After a season where the Stanford roster featured not one senior player, the Cardinals have 4 seniors, 2 juniors, and 6 sophomores. A lot more experience could mean a lot more talent, but that remains to be seen as the early departure of Jeremey Green for the NBA draft has left another big hole in the Stanford offense. Stanford finished 15-16 overall and 7-11 in conference. Thankfully, for the Cardinals, Josh Owens is around for his final season along with Andrew Zimmerman (Here) and Jack Trotter meaning there is some good experience and size in the post. This will be helpful as the Stanford backcourt will likely be less talented than in past years.
Key Losses:
Jeremy Green 6-4 198lb
The athletic guard let Stanford in scoring at 17 points per game. Following in the steps of Landry Fields, Green was a quick guard with the ability to create shots at will. He had a sweet shot, hitting nearly 43% from the 3-point line. Last season was his junior year, but rather than returning for his senior season like Fields, Green opted to declare for the draft and hired an agent almost immediately thereby making himself illegible for his senior season should he wish to withdraw from the draft. In the end Green made a poor decision for his career. Between not getting drafted and the NBA lockout, Green has missed out on valuable playing time that could have helped his stock and skill set.
Incoming Freshmen:
Chasson Randle 6-1 170lb
Randle is a hybrid 1/2 guard will room to improve in each positions skill set. His shot is effective out to the 3 point range, but from deep it is still so-so. With a better 3 point range, his scoring ability can jump through the roof. He also needs to develop his passing abilities should he wish to run an offense properly. He should be a good guard for the Cardinals, not terribly exceptional, but good enough to get the job done. He should find more success once he develops a role within the team.
Wade Morgen 6-1 165lb
Jack Ryan 6-7 200lb
I couldn't find anything useful on either of these new freshmen. ESPN didn't list them on Stanford's 2011 class list and the Stanford web page offered little in terms of useful information. Even Googling the players told me next to nothing about their talents and weaknesses. If you know anything about these guys or have video highlights, post a link in the comments.
Returning Players:
Aaron Bright 5-11 177lb
Gabriel Harris 6-2 190lb
Robbie Lemons 6-3 205lb
Jarrett Man 6-4 195lb
Anthony Brown 6-6 210lb
Josh Heustis 6-7 225lb
Andy Brown 6-7 210lb
Andrew Zimmerman 6-8 230lb
Josh Owens 6-8 240lb
John Gage 6-9 225lb
Dwight Powell 6-9 225lb
Jack Trotter 6-9 225lb
Stefan Nastic 6-11 245lb
It'll be all about Stanford's frontcourt this year. Owens, Powell, Trotter, Zimmerman, and Gage all have experience and some talent amongst them. Owens and Powell are the cream of their crop and will likely play the 4 and 5 in the starting positions. Look for Bright to lead the backcourt.
Predicted Starting Line-Up:
Aaron Bright 5-11 177lb
Jarrett Mann 6-4 195lb
Anthony Brown 6-6 210lb
Josh Owens 6-8 240lb
Dwight Powell 6-9 225lb
What to Expect:
Stanford will likely be near the middle to bottom of the conference again. As experienced as their frontcourt is, the talent the players' possess is far from exceptional. Owens will likely have the biggest impact as the returning, leading scorer and could average a double-double if he picks up his rebounding game a bit. Owens should shore up the middle with Powell, while Bright and Mann lead the attack from the perimeter. Stanford plays too much of a slow down offense to compete with athletic teams like UW and UA who like to run. Teams like UCLA have too much strength and size for Stanford to bang with and UO has a much better backcourt. I could see Stanford as high as 6th and as low as 9th in conference. I'm betting on ASU, CU, and Utah to fill out the basement.
Showing posts with label Stanford University. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stanford University. Show all posts
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Stanford Univeristy Review 2
Final Score UW-87 Stanford-76
Interesting game tonight. The crowd was in it to start and died out during the game. The Huskies were up 84-64 with about 4 minutes to go before letting garbage time play turn into a too late run from the Cardinals.
The Huskies scored well, passed fairly well, defended well, and overall played a much more successful game than the last meeting. Terrence Ross had two monster dunks. One off the baseline and another off a put back from an MBA miss. The only weak point tonight was the rebounding. Free throw shooting wasn't great either.
Isaiah Thomas had a somewhat uncharacteristic night. He scored 22 points, but only had 1 assist and 5 turnovers. Venoy Overton on the other hands had one of his best nights of the season. 12 points, 4 assists, 0 turnovers. Brilliant.
Isaiah had a bit of a tough time shutting down Green tonight who was simply shooting over him. Sometimes I.T. can pull it off, tonight was not that night. Aziz N'Diaye also had some defensive problems early shutting down the baseline and allowing his man to get the inside lane and score the easy lay in.
The refs were loving the technical fouls tonight. 3 were called. All were legitimate. Stanford coach, Johnny Dawkins, picked one up for talking to the refs. A Stanford player picked one up for elbowing C.J. Wilcox in the face. Aziz picked one up for hanging on the rim after a monster jam. MBA nearly picked up a technical for elbowing, but did not make contact.
Scott Suggs fouled out tonight. Kind of odd. Not something I ever thought I would write. MBA had 4 and Aziz's lone foul was the technical. UW actually had the foul and free throw advantage tonight. Excellent.
I.T. was scoreless in the first 17:23 of the game then went on to score 14 points in the final two and a half minutes, hitting 4 3 pointers including 2 back to back that were about 30 feet out. After the final shot with 6 seconds to go in the half he pointed to the ground and yelled at his teammates "This is my house! This is our house!"
MBA and Ross had a vicious block on a driving Cardinal. Ross then brought the ball up and handed off to MBA for a great lay in. Got to love those kind of hustle plays. Always rewarding. C.J. Wilcox had a big block on Jeremy Green. Wilcox finished with 10 on 3-8 shooting, 2-7 from range. Not his normal production level, but he played some solid defense.
Justin Holiday was also low on the offensive end tonight, but his defense was excellent and he made some good hustle plays.
Aziz N'Diaye was finally aggressive on offense and was looking and begging for the ball. He wanted to score and ended with 9 points and 6 boards. 4-4 shooting, but only 1-5 from the free throw line. Someone get Rick Barry in the building. Aziz needs a new technique.
Ross was all over tonight. His defense is improving as is his court vision. His athleticism is off the charts. He picked up 6 boards as well, tonight, and dished out 3 assists. He only scored the 4 points off the dunks, but man were they impressive points.
