[teejers1]

1.  The team that lost to Alabama in NCAAs (the most brutal Stanford sports loss in my adult life, I believe) was a very very good team that should have made it to the Elite 8 - and many argue would have, but for an almost incomprehensible FT differential in the Alabama game.  BUT, that team, while ranked #1 for a lot of the season, was not Stanford's best team under Monty.  That honor belongs to the 2001 team - that squad blew everybody out for most of the season, and then lost in the Elite 8 to a Maryland team that played extremely well.  No shame in that.  The most memorable Stanford team, of course, was the Final Four squad (perhaps the most fun ever for this long time Cardinal fan).

2.  If Dawkins' teams ever attained what we saw in terms of quality of play in any of those squads, then we'd all be happy.  And if Dawkins gets the team to the NCAAs, then he will be back and the door is not shut on his ability to lead a well-coached team.  I tend to agree that he is getting a little better (i.e., the team plays like it is a little better-coached than it has in the past), but there is still a long way to go between what we're seeing and this team playing to its potential.

3.  I think the talent on this squad is really, really good.  Powell, Heustis, and Randall are tremendous athletes with a lot of skill.  And Anthony Brown - from what little I've seen of him this year - looks brilliant at times.  In short, I'm not sure Stanford has ever had more talent on its roster than it does now (though I think it's pretty clear that Montgomery got more out of his talent than Dawkins has . . . at least so far).  Let's hope Dawkins continues to progress - both for the rest of this year and in the future.

[teejers1]

1.  The team that lost to Alabama in NCAAs (the most brutal Stanford sports loss in my adult life, I believe) was a very very good team that should have made it to the Elite 8 - and many argue would have, but for an almost incomprehensible FT differential in the Alabama game.  BUT, that team, while ranked #1 for a lot of the season, was not Stanford's best team under Monty.  That honor belongs to the 2001 team - that squad blew everybody out for most of the season, and then lost in the Elite 8 to a Maryland team that played extremely well.  No shame in that.  The most memorable Stanford team, of course, was the Final Four squad (perhaps the most fun ever for this long time Cardinal fan).

2.  If Dawkins' teams ever attained what we saw in terms of quality of play in any of those squads, then we'd all be happy.  And if Dawkins gets the team to the NCAAs, then he will be back and the door is not shut on his ability to lead a well-coached team.  I tend to agree that he is getting a little better (i.e., the team plays like it is a little better-coached than it has in the past), but there is still a long way to go between what we're seeing and this team playing to its potential.

3.  I think the talent on this squad is really, really good.  Powell, Heustis, and Randall are tremendous athletes with a lot of skill.  And Anthony Brown - from what little I've seen of him this year - looks brilliant at times.  In short, I'm not sure Stanford has ever had more talent on its roster than it does now (though I think it's pretty clear that Montgomery got more out of his talent than Dawkins has . . . at least so far).  Let's hope Dawkins continues to progress - both for the rest of this year and in the future.