A weekend at home against the bottom-dwelling Washington schools is generally regarded as a schedule break of sorts for Pacific-10 Conference men?s basketball teams. But for No. 24 Stanford (17-6, 8-3 Pac-10), this weekend?s games are unusually meaningful.
On its January road trip to the Apple State, the Cardinal needed overtime to put away the Cougars (5-15, 0-11) and was upset by a tenacious and talkative Huskies squad (8-12, 3-8). That didn?t sit too well with Stanford.
?If there?s any team in the Pac-10 that I dislike the most, it?s Washington,? sophomore swingman Josh Childress said. ?They talk a lot of trash. They talk like they?re a top-notch team.?
The Huskies used their speed and athleticism to draw the Cardinal into foul trouble and force turnovers. Stanford couldn?t quite keep up as senior guard Julius Barnes and junior guard Matt Lottich spent much of the second half on the bench and junior forward Justin Davis sat out due to injury.
Meanwhile, Washington guards Will Conroy and Nate Robinson torched the Cardinal for 32 points on 11-for-16 shooting.
?[Robinson] might be their best player,? Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said. ?He?s come in [as a freshman] and done a fantastic job. He?s full of confidence and he?s very athletic.?
Stanford itself has been buoyed by great guard play lately, but its post play has suffered. Center Rob Little has scored just 13 points in the last three games.
?The last couple games, our guards have taken the bulk of the shots, and there?s been an emphasis [in practice] on getting the ball inside,? Lottich said.
Added junior center Joe Kirchofer: ?It?s not that we?re playing badly, just that there?s been an imbalance.?
The Huskies? backcourt of Conroy and Robinson and the Cougars? outstanding shooting guard Marcus Moore will command a lot of attention and energy on the defensive end from Barnes and Lottich. And, neither the Huskies nor the Cougars are particularly strong in the post, so Stanford hopes to exploit its size inside and take some heat off of its guards.
Doug Wrenn, Washington?s best big man, averaged 19.5 points per game last season, but this year has been a disappointment, seeing his average fall to 12.8. His lack of production has been filled by Conroy, who leads the team with 13.3 points per game and shoots 45.1 percent from 3-point range, and Robinson, who chips in 12.2 points per game.
Moore, a 6-6 junior, leads the perimeter-oriented Cougars in points (19.3 per game), rebounds (5.9) and assists (4.5). The only other Cougar averaging double digits is quasi-point guard Thomas Kelati, a 3-point specialist, at 10.8 ppg. Washington State launches 39.3 percent of its shots from behind the arc.
The Cardinal isn?t overlooking Washington State, despite its winless conference record. The Cougars held a 14-point halftime lead in the squads? first meeting before the Cardinal took off on an 18-0 second-half run. The Cougars were devastated by the loss, but Stanford remains a little wary.
?[The team is] aware that both these teams are capable of beating us,? Montgomery said.
Added Lottich: ?Both these teams gave us a tough go up there . . . I guess this is a little bit of payback for us.?
Despite having an ax to grind with its foes this weekend, Stanford is glad to be home after two weeks on the road.
?Two road trips in a row wears on you,? Kirchofer said. ?It?s nice to be back home and calm down a little.?
During its two weeks on the road, Stanford won three out of four, including an upset of top-ranked Arizona, losing only to Oregon.
?We were pretty happy,? Childress said. ?Obviously you want to capitalize in that Oregon game, but we played hard, worked hard, and that?s all you can ask for.?
The Cardinal will take on the Huskies tonight at 7 p.m. and the Cougars at 2 p.m. Saturday.
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WASHU:
Two overtime losses, no victories.
After losing two consecutive games to Arizona and Arizona State, the Huskies have a huge hill to climb with two obstacles in front of them: missing Anthony Washington and playing away from home.
Now, the Huskies will have to travel to the Bay Area schools in two games that are crucial to their appearance in the 2003 Pac-10 tournament.
?Right now, my thoughts are we?ve got to get our guys to continue to believe,? said coach Lorenzo Romar. ?It would be really easy to think we gave it everything and came up empty.?
After these exhausting defeats, the Huskies will have to find hunger and motivation to play well after sleeping in hotel beds. And to make matters more challenging, the Huskies play their final five of seven games on the road, beginning tonight with No. 25 Stanford.
Not only do they want to beat the Huskies after losing to them in Seattle, the Cardinal are hot, winning eight of their past 10 games, including a rare victory over Arizona in Tuscon.
