Publication Date: Friday, December 17, 2004
MEN'S BASKETBALL
The timing is good for opener
The timing is good for opener
(December 17, 2004) Stanford takes 3-4 mark to its long-awaited home debut Saturday
by Rick Eymer
The Stanford men's basketball team hasn't played in Maples Pavilion since February, and even by Saturday's 7 p.m. game time against visiting UC Davis, the Cardinal won't have logged much practice time in the newly renovated facility.
After playing its first even games on the road, though, home must look pretty good to Stanford (3-4) right now.
"I don't concern myself with who we play or where we play," Stanford coach Trent Johnson said. "It's nice for the team to be back at home where the crowd will be rooting for them instead of against them. They look forward to being at home."
The game against UC Davis kicks off a stretch of three consecutive home games heading into Pac-10 play. The Cardinal hope they can start stringing some wins together after winning in Denver on Monday night.
With the construction at Maples, the Cardinal players found themselves using a trailer as a locker room, and Burnham Pavilion - where the team picture was taken - as their home court.
Stanford will have held exactly six practices on the new court at Maples heading into the game against the Aggies, a first-year Division I school. Stanford has won all 11 previous meetings with UC Davis (3-4). Palo Alto grad Ryan Symes is on the Aggies', roster but has yet to appear in a game.
There's no bounce to the floor these days, and that's something to which the Cardinal will have to adjust. That's not the only adjustment Stanford needs to make.
Last year, Mike Montgomery had guys like Dan Grunfeld and Matt Haryasz coming off the bench to spell guys like Justin Davis, Rob Little and Josh Childress.
With Grunfeld and Haryasz in the starting lineup this year, depth has become a problem.
"You have to tempo more on the road," Johnson said. "The veterans know on every possession you guard with a sense of urgency. When we go to the bench, we lose a little bit of that. This group has continued to work and have stayed together. As long as we're defending and rebounding we'll be competitive."
So far the starters - Chris Hernandez, Nick Robinson, Grunfeld, Haryasz and Little - have had to carry the burden. The top two players off the bench - Tim Morris and Taj Finger - didn't play a minute last year.
The starters are getting 78 percent of the playing time and accounting for 85 percent of the offense.
"Those guys are logging a lot of minutes," Johnson said. "You have to be able to go to the bench and continue that. A lot of these guys have been role players and now they are out there a longer time. They realize they can't make the same mistakes they made last year. Our margin of error is so slim."
Stanford is averaging 66.3 points a game, the lowest since the 1992-93 team also averaged 66.3. The Cardinal are allowing 71.9 points a game, their worst since the 72.7 allowed in 2001-02. Stanford has allowed on average fewer than 70 points in seven of the past eight years.
"We're getting good shot; we're just not making them," Johnson said. "The offense will take care of itself. I'm more concerned about getting crucial stops at crucial times. We still have to improve our rebounding and defense."
Saturday would be a good time to start.
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