Obligatory Post

I would love to say something interesting here, but that would require having something interesting to say.

Stanford 55, Fresno State 48

I will say this about this game-- Stanford's defense was stifling. Fresno State netted only .83 points per shot, which is abysmal. Worse yet, Fresno turned the ball over 18 times, with only 6 assists. Most of the baskets they did manage were off of Kevin Bell penetrating into the lane, and even he was rather ineffectual, managing a mere 7 for 18 with 2 free throws. Like Texas Tech, Fresno was reduced to ineffectual lunges and runners in a desperate attempt to generate some offense.

That being said, Stanford:

a. turned the ball over 14 times themselves,
b. got all of three points from the bench, all of them on a single Taj Finger shot (weird in and of itself-- since when does he shoot threes?)
c. got outrebounded by a far smaller team, and
d. punctuated the game with such black-comedic highlights as Fred Washington and Brook Lopez attempting threes and Lawrence Hill shooting 2 for 12. He's officially in a slump at this point, as he whiffed on several wide-open threes that he normally buries.

There was basically one offensive highlight in this game, and it was Anthony Goods peeling off a screen and lunging to the hoop for a perfect slam dunk-- around a help defender. Very nice, but it hardly triggered a run-- Fresno promptly inbounded and hit a 3-pointer, which last time I checked is worth more points than a dunk.

In other news, Cal football's nightmarish season continues its denouement, with several players benched for at least the start of tomorrow's Armed Forces Bowl. Perhaps mercifully, I will be spared the sight of the game by work, as one of the worst football seasons (and sports years, period) in local history finally sputters to its gloomy conclusion. Let's hope for a happier 2008.

Note: the above was all written several days ago, but has been sitting on my computer since then. This is because I am an idiot who forgets about these things.

Might as well go straight on to the keys for Stanford to pull the upset in tonight's game:

1. Defense: The overriding priority is restraining UCLA's offense. They are not a super-powered offensive force. Most of the scoring comes from the guards-- Westbrook, Collison and Shipp. If Stanford can swat away their attempts at penetration and cling close enough to stop them from shooting 3s, I think UCLA will have trouble winning. Target: Less than one point per shot.

2. Lawrence Hill: Guy's been in a slump lately. The Cardinal desperately needs him to break out of it. He's going to have open looks from 3 and needs to knock them down. Target: 12 points and 6 rebounds.

3. Turnovers: We know there's going to be a bunch of them for Stanford. UCLA plays aggressive, ball-hawking, borderline illegal defense. The Cardinal have to limit the number of turnovers, particularly steals (which are much more damaging than other turnovers because they often lead to easy baskets on run-outs). Otherwise they simply won't be able to match UCLA in possessions. Target: 12 turnovers, 4 steals.

4. Non-Lopez/Goods scoring: Someone else is going to need to step up and score, whether it be Fred Washington with penetration or Drew Shiller (currently sitting at a ludicrous 1.9 points per shot-- he needs to take more of them) bombing from the outside. UCLA's own stodgy white jump-shooter, Michael Roll, is doubtful for the game with an injury, so the Cardinal definitely have an edge here. Target: At least one player besides Brook, Goods and Hill with 10 points.

We shall see. It's awfully tough to predict anyone to beat UCLA at this point, but I think Stanford is certainly at least capable of pulling it off.