A couple of strange things happened tonight. I'll start with what everyone watching the game saw. Half the lights in the arena went out during the first media timeout. There was an additional timeout added on as the lights warmed back up and the coaches agreed to playing in the lower light settings. The lights dimmed once more during half time. The second strange thing was Antoine Hosley playing 4 minutes while Brendan Sherrer rode the pine the entire game. Maybe he was hurt? Tired? Not sure. The final strange thing was something Percy Allen coined as "Fangate." A girl in the Dawg Pack was wearing a UW hat, but a Stanford sweatshirt and T-shirt. She was pointed out and booed until the ushers came and removed her. She was evidently a med student here, but did undergraduate work at Stanford. There is a rule that all members of the Dawg Pack have to wear UW school colors. This occurred after a game against Arizona where a UA fan was disguised as a Dawg Pack member revealed themselves and earned a lot of harassment. She returned later, crying, and a member of the media crew brought her a purple shirt to wear. Not sure why she thought that would be OK, nor am I sure why her friends thought it would be OK. You never wear opposing colors in the student section. Ever. If this was Oregon and she was an Oregon State fan, she would have been pushed around no doubt. Luckily, the Dawg Pack is much classier and is satisfied by substantial booing and removal.
What Needed Improvement
Rebounding
Stanford had the edge on the glass tonight and did a much better job getting the long rebounds and second chance opportunities from offensive boards. 36-33 in favor of Stanford. MBA, Aziz, and Ross all grabbed 6 boards, and Gant had 5 (excellent). All 4 did a good job, just needed a little more support from the other players. We shot 29 3 pointers tonight, which resulted in a lot of long rebounds that the Cardinals got their hands on.
Free Throws
60% overall tonight. MBA went 3-7 and Aziz was 1-5. I.T. went 6-7, his miss was the front end of a 1 and 1, and Venoy went 5-7. Wilcox nailed both his free throws after the technical. Got to work on our big men and their free throw shooting. Post players get to the line quite often so they need to make shots to benefit us.
Ball Control
MBA had 6 turnovers and I.T. had 5. These two guys are normally much better at handling the rock, but tonight they struggled. Those kind of numbers are only acceptable because we won, yet they still need to be looked at and corrected.
What Was Good
Defense
UW forced 19 turnovers tonight, had 6 blocks, and 6 steals. The Dawgs also drew several charges, a 5 second call, and nearly 2 over and backs. Minus a few slips here and there and the garbage time nonsense, UW played a solid defensive game. Green was the only Cardinal to do what he wanted regardless of defender.
Role Player Production
Aziz, Overton, and Wilcox all put up solid numbers tonight, something they haven't done a ton this season. It is always great to see normally quiet offensive players get aggressive and score.
Player by Player Reviews
Justin Holiday
Quiet offensively, 2-5 shooting, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 assist. Quiet overall. He was a real hustle player though, and did well defensively containing his man. Not a whole ton else to say about him, sadly.
Grade: B-
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
15 points, 6 boards, 6 turnovers. 6-10 shooting and 3-7 from the free throw line. Not his best night, but he did well moving in transition and drawing fouls. I was really hoping for a huge teabag dunk, but every opportunity resulted in a hard foul, including one intentional foul called against Stanford.
Grade: B-
Venoy Overton
Venoy picks up the MVP tonight, in my opinion. His 3-8 shooting was not impressive, but the 12 points and 4 assists with 0 turnovers were great. Fantastic performance tonight. His fire, drive, and talent is slowly returning as his injuries heal and confidence returns. Great passing work finding the open men down low and around the perimeter.
Grade: A-
Brendan Sherrer
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Darnell Gant
No points tonight, 0-3 shooting, but he did grab 5 boards, dished out 2 assists, and snatched the ball out of the Cardinal hands once for a steal. Fairly solid numbers for only 17 minutes of play time. He is really shaping nicely into a good rebounder and with a little more weight and work, he could serve as a fill in for MBA if for whatever reason we do not land Angelo Chol.
Grade: B+
Scott Suggs
Despite fouling out and the somewhat lower point total, Suggs looked great shooting tonight. He went 3-5 over all and 1-1 from range. He took some nice fake pumps, dribbled in a step and knocked in the jumper. He is polishing his game nicely and is doing well to be more than just a catch and shoot player. 7 points, 2 assists, 1 turnover. Not terrible by any means.
Grade: B
Isaiah Thomas
Interesting play from Isaiah tonight. He scored in bunches and barely picked up an assist. His shot was hot to end the first half, but relatively cold the rest. He took a poke to the eye from teammate, Darnell Gant, and went to the training room to get looked at. He returned later after icing. Not sure why the assists were accumulating tonight, but it is what it is. I'll take 22 points.
Grade: B
Aziz N'Diaye
Loved the aggression offensively tonight. That technical was worth it. What a jam. Aziz needs to cherry pick at least once this season. I want to see an absurd dunk from him. His defense was not as good tonight, but he rebounded well still. Only 18 minutes tonight, likely due to the defensive issues.
Grade: B
Antoine Hosley
Played 4 minutes tonight. Scored 2 points off a nice jumper. Missed his 3 point shot.
Grade: A for effort
C.J. Wilcox
The shot aggressiveness is returning and so are his talents. He has a beautiful touch at the free throw line, a great, quick release. Drains every time. His long rage shot is still rattling around a bit during the game, but in warm ups it was looking sweet as candy. He drilled one shot from beyond NBA range.
Grade: B+
Terrence Ross
This kid is going to be a star, mark my words. All the pieces are there and starting to fall together. Bit by bit he is becoming more consistent, smarter with his shot choices, and improving his court vision His put back jam was vicious and his baseline dunk was just plain nasty. I'll post the highlight video once it is up on Youtube. Loved the rebounding and passing effort he put out tonight. He plays with confidence and never looks scared. He also handles the ball much better than Suggs or Wilcox in my opinion.
Grade: A-
Final Thoughts
Strange game, but a win none the less. UW led by 20 before garbage time. Won by 11. Got to carry this weeks momentum into the desert of Arizona. Two huge games coming up. Both are must wins. Lose to ASU and title aspirations all but disappear. Lose to UA and see them rise beyond our reach. Keep it going boys.
Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgArTX3JWzU&feature=feedu Starts with the Ross Baseline Dunk
Interesting game tonight. The crowd was in it to start and died out during the game. The Huskies were up 84-64 with about 4 minutes to go before letting garbage time play turn into a too late run from the Cardinals.
