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last night's men's hoops game - 97fan - 11-13-2012

Did anyone here see the men's basketball game against CSU-Fullerton last night? There were a few items in the box score that jumped out at me.

First, John Gage only got 3 minutes of playing time. He had just one shot and one rebound. Last year Gage averaged 9 minutes per game, and his playing time figured to increase this season, with Josh Owens and Andrew Zimmermann graduating. Any idea why he got so little time last night?

Second, and maybe this is a related question, how did Andy Brown look? He put up a great stat sheet in 21 minutes of playing time. Eight points on 3-4 FG, 2-2 FT, plus 4 rebounds and 5 steals!!! I had given up on the guy after all the knee surgeries. Can he jump at all? Can he defend? Is he purely a post player now, or was he out on the perimeter? And finally, were his 21 minutes a gift from Dawkins because he grew up in a SoCal town near Fullerton, or did he earn the minutes? And did they come at Gage's expense?

Finally, the freshmen. Christian Sanders got 12 minutes of playing time, the most of the freshmen. Physically, does he look like he can contribute, or does he need a year in the weight room? Grant Verhoeven only got 1 minute on the court. Same question about him: physically, is he still a year away from contributing in the Pac-12? As others have noted, rebounding is likely to be this team's biggest weakness. If Verhoeven can't give the team 10-12 minutes per night, and at least hold his own on the boards, we may have to play small lineups for significant stretches of every game. That really worries me.

Re: last night's men's hoops game - Spiny_Norman - 11-13-2012

I watched the game on tv (thank you, Pac12 Network).  The 8:30 pm start time and general hoops apathy combined to kill attendance.  Almost entirely empty sections behind the baskets.  Crowd sounded smaller and quieter than a women's volleyball match.

Fullerton had quick guards and swingmen who consistently beat Stanford defenders off the dribble on the perimeter.  Gage would have been a big defensive liability.  Sanders on the other hand showed some flashes.  Reminded me of Lottich.  Quick up and down the court and played with some assertiveness.  I liked what I saw and hope to see more. 

Speaking of assertiveness on the court, it was a treat to see Andy Brown out there.  He was very active on both ends.  Stanford had a decided height advantage which it used to pound the offensive glass (14 offensive rebounds) and also put Fullerton in foul trouble.  Andy Brown has to be unique among any college athlete - he has sophomore eligibility (thanks to being awarded a 6th year because of the two years that he lost to injury) and is scheduled to graduate winter quarter.

Anthony Brown on the other hand was a cipher.  We have seen him play so well but other times he contributes nothing.  Consistent play from him would really help to elevate this team.  Also noteworthy - the offense really stalled when Aaron Bright was on the bench.  Randle not particularly effective as PG.  As goes Bright, so goes Stanford.



Re: last night's men's hoops game - Leftcoast - 11-13-2012

Quote:The 8:30 pm start time and general hoops apathy combined to kill attendance.  Almost entirely empty sections behind the baskets.  Crowd sounded smaller and quieter than a women's volleyball match.  - Spiny Norman

Drop the minimum Buck Cardinal Club per seat requirement and those seats would be snapped up!    I used to have two of those seats and  I dropped them (along with most of the folks near me) when they put in place the donation requirement.    I'd repurchase my old tix in a heartbeat if the Athletic Department would rethink that corrosive requirement.   

In my humble opinion adding a donor requirement for the "choice" mid-court seats was inevitable and probably wise.  Extending the donation requirement to the entire "lower bowl" was a big over reach on the department's part and killed the atmosphere at Maples.  (Yes, I believe this had a bigger impact then the Dawkins era winning percentage - the place has been a great place to nap through the first three quarters at the games I've recently begged tix to attend.)

Re: last night's men's hoops game - Hey - 11-13-2012

* Sanders was a lot quicker than I expected.  He's also confident.  He threw two no-look passes, they weren't very accurate though.

* Andy Brown hustles and is smart, loose balls always seem to find him.

* No clue what's up with Anthony Brown, so far he hasn't produced.

Re: last night's men's hoops game - LuckE2Bhere - 11-14-2012

I was the guy that Spiny seems to have seen behind one of those baskets ;-)  8:30pm start undoubtedly had a lot more to do with the attendance than the donation policy, as my son and his friend were 2 of the 3 kids I saw there in the second half.  Lefty - you could have easily walked up to the window and bought the cheapest seat in the house and sat pretty much wherever you wanted!

I would agree with most of Spiny's answers to 97fan's questions, and add that in his post-game interview (on the radio while driving home), JD referred to Andy Brown as a "glue" player and a "winner", whose contribution doesn't always show up on the stat sheet.  Sure hope he's right, and that Andy was still just getting back up to game speed last season, as it would be awesome to seem him put up stats like this consistently (G*d forbid "more" of that other stuff)!.  Couldn't be happier for a kid, personally!

Unfortunately, Anthony Brown was a starter who effectively failed to contribute.  Allen played a few minutes relatively early, but Verhoeven only came on for the last minute of scrub time.  On the other hand, Sanders was a very pleasant surprise...  I'd beg to differ with Big Brother on one of his no-look passes: a beautiful bounce pass which perfectly threaded the needle through the lane and gave someone (Huestis?) an easy dunk!  Sure hope that was a sign of things to come too :-)





Re: last night's men's hoops game - BobK - 11-14-2012

Ant Brown is recovering from a serios operation.  Give him a break and some time to get back into the flow. 

Sanders looked great.  Two fantastic passes. 

Re: last night's men's hoops game - LuckE2Bhere - 11-14-2012

While I certainly wouldn't wish ill health on anyone, I'm glad to hear that that was less than 100% of Anthony Brown.  He could prove to be a particularly valuable part of this rotation.