be hard fought and physical game. You will see great shooting, coupled with great defense at the same time.
My predictions: Uconn over Stanford. As much as I think Stanford has a great team and will fight hard, Uconn is simply too powerful. With a win on Tuesday, they will cap off their 2nd straight undefeated season.
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