MBB : Stanford 70 -- Norfolk State 63

MBB : Stanford 70 -- Norfolk State 63 - Printable Version

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RE: MBB : vs. Norfolk State, 7:00 - MV72018 - 11-21-2024

I used to think that we played marshmallow pre-conference schedules in the Dawkins and Haase eras. But the softness of this season's pre-conf schedule is quite impressive. Result: we're 5-0 and have no clue whether this is a mediocre, decent, good, or excellent team. Kyle needs to book some high-quality opponents for pre-conf games next year. Looks to me like Santa Clara will be the least unchallenging opponent we will face this pre-conf season. Meh.

RE: MBB : vs. Norfolk State, 7:00 - SamuelMcF - 11-21-2024

(11-21-2024, 10:15 AM)MV72018 Wrote: I used to think that we played marshmallow pre-conference schedules in the Dawkins and Haase eras. But the softness of this season's pre-conf schedule is quite impressive. Result: we're 5-0 and have no clue whether this is a mediocre, decent, good, or excellent team. Kyle needs to book some high-quality opponents for pre-conf games next year. Looks to me like Santa Clara will be the least unchallenging opponent we will face this pre-conf season. Meh.

Oregon

RE: MBB : vs. Norfolk State, 7:00 - SkiBum80 - 11-21-2024

(11-21-2024, 10:15 AM)MV72018 Wrote: I used to think that we played marshmallow pre-conference schedules in the Dawkins and Haase eras. But the softness of this season's pre-conf schedule is quite impressive. Result: we're 5-0 and have no clue whether this is a mediocre, decent, good, or excellent team. Kyle needs to book some high-quality opponents for pre-conf games next year. Looks to me like Santa Clara will be the least unchallenging opponent we will face this pre-conf season. Meh.

I agree that we don't have a great idea yet of how good this team is.
But can we at least agree that Coach Smith has clearly moved it in the right direction of better defense and ball control?
The question remaining being how far?
As to the opponents, I assume Coach Smith had no say in this year's schedule, and would he have any in next year's or is it booked already?
Also I think UCD and Norfolk State were not patsys by any means, as they have a couple really good guards: Johnson, and Moore, respectively.
Looked to me that Moore might be a starter on most any Power conf school.

RE: MBB : vs. Norfolk State, 7:00 - MV72018 - 11-21-2024

(11-21-2024, 11:09 AM)SkiBum80 Wrote:
(11-21-2024, 10:15 AM)MV72018 Wrote: I used to think that we played marshmallow pre-conference schedules in the Dawkins and Haase eras. But the softness of this season's pre-conf schedule is quite impressive. Result: we're 5-0 and have no clue whether this is a mediocre, decent, good, or excellent team. Kyle needs to book some high-quality opponents for pre-conf games next year. Looks to me like Santa Clara will be the least unchallenging opponent we will face this pre-conf season. Meh.

I agree that we don't have a great idea yet of how good this team is.
But can we at least agree that Coach Smith has clearly moved it in the right direction of better defense and ball control?
The question remaining being how far?
As to the opponents, I assume Coach Smith had no say in this year's schedule, and would he have any in next year's or is it booked already?
Also I think UCD and Norfolk State were not patsys by any means, as they have a couple really good guards: Johnson, and Moore, respectively.
Looked to me that Moore might be a starter on most any Power conf school.

I agree that Kyle is doing a good job so far. In fact it's patently obvious.

(11-21-2024, 10:18 AM)SamuelMcF Wrote:
(11-21-2024, 10:15 AM)MV72018 Wrote: I used to think that we played marshmallow pre-conference schedules in the Dawkins and Haase eras. But the softness of this season's pre-conf schedule is quite impressive. Result: we're 5-0 and have no clue whether this is a mediocre, decent, good, or excellent team. Kyle needs to book some high-quality opponents for pre-conf games next year. Looks to me like Santa Clara will be the least unchallenging opponent we will face this pre-conf season. Meh.

Oregon

While Oregon will surely provide a challenge, I'd say the first semi-challenging game on this year's schedule is game 10 against Cal. That is our first official ACC men's basketball game and should be the first meaningful challenge. I regard this year's pre-conf schedule as the 9 games before we play the first conference game. Of those 9, Santa Clara (away) is probably our least unchallenging game. For the record, here's an ordered list of our first 9 opponents this pre-conf season (about a third of our season):

Denver
Cal State Fullerton
Northern Arizona
U.C. Davis
Norfolk State
Santa Clara
Grand Canyon
Cal Poly
Utah Valley

Not exactly murderers' row or anything close to that. Doesn't help prep us for tough opponents downstream.

RE: MBB : vs. Norfolk State, 7:00 - OCcardinal - 11-21-2024

Going back to 2021 we only have 1 season (2021) where we had more than 5 wins (6) in the first 9 games. But it also looks like this will be the first time since at least then that we hadn't scheduled any top 100 teams in those first 9 games (though Massey is volatile at this time of year). Nevertheless, we only won one of those top 100 games (#57 Oregon in 2021).

