Posts: 3,179
Threads: 162
Joined: Dec 1969
I'm still catching my breath, but a few thoughts:
+Kal really was playing short-handed. The box score shows that two players played the entire second half, and for the game their bench only managed a measly two points.
+Did anyone else catch the announcers say that Stanford flew home after the Louisville game? I'm not saying that was a factor, because I don't know that, but I'd be curious what the team believes about that.
+With Stanford up one after the great play by Raynaud to block Andrej's shot, there's no question in my mind that Okpara did NOT make the smart play by forcing a shot so early in the shot clock. Let's face it, the call could have gone either way. But I do believe that Okpara is a player who, at least at this stage of his career, needs to have the green light at all times to be effective. Kyle Smith could have had him sit on the bench, and that would have been understandable to me, but if he's in the game then I want him to be aggressive with his shot. Thankfully, it worked out in the end.
+It should not be lost that Jaylen Blakes had perhaps his best overall game while at Stanford. He played the most minutes since the UNC game, and while us fans will always remember him for making that game-winning shot in Chapel Hill, today he actually shot better (58%) than in that game (53%). Out of his games in which he's scored 20+, today was his best field goal percentage performance, and he also contributed six assists and three(!) steals.
+Raynaud had a great game, but I am not a fan of him leading the team in 3-pt attempts as he did today. That said, it was very fun to see him make that hustle play on defense to block Andrej's three-point attempt, just another example of why he's an all-time Stanford great, imo.