But the Huskies are 1-7 away from Seattle this season, with the lone road win coming against non-conference-opponent Santa Clara.
?It?s going to be a challenge, not only to get us back on an emotional level where we are ready to go back out there and play at a high level,? said Romar, ?but it is also going to be a challenge because we are going on the road again and we have not done well on the road.?
When past losing streaks occurred, like on the road against the Arizona and Oregon schools, the Huskies found moral victories and progress within their overall play ? either individual big men showed progress or the young guards looked better running Romar?s system.
But the latest losses were simply a couple bounces away.
Both games were in their grasp with chances to win in regulation and overtime, but there were no dice and no moral victories because the Huskies ended up on the sour side of chance. And when the big men started jelling as a whole, the Huskies had to sustain a loss at that position as well.
Both overtime losses were played without 6-foot-9 freshman center Anthony Washington, who would have definitely helped the cause against the Wildcats and Sun Devils with his averages: 3.3 points and 3.2 rebound per game.
Washington watched both Arizona schools win from the bench with a brace on his foot, and it is unclear when he will suit up again.
But it is clear that the Huskies will have to step up in his absence, especially guys at the forward positions. Fellow freshmen Bobby Jones and Mike Jensen combined to average 16 points and 10 rebounds in the games without Washington.
Keeping the freshmen?s aggressive style of play alive will be essential heading to face Stanford at Maples Pavilion today.
?Anthony is a huge loss for us in the post; he?s got a 7-foot-2 wingspan and he?s a big body with great athleticism,? said Jensen. ?I have to now grab more rebounds, block a couple more shots and try to be more intimidating force down low.
?We have a lot of young players on the court, and a lot of players are trying to find their roles. But we are three-quarters of the way through the Pac-10 season and the learning is done now; we have been playing games a long time now and we need to get W?s.?
With the Huskies looking distraught after the close-but-no-cigar games against the tough Arizona schools, they will have to regroup and focus on these upcoming seven games.
To even have a chance to get in the Pac-10 tournament, they will need to win at least three of the seven games. A road win over UCLA is much-needed; the Bruins beat the Huskies 77-67 in early January and hold the tiebreaker.
As of today, the Huskies and Bruins are tied for the eighth and final place in the Pac-10 tournament.
So playing good basketball on the road means everything to the Huskies from here on out.
?We have to believe in each other,? Will Conroy said about the upcoming trip. ?And, of course, believe we can get it done.?
On its January road trip to the Apple State, the Cardinal needed overtime to put away the Cougars (5-15, 0-11) and was upset by a tenacious and talkative Huskies squad (8-12, 3-8). That didn?t sit too well with Stanford.
?If there?s any team in the Pac-10 that I dislike the most, it?s Washington,? sophomore swingman Josh Childress said. ?They talk a lot of trash. They talk like they?re a top-notch team.?
The Huskies used their speed and athleticism to draw the Cardinal into foul trouble and force turnovers. Stanford couldn?t quite keep up as senior guard Julius Barnes and junior guard Matt Lottich spent much of the second half on the bench and junior forward Justin Davis sat out due to injury.
Meanwhile, Washington guards Will Conroy and Nate Robinson torched the Cardinal for 32 points on 11-for-16 shooting.
?[Robinson] might be their best player,? Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said. ?He?s come in [as a freshman] and done a fantastic job. He?s full of confidence and he?s very athletic.?
Stanford itself has been buoyed by great guard play lately, but its post play has suffered. Center Rob Little has scored just 13 points in the last three games.
?The last couple games, our guards have taken the bulk of the shots, and there?s been an emphasis [in practice] on getting the ball inside,? Lottich said.
Added junior center Joe Kirchofer: ?It?s not that we?re playing badly, just that there?s been an imbalance.?
The Huskies? backcourt of Conroy and Robinson and the Cougars? outstanding shooting guard Marcus Moore will command a lot of attention and energy on the defensive end from Barnes and Lottich. And, neither the Huskies nor the Cougars are particularly strong in the post, so Stanford hopes to exploit its size inside and take some heat off of its guards.
Doug Wrenn, Washington?s best big man, averaged 19.5 points per game last season, but this year has been a disappointment, seeing his average fall to 12.8. His lack of production has been filled by Conroy, who leads the team with 13.3 points per game and shoots 45.1 percent from 3-point range, and Robinson, who chips in 12.2 points per game.
Moore, a 6-6 junior, leads the perimeter-oriented Cougars in points (19.3 per game), rebounds (5.9) and assists (4.5). The only other Cougar averaging double digits is quasi-point guard Thomas Kelati, a 3-point specialist, at 10.8 ppg. Washington State launches 39.3 percent of its shots from behind the arc.