The Huskies scored well, passed fairly well, defended well, and overall played a much more successful game than the last meeting. Terrence Ross had two monster dunks. One off the baseline and another off a put back from an MBA miss. The only weak point tonight was the rebounding. Free throw shooting wasn't great either.
Isaiah Thomas had a somewhat uncharacteristic night. He scored 22 points, but only had 1 assist and 5 turnovers. Venoy Overton on the other hands had one of his best nights of the season. 12 points, 4 assists, 0 turnovers. Brilliant.
Isaiah had a bit of a tough time shutting down Green tonight who was simply shooting over him. Sometimes I.T. can pull it off, tonight was not that night. Aziz N'Diaye also had some defensive problems early shutting down the baseline and allowing his man to get the inside lane and score the easy lay in.
The refs were loving the technical fouls tonight. 3 were called. All were legitimate. Stanford coach, Johnny Dawkins, picked one up for talking to the refs. A Stanford player picked one up for elbowing C.J. Wilcox in the face. Aziz picked one up for hanging on the rim after a monster jam. MBA nearly picked up a technical for elbowing, but did not make contact.
Scott Suggs fouled out tonight. Kind of odd. Not something I ever thought I would write. MBA had 4 and Aziz's lone foul was the technical. UW actually had the foul and free throw advantage tonight. Excellent.
I.T. was scoreless in the first 17:23 of the game then went on to score 14 points in the final two and a half minutes, hitting 4 3 pointers including 2 back to back that were about 30 feet out. After the final shot with 6 seconds to go in the half he pointed to the ground and yelled at his teammates "This is my house! This is our house!"
MBA and Ross had a vicious block on a driving Cardinal. Ross then brought the ball up and handed off to MBA for a great lay in. Got to love those kind of hustle plays. Always rewarding. C.J. Wilcox had a big block on Jeremy Green. Wilcox finished with 10 on 3-8 shooting, 2-7 from range. Not his normal production level, but he played some solid defense.
Justin Holiday was also low on the offensive end tonight, but his defense was excellent and he made some good hustle plays.
Aziz N'Diaye was finally aggressive on offense and was looking and begging for the ball. He wanted to score and ended with 9 points and 6 boards. 4-4 shooting, but only 1-5 from the free throw line. Someone get Rick Barry in the building. Aziz needs a new technique.
Ross was all over tonight. His defense is improving as is his court vision. His athleticism is off the charts. He picked up 6 boards as well, tonight, and dished out 3 assists. He only scored the 4 points off the dunks, but man were they impressive points.
A couple of strange things happened tonight. I'll start with what everyone watching the game saw. Half the lights in the arena went out during the first media timeout. There was an additional timeout added on as the lights warmed back up and the coaches agreed to playing in the lower light settings. The lights dimmed once more during half time. The second strange thing was Antoine Hosley playing 4 minutes while Brendan Sherrer rode the pine the entire game. Maybe he was hurt? Tired? Not sure. The final strange thing was something Percy Allen coined as "Fangate." A girl in the Dawg Pack was wearing a UW hat, but a Stanford sweatshirt and T-shirt. She was pointed out and booed until the ushers came and removed her. She was evidently a med student here, but did undergraduate work at Stanford. There is a rule that all members of the Dawg Pack have to wear UW school colors. This occurred after a game against Arizona where a UA fan was disguised as a Dawg Pack member revealed themselves and earned a lot of harassment. She returned later, crying, and a member of the media crew brought her a purple shirt to wear. Not sure why she thought that would be OK, nor am I sure why her friends thought it would be OK. You never wear opposing colors in the student section. Ever. If this was Oregon and she was an Oregon State fan, she would have been pushed around no doubt. Luckily, the Dawg Pack is much classier and is satisfied by substantial booing and removal.
What Needed Improvement
Rebounding
Stanford had the edge on the glass tonight and did a much better job getting the long rebounds and second chance opportunities from offensive boards. 36-33 in favor of Stanford. MBA, Aziz, and Ross all grabbed 6 boards, and Gant had 5 (excellent). All 4 did a good job, just needed a little more support from the other players. We shot 29 3 pointers tonight, which resulted in a lot of long rebounds that the Cardinals got their hands on.
Free Throws
60% overall tonight. MBA went 3-7 and Aziz was 1-5. I.T. went 6-7, his miss was the front end of a 1 and 1, and Venoy went 5-7. Wilcox nailed both his free throws after the technical. Got to work on our big men and their free throw shooting. Post players get to the line quite often so they need to make shots to benefit us.
Ball Control
MBA had 6 turnovers and I.T. had 5. These two guys are normally much better at handling the rock, but tonight they struggled. Those kind of numbers are only acceptable because we won, yet they still need to be looked at and corrected.
What Was Good
Defense
UW forced 19 turnovers tonight, had 6 blocks, and 6 steals. The Dawgs also drew several charges, a 5 second call, and nearly 2 over and backs. Minus a few slips here and there and the garbage time nonsense, UW played a solid defensive game. Green was the only Cardinal to do what he wanted regardless of defender.
Role Player Production
Aziz, Overton, and Wilcox all put up solid numbers tonight, something they haven't done a ton this season. It is always great to see normally quiet offensive players get aggressive and score.
Player by Player Reviews
Justin Holiday
Quiet offensively, 2-5 shooting, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 assist. Quiet overall. He was a real hustle player though, and did well defensively containing his man. Not a whole ton else to say about him, sadly.
Grade: B-
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
15 points, 6 boards, 6 turnovers. 6-10 shooting and 3-7 from the free throw line. Not his best night, but he did well moving in transition and drawing fouls. I was really hoping for a huge teabag dunk, but every opportunity resulted in a hard foul, including one intentional foul called against Stanford.
Grade: B-
Venoy Overton
Venoy picks up the MVP tonight, in my opinion. His 3-8 shooting was not impressive, but the 12 points and 4 assists with 0 turnovers were great. Fantastic performance tonight. His fire, drive, and talent is slowly returning as his injuries heal and confidence returns. Great passing work finding the open men down low and around the perimeter.
Grade: A-
Brendan Sherrer
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Darnell Gant
No points tonight, 0-3 shooting, but he did grab 5 boards, dished out 2 assists, and snatched the ball out of the Cardinal hands once for a steal. Fairly solid numbers for only 17 minutes of play time. He is really shaping nicely into a good rebounder and with a little more weight and work, he could serve as a fill in for MBA if for whatever reason we do not land Angelo Chol.
