Before the season, Stanford women’s basketball head coach Kate Paye spoke the media. Below is a bonus portion of the interview that she had. Given the length of her interview I decided to break it up into a couple of segments. The second interview is much shorter, but still informative.
VIDEO: After the buzzer with Kate Paye
READ: Stanford WBB head coach Kate Paye looks ahead to 2024-25 season
On seeing Stanford alum Alanna Smith have a big performance in the WNBA Finals with the Minnesota Lynx, Paye said they are really proud of her and her accomplishments. Paye feels like her story is one that is worth retelling. She was their first international player coming from Australia, making her a pioneer for their program. A player who had flashes of brilliance as a freshman, but it took time for her to put it all together. By her senior year, she was an All-American. Paye feels like Smith is a great example of trusting the process and is a player who they can use an example for other players to look up to.
On junior point guard Talana Lepolo coming off her knee injury, Paye said she looks great. They’re very excited to have her healthy. Paye feels like with a healthy Lepolo, they are a totally different team. She knows the system well, is tenacious on defense, and is one of those players that makes everyone around her better. She’ll be ready to go and they’re really excited.
On players who are stepping up their game, Paye feels like several players are doing so. She likes the jump several players on the team have taken and the way they have improved. She feels like you see a jump from freshman to sophomore year, so they’re very excited about that. Across the board, she likes what she’s seeing and feels like they could have a 9-10 player rotation. A strength in numbers approach for sure.
Paye said she is looking forward to seeing all the new places in the ACC. She quipped that a lot of teams are excited to come check out Stanford and see what it’s like on The Farm. Paye feels like change is energizing and feels like the team is excited for the opportunity to face new opponents. They’re sad that the Pac-12 collapsed, but they’re excited about the future. Paye feels like the ACC is a great women’s basketball conference and they are excited about the opportunity to compete.
Takeaways: Given this is a much shorter segment, I’ll share just one takeaway that I have, namely that they’re going to have a strength in numbers approach. Stanford is used to having a star player or two to lean on like Haley Jones, Cameron Brink, and Kiki Iriafen in past seasons. This season, they’re going to have to do much more of a win by committee approach and not just have one or two players to lean on. At least that’s what it looks like right now. Perhaps a star will emerge. That often happens.
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