2024's 1st 9 opponent (Massey Rating, Result, Score):

Denver 249 W 85-62
CS Fullerton 220 W 80-53
Northern Arizona 229 W 90-64
UC Davis 139 W 79-64
Norfolk St 218 W 70-63
at Santa Clara 132
vs Grand Canyon 130
Cal Poly 207
Utah Valley 161

Here is 2023:

CS Northridge 225 W 88-79
CS Sacramento 308 W 91-73
Santa Clara 100 L 77-89
E Washington 146 W 95-70
vs Arkansas 85 L 2 OT 74-77
vs Michigan 115 L 78-83
vs Northern Iowa 114 L 51-73
San Diego 193 W 88-64
Idaho 319 W 82-64
at San Diego St 25 L 60-74

Here is 2022:

Pacific 195 W 88-78
at Wisconsin 44 L 50-60
San Diego St 11 L 62-74
Cal Poly 314 W 80-43
vs Mississippi 111 L 68-72
vs Florida St 158 W 70-60
vs Memphis 20 L 48-56
UCLA 6 L 66-80
at Arizona St 45 L 64-68

And 2021:

Tarleton St 246 W 62-50
at Santa Clara 99 L 72-88
San Jose St 273 W 76-62
Valparaiso 203 W 74-60
at Baylor 4 L 48-86
NC A&T 304 W 79-65
at Colorado 56 L 76-80
Oregon 57 W 72-69
Dartmouth 240 W OT 89-78
vs Texas 20 L 53-60

RE: MBB : vs. Norfolk State, 7:00 - McKenwood - 11-21-2024

(11-21-2024, 03:42 PM)OCcardinal Wrote: Going back to 2021 we only have 1 season (2021) where we had more than 5 wins (6) in the first 9 games. But it also looks like this will be the first time since at least then that we hadn't scheduled any top 100 teams in those first 9 games (though Massey is volatile at this time of year). Nevertheless, we only won one of those top 100 games (#57 Oregon in 2021).

2024's 1st 9 opponent (Massey Rating, Result, Score):

Denver 249 W 85-62
CS Fullerton 220 W 80-53
Northern Arizona 229 W 90-64
UC Davis 139 W 79-64
Norfolk St 218 W 70-63
at Santa Clara 132
vs Grand Canyon 130
Cal Poly 207
Utah Valley 161

Here is 2023:

CS Northridge 225 W 88-79
CS Sacramento 308 W 91-73
Santa Clara 100 L 77-89
E Washington 146 W 95-70
vs Arkansas 85 L 2 OT 74-77
vs Michigan 115 L 78-83
vs Northern Iowa 114 L 51-73
San Diego 193 W 88-64
Idaho 319 W 82-64
at San Diego St 25 L 60-74

Here is 2022:

Pacific 195 W 88-78
at Wisconsin 44 L 50-60
San Diego St 11 L 62-74
Cal Poly 314 W 80-43
vs Mississippi 111 L 68-72
vs Florida St 158 W 70-60
vs Memphis 20 L 48-56
UCLA 6 L 66-80
at Arizona St 45 L 64-68

And 2021:

Tarleton St 246 W 62-50
at Santa Clara 99 L 72-88
San Jose St 273 W 76-62
Valparaiso 203 W 74-60
at Baylor 4 L 48-86
NC A&T 304 W 79-65
at Colorado 56 L 76-80
Oregon 57 W 72-69
Dartmouth 240 W OT 89-78
vs Texas 20 L 53-60

Thanks OC. I get PTSD reviewing the three prior seasons.

Key game in December is against cal who is at 93 in the Massey rating. Not sure why they are ranked worse than Stanford given their road win against USC.

I like Stanford's early season schedule this year despite the cupcake nature of it. Build some confidence and avoid the ridiculous cross-country trips of the prior years. There will be plenty of those in January-March.

RE: MBB : vs. Norfolk State, 7:00 - skip75 - 11-21-2024

I think that Saturday's game at Santa Clara and Tuesday's game vs. Grand Canyon in Palm Desert will both be better indications of how competitive Stanford might be. According to KenPom, they will be the best teams Stanford has faced so far and both are rated higher than 5 ACC teams (including Cal). I'm not sure how reliable any of the ratings are at this point in the year - Stanford was picked to finish 17th out of 18 in the ACC pre-season poll, and after beating 5 teams that they should have beaten, now they are around the middle of the ACC depending on which ranking you look at.

The Norfolk State game was concerning due to the lousy shooting - pretty much 10% below season average for FGs, 3s, and FTs. The bright side is that they made the adjustment to go inside more, and when the game was on the line they finally hit more 3s and FTs. Hopefully that game was an anomaly - if not, it could be another long year. But they have been fun to watch (for a nice change) and exceeded my (admittedly low) expectations so far.

RE: MBB : vs. Norfolk State, 7:00 - needle - 11-21-2024

(11-21-2024, 07:11 PM)skip75 Wrote: I think that Saturday's game at Santa Clara and Tuesday's game vs. Grand Canyon in Palm Desert will both be better indications of how competitive Stanford might be. According to KenPom, they will be the best teams Stanford has faced so far and both are rated higher than 5 ACC teams (including Cal).

