[needle]

It's an interesting team. You can trust Price, Townsend and Camman.

Not quite a big three, but all guys who play smart and with skill.

Interesting to see Olajuwon and Rogers out there in crunch time. Rogers is this fan's favorite, love his fearlessness but he can play out of control. Olajuwon of course very highly touted, maybe needs to learn more how to play within an offense.

Realistically hoping for more from Bliss. He has to be good for the team to be close to good.

Need some other guys to step up, also. KS will give them minutes, so they'll have a chance to show better than tonight.

---

[needle]

It's an interesting team. You can trust Price, Townsend and Camman.

Not quite a big three, but all guys who play smart and with skill.

Interesting to see Olajuwon and Rogers out there in crunch time. Rogers is this fan's favorite, love his fearlessness but he can play out of control. Olajuwon of course very highly touted, maybe needs to learn more how to play within an offense.

Realistically hoping for more from Bliss. He has to be good for the team to be close to good.

Need some other guys to step up, also. KS will give them minutes, so they'll have a chance to show better than tonight.

---

[Treebound]

During the loooong streatch of awful three-point shooting, I did some online searching and learned Cameron Grant transferred to UNC-Greensboro.

Yes, Cameron is playing at UNC Greensboro for our former coach Haase, who recruited him to Stanford.  Good luck to Cam.  

As for tonight, Nice win by the new team.  Coach has his work cut out for him, but he'll get them there hopefully sooner.  Yes, we all miss Ebuka - a generational talent at Stanford.   I really wish they could have made the Tourney last year as I think Okorie would have carried us on a run....what might have been.

[Treebound]

During the loooong streatch of awful three-point shooting, I did some online searching and learned Cameron Grant transferred to UNC-Greensboro.

Yes, Cameron is playing at UNC Greensboro for our former coach Haase, who recruited him to Stanford.  Good luck to Cam.  

As for tonight, Nice win by the new team.  Coach has his work cut out for him, but he'll get them there hopefully sooner.  Yes, we all miss Ebuka - a generational talent at Stanford.   I really wish they could have made the Tourney last year as I think Okorie would have carried us on a run....what might have been.

[needle]

ACC teams undefeated on the night except for Miami, which lost to No. 1 Florida by 10.

It isn't going to be easy.

[needle]

ACC teams undefeated on the night except for Miami, which lost to No. 1 Florida by 10.

It isn't going to be easy.

[fullmetal]

I had to sign up for a 3-day Hulu trial account to watch this one.  So many of the non-conference games are on the ACC Network Extra, which is a non-starter as I don't intent to pay $60/month or whatever it is for two months' of non-conference games.  It's sad that the ACC couldn't find a broadcaster to carry these games.

Anyway, in the limited minutes that I saw of this game, were the officials somewhat biased against Stanford?  They seemed a bit rusty, charitably speaking.

It feels like Kyle Smith can make a team out of the guys who showed up in the last 3/4ths of the game...those first several minutes were just painful.  But college basketball is often a game of experience, and EWU had more of it showing in the early game (while Stanford couldn't buy a bucket).  Stanford prevailed, thankfully.  I'd say this was early season jitters, but they had that exhibition game against Oregon, and I feel like that should have been their welcome-to-college game.

Lots to like, lots to work on.

(Just saw that Andrej Stojakovic is playing out his senior season at Illinois.  Ah, what could have been.)

[fullmetal]

I had to sign up for a 3-day Hulu trial account to watch this one.  So many of the non-conference games are on the ACC Network Extra, which is a non-starter as I don't intent to pay $60/month or whatever it is for two months' of non-conference games.  It's sad that the ACC couldn't find a broadcaster to carry these games.

Anyway, in the limited minutes that I saw of this game, were the officials somewhat biased against Stanford?  They seemed a bit rusty, charitably speaking.

It feels like Kyle Smith can make a team out of the guys who showed up in the last 3/4ths of the game...those first several minutes were just painful.  But college basketball is often a game of experience, and EWU had more of it showing in the early game (while Stanford couldn't buy a bucket).  Stanford prevailed, thankfully.  I'd say this was early season jitters, but they had that exhibition game against Oregon, and I feel like that should have been their welcome-to-college game.

Lots to like, lots to work on.

(Just saw that Andrej Stojakovic is playing out his senior season at Illinois.  Ah, what could have been.)

[TriangleTree]

Really hard to know what to expect this season given how much is new, but this team has lots of talent, is well coached, and I liked a lot of what I saw.
 
Random thoughts:

• Multiple players can score, no one can replace Okorie, but this team has no shortage of go to guys with the confidence and capability to take a shot when needed. 
  
• Townsend gives us an immovable object inside that we haven't had in years. Loved how he bullied his way inside when we needed a basket in the second half, never a doubt he'd get it. 
  
• The freshmen are awesome and play well together, if this group manages to stick together (a rarity) for a couple of years they will do great things. Bliss too, great addition. Price, Olajuwon, and Rogers are all ready for big time ball, but there will be growing pains. 
  
