Publication Date: Friday, February 18, 2005
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Stanford's game face has new look
Stanford's game face has new look
(February 18, 2005) Robinson, Washington have new roles as Cardinal readies for UCLA on Sunday
by Rick Eymer
ick Robinson has been asked to play four different positions during his basketball career at Stanford, so another change this week will be no big deal.
Cardinal coach Trent Johnson said Tuesday that Robinson will shift to a guard spot and sophomore Fred Washington would make his first collegiate start in Robinson's swing spot on Thursday.
The changes were made necessary as a result of losing junior guard Dan Grunfeld for the season to a torn ACL in his right knee.
This is an important week for Stanford (7-5, 13-9 entering play against USC), which has a shaky hold on third place with UCLA (7-6, 13-8 before playing Cal) coming to town for a special Sunday matinee at 12:30 p.m. The Bruins are Stanford's closest competition for third.
Stanford is down to nine players, eight on scholarship, but Johnson has kept his game face on throughout adversity.
"We'll have our chances, I really believe that," he said. "I don't like sympathy. We have a responsibility to be prepared to play basketball. Grunfeld, (Tim) Morris and Carlton (Weatherby) wouldn't want it any other way."
Morris is out for the year because of ineligibility issues, while Weatherby broke his foot during a December practice. Evan Moore and Mark Bradford also left the team to concentrate on football.
Walk-on freshman Kenny Brown, a 6-1 guard, was added to the roster just before the beginning of the season. He averaged 20 points and six rebounds as a senior at Carroll High in Southlake, Texas. An all-state player, he also served as the student body president.
Washington has appeared in 45 games at Stanford, including 17 in which he played at least 10 minutes. He scored a career-high 11 points against Oregon State last year, and grabbed five rebounds against Oregon this year.
"He's going to have his opportunity," Johnson said. "They've all had opportunities all year long. It amounts to taking advantage of those opportunities. We have eight guys and you only play five at a time. They know they are going to play."
Stanford has beaten the Bruins five straight, and own an eight-game winning streak at Pauley Pavilion. It's a different story at Maples, where UCLA has won three of five and eight of 14 against the Cardinal.
The Cardinal beat UCLA earlier in the year, 75-64, but that was with Grunfeld scoring 25 points and holding Bruins leading scorer Dijon Thompson his season-low of six points on 3-of-11 shooting.
Thompson, who has reached double figures in 18 of his 20 games, is second in the conference in scoring with an 18.5 average and is fourth in rebounding at 7.9. He's coming off a career-high 39 points in the Bruins 95-76 win over Arizona State.
Seven-footer Michel Fey recorded his only career double-double (17 points, 11 rebounds) against Stanford the last time out.
While Thompson has five double-doubles on the season, Stanford forward Matt Haryasz has six, second best in the Pac-10 to Arizona State's Ike Diogu's 12.
"We're going to have to buckle down on defense," said Haryasz, who is second in the conference in rebounding. "We're not going to be able to make up that 18 points (Grunfeld's scoring average) but we can hold teams to fewer points."
Grunfeld scored 20 or more points in eight games, and reached double figures in 20 of 22, including his last 16 in a row.
Stanford goes on the road to the Oregon schools next week.
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