Grade: B+
Scott Suggs
Despite fouling out and the somewhat lower point total, Suggs looked great shooting tonight. He went 3-5 over all and 1-1 from range. He took some nice fake pumps, dribbled in a step and knocked in the jumper. He is polishing his game nicely and is doing well to be more than just a catch and shoot player. 7 points, 2 assists, 1 turnover. Not terrible by any means.
Grade: B
Isaiah Thomas
Interesting play from Isaiah tonight. He scored in bunches and barely picked up an assist. His shot was hot to end the first half, but relatively cold the rest. He took a poke to the eye from teammate, Darnell Gant, and went to the training room to get looked at. He returned later after icing. Not sure why the assists were accumulating tonight, but it is what it is. I'll take 22 points.
Grade: B
Aziz N'Diaye
Loved the aggression offensively tonight. That technical was worth it. What a jam. Aziz needs to cherry pick at least once this season. I want to see an absurd dunk from him. His defense was not as good tonight, but he rebounded well still. Only 18 minutes tonight, likely due to the defensive issues.
Grade: B
Antoine Hosley
Played 4 minutes tonight. Scored 2 points off a nice jumper. Missed his 3 point shot.
Grade: A for effort
C.J. Wilcox
The shot aggressiveness is returning and so are his talents. He has a beautiful touch at the free throw line, a great, quick release. Drains every time. His long rage shot is still rattling around a bit during the game, but in warm ups it was looking sweet as candy. He drilled one shot from beyond NBA range.
Grade: B+
Terrence Ross
This kid is going to be a star, mark my words. All the pieces are there and starting to fall together. Bit by bit he is becoming more consistent, smarter with his shot choices, and improving his court vision His put back jam was vicious and his baseline dunk was just plain nasty. I'll post the highlight video once it is up on Youtube. Loved the rebounding and passing effort he put out tonight. He plays with confidence and never looks scared. He also handles the ball much better than Suggs or Wilcox in my opinion.
Grade: A-
Final Thoughts
Strange game, but a win none the less. UW led by 20 before garbage time. Won by 11. Got to carry this weeks momentum into the desert of Arizona. Two huge games coming up. Both are must wins. Lose to ASU and title aspirations all but disappear. Lose to UA and see them rise beyond our reach. Keep it going boys.
Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgArTX3JWzU&feature=feedu Starts with the Ross Baseline Dunk
Stanford University Preview 2
Stanford is 13-10 on the year and 6-6 in conference, most recently having beat WSU on the road. UW lost a nail biter in a terribly played game by the Huskies.
Stanford runs a 9 to 10 man rotation with 6 players getting 20+ minutes a game.
Stanford is led by Jeremy Green, a solid 6-4 guard who took the backseat last season to Landry Fields. He is currently leading the team in scoring with 15.3 points per game. Green is a good shooter with a nice outside shot, currently 61 of 145 (42.1%) on the year. Green averages 32 minutes per outing. He also averages 1.2 assist per game and 2.0 turnovers per game.
Aaron Bright, 5-11, is putting up 2.1 assists and 1.1 turnovers, while Jarrett Mann is sitting at 3.7 assists and 2.4 turnovers per game.
Josh Owens is a solid 6-8 forward/center who is second in scoring at 11.4 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game, 1st on the team.
Dwight Powell is the last starter for the Cardinals. At 6-9 and 227lbs he is a fairly big forward and is third on the team in scoring with 9.0 points per game and second in rebounding at 4.9 boards per game. As a team the Cardinals grab 35 rebounds per game.
Perhaps the most telling stat is that Stanford averages 2 more turnovers than they do assists. They also shoot free throws as terribly as us with both Stanford and UW shooting 66.7% on the year.
Starting Line Up Predictions
Stanford
Aaron Bright 5-11 175lb G
Jarrett Mann 6-4 190lb G
Jeremy Green 6-4 198lb G
Josh Owens 6-8 230lb F/C
Dwight Powell 6-9 227lb F
Washington
Isaiah Thomas 5-9 185lb G
Scott Suggs 195lb G
Justin Holiday 6-6 185lb F
Matthew Bryan-Amaning 6-9 240lb F
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb C
Keys to the Game
Rebounding
UW did a great job against Cal cleaning the glass. MBA has been a monster in the post all conference season and Aziz is shaping up pretty well. Terrence Ross, Holiday, and I.T. have been great supporting members and Darnell Gant has done a great job stepping his game up.
Passing
UW plays its best game when they are dishing the ball out and finding the open shot instead of forcing it. With Isaiah averaging nearly 5.9 assists per game its easy to see why our team has been so solid. Overton is also performing quite well with 3.6 per game and an assist/turnover ratio of 3.2. These two begin the attack, but without the support of our wings the ball doesn't move as well. This is where Holiday, Ross, Wilcox, Suggs, and even Gant and MBA come in. They don't necessarily need to get the assist, but the better they pass around and use their field vision to find open shots, the better we are.
Ross had 6 assists in the last game. Very nice.
Perimeter Defense
Jeremy Green is a good shooter. Powell shows potential. Anthony Brown and Aaron Bright both have legit shots. UW cannot afford to let them get hot. With 3 or 4 good outside shooters it is important to move our feet well, transition off of screens, and get a hand in their face. Prevent the outside shot and prevent Green from lighting us up. That's where our defensive game plan should start. Man to Man all the way.
Free Throws
Stanford is a terrible free throw shooting team like us. Bright and Green are their best FT shooters. Keep them off the line and make our shots and the game will have one less way for Stanford to stay in it. We have had problems getting to the line this year, something the Dawgs thrived on in '08-'09. Each one is big and that makes them extremely important whether we are up a bunch or in a close game. In our last game we only attempted 7 free throws to Cal's 37, absurd. How 'bout some home cooking refs?
Work the Post
With MBA riding a hot streak and Aziz drawing all sorts of pressure, an inside out game plan is a great basis for our starting attack. MBA and Aziz don't need to take the shot, but if they at least get a look or two and are able to move the defense about our perimeter shooters will have an easier time of getting into open space. Also look for I.T. and Overton to drive the lane and create space that way.
Final Thoughts
UW has some vengeance to exact after the 2 point loss on the road. After crushing Cal so solidly it looks like UW has returned to its winning ways, but anything could happen. With the home crowd behind them the Dawgs are unstoppable. Sadly, we have to play places other than Hec Ed so the real question answerer will not be this game, it'll be on the road at Arizona. Win that and get respect and seeding. Lose and show weakness. This game is huge because a loss at home will kill all title hopes and makes us a bubble team, no doubt.
Final Score Prediction
UW-95 Stanford-70
Stanford runs a 9 to 10 man rotation with 6 players getting 20+ minutes a game.