• Quickness and athleticism, team can defend quickness really well.
  
• Camman looks like he's wanting to take the next step and be dominant inside, for a period in the second half he did. Keep at it. 
  
• Team lacks true size inside by today's standards, would like to see some of the other bigs show they can provide solid minutes. Concerned about our ability to defend elite post players (we had no answers for Hamilton last night). 
  
• Donovin Young needs to break out, become a defensive and rebounding machine and not get into foul trouble. He's got the tools. 
  
• The team can run the floor!
  
• Batson can play, he will give us valuable minutes
  
• A good combination of experience and young talent.
  
• Every DIV-I team today is talented, there will be no gimmies and no one is invincible
  
• The team scores and gives up scores in bunches, that much was evident yesterday and in the exhibition games. I think it's a result of style of play and inexperience, but it will likely translate into unexpected wins and losses.  
  
• I love our coaches. 
  

[TriangleTree]

Really hard to know what to expect this season given how much is new, but this team has lots of talent, is well coached, and I liked a lot of what I saw.
 
Random thoughts:

• Multiple players can score, no one can replace Okorie, but this team has no shortage of go to guys with the confidence and capability to take a shot when needed. 
  
• Townsend gives us an immovable object inside that we haven't had in years. Loved how he bullied his way inside when we needed a basket in the second half, never a doubt he'd get it. 
  
• The freshmen are awesome and play well together, if this group manages to stick together (a rarity) for a couple of years they will do great things. Bliss too, great addition. Price, Olajuwon, and Rogers are all ready for big time ball, but there will be growing pains. 
  
• Quickness and athleticism, team can defend quickness really well.
  
• Camman looks like he's wanting to take the next step and be dominant inside, for a period in the second half he did. Keep at it. 
  
• Team lacks true size inside by today's standards, would like to see some of the other bigs show they can provide solid minutes. Concerned about our ability to defend elite post players (we had no answers for Hamilton last night). 
  
• Donovin Young needs to break out, become a defensive and rebounding machine and not get into foul trouble. He's got the tools. 
  
• The team can run the floor!
  
• Batson can play, he will give us valuable minutes
  
• A good combination of experience and young talent.
  
• Every DIV-I team today is talented, there will be no gimmies and no one is invincible
  
• The team scores and gives up scores in bunches, that much was evident yesterday and in the exhibition games. I think it's a result of style of play and inexperience, but it will likely translate into unexpected wins and losses.  
  
• I love our coaches. 
  

[SkiBum80]

Good posts with lots of relevant observations and insight on here.
If you saw Coach's postgame presser, some similar things came out there.
Two years ago, Maxime the go-to double-double machine.
Last year Okorie the spark plug scoring machine.
This year, who? what?
As Coach said, the team is still "finding it's identity".
But also, he kind of predicted a more balanced and distributed game.
Which I take that to mean no obvious one go to guy.  Could be any of several guys, depending on the game flow, the defense, who's hot, etc.
He seemed to allude too to the freshman especially being tight and nervous early in the game.
Yes Coach it was ugly.  We looked bad.
But he calmed them down and as they got more relaxed-focus they started playing much better.
Coach credited a few particular talents on a number of different guys.
Which I think attests to his skill as a Coach.
That is, finding what each of his players is best at, and then coaching up a game plan and position for them to try maximize both their talent and their contribution to the team.
He did this with Maxime that he coached up from a mainly scoring threat, to an all around beast that not only scored but defended and rebounded with a big game impact.  That's why he was drafted where he was for NBA, where Defense is valued as well as O.
He did this with Okorie who was a very overlooked and almost ignored recruit, considering his talent level, and Coach found a way to utilize his talent into a spectacular season and another NBA pick.
I think Price is going to be a key guy for this team.
Even if not always the high scorer, he has the most ability to make things happen, break down a defense, and get his teammates in position to do something good.  But he needs a strong 2nd (or 3rd) guard to partner with and that didn't always happen last night.
Bliss and Rogers showed maybe they can do it, but some lapses and mistakes there too. Batson looked flying around fast, but wild and not that effective.
Also their big Hamilton was almost unstoppable at times.
Coach credited Olajuwon with the h.uge 6 steals as helping team defend on Hamilton down in the post.
Also we were outrebounded.  Although to be fair I saw several O-Reb that went to them that were well defended and they just got a crazy lucky bounce.
So yes some things to work on.

