Any intel on Stanford?

[tommy]

Getting back on topic, some good news for Johnny and the Cardinal. Stanford demolished #10 Oregon at home tonight, 76-52. Probably the best win of his tenure. It comes on the heels of a 30 point win over Utah, so maybe things are looking up. Gotta take care of business now against the Beavers this weekend, or it'll really tarnish tonight's big win.

[sporthenry]

Well don't look now but Stanford just blew out Oregon 76-52. A top 10 win, which just looking at Stanford's schedule the past few years appears to be Dawkins' best win. Hopefully this will be the beginning of a nice little run for Stanford and they pretty much return everyone next year so hopefully we/I wrote Johnny D off a bit too soon.

[JasonEvans]

I hate to jinx it, but Stanford is really rolling. With 5 minutes left in the first half, they lead Arizona by 7... at Arizona.

They've won 3 in a row. Hold on in this game and they will be firmly in the NCAA tourney conversation.

-Jason "perhaps we all wrote JD's obit too early" Evans

[Tappan Zee Devil]

I hate to jinx it, but Stanford is really rolling. With 5 minutes left in the first half, they lead Arizona by 7... at Arizona.

They've won 3 in a row. Hold on in this game and they will be firmly in the NCAA tourney conversation.

-Jason "perhaps we all wrote JD's obit too early" Evans

Well, you've done it Jason. 27 - 26 at half time

[sporthenry]

Flicked on the game, Stanford's offense is pretty ugly at least in this 2nd half. Stanford will have a few more games to at least get in the discussion or save Johnny D's job. Have to take care of business and hope to win a few games like this, UCLA, at Oregon or at ASU to perhaps put themselves in the discussion.

[JasonEvans]

Arizona by 4, 3 minutes left. Sorry for the jinx, JD!!

[sporthenry]

Stanford was up 5 and let UA go on a 9-0 run. Cut it to 1 then lack of communication on D gave Lyons an open step back 3. Looks like Stanford is done in this game. Too many empty possessions on offense. It looks very disorganized.

Hopefully Stanford can recover from the loss b/c they went toe to toe with a top 10 team on the road but this could be one of those losses which the team can't shake going forward.

This game would have given Stanford its signature win but ASU might be more important to be another bubble team.

[tommy]

Down they go, 63-58. Big opportunity lost as the Cardinal just couldn't make the plays down the stretch and Zona's vets did.

[sporthenry]

Carrick Felix and ASU playing Stanford at ASU. Felix has 14/8. Stanford had a 49-34 lead that is now down to 7 at 56-49.

Big game b/c Stanford can't really afford many losses and ASU is right in the bubble position. Lunardi has them in and CBS has them as one of the first 4 out. So if Stanford gets on the bubble, this will be a big game.

[sporthenry]

Every time I flick on Stanford, they look ugly. Offense is motionless and they are keeping themselves in the game with defense but even that is aided by misses on wide open 3's and lay ups. Still 7 point lead with 3:19 left, have to close this game out.

I wonder what happens if Stanford continues to close out this year strong but fails to make the NCAAT. I know they had momentum by winning the NIT but came out this year very poorly. But with their whole team returning, I wonder/hope Johnny D gets another year but from what I can see, either his recruiting hasn't been great or his X's and O's leave a bit to be desired or he plays stall ball and I just watch at inopportune times.

[sporthenry]

Stanford escaped with a win but the end of these college basketball games are terrible this year. Missed 2 front end of 1 and 1's. Then get a jump ball up 3 with a timeout in hand that gives it back to ASU with a chance to tie. They miss, another jump ball so they have to inbound the ball with .7 seconds left. So what does the inbounder do? Instead of just throwing it to an open guy, chucks it the length of the court and it hits the scoreboard giving ASU the ball with .7 seconds left under Stanford's basket.

[sporthenry]

Stevens is a fabulous coach, no question about it. He gets the most out of his players and that is a huge part of being successful at any school.

That said, I would really like to see him recruit at a slightly higher level before handing him the keys to the Duke bus without any reservations. As near as I can tell, he is yet to sign a top 50 recruit at Butler. Heck, he has really only signed one top 100 recruit. He is an expert at finding diamonds in the rough -- kids who were not highly touted in high school but who blossom into better than expected collegiate players -- but I would love to see him at least occasionally pluck a kid who has a shot at being a Mickie Dee.

I think he has raised the program's profile to the point where he should be able to do that some time in the next few years.

--Jason "seeing as K ain't going anywhere for another 5+ years, there is plenty of time for Stevens to show he can recruit at the next level" Evans

Well just checking in on this thread. Stanford is on the bubble. CBS has Stanford on the first 4 out. RPI 57 and Kenpom 39 (ahead of teams like UNC, K-State, La Salle, Notre Dame, UCLA, and Oregon). They have to keep winning. Big games against UCLA, Oregon and Cal exist and probably can only afford to drop 1 of them.