Stanford is led by Jeremy Green, a solid 6-4 guard who took the backseat last season to Landry Fields. He is currently leading the team in scoring with 15.3 points per game. Green is a good shooter with a nice outside shot, currently 61 of 145 (42.1%) on the year. Green averages 32 minutes per outing. He also averages 1.2 assist per game and 2.0 turnovers per game.
Aaron Bright, 5-11, is putting up 2.1 assists and 1.1 turnovers, while Jarrett Mann is sitting at 3.7 assists and 2.4 turnovers per game.
Josh Owens is a solid 6-8 forward/center who is second in scoring at 11.4 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game, 1st on the team.
Dwight Powell is the last starter for the Cardinals. At 6-9 and 227lbs he is a fairly big forward and is third on the team in scoring with 9.0 points per game and second in rebounding at 4.9 boards per game. As a team the Cardinals grab 35 rebounds per game.
Perhaps the most telling stat is that Stanford averages 2 more turnovers than they do assists. They also shoot free throws as terribly as us with both Stanford and UW shooting 66.7% on the year.
Starting Line Up Predictions
Stanford
Aaron Bright 5-11 175lb G
Jarrett Mann 6-4 190lb G
Jeremy Green 6-4 198lb G
Josh Owens 6-8 230lb F/C
Dwight Powell 6-9 227lb F
Washington
Isaiah Thomas 5-9 185lb G
Scott Suggs 195lb G
Justin Holiday 6-6 185lb F
Matthew Bryan-Amaning 6-9 240lb F
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb C
Keys to the Game
Rebounding
UW did a great job against Cal cleaning the glass. MBA has been a monster in the post all conference season and Aziz is shaping up pretty well. Terrence Ross, Holiday, and I.T. have been great supporting members and Darnell Gant has done a great job stepping his game up.
Passing
UW plays its best game when they are dishing the ball out and finding the open shot instead of forcing it. With Isaiah averaging nearly 5.9 assists per game its easy to see why our team has been so solid. Overton is also performing quite well with 3.6 per game and an assist/turnover ratio of 3.2. These two begin the attack, but without the support of our wings the ball doesn't move as well. This is where Holiday, Ross, Wilcox, Suggs, and even Gant and MBA come in. They don't necessarily need to get the assist, but the better they pass around and use their field vision to find open shots, the better we are.
Ross had 6 assists in the last game. Very nice.
Perimeter Defense
Jeremy Green is a good shooter. Powell shows potential. Anthony Brown and Aaron Bright both have legit shots. UW cannot afford to let them get hot. With 3 or 4 good outside shooters it is important to move our feet well, transition off of screens, and get a hand in their face. Prevent the outside shot and prevent Green from lighting us up. That's where our defensive game plan should start. Man to Man all the way.
Free Throws
Stanford is a terrible free throw shooting team like us. Bright and Green are their best FT shooters. Keep them off the line and make our shots and the game will have one less way for Stanford to stay in it. We have had problems getting to the line this year, something the Dawgs thrived on in '08-'09. Each one is big and that makes them extremely important whether we are up a bunch or in a close game. In our last game we only attempted 7 free throws to Cal's 37, absurd. How 'bout some home cooking refs?
Work the Post
With MBA riding a hot streak and Aziz drawing all sorts of pressure, an inside out game plan is a great basis for our starting attack. MBA and Aziz don't need to take the shot, but if they at least get a look or two and are able to move the defense about our perimeter shooters will have an easier time of getting into open space. Also look for I.T. and Overton to drive the lane and create space that way.
Final Thoughts
UW has some vengeance to exact after the 2 point loss on the road. After crushing Cal so solidly it looks like UW has returned to its winning ways, but anything could happen. With the home crowd behind them the Dawgs are unstoppable. Sadly, we have to play places other than Hec Ed so the real question answerer will not be this game, it'll be on the road at Arizona. Win that and get respect and seeding. Lose and show weakness. This game is huge because a loss at home will kill all title hopes and makes us a bubble team, no doubt.
Final Score Prediction
UW-95 Stanford-70
Friday, January 14, 2011
Stanford Univeristy Review Part 2
Now that I have had some time to reflect and try to take in exactly what happened I can offer a little more review of the game.
This was probably our poorest performance of the year. We shot 36% from the field. That is horrendous. MBA only attempted one shot in the second half and blew it. It was a point blank, 3 footer that should go in 100% of the time. Aziz is also guilty of missing a close and easy shot.
What killed us was free throw shooting. Free throws win close ball games. Free throws win close ball games. Free throws win close ball games. What happened? Holiday missed his free throw. He was not the only one. MBA went 2-4. Overton missed the front end of a 1 and 1. I.T. missed one. Right there you miss out for sure on 3 points and if Overton converts the front end you have 5 missed points. Make your free throws, win games. Simple.
We rebounded great. By we I mean Aziz and MBA. Holiday had a few clutch boards as did Suggs. Ross added 4. 33-26 is a good night normally, but when you can't make a shot to save your life it doesn't do a whole lot of good. They also missed out on several key defensive boards that led to Stanford put backs and tip ins including the game winner.
What happened to our bench? Sure Suggs hit a huge 3 pointer, but he led the bench with 6 points. I'm not expecting 10+ point performances from everyone, but scoring more than 13 points between the 4 of them would be nice.
Our bigs are still fouling like no other. Darnell Gant had 3, MBA had 3, Aziz had 4. The first half they did a pretty good job of not fouling. They second half they picked up a ton. This gave Stanford 21 attempts to our 12. They hit 8 more free throws than we did. Take away two of those and its a tie game. Stanford made their free throws, they won the game. (66% vs 50%, neither number is great, but the higher percentage won out. Surprising....)
Holiday lit it up the second half after going 0-5 in the first. As a senior, he should have made those free throws or at least the front end to give us a chance. Sure it worked out in a way that he missed and we had another shot, but a free throw is a high percentage shot. Holiday was shooting at an 80% clip. He is a senior. He may not come in to mind immediately as the clutch free throw shooter, but he shoots 80% so why not. Disappointing way to end the game.
We were terrible handling the ball. I don't know how many times I heard us pass away the ball or fail to convert on a nice pass and easy basket. 14 turnovers to 11 assists is not how the Huskies play. They let Stanford control the pace and fell into their hands.
