Shellshock.
Not just in Oregon’s postgame corner (or second half performance), but in
Stanford’s too. That’s how lopsided this W was – Trent Johnson was literally at
a loss for words.
Then again, he didn’t need to say much.
“We played well,” he said. “Played well. Played real well. It was good. It
was good.”
That was his opening statement.
And what more was there to say?
Okay, okay, everyone said a little bit more, but let’s look first at just how
dominant this victory was:
- The last time Stanford’s allowed fewer points? November 2006. But that was
to Denver.
- The last time Stanford’s allowed fewer points to a Pac-10 team? February
2006. But that was to Washington State.
- The last time Stanford’s allowed fewer points to a Pac-10 team with an
offensive pulse (i.e. not Washington State)? 1982, a 42-34 loss to UCLA. (Of
course, I don’t think they had the shot clock then, which explains the
thrilling 18-16 loss to Oregon State two years earlier.)
- The last time Stanford’s won such a game (holding a non-WSU Pac-10 foe
under 43)? 1962, 74-42 over Cal.
- Oregon last scored fewer points in 1991. They lost 78-39 at Montana.
- The Ducks’ 29 percent shooting (14-of-48) was their season-worst – by a
whopping 11 percent. They shot 40 percent in a December loss at
Nebraska.
- And, for you Title IX enthusiasts out there, the men and the women beat
Oregon by identical 72-43 scores tonight.
Okay, here’s Trent Johnson:
We’ve been pretty consistent. With as good as Oregon is, I was more
pleased with what happened at the offensive end. We defended, but also
rebounded. Plus-3 [17-14 rebounding margin] at halftime, but I thought we were
dominating. A lot of guys, any time you play a lot of guys, it’s good.
The first time he’s focused on offense first, instead of defense. He
explains why in a minute.
On whether the game assuages his concerns about Hill:
I’m never worried about him. It went down for him today. It went down for him
against Washington State.
I ask what he’s pleased with that a casual fan might not notice:
Offensive execution and that we had an opportunity to play a lot of guys.
I think it’s pretty obvious whether you’re a casual fan or an insider of the
game, a coach, that we play physical defense, so if we get better offense, we
have a chance to win a lot of basketball games.
With automatic first-half two-foul benching and not playing for late-game
two-for-ones two big exceptions, Johnson’s on the same page as the fan base more
often than I appreciated prior to this season. Sometimes, he just doesn’t say
what we’re all thinking.
I mention how much better Mitch Johnson defended Tajuan Porter than in
Eugene:
Yeah, definitely. Porter’s pretty much had his way with us. Mitch did a great
job, and Drew did a good job.
On whether he’d describe the team as methodical:
Methodical’s good. Grind, slug, all that’s good.
On the defensive intensity:
Yeah, that’s how we like it to be. We may not be that way the whole day. I
look at our defensive efficiency and say that’s what’s going to take care of
us. I’m not worried about shots because they’re going to fall.
Lawrence Hill:
On the difference in Stanford’s defense from the game in Eugene to this
contest:
Our defensive help and our on-ball pressure. All week, we paid a lot
of attention in practice to it. When guys got beat, we helped, but most of
time guys didn’t get beat.
I ask about Brook’s effect on the offense:
It just opens up everything for everyone else. Brook’s going to have an
easier time scoring because they can’t just focus on him.
Robin Lopez:
On whether Brook’s presence opens up the paint for him:
Teams are starting to rightfully pay a lot of attention to Brook, so he’s
starting to open the lane up for me. In this case, they did a lot of high
screens, doubling down to the front, and bringing the double to post, so
I make sure I’m ready to catch and shoot, catch and make plays. It was a
good showing taking care of ball. That’s how we practice, what they’re going
to do defensively. Brook does take up a lot of room, and it’s great for us.
I know those quotes weren’t the season’s most inspiring (but they were
shellshocked, I told you that right off the bat), so how about some bonus
material from my fellow Detroiter Malik Hairston. He didn’t lack for
quotables, literally rattling them off by the sentence in this first paragraph.
Talk about made-for-TV, I’ve never heard anything like it:
They dominated us on the glass. We killed ourselves on the perimeter. We
couldn’t make shots. It seemed like they had 10 blocks in the first half. You
saw Oregon at their worst night. It’s the most embarrassing loss of my senior
year.
Chop those up, throw in some game footage, and there’s your 11 o’clock
news. Good thing, because Ernie Kent ducked the print reporters postgame.
On Hill’s offensive performance:
Law Hill’s a good player, good size, rebounds well. When they’re shooting the
basketball that much, they’re that much better down inside.
I ask about Oregon’s composure:
I don’t think composure had anything to do with it. They were the
aggressors. They dominated. It was a terrible effort by Oregon.
Malik, you know I’ve got love for the 313 (and Porter’s a Detroiter too),
but we’re going to have to disagree. To my eyes, Oregon quit in that halftime
locker room, if not earlier.
On the post defense:
We couldn’t make shots. We took it inside, and couldn’t make it at the
rim. They changed a lot of shots.
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