Exorcizing our Stanford demons ...

by Nestor on Dec 29, 2005 8:34 AM PST in Basketball

I wrote yesterday about how the Stanford game tonight at Pauley is a huge opportunity for Howland and our hoops program to shed some of the baggage we accumulated under Steve Lavin. DN has more skinny on this ugly streak in hoops:

Cardinal curse: Tonight the Bruins will try to start conference play on a winning note and also attempt to break a six-game losing streak against Stanford, with the last four losses coming by double digits.

Stanford has won eight of the past 10 against UCLA and has an eight-game winning streak over the Bruins at Pauley Pavilion. The Cardinal last lost on the Bruins' home court during the 1997-98 season, when Howland was leading Northern Arizona toward a NCAA Tournament appearance.

Thankfully unlike football when it comes to ending ugly streaks we have to pray for miracles or ungodlike performances from our talented student athletes to make up for mediocre coaching, in hoops we actually feel pretty good about our chances tonight at Pauley. UBB has more on this game in its usual stellar preview of tonight's game:

As a team, Stanford has not executed well on the offensive end. They are last in the Pac-10 with 40% FG and are shooting 3-pt shots at a low 29% - averaging only 4.1 3-pt FG made per game. In addition, Stanford is last in assists in the Pac-10.

In prior years, Stanford had always been known to play solid defense yet this year they rank ninth in the Pac-10 in total FG% defense at 45% and 3Pt FG defense at 39%; moreover, the Cardinal team is last in steals.

To add insult to a bad preseason, Cardinal junior forward Fred Washington will not play against the Bruins due to left knee tendinitis. Washington gave the Cardinals some athleticism and depth and will be missed.

The picture painted of Stanford's preseason is not a pretty one - it's no surprise they've started the year at 4-4. But whenever a team returns three senior starters like Haryasz, Grunfeld, and Hernandez - it will be a dangerous basketball game.

And considering Stanford's past winning ways at Pauley Pavilion - the Bruins will need to play a solid game tomorrow for the win.

Solid stuff. Make sure to read the whole piece. Who needs to pay for those stale previews from subscription sites when you get this kind of material via the blogosphere. Anyways ... moving on Katz also has a blurb on tonight's game, specifically chiming on Shipp's possible return to the lineup tonight:

Again ... I think it would be wise not to expect too much out of Josh. Let him settle in and get back into complete form over next 2-3 weeks. For now he is going to provide another solid option for Howland to tinker around his lineup. Can't wait till tipoff. This will be tonight's open thread. GO BRUINS.

Tweet Comment 8 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Must Win

This is a must win game. The team that I hate the most after USC is Stanford.

by 5214 on Dec 29, 2005 9:00 AM PST reply actions

Agreed ...

I really think we need to make a statement tonight in this game. Like I wrote we have lot of baggage to shed over Stanford. Now that it seems like we have all the chips in place (at least for tonight), we gotta make this happen.

by Nestor on Dec 29, 2005 9:02 AM PST up reply actions

Stanford and Cal

If we beat Stanford and Cal this week, we should make it into the top 10 in both polls, considering our record, our RPI, and SOS. Some of the top 10 teams right now are ranked nowhere near where UCLA is as far as these RPI and SOS rankings are concerned.

by ucla2k3 on Dec 29, 2005 10:46 AM PST reply actions

Wow ... what a start

Despite Ced's injury (does anyone have more update on this) we are off to a 20-3 start. Let's hope we can keep the pressure on!

by Nestor on Dec 29, 2005 8:00 PM PST reply actions

ced's injury

howland said it was a torn labrum and that he hopes ced will be back for the usc game depending on it they can strengthen the shoulder and ced's tolerance to pain. this is a pretty big loss but looks like we can compensate!

stop consuming and start living! www.crimethinc.com www.infoshop.org

by melumix on Dec 30, 2005 12:20 AM PST up reply actions

Stanford

THAT IS THE WAY WE PLAY BRUINS. THAT IS THE WAY WE PLAY. 71-54.

by 5214 on Dec 29, 2005 9:43 PM PST reply actions

Great win

Pretty impressive. Though, and this is not to take anything away from us, Stanford looked pretty darn shitty. It's going to be a long year for them.

A lot of pluses, including Shipp's return and good games from AA, Luc and Mata.

I'm hopeful Farmar's injury isn't that significant- especially since Collison had his second down game in a row. The offense just doesn't run that well without him.

by brewinTK on Dec 30, 2005 6:31 AM PST reply actions

Collison

may not have scored much, but I believe he handed out 9 assists. He was a little careless with the ball, but I'll take 9 assists from him any day. He did make some really nice passes.

GO BRUINS. HOOK 'EM HORNS.

by uclawarren on Dec 30, 2005 10:29 AM PST up reply actions