[JJJ]

I sort of feel like it's my duty to start the thread given we've won the last two. Set your DVRs if that's how you roll.

After eight games and 45 consecutive days in the state of California, Stanford is in the Pacific Northwest this week. The Cardinal will face Washington State in Pullman, Washington, Thursday night in its first Pac-12 road contest of the season.

BIG COMEBACKS LEAD TO SWEEP OF LA SCHOOLS
In two very entertaining games at Maples Pavilion this past week, Stanford erased multiple double-digit second-half deficits to earn wins over UCLA and USC.

Down by as many as 13 with nine minutes to go against UCLA, the Cardinal stormed back to tie the game on a Dorian Pickens three-pointer at the end of regulation. Stanford outscored the Bruins, 22-14, in two overtime sessions to pull out the victory. 

http://www.gostanford.com/news/2018/1/10...hwest.aspx

[JJJ]

I sort of feel like it's my duty to start the thread given we've won the last two. Set your DVRs if that's how you roll.

After eight games and 45 consecutive days in the state of California, Stanford is in the Pacific Northwest this week. The Cardinal will face Washington State in Pullman, Washington, Thursday night in its first Pac-12 road contest of the season.

BIG COMEBACKS LEAD TO SWEEP OF LA SCHOOLS
In two very entertaining games at Maples Pavilion this past week, Stanford erased multiple double-digit second-half deficits to earn wins over UCLA and USC.

Down by as many as 13 with nine minutes to go against UCLA, the Cardinal stormed back to tie the game on a Dorian Pickens three-pointer at the end of regulation. Stanford outscored the Bruins, 22-14, in two overtime sessions to pull out the victory. 

http://www.gostanford.com/news/2018/1/10...hwest.aspx

[2006alum]

I'll be really interested to see how this goes, and I'm hoping we've turned a corner. But believe it or not, we've only played one true away game, at Long Beach State, and we lost. We've also lost every game at a neutral site, which means we have yet to win away from Maples. Other than our upcoming game at Cal, this is our best shot an away win, given WSU's RPI of 123 (though we're even lower, at 145). If we don't come away with a win here, there's little reason to think we'll win our other away games, all of which are against teams (except Cal) with RPIs in the 15-66 range. Arizona St. and Arizona are actually good, UCLA and USC are solid and we barely beat them at home, and Colorado and Utah are especially hard away games (witness the Arizona schools' difficulty last weekend). Washington is also a tough place to play at. And we don't play the really mediocre Oregon schools away. So this is pretty crucial as a barometer for the rest of the season.

[2006alum]

I'll be really interested to see how this goes, and I'm hoping we've turned a corner. But believe it or not, we've only played one true away game, at Long Beach State, and we lost. We've also lost every game at a neutral site, which means we have yet to win away from Maples. Other than our upcoming game at Cal, this is our best shot an away win, given WSU's RPI of 123 (though we're even lower, at 145). If we don't come away with a win here, there's little reason to think we'll win our other away games, all of which are against teams (except Cal) with RPIs in the 15-66 range. Arizona St. and Arizona are actually good, UCLA and USC are solid and we barely beat them at home, and Colorado and Utah are especially hard away games (witness the Arizona schools' difficulty last weekend). Washington is also a tough place to play at. And we don't play the really mediocre Oregon schools away. So this is pretty crucial as a barometer for the rest of the season.

[washingtonismoney]

Close game so far, but can we ban the black numbers and red jerseys? They're illegible.

[washingtonismoney]

Close game so far, but can we ban the black numbers and red jerseys? They're illegible.

[TreesAndBirds]

Pickens with 19 still in first half.
Stanford down by 4.

[TreesAndBirds]

Pickens with 19 still in first half.
Stanford down by 4.

[BobK]

Not much defense once again.  12 turnovers a number of them are offensive fouls

Pickens with 19. 

We lead late then wazzu scored the last 8 or so

[BobK]

Not much defense once again.  12 turnovers a number of them are offensive fouls

Pickens with 19. 

We lead late then wazzu scored the last 8 or so

[washingtonismoney]

Daejon Davis slicing up the Wazzu D and Okpala is so tall and nimble for his position. The defense is...well, it's fun to watch the kids on offense.

Stanford takes the lead 56-55

[washingtonismoney]

Daejon Davis slicing up the Wazzu D and Okpala is so tall and nimble for his position. The defense is...well, it's fun to watch the kids on offense.

Stanford takes the lead 56-55

[washingtonismoney]

Stanford up 61-55. Just rolling: fast and confident. This looks like basketball the way Haase envisions it. Travis and da Silva are the biggest guys on the floor but the rebounding and rim protection is OK, and the team is so fluid on the offensive end that an OK defense gets the job done.

[washingtonismoney]

Stanford up 61-55. Just rolling: fast and confident. This looks like basketball the way Haase envisions it. Travis and da Silva are the biggest guys on the floor but the rebounding and rim protection is OK, and the team is so fluid on the offensive end that an OK defense gets the job done.

[washingtonismoney]

On defense, when faced with pick-and-rolls, they've been switching Okpala and da Silva sometimes. With that much length and height, it's a tough road for the offense to make hay against that matchup.

[washingtonismoney]

On defense, when faced with pick-and-rolls, they've been switching Okpala and da Silva sometimes. With that much length and height, it's a tough road for the offense to make hay against that matchup.

[washingtonismoney]

Humphrey's had some decent defensive moments but has looked over-eager on offense. Jacked up a bad contested three and then got called for goaltending on a putback.

Stanford up 63-58 with 9:20 left.

