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We Are The Champions! - Printable Version

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We Are The Champions! - 76lsjumb - 04-02-2015

Sorry, but the "We're # 65" header is just too cynical for my tastes.  Seeing Nastic after the game on the bench taking a moment; getting to see Chasson hit the game-winning free throws in his last game; getting to see Michael Irvin look disappointed; not having to listen to Knight any more go on, and on, and on, and... about how much he's enjoyed working for ESPN -- in my mind those are all cause for celebration, not snark.

Stanford now has the best winning percentage in Madison Square Garden of any team in the country.  Not too shabby!

Re: We Are The Champions! - CompSci87 - 04-02-2015

Michael Irvin... I was ready to smash my tablet when ESPN kept splitting the screen to show his antics in a window while the game was going on.

Re: We Are The Champions! - 81alum - 04-02-2015

It was a very exciting game.

One of the problems with giant tournaments like the NCAAs is that every team but 1 goes home a loser in their last game.  It never seems a fitting end to a successful season--and all the teams that make the tournament had successful seasons of one sort or another.  At least we get to send the seniors off with a win in their final game.

And we are #34 according to Sagarin before winning tonight.  We are probably better than most of the teams that lost in the first round.

Don't get me wrong--I would prefer a coaching change too, although Dawkins is probably better than Dick DiBiaso, Howie Dallmar, and Tom Davis--in other words, better than the coaching we had for the entire modern era leading in to Monty.  Dawkins seems inferior because we we had a 2.5 : 1 winning margin under Monty and Trent, and Dawkins is pedestrian in comparison.  But the whole time I was a student we never had a winning season, and most years we lost twice as many games as we won.  At that time I would have gladly taken Dawkins' results.

Today, however, it find it hard to recapture that enthusiasm I had under Monty.  I remember watching when we won the NIT in 1991 and being excited by it.  So I think that is the proof that I have just become jaded by our later success.

Re: We Are The Champions! - TheFarm07 - 04-02-2015

(04-02-2015, 09:04 PM)81alum link Wrote:One of the problems with giant tournaments like the NCAAs is that every team but 1 goes home a loser in their last game.  It never seems a fitting end to a successful season--and all the teams that make the tournament had successful seasons of one sort or another.  At least we get to send the seniors off with a win in their final game.

It's a weird paradox if you think about it with these lesser postseason basketball tournaments.  We ended the season on a win, which is something every team no matter the sport they are in, wants to end their season with.  However, 3 of this weekend's Final Four teams will end their seasons with a loss, yet we much all rather be in their shoes. 

Re: We Are The Champions! - fullmetal - 04-02-2015

I'm super stoked to see Stanford win that game, though it was more a sigh of relief at the end.  Stanford really tried to give that game away in the second half--the refs were all to happy to help.

Michael Irvin was the most irrelevant camera inclusion--dunno how he got so much air time.  The Stanford win was worth it just to see him looking upset.

Re: We Are The Champions! - FarmBoy - 04-03-2015

Yes, let's stick with "we are the champions!" It was an exciting game and I agree with Knights comments that Stanford did a great job of responding to ODU runs. Earlier this season (and for the past 5+ seasons), a Stanford team would have wilted if it lost a 10+ point lead. But they kept fighting, scrapping for points, and hitting clutch shots when needed.

I thought the foul called to send Randle to the line was a bit bogus. I abhor a ref calling a foul when a player is so obviously just trying to draw the foul rather than take a clean shot and the contact is so minor. Still, he made the most of his opportunities and it was probably karmic for some of the missed calls when Stanford big game were getting clobbered.

Five wins in a row to end the season is also their longest win streak of the season. It's always great to end the season with a win. It will be interesting to see how the team does next year without Randle, Brown and Nastic. Hopefully the young guys can step up.

Re: We Are The Champions! - OutsiderFan - 04-03-2015

My number one observation from that game:  Miami wins if not missing two starters (duh).

Other thoughts:

Reid Travis MUST work on finishing around the basket and translate his apparent physical attributes into actual offensive production!  How many shots did he miss from right under the cylinder? 

Michael Humphrey has NO GAME and is afraid to shoot.

Cartwright replacing Randle - LOL

Christian Sanders looks like a walk-on.

If Marcus Allen can improve his FT shooting, he might be a nice player for the next two years, but on a good team, he comes off the bench.

The Frosh are going to have to be really good for this Stanford team to make it into the NCAA tournament next season.

I don't even think they will make the NIT based on how poorly Stanford players develop under Dawkins and how maddeningly inconsistent his teams play even with this season's roster.

Re: We Are The Champions! - needle - 04-03-2015

I watched in a bar with no sound. I assumed that Irvin had a son or relative on Miami's team. Did he not?

Re: We Are The Champions! - Leftcoast - 04-03-2015

Thirty two teams entered the NIT and after five consecutive wins only Stanford walked out.  That's an accomplishment that deserves to be celebrated on its own merits by all Stanford fans.

Re: We Are The Champions! - CrazedZooChimp - 04-03-2015

(04-03-2015, 07:25 AM)OutsiderFan link Wrote:Michael Humphrey has NO GAME and is afraid to shoot.

I'm guessing you didn't really watch any games prior the the NIT, right?  Did you know Humphrey was injured for pretty much all of March until playing very limited minutes against ODU?  Had you seen any of his games before his injury?

Re: We Are The Champions! - PrinceLightfoot - 04-03-2015

(04-03-2015, 07:25 AM)OutsiderFan link Wrote:Michael Humphrey has NO GAME and is afraid to shoot.