No point in doing player reviews as Aziz, Holiday, IT, and maybe MBA were the only players who had decent games. Aziz did exactly what he was supposed to. Rebound, rebound, rebound, and rebound. He scored a few points and missed one easy shot, but he did his job. Holiday, while he had a terrible first half, was critical in us taking an 11 point lead that we proceeded to blow. He missed his last second free throws and shot attempt, but you can't blame one player for a lost game, especially when there were so many open opportunities that were blown. IT had 7 assists and should have had at least two more if not for missed lay-ins and easy conversions. He had 4 turnovers as well, but like I said when you factor in his assists and how many he should have had it is easy to ignore. Say he finished with 10 assists instead of 7, an A/T ratio of 2.5 is great. Other than IT, no one added more than 1 assist. MBA scored 8 and had 7 rebounds, but attempting only one shot in the second half and blowing it is terrible. Its hard to tell if he was getting the ball (Thanks FSN...), but if he was he needs to create more opportunities. After averaging a double double in the first 4 conference games he should be getting shots and making them. The rebounding was nice, but we needed more production from him.
So what does this mean for the Huskies? In the long run, hopefully not much. They can still go 17-1, which is fantastic. Sunday's game is a sort of must win for the Huskies as we play second ranked Arizona at home next week. Arizona is a half game back at 3-1, while we are at 4-1. Losing to Cal puts them up half a game if I have done my calculations correctly. On the plus side, we didn't surprise a fair amount of people by losing this one. We have only won twice in the last 17 years at Stanford and those both came in the last two seasons. Cal is always a tough road game as well, but the Dawgs need to take this loss to heart and realize they have to play their best each and every game. Down year or not the Pac-10 is always tough and being the only ranked team and favorite to win the conference puts a big target on your back.
By no means does this loss mean we need to win the Pac-10 tournament to go to the NCAA, but it does not help our seeding. If we can get the split by winning Sunday we should see our seeding remain level and probably our ranking move a spot or two either way depending on who wins and loses. I don't really care about the ranking, but its nice to have and is great for getting recruits.
Heads up Dawgs. Get focused. Get the wins.
This was probably our poorest performance of the year. We shot 36% from the field. That is horrendous. MBA only attempted one shot in the second half and blew it. It was a point blank, 3 footer that should go in 100% of the time. Aziz is also guilty of missing a close and easy shot.
What killed us was free throw shooting. Free throws win close ball games. Free throws win close ball games. Free throws win close ball games. What happened? Holiday missed his free throw. He was not the only one. MBA went 2-4. Overton missed the front end of a 1 and 1. I.T. missed one. Right there you miss out for sure on 3 points and if Overton converts the front end you have 5 missed points. Make your free throws, win games. Simple.
We rebounded great. By we I mean Aziz and MBA. Holiday had a few clutch boards as did Suggs. Ross added 4. 33-26 is a good night normally, but when you can't make a shot to save your life it doesn't do a whole lot of good. They also missed out on several key defensive boards that led to Stanford put backs and tip ins including the game winner.
What happened to our bench? Sure Suggs hit a huge 3 pointer, but he led the bench with 6 points. I'm not expecting 10+ point performances from everyone, but scoring more than 13 points between the 4 of them would be nice.
Our bigs are still fouling like no other. Darnell Gant had 3, MBA had 3, Aziz had 4. The first half they did a pretty good job of not fouling. They second half they picked up a ton. This gave Stanford 21 attempts to our 12. They hit 8 more free throws than we did. Take away two of those and its a tie game. Stanford made their free throws, they won the game. (66% vs 50%, neither number is great, but the higher percentage won out. Surprising....)
Holiday lit it up the second half after going 0-5 in the first. As a senior, he should have made those free throws or at least the front end to give us a chance. Sure it worked out in a way that he missed and we had another shot, but a free throw is a high percentage shot. Holiday was shooting at an 80% clip. He is a senior. He may not come in to mind immediately as the clutch free throw shooter, but he shoots 80% so why not. Disappointing way to end the game.
We were terrible handling the ball. I don't know how many times I heard us pass away the ball or fail to convert on a nice pass and easy basket. 14 turnovers to 11 assists is not how the Huskies play. They let Stanford control the pace and fell into their hands.
No point in doing player reviews as Aziz, Holiday, IT, and maybe MBA were the only players who had decent games. Aziz did exactly what he was supposed to. Rebound, rebound, rebound, and rebound. He scored a few points and missed one easy shot, but he did his job. Holiday, while he had a terrible first half, was critical in us taking an 11 point lead that we proceeded to blow. He missed his last second free throws and shot attempt, but you can't blame one player for a lost game, especially when there were so many open opportunities that were blown. IT had 7 assists and should have had at least two more if not for missed lay-ins and easy conversions. He had 4 turnovers as well, but like I said when you factor in his assists and how many he should have had it is easy to ignore. Say he finished with 10 assists instead of 7, an A/T ratio of 2.5 is great. Other than IT, no one added more than 1 assist. MBA scored 8 and had 7 rebounds, but attempting only one shot in the second half and blowing it is terrible. Its hard to tell if he was getting the ball (Thanks FSN...), but if he was he needs to create more opportunities. After averaging a double double in the first 4 conference games he should be getting shots and making them. The rebounding was nice, but we needed more production from him.
So what does this mean for the Huskies? In the long run, hopefully not much. They can still go 17-1, which is fantastic. Sunday's game is a sort of must win for the Huskies as we play second ranked Arizona at home next week. Arizona is a half game back at 3-1, while we are at 4-1. Losing to Cal puts them up half a game if I have done my calculations correctly. On the plus side, we didn't surprise a fair amount of people by losing this one. We have only won twice in the last 17 years at Stanford and those both came in the last two seasons. Cal is always a tough road game as well, but the Dawgs need to take this loss to heart and realize they have to play their best each and every game. Down year or not the Pac-10 is always tough and being the only ranked team and favorite to win the conference puts a big target on your back.
By no means does this loss mean we need to win the Pac-10 tournament to go to the NCAA, but it does not help our seeding. If we can get the split by winning Sunday we should see our seeding remain level and probably our ranking move a spot or two either way depending on who wins and loses. I don't really care about the ranking, but its nice to have and is great for getting recruits.
Heads up Dawgs. Get focused. Get the wins.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Stanford Univeristy Review
UW-56 Stanford-58
We blew an 11 point lead in the second half. Trailed by 1 for the first time all year. Suggs tied it at 56 with a huge three. Stanford got a put back to go ahead with 25 left. Holiday went to the line with a chance to tie. Missed the front end. Intentionally missed the second. Stanford rebounded, but traveled. I.T. inbounded with 1.1 left. Holiday's shot game up short.