[washingtonismoney]

Humphrey's had some decent defensive moments but has looked over-eager on offense. Jacked up a bad contested three and then got called for goaltending on a putback.

Stanford up 63-58 with 9:20 left.

[TreesAndBirds]

We’re being out rebounded 24-18. Main stat we’re trailing in.

[TreesAndBirds]

We’re being out rebounded 24-18. Main stat we’re trailing in.

[washingtonismoney]

Wazzu has been playing quite poorly on offense -- turning the ball over all the time -- and Stanford isn't quite putting the game away. Lotta missed FTs. 64-58 w/ 7:28 left.

[washingtonismoney]

Wazzu has been playing quite poorly on offense -- turning the ball over all the time -- and Stanford isn't quite putting the game away. Lotta missed FTs. 64-58 w/ 7:28 left.

[washingtonismoney]

Stanford got up to a ten point lead, and now it's back down to 68-65. White missed an open three, took a bad contested three, and then got roasted on defense.

[washingtonismoney]

Stanford got up to a ten point lead, and now it's back down to 68-65. White missed an open three, took a bad contested three, and then got roasted on defense.

[TreesAndBirds]

Rebounding now 34-21 WSU. we are shooting much better than them.

[TreesAndBirds]

Rebounding now 34-21 WSU. we are shooting much better than them.

[washingtonismoney]

Stanford triumphs 79-70. In a satisfying way the win was a marginally better version of some of the early-season slop we saw when the team was struggling: a certain youthful volatility that ended with a good result. More thoughts later but some of the process stuff suggested a nascent dominant team in 2018-19 if, instead of small margins, Haase coaxes big boosts out of some of the young guns.

[washingtonismoney]

Stanford triumphs 79-70. In a satisfying way the win was a marginally better version of some of the early-season slop we saw when the team was struggling: a certain youthful volatility that ended with a good result. More thoughts later but some of the process stuff suggested a nascent dominant team in 2018-19 if, instead of small margins, Haase coaxes big boosts out of some of the young guns.

[81alum]

I watched the UCLA and USC games on replay, then watched tonight's game live.  That is a very impressive group of freshmen we have playing!  What an encouraging start to Pac 12 play for our men!

[81alum]

I watched the UCLA and USC games on replay, then watched tonight's game live.  That is a very impressive group of freshmen we have playing!  What an encouraging start to Pac 12 play for our men!

[TreesAndBirds]

We are tied for first, and if we hadnt blown the lead to cal....

But lets see how the rest of the weekend goes. UW lot better than WSU.

[TreesAndBirds]

We are tied for first, and if we hadnt blown the lead to cal....

But lets see how the rest of the weekend goes. UW lot better than WSU.

[BobK]

Excellent win and our first road win of the season.  We played very tough D in the second half which was great to see. 

[BobK]

Excellent win and our first road win of the season.  We played very tough D in the second half which was great to see. 

[washingtonismoney]

Excellent win and our first road win of the season.  We played very tough D in the second half which was great to see.

Not sure I agree with you there -- think a lot of it was Wazzu's frivolous treatment of the ball, lotta unforced turnovers. Which isn't bad per se, but not (in my opinion) exciting in of itself.

That said da Silva, Okpala, and Davis are all very exciting defensive prospects. A lot of length and quickness there. Offensively all are athletes and da Silva and Davis are good passers already. (Okpala might get there.) The question is their shooting, especially three point shooting. If they can space the floor more readily, the offense will be more consistent and dangerous -- and also they'll all get paid in the NBA.

[washingtonismoney]

Excellent win and our first road win of the season.  We played very tough D in the second half which was great to see.

Not sure I agree with you there -- think a lot of it was Wazzu's frivolous treatment of the ball, lotta unforced turnovers. Which isn't bad per se, but not (in my opinion) exciting in of itself.

That said da Silva, Okpala, and Davis are all very exciting defensive prospects. A lot of length and quickness there. Offensively all are athletes and da Silva and Davis are good passers already. (Okpala might get there.) The question is their shooting, especially three point shooting. If they can space the floor more readily, the offense will be more consistent and dangerous -- and also they'll all get paid in the NBA.

[PalmTree]

Caught just the last few minutes - great to see us hold them off and extend the lead again to finish.

Moved on to the Santa Clara - St Mary's game and am (pleasantly) surprised  to see Evan Fitzner, son of Mark, '78, getting good minutes in the 1H for the Gaels - he's a nice perimeter-oriented big, quicker on his feet than Dad was back in his day. I think we'd looked at him - not sure how his recruitment went or if he was interested, and didn't  know he wound up with the Gaels.

[PalmTree]

Caught just the last few minutes - great to see us hold them off and extend the lead again to finish.

Moved on to the Santa Clara - St Mary's game and am (pleasantly) surprised  to see Evan Fitzner, son of Mark, '78, getting good minutes in the 1H for the Gaels - he's a nice perimeter-oriented big, quicker on his feet than Dad was back in his day. I think we'd looked at him - not sure how his recruitment went or if he was interested, and didn't  know he wound up with the Gaels.

[winflop]

I was really happy with this win:
- 3 game conference win streak (something Dawkins maybe did once in 8 years)
- road win
- close win

I will pay more attention to where we are in pac12 standings after the first half of the conference season. After only 2.5 weekends it matters a lot who you have played.

But I think we are 9 wins from a ticket to the Big Dance.

[winflop]

I was really happy with this win:
- 3 game conference win streak (something Dawkins maybe did once in 8 years)
- road win
- close win

I will pay more attention to where we are in pac12 standings after the first half of the conference season. After only 2.5 weekends it matters a lot who you have played.

But I think we are 9 wins from a ticket to the Big Dance.