02-06-2014, 02:53 PM
LuckE--
Nope, just saying that oftentimes officiating hinges on what's called and what isn't. Last night, what was being called were the "impeding" calls - the clutching and grabbing sort of stuff that is this season's point of emphasis. What wasn't being called as often was body contact, and Stanford used that to its advantage defensively. More precisely, body contact in a crowded lane - it's what I have said in the past about officials, they are more reluctant to call fouls when it's a "scrum" of players in contact than the same amount of contact in a 1 v 1 situation. Powell went to the line several times on forays to the hoop that drew less body contact than some unwhistled plays under C.al's basket. It's telling that last night, against an athletic, guard-oriented team, Nastic wasn't in foul trouble. Whether that was improved footwork by him and better team defense or the choices of the officials, or what point between those two poles, is open to interpretation.
As for the Arizona game, it was a great effort - especially defensively. But that game really turned on Stanford's offensive ineptitude in the last 10 minutes, and that in turn to me hinged on a change in offensive style in that period - Stanford went to more of a spread offense, running the clock down until they had to take last second drives or long shots, and generally looking like they were trying to "see the game out" with a big lead instead of the 2-4 point lead they had at the time. They did the same thing last night, but they actually had the big lead to work with. But it did allow a team that was playing really poorly to try to get back into the game (especially as it put NO pressure on C.al's frontline, who were all in foul trouble - there was little to no post offense in the last five minutes).
I agree, the talent level between the two teams is not all that disparate - but Monty has a less experienced lineup. Heck, Stanford's probably got the most experienced starting lineup in the country. And I guess that's where my higher expectations come from - along with a pretty high level of apprehension about next season. 7 of Stanford's top 8 players are all in their fourth year or more in the program. And the freshman and sophomores aren't getting any experience, either due to injury or lack of playing time (I really thought we could see some of Verhoeven last night, instead of the cameo at the end).
All in all, I'm enjoying watching them, although they can be tremendously frustrating. But I guess it's a matter of expectations - I went to Stanford with Monty as coach, and watched teams outperform their talent level over and over again. Watching him and C.al last night, I think they have talent, but it doesn't match up well with the kind of system he had success with at Stanford - much more freelance and 1v1. He may have changed his game in response to his talent, or they may not be running his system and responding to his coaching - his relationship with Cobbs reminded me a bit of the way he used to occasionally butt heads with Brevin Knight.
Turning it around, LuckE, what type of season's results would meet your expectations?
VG
Nope, just saying that oftentimes officiating hinges on what's called and what isn't. Last night, what was being called were the "impeding" calls - the clutching and grabbing sort of stuff that is this season's point of emphasis. What wasn't being called as often was body contact, and Stanford used that to its advantage defensively. More precisely, body contact in a crowded lane - it's what I have said in the past about officials, they are more reluctant to call fouls when it's a "scrum" of players in contact than the same amount of contact in a 1 v 1 situation. Powell went to the line several times on forays to the hoop that drew less body contact than some unwhistled plays under C.al's basket. It's telling that last night, against an athletic, guard-oriented team, Nastic wasn't in foul trouble. Whether that was improved footwork by him and better team defense or the choices of the officials, or what point between those two poles, is open to interpretation.
As for the Arizona game, it was a great effort - especially defensively. But that game really turned on Stanford's offensive ineptitude in the last 10 minutes, and that in turn to me hinged on a change in offensive style in that period - Stanford went to more of a spread offense, running the clock down until they had to take last second drives or long shots, and generally looking like they were trying to "see the game out" with a big lead instead of the 2-4 point lead they had at the time. They did the same thing last night, but they actually had the big lead to work with. But it did allow a team that was playing really poorly to try to get back into the game (especially as it put NO pressure on C.al's frontline, who were all in foul trouble - there was little to no post offense in the last five minutes).
I agree, the talent level between the two teams is not all that disparate - but Monty has a less experienced lineup. Heck, Stanford's probably got the most experienced starting lineup in the country. And I guess that's where my higher expectations come from - along with a pretty high level of apprehension about next season. 7 of Stanford's top 8 players are all in their fourth year or more in the program. And the freshman and sophomores aren't getting any experience, either due to injury or lack of playing time (I really thought we could see some of Verhoeven last night, instead of the cameo at the end).
All in all, I'm enjoying watching them, although they can be tremendously frustrating. But I guess it's a matter of expectations - I went to Stanford with Monty as coach, and watched teams outperform their talent level over and over again. Watching him and C.al last night, I think they have talent, but it doesn't match up well with the kind of system he had success with at Stanford - much more freelance and 1v1. He may have changed his game in response to his talent, or they may not be running his system and responding to his coaching - his relationship with Cobbs reminded me a bit of the way he used to occasionally butt heads with Brevin Knight.
Turning it around, LuckE, what type of season's results would meet your expectations?
VG