Where does one start with this game? After
hearing the surprise news that Curtis Borchardt wasn’t going
to play with a pulled stomach muscle, things didn’t look
very good. It was more than just Borchardt’s presence that
was missed, as Stanford’s big men once again got into big
foul trouble. But the story of the day was Stanford’s
inability to break the USC press. For about the first ten minutes
of the game, USC didn’t press, and Stanford sans
Borchardt controlled the game. At this point USC, had a meager 14
points, and it looked Stanford was going to find a way to win.
Then Bibby made a great decision and hounded Stanford into many
bad passes that were puzzling, to say the least. It looked like
Stanford didn’t even have a press break, as Barnes was often
expected to dribble through the entire USC squad, and Tony was
often stuck right before the midline looking for help. Stanford
amazingly was able to stay in this game but eventually fell 90-82
in a truly ugly game. USC scored 60 points in the second half and
76 points in the final 30 minutes. It was an ugly performance
that fans should try and forget, but the players should do the
opposite. A press break needs to be put in place because today
was just embarrassing. 27 turnovers should never happen in a
college game.
As expected, Sam Clancy led USC with 24
points and 13 rebounds. He also forced Stanford into many bad
passes as he was the first man on the press break. He ended up
with four steals as well and really gave Stanford headaches.
Freshman Errick Craven, a player once recruited by Stanford, also
hurt them badly. He finished with 18 points and on 6-12 shooting
and also showed off his quickness in hounding Barnes and Tony.
Unexpected performances were put in by Rory O’Neil and
Desmon Farmer. They combined for 29 points on 13-16 shooting.
They were the difference in the game, often hitting big shots for
USC when the game was close. USC also ended up with 16 steals;
Craven and Clancy led the way with a combined nine. Bluthenthal
was the only USC starter that wasn’t much of a factor, as he
only had one point and was never heard from in the game.
Casey Jacobsen was the reason Stanford
even had a chance in this game, as he scored 21 points and also
had seven rebounds and six assists. Jacobsen unfortunately had a
tough time with the constant pressure and also led the Cardinal
with seven turnovers. Joe Kirchofer took advantage of his
newfound playing time and chipped in with 10 points and nine
rebounds. He looked very aggressive on the glass and this was by
far his best game in his career at Stanford. Josh Childress also
had a decent game and finished with nine points and eight
rebounds.
Overall many things went wrong in this
game. I thought Montgomery was outcoached big time, as I thought
many of his substitution patterns were suspect at best. This team
was obviously not ready for the press and it definitely showed.
They should get ready for the press now - every Pac-10 team will
see this tape and no doubt try to duplicate what USC did. Barnes
looks like the best option, but he needs to have help. True, he
did have six turnovers, but that was due to just having the other
four players on the court watching. It was very sad to watch and
something that needs to be fixed immediately. How Stanford stayed
in this game as long as they did was amazing I thought when they
actually broke the USC press, it was a big accomplishment. The
last big glaring problem is Stanford’s big men staying in
the game. Davis and Teyo are both extremely foul prone; Teyo
today fouled out in nine minutes. That’s got to make Dan
Gadzuric impressed. Not having Borchardt is a big factor in this,
but they need to figure out how to stay in the game. If people on
the HoopsBoard look back at the five losses this year for
Stanford, Curtis has been in foul trouble in all of them, which
has hurt his minutes in those games. He is the glue to this
team's success, as defensively they are very weak without him.
All those drives by Farmer would have been altered with him in
there and the game would have changed. He definitely needs to get
back on the court Thursday against ASU.
This game is really depressing, but this
is the year in the Pac-10 to have a downyear. It is a great race
this year and should make for many important games as the season
winds down. This will be a learning expierance for the team and I
think it will help them. Stanford, even with the turnovers, was
still in this game for 35 minutes on the road against a
nationally ranked team. I think this team has gone a long way
since the BYU debacle and is improving considerably. Two more
tough tests next week at Maples with the Sun Devils coming in on
Thursday and then the showdown on Saturday with the Wildcats of
Arizona.
Complete Box Score