Hard to say much more than that. No TV coverage makes it near impossible to say what went on. We couldn't shoot and Stanford played it terribly boring slow ball that drives me mad. The Huskies played at that pace and got beat by it of course.
Aziz was a rebounding machine and Holiday was great in the second half minus the last minute where he missed everything. We had no bench production. Hell, we had no production outside Isaiah and Holiday. MBA only managed 8 and those came early. More turnovers than assists. IT had 7 of the 11. Aziz had 11 boards, MBA had 7. IT had 4 turnovers, MBA had 3.
Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn.
That slip up should not have happened. At all. 11 points, boys. Better take that to heart and learn to finish. Hit your free throws. Plain and simple.
That's all I have for you for now. Too frustrated to give a good report.
We blew an 11 point lead in the second half. Trailed by 1 for the first time all year. Suggs tied it at 56 with a huge three. Stanford got a put back to go ahead with 25 left. Holiday went to the line with a chance to tie. Missed the front end. Intentionally missed the second. Stanford rebounded, but traveled. I.T. inbounded with 1.1 left. Holiday's shot game up short.
Hard to say much more than that. No TV coverage makes it near impossible to say what went on. We couldn't shoot and Stanford played it terribly boring slow ball that drives me mad. The Huskies played at that pace and got beat by it of course.
Aziz was a rebounding machine and Holiday was great in the second half minus the last minute where he missed everything. We had no bench production. Hell, we had no production outside Isaiah and Holiday. MBA only managed 8 and those came early. More turnovers than assists. IT had 7 of the 11. Aziz had 11 boards, MBA had 7. IT had 4 turnovers, MBA had 3.
Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn.
That slip up should not have happened. At all. 11 points, boys. Better take that to heart and learn to finish. Hit your free throws. Plain and simple.
That's all I have for you for now. Too frustrated to give a good report.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Stanford University Preview
Stanford is 9-5 on the year and 2-1 in conference, most recently having lost 67-57 to Arizona on the road. The Huskies have now beat Stanford the past 6 times in a row over the last two years thanks to playing Stanford in the Pac-10 tournament both of those years.
UW is currently 4-0 in conference play for the first time since '84 and has won 11 straight conference games going back to last season, the most since the '53-'54 seasons.
Stanford runs a 9 to 10 man rotation with 6 players getting 20+ minutes a game.
Stanford is led by Jeremy Green, a solid 6-4 guard who took the backseat last season to Landry Fields. He is currently leading the team in scoring with 15.9 points per game. Green is a good shooter with a nice outside shot, currently 38 of 88 (43.2%) on the year. Green averages nearly 32 minutes per outing. He also averages 1 assist per game and 1.9 turnovers per game.
The starting Stanford guards combine for 5.5 turnovers and 6.7 assists per game. Aaron Bright, 5-11, is putting up 2.6 assists and 1.1 turnovers, while Jarrett Mann is sitting at 3.1 assists and 2.5 turnovers per game.
Josh Owens is a solid 6-8 forward/center who is second in scoring at 12.0 points per game and 6.4 rebounds per game, 1st on the team. Owens also leads the team in steals with 1.1 per game.
Dwight Powell is the last starter for the Cardinals. At 6-9 and 227lbs he is a fairly big forward and is third on the team in scoring with 8.8 points per game and second in rebounding at 4.2 boards per game. As a team the Cardinals grab 34.2 rebounds per game. Powell reminds me a bit of Gant in that he is 4 of 9 from range. He doesn't always take the long ball shot, but he makes a high percentage when he does. This makes him a dangerous assignment and potential x-factor if he has a great game.
Stanford has an 81-60 win over Virginia who UW beat 108-63 in Maui.
Perhaps the most telling stat is that Stanford averages 2 more turnovers than they do assists. They also shoot free throws as terribly as us with both Stanford and UW shooting 65.3% on the year.
Starting Line Up Predictions
Stanford
Aaron Bright 5-11 175lb G
Jarrett Mann 6-4 190lb G
Jeremy Green 6-4 198lb G
Josh Owens 6-8 230lb F/C
Dwight Powell 6-9 227lb F
Washington
Isaiah Thomas 5-9 185lb G
Venoy Overton 6-0 185lb G
Justin Holiday 6-6 185lb F
Matthew Bryan-Amaning 6-9 240lb F
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb C
Keys to the Game
Rebounding
MBA continues his conference domination in the post, averaging a double double with 17 points and 10 rebounds per game. In his last outing he went into beast mode and put up 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. I think he was channeling Marshawn Lynch. If he can continue to play that way and our team continues to support him, rebounding should be no problem. Josh Owens is a solid post player with an ability to get the ball off the glass. With Powell assisting and Andrew Zimmerman coming off the bench, our bigs will need to play hard. As an aside, I still get giddy every time I watch MBA throw down over Zimmerman and am quite anxious to see another.
Passing
UW plays its best game when they are dishing the ball out and finding the open shot instead of forcing it. With Isaiah averaging nearly 5 assists per game and has 26 assists in the last three games alone, its easy to see why our team has been so solid. Overton is also performing quite well with 4.2 per game and an assist/turnover ratio of 2.8. These two begin the attack, but without the support of our wings the ball doesn't move as well. This is where Holiday, Ross, Wilcox, Suggs, and even Gant and MBA come in. They don't necessarily need to get the assist, but the better they pass around and use their field vision to find open shots, the better we are.
Perimeter Defense
Jeremy Green is a good shooter. Powell shows potential. Anthony Brown and Aaron Bright both have 13 makes on 36 and 37 attempts respectfully. UW cannot afford to let them get hot like OSU was able to do in the first half against us. With 3 or 4 good outside shooters it is important to move our feet well, transition off of screens, and get a hand in their face. Prevent the outside shot and prevent Green from lighting us up. That's where our defensive game plan should start.
Free Throws
Stanford is a terrible free throw shooting team like us. Bright and Green are their best FT shooters and they shoot pretty well with Bright leading at 91% and Green near 80%. Keep them off the line and make our shots and the game will have one less way for Stanford to stay in it. We have had problems getting to the line this year, something the Dawgs thrived on in '08-'09. Each one is big and that makes them extremely important whether we are up a bunch or in a close game.
Work the Post
With MBA riding a hot streak and Aziz drawing all sorts of pressure, an inside out game plan is a great basis for our starting attack. MBA and Aziz don't need to take the shot, but if they at least get a look or two and are able to move the defense about our perimeter shooters will have an easier time of getting into open space. Also look for I.T. and Overton to drive the lane and create space that way.
