Brook no delay!

Yes, that's right-- Brook Lopez is now eligible for play.

You expected maybe the "ZOMG 3xhibition tings of Koll3ge of Idahoe"?

Like it or not, this was the single most important news of the first half of the season. The guy is that good. And unlike his brother, his hair doesn't look like a beaver sat on his head. (Robin Lopez was named to the All-Bad-Hair NCAA tournament team last year. You can't make this stuff up, folks.)

(Actually, now that I think on it, that's exactly what ESPN did. Forget I just said that-- you CAN just make stuff up and many people will believe it. For further proof of this principle, please see any baseball game commented on by Joe Morgan.)

Put plainly, Brook Lopez has one of the best offensive games of any college big man. Maybe not quite on the level of Ohio State's Kosta Koufos, and I'd have to put Kevin Love in that category too, but quite strong nonetheless. He's got the ability to hit the midrange shot, which separates him from a lot of guys who are pretty much limited to layups and dunks. He's not great putting the ball on the floor, though (2 turnovers a game last season). If he could add the ability to move and back down defenders from further out than the fringes of the lane, he could become truly unstoppable.

Even more important, though, is his defensive presence. When the Cardinal throw out the double-Lopez lineup, it completely changes the game on the defensive end. It's awfully nice to know, as a perimeter guard, that even if you screw up you'll probably get bailed out by shot-blockers. It's virtually impossible to attempt a shot inside of 15 feet against that lineup without it being blocked or at least severely affected.

Report of actual performance coming Wednesday, when Stanford faces off against mid-major nemesis Santa Clara. It's been a pretty slow stretch for Cardinal Precepts, but we're getting into the swing of things for the stretch run.