The Cardinal isn?t overlooking Washington State, despite its winless conference record. The Cougars held a 14-point halftime lead in the squads? first meeting before the Cardinal took off on an 18-0 second-half run. The Cougars were devastated by the loss, but Stanford remains a little wary.
?[The team is] aware that both these teams are capable of beating us,? Montgomery said.
Added Lottich: ?Both these teams gave us a tough go up there . . . I guess this is a little bit of payback for us.?
Despite having an ax to grind with its foes this weekend, Stanford is glad to be home after two weeks on the road.
?Two road trips in a row wears on you,? Kirchofer said. ?It?s nice to be back home and calm down a little.?
During its two weeks on the road, Stanford won three out of four, including an upset of top-ranked Arizona, losing only to Oregon.
?We were pretty happy,? Childress said. ?Obviously you want to capitalize in that Oregon game, but we played hard, worked hard, and that?s all you can ask for.?
The Cardinal will take on the Huskies tonight at 7 p.m. and the Cougars at 2 p.m. Saturday.
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WASHU:
Two overtime losses, no victories.
After losing two consecutive games to Arizona and Arizona State, the Huskies have a huge hill to climb with two obstacles in front of them: missing Anthony Washington and playing away from home.
Now, the Huskies will have to travel to the Bay Area schools in two games that are crucial to their appearance in the 2003 Pac-10 tournament.
?Right now, my thoughts are we?ve got to get our guys to continue to believe,? said coach Lorenzo Romar. ?It would be really easy to think we gave it everything and came up empty.?
After these exhausting defeats, the Huskies will have to find hunger and motivation to play well after sleeping in hotel beds. And to make matters more challenging, the Huskies play their final five of seven games on the road, beginning tonight with No. 25 Stanford.
Not only do they want to beat the Huskies after losing to them in Seattle, the Cardinal are hot, winning eight of their past 10 games, including a rare victory over Arizona in Tuscon.
But the Huskies are 1-7 away from Seattle this season, with the lone road win coming against non-conference-opponent Santa Clara.
?It?s going to be a challenge, not only to get us back on an emotional level where we are ready to go back out there and play at a high level,? said Romar, ?but it is also going to be a challenge because we are going on the road again and we have not done well on the road.?
When past losing streaks occurred, like on the road against the Arizona and Oregon schools, the Huskies found moral victories and progress within their overall play ? either individual big men showed progress or the young guards looked better running Romar?s system.
But the latest losses were simply a couple bounces away.
Both games were in their grasp with chances to win in regulation and overtime, but there were no dice and no moral victories because the Huskies ended up on the sour side of chance. And when the big men started jelling as a whole, the Huskies had to sustain a loss at that position as well.
Both overtime losses were played without 6-foot-9 freshman center Anthony Washington, who would have definitely helped the cause against the Wildcats and Sun Devils with his averages: 3.3 points and 3.2 rebound per game.
Washington watched both Arizona schools win from the bench with a brace on his foot, and it is unclear when he will suit up again.
But it is clear that the Huskies will have to step up in his absence, especially guys at the forward positions. Fellow freshmen Bobby Jones and Mike Jensen combined to average 16 points and 10 rebounds in the games without Washington.
Keeping the freshmen?s aggressive style of play alive will be essential heading to face Stanford at Maples Pavilion today.
?Anthony is a huge loss for us in the post; he?s got a 7-foot-2 wingspan and he?s a big body with great athleticism,? said Jensen. ?I have to now grab more rebounds, block a couple more shots and try to be more intimidating force down low.
?We have a lot of young players on the court, and a lot of players are trying to find their roles. But we are three-quarters of the way through the Pac-10 season and the learning is done now; we have been playing games a long time now and we need to get W?s.?
With the Huskies looking distraught after the close-but-no-cigar games against the tough Arizona schools, they will have to regroup and focus on these upcoming seven games.
To even have a chance to get in the Pac-10 tournament, they will need to win at least three of the seven games. A road win over UCLA is much-needed; the Bruins beat the Huskies 77-67 in early January and hold the tiebreaker.
As of today, the Huskies and Bruins are tied for the eighth and final place in the Pac-10 tournament.
So playing good basketball on the road means everything to the Huskies from here on out.
?We have to believe in each other,? Will Conroy said about the upcoming trip. ?And, of course, believe we can get it done.?