Keep Their Head in the Game
With the off court issue currently going on, it is easy to see the Dawgs not being as focused as usual. They need to forget about everything outside the game as Stanford has been known to be a tricky arena for us. This SHOULD be an easy game and the Dawgs SHOULD outscore Stanford by 15 or more, BUT if they aren't focused and don't bring their A game the Huskies could easily slip up and drop this one. I don't want to see that happen, I don't foresee it happening, but there is always a chance.
Final Thoughts
Stanford doesn't bring a ton to the table, but they are an improving team and can be dangerous if we don't do our jobs. They played a semi close game with Arizona, losing by 10 on the road. Nothing to be ashamed of there, UA is a good team and road games are always tough. MBA and I.T. need to lead the attack and get our offense rolling early. Holiday and Overton need to create turnovers and get steals to get our transition game started. Our team runs really well and that's where we can best avoid Stanford's tough defense. It also brings the tempo onto our side as Stanford tends to be a slow, half court offense type of team.
Final Score Prediction
UW-85 Stanford-68
UW is currently 4-0 in conference play for the first time since '84 and has won 11 straight conference games going back to last season, the most since the '53-'54 seasons.
Stanford runs a 9 to 10 man rotation with 6 players getting 20+ minutes a game.
Stanford is led by Jeremy Green, a solid 6-4 guard who took the backseat last season to Landry Fields. He is currently leading the team in scoring with 15.9 points per game. Green is a good shooter with a nice outside shot, currently 38 of 88 (43.2%) on the year. Green averages nearly 32 minutes per outing. He also averages 1 assist per game and 1.9 turnovers per game.
The starting Stanford guards combine for 5.5 turnovers and 6.7 assists per game. Aaron Bright, 5-11, is putting up 2.6 assists and 1.1 turnovers, while Jarrett Mann is sitting at 3.1 assists and 2.5 turnovers per game.
Josh Owens is a solid 6-8 forward/center who is second in scoring at 12.0 points per game and 6.4 rebounds per game, 1st on the team. Owens also leads the team in steals with 1.1 per game.
Dwight Powell is the last starter for the Cardinals. At 6-9 and 227lbs he is a fairly big forward and is third on the team in scoring with 8.8 points per game and second in rebounding at 4.2 boards per game. As a team the Cardinals grab 34.2 rebounds per game. Powell reminds me a bit of Gant in that he is 4 of 9 from range. He doesn't always take the long ball shot, but he makes a high percentage when he does. This makes him a dangerous assignment and potential x-factor if he has a great game.
Stanford has an 81-60 win over Virginia who UW beat 108-63 in Maui.
Perhaps the most telling stat is that Stanford averages 2 more turnovers than they do assists. They also shoot free throws as terribly as us with both Stanford and UW shooting 65.3% on the year.
Starting Line Up Predictions
Stanford
Aaron Bright 5-11 175lb G
Jarrett Mann 6-4 190lb G
Jeremy Green 6-4 198lb G
Josh Owens 6-8 230lb F/C
Dwight Powell 6-9 227lb F
Washington
Isaiah Thomas 5-9 185lb G
Venoy Overton 6-0 185lb G
Justin Holiday 6-6 185lb F
Matthew Bryan-Amaning 6-9 240lb F
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb C
Keys to the Game
Rebounding
MBA continues his conference domination in the post, averaging a double double with 17 points and 10 rebounds per game. In his last outing he went into beast mode and put up 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. I think he was channeling Marshawn Lynch. If he can continue to play that way and our team continues to support him, rebounding should be no problem. Josh Owens is a solid post player with an ability to get the ball off the glass. With Powell assisting and Andrew Zimmerman coming off the bench, our bigs will need to play hard. As an aside, I still get giddy every time I watch MBA throw down over Zimmerman and am quite anxious to see another.
Passing
UW plays its best game when they are dishing the ball out and finding the open shot instead of forcing it. With Isaiah averaging nearly 5 assists per game and has 26 assists in the last three games alone, its easy to see why our team has been so solid. Overton is also performing quite well with 4.2 per game and an assist/turnover ratio of 2.8. These two begin the attack, but without the support of our wings the ball doesn't move as well. This is where Holiday, Ross, Wilcox, Suggs, and even Gant and MBA come in. They don't necessarily need to get the assist, but the better they pass around and use their field vision to find open shots, the better we are.
Perimeter Defense
Jeremy Green is a good shooter. Powell shows potential. Anthony Brown and Aaron Bright both have 13 makes on 36 and 37 attempts respectfully. UW cannot afford to let them get hot like OSU was able to do in the first half against us. With 3 or 4 good outside shooters it is important to move our feet well, transition off of screens, and get a hand in their face. Prevent the outside shot and prevent Green from lighting us up. That's where our defensive game plan should start.
Free Throws
Stanford is a terrible free throw shooting team like us. Bright and Green are their best FT shooters and they shoot pretty well with Bright leading at 91% and Green near 80%. Keep them off the line and make our shots and the game will have one less way for Stanford to stay in it. We have had problems getting to the line this year, something the Dawgs thrived on in '08-'09. Each one is big and that makes them extremely important whether we are up a bunch or in a close game.
Work the Post
With MBA riding a hot streak and Aziz drawing all sorts of pressure, an inside out game plan is a great basis for our starting attack. MBA and Aziz don't need to take the shot, but if they at least get a look or two and are able to move the defense about our perimeter shooters will have an easier time of getting into open space. Also look for I.T. and Overton to drive the lane and create space that way.
Keep Their Head in the Game
With the off court issue currently going on, it is easy to see the Dawgs not being as focused as usual. They need to forget about everything outside the game as Stanford has been known to be a tricky arena for us. This SHOULD be an easy game and the Dawgs SHOULD outscore Stanford by 15 or more, BUT if they aren't focused and don't bring their A game the Huskies could easily slip up and drop this one. I don't want to see that happen, I don't foresee it happening, but there is always a chance.
Final Thoughts
Stanford doesn't bring a ton to the table, but they are an improving team and can be dangerous if we don't do our jobs. They played a semi close game with Arizona, losing by 10 on the road. Nothing to be ashamed of there, UA is a good team and road games are always tough. MBA and I.T. need to lead the attack and get our offense rolling early. Holiday and Overton need to create turnovers and get steals to get our transition game started. Our team runs really well and that's where we can best avoid Stanford's tough defense. It also brings the tempo onto our side as Stanford tends to be a slow, half court offense type of team.
Final Score Prediction
UW-85 Stanford-68
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)