[skip75]

At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, to me the games tonight and Saturday (vs. Virginia) feel like an inflection point for the season.  Stanford has gone: 1) 0-3 in games I figured they "should lose" - Oregon, Clemson, & Pitt; 2) 2-1 in games I figured could go either way - Santa Clara, Grand Canyon, & Cal; and 3) 7-1 in games I figured they "should win"- with the loss being to Cal Poly.  The remainder of the schedule includes lots more games that could go either way.  According to ACC power rankings provided by Virginia Tech & Syracuse fan sites and a site called Busting Brackets, Stanford is ranked 8, 9, & 10, respectively.  For comparison, Va. Tech is ranked 15, 17, & 17 and UVa is ranked 12, 8, & 13.  For Stanford to live up to those ratings and compete for a spot in the top half of the ACC, I think they need a sweep this week.  Otherwise they will be more likely to live down to their pre-season rating of #17 in the conference.

Stanford is favored tonight by 8-1/2.  Tech is 6-8 (1-2 in the ACC).  They are 6-3 at home, 0-1 as a visitor, & 0-4 on neutral courts.  They are a very young team, coming off their best win of the season, 86-85 over Miami on an and-one with 2.7 seconds left in the game.  They are especially young in the backcourt and have struggled with turnovers, averaging 14.1 per game (vs. 14.3 assists per game).  Freshman Ben Hammond (#11, 5"11"/170) seems to have taken over at point guard, having started 3 games now, and might be turning things around.  He had 8 assists & 3 TOs vs Miami, while the team had 23 assists and 11 TOs.

Three players have started every game: #1 Tobi Lawal (6'8"/200 Jr F) after 2 years at Virginia Commonwealth, leads the Hokies with 12.1 ppg (shooting 62.6% from the field & 40.9% from 3) & 5.8 rpg; #34 Mylyjael Poteat (6'9"/260 Gr F) averages 10.9 ppg & 4.1 rpg; #2 Jaden Schutt (6'5"/205 RSoph G) a transfer from Duke, is the main 3-pt threat shooting 32-90 (.356).  Poteat is coming off a career high 25 pts vs Miami (including the game-winning 3-pt play on a pass fro Hammond) and Lawal added 22.

The fifth starter will likely be freshman guard Tyler Johnson (#10, 6'5"/215).  The Hokies seem to have a 10-player rotation including: #7 Brandon Rechsteiner (6'1"/190 Soph G), son of a pro wrestler; #4 Rodney Brown Jr. (6'6"/185 Soph G), a transfer from Cal; #13 Ben Burnham (6'7"/220 Sr F), a transfer from College of Charleston; #3 Jaydon Young (6'4"/205 Soph G); and #5 Patrick Wessler (7'0"/250 RSoph C).

Busting Brackets says that Va Tech & UVa are two of the worst offenses in the ACC.  They also say that Stanford & Cal are two of the weaker defenses in the ACC.  Blakes, Sellers, et al need to put some pressure on the Hokies young backcourt.  Stanford should benefit from an advantage in size as well as experience - especially against a team playing in only their 2nd game as a visitor.  On offense, they need to be more consistent in taking care of the ball and in working to get good shots.  I don't know if any of the remaining games fall into the "should win" category, but this is about as close as it gets.

[skip75]

At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, to me the games tonight and Saturday (vs. Virginia) feel like an inflection point for the season.  Stanford has gone: 1) 0-3 in games I figured they "should lose" - Oregon, Clemson, & Pitt; 2) 2-1 in games I figured could go either way - Santa Clara, Grand Canyon, & Cal; and 3) 7-1 in games I figured they "should win"- with the loss being to Cal Poly.  The remainder of the schedule includes lots more games that could go either way.  According to ACC power rankings provided by Virginia Tech & Syracuse fan sites and a site called Busting Brackets, Stanford is ranked 8, 9, & 10, respectively.  For comparison, Va. Tech is ranked 15, 17, & 17 and UVa is ranked 12, 8, & 13.  For Stanford to live up to those ratings and compete for a spot in the top half of the ACC, I think they need a sweep this week.  Otherwise they will be more likely to live down to their pre-season rating of #17 in the conference.

