[gailtate]

FWIW - The next 6 weeks are going to be tough.

This team relies on freshmen that are good but not exactly 2020 lottery picks.   Therefore my big worry is that the Freshmen will hit a wall as the season (and travel) grinds on.    That freshmen endurance problem is common throughout the NCAA, but Stanford players also have Stanford academics.   Competing in late December and early January is a lot easier for Stanford students than February or early March. 

We may have seen them hit the wall yesterday. Really important to see how resilient they are this weekend at home.

But this was not really a team with an NCAA resume even before the loss to Cal. Only 1 top 50 win.

Wall?  They are 18-21.  They played one game this week.  They've played 19 in what, 12 weeks?

Montgomery's good teams always had a couple of upperclassmen who could take over a game in a crunch. For instance, Chris Hernandez or Josh Childress in 2003-2004, any one of a number of guys in 1999, Mark Madsen and Art Lee circa 1997 and obviously Brevin his entire tenure. Looking at the box score, Da Silva and Daejon played well compared to most of the team. But, they aren't guys you can count on to make clutch shots - either from the floor or even at the free-throw line - or even to make smart plays, late in games. Sure, our two talented freshmen stunk it up, but they're freshmen. This team really needs a go-to guy or guys and it doesn't look like it has one.

Somebody, somewhere else, said something to the effect that Stanford is a group of number-2 guys looking for a go-to guy they don't have. No killer instinct to seen anywhere. How come? We're talking WEENIES here. A bus-ride away.This game was what is known as a BAD LOSS. A really bad one. It will still be resonating in March--IF there is no reversal in form, starting like NOW. I don't see one. Neither do I see what the big deal is, or has ever been, about Haase. I don't see him taking this program anywhere except in circles. Hope I'm wrong, but...

[gailtate]

FWIW - The next 6 weeks are going to be tough.

This team relies on freshmen that are good but not exactly 2020 lottery picks.   Therefore my big worry is that the Freshmen will hit a wall as the season (and travel) grinds on.    That freshmen endurance problem is common throughout the NCAA, but Stanford players also have Stanford academics.   Competing in late December and early January is a lot easier for Stanford students than February or early March. 

We may have seen them hit the wall yesterday. Really important to see how resilient they are this weekend at home.

But this was not really a team with an NCAA resume even before the loss to Cal. Only 1 top 50 win.

Wall?  They are 18-21.  They played one game this week.  They've played 19 in what, 12 weeks?

Montgomery's good teams always had a couple of upperclassmen who could take over a game in a crunch. For instance, Chris Hernandez or Josh Childress in 2003-2004, any one of a number of guys in 1999, Mark Madsen and Art Lee circa 1997 and obviously Brevin his entire tenure. Looking at the box score, Da Silva and Daejon played well compared to most of the team. But, they aren't guys you can count on to make clutch shots - either from the floor or even at the free-throw line - or even to make smart plays, late in games. Sure, our two talented freshmen stunk it up, but they're freshmen. This team really needs a go-to guy or guys and it doesn't look like it has one.

Somebody, somewhere else, said something to the effect that Stanford is a group of number-2 guys looking for a go-to guy they don't have. No killer instinct to seen anywhere. How come? We're talking WEENIES here. A bus-ride away.This game was what is known as a BAD LOSS. A really bad one. It will still be resonating in March--IF there is no reversal in form, starting like NOW. I don't see one. Neither do I see what the big deal is, or has ever been, about Haase. I don't see him taking this program anywhere except in circles. Hope I'm wrong, but...