January 14, 2005

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Palo Alto Online

Stanford needs to beat Cal to keep hopes alive

by Rick Eymer

After successfully defending its home court in conference play, the Stanford men's basketball team seeks its first road win of the Pac-10 season when the Cardinal (1-3, 7-7) visit California (1-3, 8-6) on Saturday at 1 p.m. Stanford travels to UCLA and USC next weekend.

The Cardinal are fresh off a victory over nationally-ranked Arizona, and coach Trent Johnson is making clear that whatever good feelings were created from the win won't mean anything unless his team continues to improve and press ahead.

"It was a good win, but momentum? What does that mean," Johnson said. "It doesn't mean anything unless we do something against Cal."

The first priority is keeping players healthy. Point guard Chris Hernandez missed Stanford's loss to Arizona State last week, and his back remains problematic. Freshman center Peter Prowitt, who came off the bench and played quality minutes last week, couldn't practice on Tuesday because of a bad ankle.

With Tim Morris gone for the winter quarter, and football players Mark Bradford and Evan Moore leaving the team, health is a major concern. The Cardinal took two days off after beating the Wildcats, more out of necessity than anything else.

Carlton Weatherby, a crowd favorite, was placed on scholarship after spending the past 21/2 years as a walk-on. But Weatherby went down with a foot injury during practice in December and is lost indefinitely. That leaves freshman Kenny Brown as the lone walk-on.

"We want to get healthy," Johnson said. "After two days off, it was quiet as its ever been. It was business as usual. We're putting an emphasis on what we're trying to get done."

What Stanford would like to do is give Johnson a victory in his first trip to the new Haas Pavilion. Johnson doesn't think the rivalry - at 240 games and counting the longest in school history - will affect the way the Cardinal plays.

"It's a basketball game. I don't get caught up in rivalries," he said. "If you concentrate and focus on the job at hand, it's amazing what you don't hear."

Stanford brings a three-game winning streak against Cal to Berkeley. The Cardinal have won 13 of the past 15 games played between the teams.

The Bears have also been hit by injuries, and played with eight available scholarship players the past six weeks. Leon Powe, the Pac-10 Freshman of the year last season, is lost for the year with a knee injury. Ayinde Ubaka missed 11 games with a broken foot and will be making his first conference appearance.

Junior guard Richard Midgley sustained a sprained right shoulder last Saturday in Cal's loss to Arizona State but he's expected to start against Stanford. Midgley leads the Bears with a 15.3 scoring average and plays 31.3 minutes a game.

Stanford has three players averaging more than 30 minutes; Dan Grunfeld (32.9), Hernandez (34.4) and Nick Robinson (31.9). Grunfeld leads the team with an 18.1 scoring average, second in the Pac-10.

"I've been impressed with their younger players' ability to get to the ball," Johnson said. "With Leon Powe out, a lot of guys had to play and develop. Midgley is as good a guard as there is in this league and they will continue to get better."

With Hernandez out of the lineup, Stanford lost to the Sun Devils. He returned to the lineup and made an immediate impact against the Wildcats. Johnson wouldn't go so far as to say Hernandez made the difference.

"As valuable as Chris is to the team, you have to look at the opportunities we had to convert (against Arizona State)," Johnson said. "Jason (Haas) played well. We simply didn't convert easy baskets."

To emphasize his position, Johnson used Haas at the point against Arizona, while sliding Hernandez to the shooting guard for periods of time.

"That gave us another ball handler to help us crack pressure better," Johnson said. "It gives Chris a chance to get the ball out of his hands a little bit."

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