Stanford is favored tonight by 8-1/2.  Tech is 6-8 (1-2 in the ACC).  They are 6-3 at home, 0-1 as a visitor, & 0-4 on neutral courts.  They are a very young team, coming off their best win of the season, 86-85 over Miami on an and-one with 2.7 seconds left in the game.  They are especially young in the backcourt and have struggled with turnovers, averaging 14.1 per game (vs. 14.3 assists per game).  Freshman Ben Hammond (#11, 5"11"/170) seems to have taken over at point guard, having started 3 games now, and might be turning things around.  He had 8 assists & 3 TOs vs Miami, while the team had 23 assists and 11 TOs.

Three players have started every game: #1 Tobi Lawal (6'8"/200 Jr F) after 2 years at Virginia Commonwealth, leads the Hokies with 12.1 ppg (shooting 62.6% from the field & 40.9% from 3) & 5.8 rpg; #34 Mylyjael Poteat (6'9"/260 Gr F) averages 10.9 ppg & 4.1 rpg; #2 Jaden Schutt (6'5"/205 RSoph G) a transfer from Duke, is the main 3-pt threat shooting 32-90 (.356).  Poteat is coming off a career high 25 pts vs Miami (including the game-winning 3-pt play on a pass fro Hammond) and Lawal added 22.

The fifth starter will likely be freshman guard Tyler Johnson (#10, 6'5"/215).  The Hokies seem to have a 10-player rotation including: #7 Brandon Rechsteiner (6'1"/190 Soph G), son of a pro wrestler; #4 Rodney Brown Jr. (6'6"/185 Soph G), a transfer from Cal; #13 Ben Burnham (6'7"/220 Sr F), a transfer from College of Charleston; #3 Jaydon Young (6'4"/205 Soph G); and #5 Patrick Wessler (7'0"/250 RSoph C).

Busting Brackets says that Va Tech & UVa are two of the worst offenses in the ACC.  They also say that Stanford & Cal are two of the weaker defenses in the ACC.  Blakes, Sellers, et al need to put some pressure on the Hokies young backcourt.  Stanford should benefit from an advantage in size as well as experience - especially against a team playing in only their 2nd game as a visitor.  On offense, they need to be more consistent in taking care of the ball and in working to get good shots.  I don't know if any of the remaining games fall into the "should win" category, but this is about as close as it gets.

[SkiBum80]

Appreciate the great preview Skip.
I agree these will be a couple of telling games.
As I think Coach KS has been taking the team on an overall good track in a good direction.
However, with some pretty glaring stumbles and letdowns along the way.
So these couple games might be telling about whether Coach has really instilled some determined defense and ball control.
That can show up under duress.
Or whether the stumbles and intensity lapses and brain-farts are more of a common season-long thread to expect going forward.

[SkiBum80]

Appreciate the great preview Skip.
I agree these will be a couple of telling games.
As I think Coach KS has been taking the team on an overall good track in a good direction.
However, with some pretty glaring stumbles and letdowns along the way.
So these couple games might be telling about whether Coach has really instilled some determined defense and ball control.
That can show up under duress.
Or whether the stumbles and intensity lapses and brain-farts are more of a common season-long thread to expect going forward.

[ADPinWDC]

Agree -- poignant summary at the back stretch.  
At 9-5... can we go better than .500 on the remaining 17 games?  10 wins, 7 losses?
Maybe finishing 19 - 12 is a stretch, but that would put us back in the NIT at least.  
33% on 3pters won't get it done.  We need 4 guys above 36% on threes, and better defense; force turnovers.  
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket...d-cardinal

[ADPinWDC]

Agree -- poignant summary at the back stretch.  
At 9-5... can we go better than .500 on the remaining 17 games?  10 wins, 7 losses?
Maybe finishing 19 - 12 is a stretch, but that would put us back in the NIT at least.  
33% on 3pters won't get it done.  We need 4 guys above 36% on threes, and better defense; force turnovers.  
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket...d-cardinal

[BobK]

Stanford up 4 13:20 left

[BobK]

Stanford up 4 13:20 left

[SkiBum80]

Such a tight game
Could go either way
We really need this one
I know one game doesn’t make a season
But still feels like we are teetering on the edge with ACC competitive on one side and ACC doormat on the other

---

Really nice mini streak by our guys
Up by 7 with 3:43 to play

[SkiBum80]

Such a tight game
Could go either way
We really need this one
I know one game doesn’t make a season
But still feels like we are teetering on the edge with ACC competitive on one side and ACC doormat on the other

---

Really nice mini streak by our guys
Up by 7 with 3:43 to play

[Sam Leopold]

I won't speak for the rest of youse, but I think I might be starting to like this Donavin Young guy.

