If you're a UConn fan, last night's first Final Four game may have sent you back to the last time the Huskies lost two starters for the year, started the nation's best first-year, made it all the way to the national semis, then lost badly in a hail of missed outside shots.

In Tampa, the part originally played by Diana Taurasi was split between Maya Moore-- the great frosh, who in fact shot well (8-19)-- and Renee Montgomery (4-18, 1-9 from downtown). The part of Geno Auriemma was played by Geno: "The fairy tale didn't have a happy ending," he said.

If you're a Stanford fan, or just a West Coast basketball fan, you're in a good place. And if you watched last night's game and didn't care who won, but just wanted to see some smart and hard-fought basketball, you, too, got what you wanted.

The Cardinal played a brilliant first half, and a pretty good second one. On defense, they used a triangle-and-two to clog up the paint while working to deny Moore the ball; UConn looked rushed, especially early, with players too eager to do everything themselves.

Stanford's offense, by contrast, looked the way coach TV likes it: they ran plays, they shared, they knocked down threes. "They were perfect," admitted Kaili McLaren afterwards. McLaren's team came within one, but two consecutive failures on the part of the Huskies' zone led to two unanswered three-balls from Wiggins, and UConn couldn't close the late gap with their press.

You're going to hear a lot about Wiggins today and tomorrow-- and why not?-- but the biggest difference between the two squads was the way the role players performed: everybody in red and black seemed to know where everybody else was, and when Pederson, Appel or Harmon needed the ball, they got the ball.

The sharing, and the planning, and the beautiful, mistake-free basketball, made up for the Cardinal's deficiency (except for Wiggins) in ups and in foot speed: UConn had five blocks to Stanford's nil, but Stanford had 20 assists, UConn 14.

The Cardinal also had more rebounds, in part thanks to UConn's finally self-defeating penchant for early outside shots. Will Tennessee make the same mistake? Will Pat's ability to send three tall kids to the glass, each play, make the Cardinal's lack of athleticism fatal? Or will Stanford holds its own on the boards, just like last time?

Clay calls the game-- and he's right-- an advertisement not just for Stanford's prowess, but for West Coast basketball style. The many Tennessee fans in Tampa last night were apparently cheering Stanford; most of the fans in Husky blue will likely be cheering the Cardinal Tuesday night.