The sun was shining in Palo Alto. Clear skies, warm temperatures, and what is
a Stanford fan to do? Camp out in front of Maples, or in front of a TV? No time
for the great outdoors, too much good hoops.
In honor of the weekend that was Stanford, and by extension, Pac-10
Basketball, here are my top five noteworthy moments of the last few days:
1. Kenny Brown’s last second three-pointer against Oregon State to end the
first half.
From my spot in the front row, I could hear Trent Johnson yell “Kenny!” when
the ball was inbounded, and I knew exactly what was going to transpire. A huge
basket to cap a 15-point run and finally generate some momentum in what was an
otherwise atrociously flat game.
Also especially nice considering Anthony Goods’s halftime buzzer beater two
days prior against Oregon came just too late…
2. Brook Lopez yelling at Robin, the refs, and just about everyone.
Just a couple weeks ago, Johnson was lauding Brook for his maturity and
growth in terms of keeping his temper down. Not the case Saturday. After being
hacked multiple times down low (and few calls in his favor) Lopez finally lost
it after the referees missed a blatant kick ball violation. His brother Robin
tried to calm him down a bit, and Brook told him to…well, this is a family site
to I won’t say what I heard.
Johnson responded by yanking Brook for several spells to calm him down, and
Lopez finished with seven turnovers—most due in no small part to his
frustration.
“A little frustrated? He for the most part lost his composure,” Johnson said
afterward. “I tried to calm him down. I hope he doesn’t do it for a long time
again.”
Back on the floor, Brook did keep it together for the most part. I have no
problem with one of these little episodes as long as: a) he learns from them,
and b) it doesn’t cost us the game.
3. Sweet revenge
Thursday’s win over Oregon was a moment in itself. A dazzling display of
dominance and defense. Abomination on the boards. And sweet revenge for losing
to the Ducks 71-66 a month before.
The numbers say it all: 40-28 rebounding advantage. Holding Oregon to nearly
40 points below its season average (80.3) and to its lowest point total since
the Ducks were downed 78-39 to Montana on Nov. 22, 1991.
The Ducks had revenge of their own Saturday, trouncing Cal 92-70. They hadn’t
won a game on the Bay Area trip since beating Berkeley in the 1999-2000 season.
Stanford’s streak is still very much alive however. Next year, no Oregon player
will likely have been born since Oregon last won at Stanford, in 1986…
And on to the rest of the Pac-10
4. Jerryd Bayless scores 39 points…
…and the Wildcats still lose to Arizona State at home, 59-54. Jeff Pendergraph dropped 29 for the Sun Devils, and no other player on either team
save for ASU’s Jerren Shipp scored in double figures.
The game is already being billed as the “changing of the guard” in Arizona,
but I’m not so sure. No one likes to make injury excuses, but the Wildcats were
without Bayless in their loss in Tempe, and it was clear they missed point guard
Nic Wise (out four to six weeks following knee surgery last week) on Sunday.
Bayless is a heck of a scorer (12-of-18 from the floor, 6-of-10 from beyond the
arc) but his playmaking leaves a little bit to be desired. If he’s going to make
it as a point guard at the next level (and at 6-3, he may have to) he’ll need to
improve on his passing (three assists to four turnovers Sunday). For the
Wildcats to get by without Wise, they’ll need Bayless to.
Especially liked this line from ASU coach Herb Sendek: “I want to take full
credit for the defensive mastery that held [Bayless] below 40.”
5. The Tim Morris throw-in
The minute you saw that I included moments from around the Pac-10, you had to
know I was including this: Washington, previously up nine, has the ball with an
increasingly tenuous 66-61 lead with 47 seconds to go. Alfred Aboya is
pressuring Tim Morris, who is about to be whistled for a five-second violation
when he hurls the ball right at Aboya’s face. The ball ricochets out of bounds,
the Huskies get another chance to inbound, and Jon Brockman scores.
Game.
Not sure if it was intentional or not, and Morris apparently apologized
afterwards, but this one is throwing my moral compass through a loop. I feel
like it should be some sort of technical foul, although Ben Howland said
afterward the referees had told him the play was legal.
I’m not going to complain too much. Washington’s 71-61 win helped put
Stanford into a tie with the Bruins for first in the conference. And ask any
Stanford player, and they’ll tell you UCLA, unfortunately for Aboya, got what
they deserved. Perhaps a little poetic justice for UCLA’s notorious moving
screens?
One thing’s for sure: if Washington goes up against UCLA sometime next month
in the Pac-10 tournament, Morris better look out.
Overheard in the 6th Man
…
(As in, silence)
I already talked about the abysmal performance so far this season by
the 6th Man, but this weekend may take the cake. Oregon was at least
somewhat understandable; the team got up big, and they got up big early. Some of
us tired our best to maintain the energy, it isn’t always easy to get too riled
up when your team is up by 30.
Saturday, however, was a different beast. Despite the team being ninth in the
country, closing in on first in the Pac-10, and the game being on a relatively
quiet Saturday evening, the energy wasn’t there. The 6th Man committee
offered free Cinnabon to the first 150 students in line a half hour before the
doors opened; there may have been 25 people there when the tasty treats arrived.
The team was flat from the get go, and so was the crowd: No chants on offense,
little noise on defense, when a chant did start it petered out within 10 seconds
or so…it was all frustrating. If Stanford students can’t get excited when their
basketball team is ninth in the nation, when can they get excited? Here’s
hoping our rivalry game against Cal and the senior weekend against the
Washington schools will bring out the best…
Ok, I will give us a little credit. The Pac-9 sign against Oregon State was
awesome.
Looking ahead
The Card head to the desert this week to take on Arizona State and Arizona,
and I’m glad Stanford is facing the Sun Devils first. I wouldn’t be surprised if
Arizona comes out raging after Sunday’s loss at home, so I’m happy they’ll be
facing Cal to take out their anger. For Stanford, after blowing out Oregon
Thursday and coming out flat against Oregon State Saturday, I think Arizona
State will be a tough, but helpful, test.
The Sun Devils were riding high when they rolled into town Jan. 20 but
Stanford was able to come back from a 30-20 halftime deficit by regaining its
aggressiveness. Being the aggressor is never easy on the road, but as a young
team the Sun Devils may be prone to overconfidence after defeating their rivals
last weekend. I’ve got to take the Cardinal here.
In most years, I’d say a split down at the desert would be just fine. This
year, however, Arizona is looking mighty vulnerable. The Wildcats will surely
have revenge on their minds, but Stanford will be fighting to stay atop the
Pac-10 and maintain its lofty place in the polls. This is going to be dogfight,
but if this Stanford team can continue to play defense they way they have of
late, they can beat almost anyone, anywhere.
And speaking of polls…
Poll progress – Seventh Heaven
Unranked… 20… 14… 9… 7. The rise continues.
The question, of course, is now how high do you want the team to go? There’s
one argument floating around that the team is better off without all the
national attention, that the rise in the polls only makes us more of a
target.
I disagree. The exposure is good for the players and good for the program. As
long as the guys don’t become too complacent, the added benefits of getting on
the radars of a few more recruits outweighs the potential losses.
Lawrence Hill's words last week were particularly reassuring: “This isn’t
where I want to be,” he said. “I don’t want to be ninth in the country, I want
to be higher.”
I assume the same holds true for lucky number seven.
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