[Sam Leopold]

I won't speak for the rest of youse, but I think I might be starting to like this Donavin Young guy.

[SkiBum80]

All right now!
Great win with credit to Coach KS and the team. A gutsy and determined win.
Under duress.
Really impressive.

[SkiBum80]

All right now!
Great win with credit to Coach KS and the team. A gutsy and determined win.
Under duress.
Really impressive.

[skip75]

After getting off to fast starts vs. Oregon, Clemson, & Pitt, Stanford was sleepwalking through most of the first half tonight. After taking a 4-2 lead 2 minutes into the game, Va Tech ripped off 14 unanswered points over the next 9! minutes.  In that 9 minutes, Stanford shot 0-8, had 3 turnovers (all by Okpara), and committed 3 fouls (2 by Blakes).  Gotta be one of the worst stretches of basketball I've seen from Stanford in my 50+ years of watching.  Tough night for Okpara - back into the starting line-up, but played only 6 minutes, exiting soon after the 3rd TO.

The Big 3 showed some grit and slowly chipped away to cut the halftime deficit to 30-25.  In one 2-minute stretch, Blakes made a lay-up off a turnover, assisted on a Raynaud layup, then assisted on 2 straight Sellers 3-pointers.  Stanford came out hot in the 2nd half with 4 Blakes free throws and 2 Raynaud 3-pointers in the first 2+ minutes.  They got the lead (39-38) with 15 minutes remaining, but couldn't pull away.  The game was tied at 56 with 5-1/2 minutes left, before Stanford went on a 9-0 run.

The Big 3 could still use some more help.  They scored 55 of the 70 points.  The Hokies had a similar issue - 45 of their 59 came from Lawal, Poteat and Burnham (off the bench).  Lawal & Poteat did some nice work under the basket, including 4 impressive dunks.  Burnham was 4/4 on 3s in the 1st half (the only 3s of the game for Va Tech) and led the Hokies with 18 points.  Raynaud had 14 rebounds for another double-double.  Blakes had 6 assists and only 1 turnover.  Agarwal continues to struggle with his shooting (0/3 on 3s), but chipped in with 8 rebounds and 4 assists.  Gealer provided some stability when the game could have gotten out of hand.  And Donavin Young, in just his 3rd game coming off an injury (and 1st home game), played a solid 23 minutes (including starting the 2nd half), scoring 7 points on 3/5 shooting (1/1 from 3), throwing down an impressive dunk, and getting 3 rebounds.

Stanford outscored the Hokies 27-12 on 3s and 15-3 from the free throw line.  Surprisingly to me, Va Tech outscored Stanford in paint 38-20 and in points off turnovers 16-9.

Certainly not the prettiest win, but a win.  Basketball is a game of runs, but Stanford's inconsistency continues to be a concern.  A 9-minute stretch like they had tonight would be a disaster against an most remaining opponents.  But to their credit, they never seemed to panic, continued to play hard, and got back into the game.

UVa coming up on Saturday afternoon.  They lost to Cal tonight 75-61 to fall to 8-7(1-3 in the ACC). Jared Haase joined Roxy Bernstein on the ESPN2 telecast - can't wait to see them doing a future Stanford game.

[skip75]

After getting off to fast starts vs. Oregon, Clemson, & Pitt, Stanford was sleepwalking through most of the first half tonight. After taking a 4-2 lead 2 minutes into the game, Va Tech ripped off 14 unanswered points over the next 9! minutes.  In that 9 minutes, Stanford shot 0-8, had 3 turnovers (all by Okpara), and committed 3 fouls (2 by Blakes).  Gotta be one of the worst stretches of basketball I've seen from Stanford in my 50+ years of watching.  Tough night for Okpara - back into the starting line-up, but played only 6 minutes, exiting soon after the 3rd TO.

The Big 3 showed some grit and slowly chipped away to cut the halftime deficit to 30-25.  In one 2-minute stretch, Blakes made a lay-up off a turnover, assisted on a Raynaud layup, then assisted on 2 straight Sellers 3-pointers.  Stanford came out hot in the 2nd half with 4 Blakes free throws and 2 Raynaud 3-pointers in the first 2+ minutes.  They got the lead (39-38) with 15 minutes remaining, but couldn't pull away.  The game was tied at 56 with 5-1/2 minutes left, before Stanford went on a 9-0 run.