This comment does not seem to understand the circumstances that lead to his NIT performance and completely disregards his very good production pre-Oregon/pre-injury.

Edit: I see both garvin and CrazedZooChimp have chimed in on this point as well. Sorry, I responded before reading further.

Re: We Are The Champions! - fullmetal - 04-03-2015

The guys with whom I was watching the game were all stoked to see Randle draw that foul--we thought it was a heady senior move.  Kobe does it all the time, so why not Randle?  Cheap?  Maybe.  But Randle's our man, and you gotta punish a sloppy defender who's doing a fly-by impression of defense... :)

I thought the Miami player taking that last 3pt attempt might have tried to do the same to Anthony Brown, but Brown's angle was very clean despite the shooter's attempt to kick his leg out and draw the foul.

Re: We Are The Champions! - burger - 04-03-2015

I agree with Garvin on the assessments of the returning players.  I think it's overly harsh to judge Humphreys and Travis on the basis of the last several games.  Humphreys actually showed a decent jumper before his injury.  Travis also showed a better touch and more aggressiveness before he got hurt.  It's hard enough to be a freshman in the NCAA.  Add to that an injury that causes you to miss game and practice time and lose conditioning, and you should expect regression.  Even Rosco Allen, who's in his third year, didn't seem to shoot as well after his injury this season.

I'm excited to see how R. Allen and M. Allen and Humphreys and Travis develop.  It may not happen next year, but that could be a formidable group in a couple of years (assuming that Rosco gets a medical redshirt and plays 4 full years).

Re: We Are The Champions! - OutsiderFan - 04-03-2015

I plead guilty to not knowing the back story on Humphrey.  There's not much hoops discussion on here, and I haven't followed the hoops news too closely, so missed it.  Thanks for changing my perspective.



Allow me to make an observation 81Alum - Redrum - 04-03-2015

Quote:Dawkins is probably better than Richard DiBiaso, Howie Dallmar, and Tom Davis--

Howie Dallmar won a national championship.  Sure, it was before your time here on earth, but likely not as long as it'll be until Dawkins wins a championship that doesn't have the letters N..I..T  in front of it.

Re: We Are The Champions! - Langdude - 04-03-2015

Quote:Another big defensive handclap to Anthony Brown for breaking up the long downcourt Miami pass with two seconds to go, and completely disrupting the Hurricanes' final shot without drawing a foul.

True, but he also got juked out of his shorts by McClellan for a clean drive through the lane and dunk to give Miami the lead. Also, I would not say that he "completely disrupted" the final shot - he lost his man on the play and ran by him with his hand in the air. I would say that Brown's defense is like his whole career at Stanford - sometimes really good, and sometimes as if his head is elsewhere.

-m.

Re: We Are The Champions! - BostonCard - 04-03-2015

Sorry for the cynical headline; it was meant more tongue and cheek than as a true expression of cynicism..  I am happy we won it, and it was certainly an exciting game from the second half on, even if not necessarily the good-for-your-health kind of excitement.  The game seemed to be a microcosm of the season.  We started out very strong, building an 11 point halftime lead (just like we started the season strong, and seemed an almost-lock for the NCAA if we didn't collapse down the stretch).  Then we blew our lead, just as we withered down the stretch.  We still made it to overtime (just as we still made it to the post-season), and we won the game in the end (just as we won the NIT), even if we didn't look good and in fact looked bad doing so.  Still, an ugly win is a win, and the win made us NIT champs.  Not the tourney I wanted (especially mid-season), but I want us to win any tournament we are in, and we won. Congrats to the team.

BC

Re: We Are The Champions! - pefloresjr - 04-03-2015

I'm very happy for the team to go out on a win streak with a championship.  I didn't care that it was the NIT as I watched.  I was rooting just as hard as ever and did a great deal of cursing at the refs in the second half (I swear they were caught up in the comeback by Miami and were acting like Lt. Drebin in Naked Gun).  Today, I am proudly wearing my Stanford hat to work and just hoping some of my loser Cal graduate co-workers make a snarky comment.  Even UC Davis made a post-season tournament.  ;)  I like the raw talent of some of our freshmen and really hope we get to watch them mature in an improving men's hoops program.  All Right Now!

Cheers,
Pete F.

Re: We Are The Champions! - Mick - 04-03-2015

(04-03-2015, 10:52 AM)Langdude link Wrote:
Quote:Another big defensive handclap to Anthony Brown for breaking up the long downcourt Miami pass with two seconds to go, and completely disrupting the Hurricanes' final shot without drawing a foul.

True, but he also got juked out of his shorts by McClellan for a clean drive through the lane and dunk to give Miami the lead. Also, I would not say that he "completely disrupted" the final shot - he lost his man on the play and ran by him with his hand in the air. I would say that Brown's defense is like his whole career at Stanford - sometimes really good, and sometimes as if his head is elsewhere.

-m.

Slow handclap then...

Re: We Are The Champions! - teejers1 - 04-03-2015

1.  This NIT championship run was impressive - 5 Ws in a row against middling to pretty good competition.

2.  Stanford is probably the 35th best team in the country - somewhere around there.  65 or 69 is ridiculously low, even if said in snark/jest.  And btw, that is true every year for the NIT Champion.

3.  Saying that Miami would have won but for injuries does not do justice to how banged up Stanford was, too.  Humphreys was a stud earlier in the season, and Rosco was a very reliable player.  Then they got hurt and only recently earned (minimal) PT.  And they did not help much, frankly.  Long way of saying, I'm not buying the "but for injury" complaint from Miami fans (or anyone else).

4.  The team and staff should enjoy a well-earned championship in NYC.  Not bad.  Not too bad at all!