Anyone east of the Rockies who has ever witnessed Stanford
play on television, must think Stanford's high rankings are a
joke. Every time the Cardinal play a crucial game which is
being broadcast to most or all of the United States, they fail to
impress.
And when Stanford played #1 seed Kansas in the second round of
the NCAA tournament Saturday, it was no different. Most
Cardinalmaniacs™ believed that if a third player stepped up
and Stanford found some more St. Louis magic, then perhaps they
could pull off the upset.
Instead, Stanford got thoroughly trounced 86-63, and it wasn't
even that close. As soon as CBS had switched games, Kansas
had jumped out to a 15-0 lead without starting guard Kirk
Hinrich, who was sitting out with an ankle injury. The
reasons for the stumbling start? Turnovers for one.
Secondly, it can be argued that Coach Mike Montgomery's
unwillingness to call a time out adversely affected the
team. Stanford had spotted fifteen points to the number one
seed before five minutes had elapsed.
It couldn't get much worse, right? Wrong. Hinrich came
into the game off the bench with 13:05 left in the first half,
much to the surprise of the basketball world. By then,
Kansas led by a huge margin early and received a boost with the
return of a key player.
From then on, it became a disaster. With Tony
Giovacchini failing to get penetration, Julius Barnes hobbling on
a bad ankle, Justin Davis in foul trouble, and Curtis Borchardt
being shut out on offense, there was little Stanford could
do. Kansas led comfortably 48-26 at the half and seemed en
route to the sweet sixteen.
By the break, it was painfully obvious that there would be no
magic left over from the 1998 miracle in St. Louis. Kansas
kept their starters in the game and stretched their lead to as
much as 28 at 65-37 before finally showing the maligned Cardinal
mercy. Stanford would then actually outscore their opponent
the rest of the way, as the Jayhawks led Stanford in second half
scoring by only one point (38-37).
The game showed all of Stanford's weaknesses: lack of
leadership, lack of a third scorer, too many turnovers, mediocre
point guard play, and questionable game day coaching.
However, I will not go into further detail as all of these have
been discussed and debated endlessly on the HoopsBoard.
The biggest question now is regarding the possible departures
of Casey Jacobsen (24 points, 1 assist, 6 rebounds) and Curtis
Borchardt (13 points, 1 assist, 11 rebounds). If either or
both decide to see what the NBA has in store for them, it could
be a very long rebuilding season next year. Hopefully, the
two will stay and improve on this season's 20-10 record
One more year!