The Big 3 could still use some more help.  They scored 55 of the 70 points.  The Hokies had a similar issue - 45 of their 59 came from Lawal, Poteat and Burnham (off the bench).  Lawal & Poteat did some nice work under the basket, including 4 impressive dunks.  Burnham was 4/4 on 3s in the 1st half (the only 3s of the game for Va Tech) and led the Hokies with 18 points.  Raynaud had 14 rebounds for another double-double.  Blakes had 6 assists and only 1 turnover.  Agarwal continues to struggle with his shooting (0/3 on 3s), but chipped in with 8 rebounds and 4 assists.  Gealer provided some stability when the game could have gotten out of hand.  And Donavin Young, in just his 3rd game coming off an injury (and 1st home game), played a solid 23 minutes (including starting the 2nd half), scoring 7 points on 3/5 shooting (1/1 from 3), throwing down an impressive dunk, and getting 3 rebounds.

Stanford outscored the Hokies 27-12 on 3s and 15-3 from the free throw line.  Surprisingly to me, Va Tech outscored Stanford in paint 38-20 and in points off turnovers 16-9.

Certainly not the prettiest win, but a win.  Basketball is a game of runs, but Stanford's inconsistency continues to be a concern.  A 9-minute stretch like they had tonight would be a disaster against an most remaining opponents.  But to their credit, they never seemed to panic, continued to play hard, and got back into the game.

UVa coming up on Saturday afternoon.  They lost to Cal tonight 75-61 to fall to 8-7(1-3 in the ACC). Jared Haase joined Roxy Bernstein on the ESPN2 telecast - can't wait to see them doing a future Stanford game.

[TriangleTree]

After getting off to fast starts vs. Oregon, Clemson, & Pitt, Stanford was sleepwalking through most of the first half tonight. After taking a 4-2 lead 2 minutes into the game, Va Tech ripped off 14 unanswered points over the next 9! minutes.  In that 9 minutes, Stanford shot 0-8, had 3 turnovers (all by Okpara), and committed 3 fouls (2 by Blakes).  Gotta be one of the worst stretches of basketball I've seen from Stanford in my 50+ years of watching.  Tough night for Okpara - back into the starting line-up, but played only 6 minutes, exiting soon after the 3rd TO.

The Big 3 showed some grit and slowly chipped away to cut the halftime deficit to 30-25.  In one 2-minute stretch, Blakes made a lay-up off a turnover, assisted on a Raynaud layup, then assisted on 2 straight Sellers 3-pointers.  Stanford came out hot in the 2nd half with 4 Blakes free throws and 2 Raynaud 3-pointers in the first 2+ minutes.  They got the lead (39-38) with 15 minutes remaining, but couldn't pull away.  The game was tied at 56 with 5-1/2 minutes left, before Stanford went on a 9-0 run.

The Big 3 could still use some more help.  They scored 55 of the 70 points.  The Hokies had a similar issue - 45 of their 59 came from Lawal, Poteat and Burnham (off the bench).  Lawal & Poteat did some nice work under the basket, including 4 impressive dunks.  Burnham was 4/4 on 3s in the 1st half (the only 3s of the game for Va Tech) and led the Hokies with 18 points.  Raynaud had 14 rebounds for another double-double.  Blakes had 6 assists and only 1 turnover.  Agarwal continues to struggle with his shooting (0/3 on 3s), but chipped in with 8 rebounds and 4 assists.  Gealer provided some stability when the game could have gotten out of hand.  And Donavin Young, in just his 3rd game coming off an injury (and 1st home game), played a solid 23 minutes (including starting the 2nd half), scoring 7 points on 3/5 shooting (1/1 from 3), throwing down an impressive dunk, and getting 3 rebounds.

Stanford outscored the Hokies 27-12 on 3s and 15-3 from the free throw line.  Surprisingly to me, Va Tech outscored Stanford in paint 38-20 and in points off turnovers 16-9.

Certainly not the prettiest win, but a win.  Basketball is a game of runs, but Stanford's inconsistency continues to be a concern.  A 9-minute stretch like they had tonight would be a disaster against an most remaining opponents.  But to their credit, they never seemed to panic, continued to play hard, and got back into the game.

UVa coming up on Saturday afternoon.  They lost to Cal tonight 75-61 to fall to 8-7(1-3 in the ACC). Jared Haase joined Roxy Bernstein on the ESPN2 telecast - can't wait to see them doing a future Stanford game.