KenPom in November is worthless.

Santa Clara is 2-3 and dreadful. Grand Canyon was down by 11 at half to mighty UC-Davis! Wins over these two teams would mean almost nothing, and we fans should bank on a losing season if Stanford drops either game.

RE: MBB : vs. Norfolk State, 7:00 - GK3 - 11-22-2024

(11-21-2024, 10:18 AM)SamuelMcF Wrote:
(11-21-2024, 10:15 AM)MV72018 Wrote: I used to think that we played marshmallow pre-conference schedules in the Dawkins and Haase eras. But the softness of this season's pre-conf schedule is quite impressive. Result: we're 5-0 and have no clue whether this is a mediocre, decent, good, or excellent team. Kyle needs to book some high-quality opponents for pre-conf games next year. Looks to me like Santa Clara will be the least unchallenging opponent we will face this pre-conf season. Meh.

Oregon

Grand Canyon made the final 64 last year and were favored to do so this year, but have already lost to UCD.

(11-21-2024, 11:25 PM)needle Wrote:
(11-21-2024, 07:11 PM)skip75 Wrote: I think that Saturday's game at Santa Clara and Tuesday's game vs. Grand Canyon in Palm Desert will both be better indications of how competitive Stanford might be. According to KenPom, they will be the best teams Stanford has faced so far and both are rated higher than 5 ACC teams (including Cal).

KenPom in November is worthless.

Santa Clara is 2-3 and dreadful. Grand Canyon was down by 11 at half to mighty UC-Davis! Wins over these two teams would mean almost nothing, and we fans should bank on a losing season if Stanford drops either game.

I think the last thing our coach wanted was to start the season with 10 games that included a bunch of difficult one. With a new system, new players I think he want to play early games that he should well win, but also will provide a lot of teaching opportunities. He also knows that if you want to make the final 64, early season losses do not help.

RE: MBB : vs. Norfolk State, 7:00 - VB Card - 11-22-2024

(11-21-2024, 11:09 AM)SkiBum80 Wrote:
(11-21-2024, 10:15 AM)MV72018 Wrote: I used to think that we played marshmallow pre-conference schedules in the Dawkins and Haase eras. But the softness of this season's pre-conf schedule is quite impressive. Result: we're 5-0 and have no clue whether this is a mediocre, decent, good, or excellent team. Kyle needs to book some high-quality opponents for pre-conf games next year. Looks to me like Santa Clara will be the least unchallenging opponent we will face this pre-conf season. Meh.

I agree that we don't have a great idea yet of how good this team is.
But can we at least agree that Coach Smith has clearly moved it in the right direction of better defense and ball control?
The question remaining being how far?
As to the opponents, I assume Coach Smith had no say in this year's schedule, and would he have any in next year's or is it booked already?
Also I think UCD and Norfolk State were not patsys by any means, as they have a couple really good guards: Johnson, and Moore, respectively.
Looked to me that Moore might be a starter on most any Power conf school.

Basketball scheduling is not like football. The schedules are made during the offseason directly before that season, so Coach Smith and his staff had complete autonomy over the schedule. The only thing not in his control was the game in San Jose vs. Oregon (although we were originally slated to play Wisconsin in that game until the Badgers pulled out of the contract. Remember we played them in Milwaukee 2 years ago?) CKS traditionally had weak noncon slates at Wazzu, so I'm not surprised he did the same in year 1 here.

RE: MBB : vs. Norfolk State, 7:00 - SkiBum80 - 11-22-2024

(11-22-2024, 11:58 AM)VB Card Wrote:
(11-21-2024, 11:09 AM)SkiBum80 Wrote:
(11-21-2024, 10:15 AM)MV72018 Wrote: I used to think that we played marshmallow pre-conference schedules in the Dawkins and Haase eras. But the softness of this season's pre-conf schedule is quite impressive. Result: we're 5-0 and have no clue whether this is a mediocre, decent, good, or excellent team. Kyle needs to book some high-quality opponents for pre-conf games next year. Looks to me like Santa Clara will be the least unchallenging opponent we will face this pre-conf season. Meh.

I agree that we don't have a great idea yet of how good this team is.
But can we at least agree that Coach Smith has clearly moved it in the right direction of better defense and ball control?
The question remaining being how far?
As to the opponents, I assume Coach Smith had no say in this year's schedule, and would he have any in next year's or is it booked already?
Also I think UCD and Norfolk State were not patsys by any means, as they have a couple really good guards: Johnson, and Moore, respectively.
Looked to me that Moore might be a starter on most any Power conf school.

Basketball scheduling is not like football. The schedules are made during the offseason directly before that season, so Coach Smith and his staff had complete autonomy over the schedule. The only thing not in his control was the game in San Jose vs. Oregon (although we were originally slated to play Wisconsin in that game until the Badgers pulled out of the contract. Remember we played them in Milwaukee 2 years ago?) CKS traditionally had weak noncon slates at Wazzu, so I'm not surprised he did the same in year 1 here.

Thanks the info and correction