[SkiBum80]

Good posts with lots of relevant observations and insight on here.
If you saw Coach's postgame presser, some similar things came out there.
Two years ago, Maxime the go-to double-double machine.
Last year Okorie the spark plug scoring machine.
This year, who? what?
As Coach said, the team is still "finding it's identity".
But also, he kind of predicted a more balanced and distributed game.
Which I take that to mean no obvious one go to guy.  Could be any of several guys, depending on the game flow, the defense, who's hot, etc.
He seemed to allude too to the freshman especially being tight and nervous early in the game.
Yes Coach it was ugly.  We looked bad.
But he calmed them down and as they got more relaxed-focus they started playing much better.
Coach credited a few particular talents on a number of different guys.
Which I think attests to his skill as a Coach.
That is, finding what each of his players is best at, and then coaching up a game plan and position for them to try maximize both their talent and their contribution to the team.
He did this with Maxime that he coached up from a mainly scoring threat, to an all around beast that not only scored but defended and rebounded with a big game impact.  That's why he was drafted where he was for NBA, where Defense is valued as well as O.
He did this with Okorie who was a very overlooked and almost ignored recruit, considering his talent level, and Coach found a way to utilize his talent into a spectacular season and another NBA pick.
I think Price is going to be a key guy for this team.
Even if not always the high scorer, he has the most ability to make things happen, break down a defense, and get his teammates in position to do something good.  But he needs a strong 2nd (or 3rd) guard to partner with and that didn't always happen last night.
Bliss and Rogers showed maybe they can do it, but some lapses and mistakes there too. Batson looked flying around fast, but wild and not that effective.
Also their big Hamilton was almost unstoppable at times.
Coach credited Olajuwon with the h.uge 6 steals as helping team defend on Hamilton down in the post.
Also we were outrebounded.  Although to be fair I saw several O-Reb that went to them that were well defended and they just got a crazy lucky bounce.
So yes some things to work on.

[skip75]

Too early to jump to too many conclusions - but I think I'm gonna like this team!

I am in agreement with every point of Triangle's post - thanks for summarizing the game better than I could have.

I have enjoyed every bit of Smith & Co.'s first 2 seasons. But now it seems that they will be able to rely on more the the "Big Three" (Reynaud, Blakes & Sellers) of Year 1 or (with a nod to my guy Benny Gealer) putting everything on Okorie's shoulders way too often in Year 2.  

Speaking of Jaylen Blakes, I was pleasantly surprised to see him on the bench. In my study of all the new additions of players, I wasn't aware that he is the new "Director of Player Development. I was sorry to hear that part of the reason that he is back is because of an ACL tear during a pretty successful pro experience in Israel. But I had a chance to talk with him at a game last season and came away feeling like (even after only one season at Stanford) he is everything we want in a "Stanford Man". Welcome back Jaylen!

I was hoping that the victory over Eastern Washington would be more comfortable than it was. But now I'm hoping that experiencing some early success in a crunch time situation was a growing situation for the young guys. Now I'll be looking for more comfortable (hopefully dominating) victories over Oakland on Friday & Rice next Monday before the road trip to UNLV.

[skip75]

Too early to jump to too many conclusions - but I think I'm gonna like this team!

I am in agreement with every point of Triangle's post - thanks for summarizing the game better than I could have.

I have enjoyed every bit of Smith & Co.'s first 2 seasons. But now it seems that they will be able to rely on more the the "Big Three" (Reynaud, Blakes & Sellers) of Year 1 or (with a nod to my guy Benny Gealer) putting everything on Okorie's shoulders way too often in Year 2.  

Speaking of Jaylen Blakes, I was pleasantly surprised to see him on the bench. In my study of all the new additions of players, I wasn't aware that he is the new "Director of Player Development. I was sorry to hear that part of the reason that he is back is because of an ACL tear during a pretty successful pro experience in Israel. But I had a chance to talk with him at a game last season and came away feeling like (even after only one season at Stanford) he is everything we want in a "Stanford Man". Welcome back Jaylen!

I was hoping that the victory over Eastern Washington would be more comfortable than it was. But now I'm hoping that experiencing some early success in a crunch time situation was a growing situation for the young guys. Now I'll be looking for more comfortable (hopefully dominating) victories over Oakland on Friday & Rice next Monday before the road trip to UNLV.

[fullmetal]

Agreed with the above analyses...Coach Smith calmed his players down and righted the ship.  The players were making great passes (Rogers to Price, Townsend to Cammann, etc.) without needing to think through things.  That kind of fluidity speaks to Smith letting his players play to their strengths and offensive instincts.

Blakes as Director of Player Development sounds like he's personally going to cook everyone in 1v1 until they get good lol.  Would not be bad at all...love to seem him back, and I hope he's having a great time.

So far the bigs seem to be doing alright...the early lack of rebounds worried me.  I'm particularly looking to see if we suffer any letdown from Reveno leaving for the Brown Univ head coaching gig; it's impossible to replace a guy like Reveno.  But in Kyle Smith we trust.

[fullmetal]

Agreed with the above analyses...Coach Smith calmed his players down and righted the ship.  The players were making great passes (Rogers to Price, Townsend to Cammann, etc.) without needing to think through things.  That kind of fluidity speaks to Smith letting his players play to their strengths and offensive instincts.

Blakes as Director of Player Development sounds like he's personally going to cook everyone in 1v1 until they get good lol.  Would not be bad at all...love to seem him back, and I hope he's having a great time.

So far the bigs seem to be doing alright...the early lack of rebounds worried me.  I'm particularly looking to see if we suffer any letdown from Reveno leaving for the Brown Univ head coaching gig; it's impossible to replace a guy like Reveno.  But in Kyle Smith we trust.