Great summary

Lots to like about this team, just not sure they can put it all together before the end of the year. The Big 3 will always give us a chance. Agarwal earns his time on defense, rebounding and spark, but if he could become a consistent offensive threat (likely still some time away) we would be much tougher to beat. A consistent 5th player hasn’t emerged yet. Camman will be very good but a work in progress, Okpara is just too inconsistent, he’s having a rough stretch but when on can be very effective. Loved what I saw from D Young last night. Could he be fast tracked into a reliable contributor this year?

It’s a shame KS doesnt get to work with this full group for another year. Still, good signs and potential for lots of progress this year and a few positive surprises, maybe even a couple of big wins.

[TriangleTree]

After getting off to fast starts vs. Oregon, Clemson, & Pitt, Stanford was sleepwalking through most of the first half tonight. After taking a 4-2 lead 2 minutes into the game, Va Tech ripped off 14 unanswered points over the next 9! minutes.  In that 9 minutes, Stanford shot 0-8, had 3 turnovers (all by Okpara), and committed 3 fouls (2 by Blakes).  Gotta be one of the worst stretches of basketball I've seen from Stanford in my 50+ years of watching.  Tough night for Okpara - back into the starting line-up, but played only 6 minutes, exiting soon after the 3rd TO.

The Big 3 showed some grit and slowly chipped away to cut the halftime deficit to 30-25.  In one 2-minute stretch, Blakes made a lay-up off a turnover, assisted on a Raynaud layup, then assisted on 2 straight Sellers 3-pointers.  Stanford came out hot in the 2nd half with 4 Blakes free throws and 2 Raynaud 3-pointers in the first 2+ minutes.  They got the lead (39-38) with 15 minutes remaining, but couldn't pull away.  The game was tied at 56 with 5-1/2 minutes left, before Stanford went on a 9-0 run.

The Big 3 could still use some more help.  They scored 55 of the 70 points.  The Hokies had a similar issue - 45 of their 59 came from Lawal, Poteat and Burnham (off the bench).  Lawal & Poteat did some nice work under the basket, including 4 impressive dunks.  Burnham was 4/4 on 3s in the 1st half (the only 3s of the game for Va Tech) and led the Hokies with 18 points.  Raynaud had 14 rebounds for another double-double.  Blakes had 6 assists and only 1 turnover.  Agarwal continues to struggle with his shooting (0/3 on 3s), but chipped in with 8 rebounds and 4 assists.  Gealer provided some stability when the game could have gotten out of hand.  And Donavin Young, in just his 3rd game coming off an injury (and 1st home game), played a solid 23 minutes (including starting the 2nd half), scoring 7 points on 3/5 shooting (1/1 from 3), throwing down an impressive dunk, and getting 3 rebounds.

Stanford outscored the Hokies 27-12 on 3s and 15-3 from the free throw line.  Surprisingly to me, Va Tech outscored Stanford in paint 38-20 and in points off turnovers 16-9.

Certainly not the prettiest win, but a win.  Basketball is a game of runs, but Stanford's inconsistency continues to be a concern.  A 9-minute stretch like they had tonight would be a disaster against an most remaining opponents.  But to their credit, they never seemed to panic, continued to play hard, and got back into the game.

UVa coming up on Saturday afternoon.  They lost to Cal tonight 75-61 to fall to 8-7(1-3 in the ACC). Jared Haase joined Roxy Bernstein on the ESPN2 telecast - can't wait to see them doing a future Stanford game.

Great summary

Lots to like about this team, just not sure they can put it all together before the end of the year. The Big 3 will always give us a chance. Agarwal earns his time on defense, rebounding and spark, but if he could become a consistent offensive threat (likely still some time away) we would be much tougher to beat. A consistent 5th player hasn’t emerged yet. Camman will be very good but a work in progress, Okpara is just too inconsistent, he’s having a rough stretch but when on can be very effective. Loved what I saw from D Young last night. Could he be fast tracked into a reliable contributor this year?

It’s a shame KS doesnt get to work with this full group for another year. Still, good signs and potential for lots of progress this year and a few positive surprises, maybe even a couple of big wins.

[fullmetal]

When I see Andrej Stojakovic averaging 20.1 ppg for kal...sigh (good for #2 in the ACC, Raynaud is #1 at 20.7 ppg).  This team could have been pretty good!  And maybe it can yet pull it together with more consistent play.

[fullmetal]

When I see Andrej Stojakovic averaging 20.1 ppg for kal...sigh (good for #2 in the ACC, Raynaud is #1 at 20.7 ppg).  This team could have been pretty good!  And maybe it can yet pull it together with more consistent play.