But reason I bumped the quote is I was checking on Steven's recruiting. For the class of 2014, he is recruiting 2 top 60 ESPN recruits including Trevon Bluiett at 48 and Trey Lyles #1 PF and #5 overall. Reason Lyles is a big deal is that Stevens will be going against K (among others) for Lyle's services. So he is starting to go after some bigger fish. But if he becomes so successful recruiting at Butler, have to imagine he could build a program like Duke there and might not want to leave.

[JasonEvans]

The next few days are HUGE for Stanford. They have a pair of home games with USC and UCLA.

USC is #108 in the RPI. They are 6-5 in the Pac12, but the Trojans are not that good. Stanford already lost a game at USC earlier this year and really cannot afford to drop another to them. Stanford should be a favorite in this game, probably by 5-6 points or so. A loss would be a devastating blow to their tourney hopes.

UCLA (#40 in RPI) is a huge game because it could be another impressive win for Stanford. You never know what UCLA team will show up -- the one that lost to Arizona St (#67 in RPI), USC, and Cal-Poly (167) or the one that won road games at Arizona (8) and Colorado (18).

Stanford is currently #56 in the RPI. I know they are better in the Pomeroy rankings and that they have won 4-of-5, but they really need to continue the momentum. A pair of wins this week would be huge for them and come close to getting them a ticket to the dance. They still have games left against Oregon St and Utah, two of the Pac12 bottom-feeders, which should be wins. That would get them to 10 Pac12 wins which probably gets them to the Dance. But, it has to start this week. If they only go 1-1 in these games, they are going to need to beat better teams -- like Colorado, Oregon, or Cal -- to get to the 10 wins I think they need.

Stanford has only 1 senior, Gabriel Harris, and he is not a key player. They are loaded to the gills with juniors though -- 8 juniors, 5 of their top 6 scorers are juniors. If they can get to the dance this year and gain that experience, they could be primed for a very successful season next year. If Johnny can survive this season, he could be on the verge of really building something at Stanford.

--Jason "I couldn't be rooting harder for a guy than I am rooting for JD!" EVans

[JasonEvans]

The big USC game tips off in an hour. C'mon Cardinal!

-JE

[willywoody]

That was a very exciting high school game.

[sporthenry]

I think I might be bad luck for Stanford's offense. I have yet to see them have a good 5 minute stretch and they have a few guys who can't hit free throws let alone do anything else. Huestis couldn't miss and yet they went away from him. Randle started to come on and as good as Powell is, he almost reminds me a bit of McBob. He is very good but just doesn't seem to have those moves around the hoop to dominate. Often times seems to get stuck and can't play through the contact.

Tough loss and some of this one is on the coaching. Also went 4-12 from the FT stripe in a 1 point loss. And didn't get much of a shot off at the end of the game. Going to be an uphill battle for a tournament bid.

Huestis, Powell, and Randle are good players and the team should be good next year but Dawkins hasn't proved an exceptional X's and O's guy and without a big recruiting class on the horizon, it might be time to bring in an X's and O's guy to lead those guys.

[throatybeard]

I just saw the Pac12 standings. Not good news for JD. I hope he hangs on.

[sporthenry]

Well Stanford currently taking it to Cal on Cal's senior night. Impressive since Cal is a tournament team. Up 17 as we speak and hopefully I don't jinx it.

Stanford's story is a sad one. No bad losses (none over 101 RPI wise) and most of their losses have been close. Looked at kenpom and that backed my theory up, they are 326 in luck which means their record should be much better. 4 Pac 12 losses by 6 points including Colorado and Oregon which would be somewhat signature wins.

The team really grew with Huestis, Rnadle, and Powell. If Johnny D gets one more year, I can't see this team not making the tournament but I haven't been completely impressed with his X's and O's (although I admit I don't know enough of their players to know if its personnel or coaching) and without a great recruiting class, it might be time to make a change so the new coach can have a good first season.

ETA: And the standings don't really tell the whole story. Stanford is 9th but the difference between 9th and 10th is 4.5 games. That is the same difference between 1st and 9th.

[Henderson]

The next few days are HUGE for Stanford. They have a pair of home games with USC and UCLA.

UCLA (#40 in RPI) is a huge game because it could be another impressive win for Stanford. You never know what UCLA team will show up -- the one that lost to Arizona St (#67 in RPI), USC, and Cal-Poly (167) or the one that won road games at Arizona (8) and Colorado (18).

After what UCLA did at Washington State tonight, a Stanford loss to UCLA would cue up the funeral dirge for JD's season this year. UCLA's RPI is going down like an elevator with a severed cable. WSU is a truly horrible team. Even for the Pac-12.

[sporthenry]

After what UCLA did at Washington State tonight, a Stanford loss to UCLA would cue up the funeral dirge for JD's season this year. UCLA's RPI is going down like an elevator with a severed cable. WSU is a truly horrible team. Even for the Pac-12.

Well they already lost to UCLA, but UCLA's RPI isn't going to suffer that much. In fact, does it change at all b/c of the game? 50% of RPI is derived from opponent's winning % which actually went up with a win versus UCLA and 25% is both your record and your opponents opponents record. So it seems like each individual game is a wash but I could be wrong.

But UCLA isn't in terrible shape and they won't go down like an elevator. No different than KU losing to TCU (and looking at Kenpom it is actually a much better loss).