the stanford cardinals under 1st year head jerod haase (he likes his breakfast served eggs benedict, no kidding) are 12-13 coming off 2 competitively played road losses in tempe & tuscon and an impressive 75-69 home victory over utah
the cards are led by the talented trio of stud 6'8" 245 lbs tight end/human battering ram reid travis (17.2 ppg with 56.8% on field goals & 8.6 rpg), 6'5" 215 lbs dorian pickens (12.0 ppg, the cards only 3 point threat at 37.3%) & 6'9" 220 lbs michael humphrey (9.5 ppg & 6.5 rpg)
what's are gonna be the 2 keys to a cal victory this evening at 7:00 pm at the maples trap house?
defensively the bears gotta continue to defend with amped up energy particularly in the paint, stanford is dead last in the pac 12 in 3 point shooting (30.8%)...the bears gotta pack the paint & the guards/wings gotta strip the ball with support when travis makes his inevitable bull rushes at the basket...rebounding the ball after the many stanford misses is gonna be critical tonite
offensively the bears gotta attack the ******* basket like their hair is on fire with entry lob passes to the young ivee (he's more effective when he's already moving when he flashes/catches the ball), kam & the king, drives to the rim by jabari, dontae, grant, sammy (revenge is best served cold) and charlie (stanford is dead last in the pac 12 in blocked shots) & push tempe/transition for breakaway baskets
what's gonna be the potential difference in the game?
along with the cards having absolutely no answer for ivan rabb (25 points & 13 boards last time at haas), former stanford tim o'toole's input this week re: the cardinals tendancies (he recruited several of these guys) is resulting in the most insightful gameday scouting report of the season...tim got the the huf vacated assistant coaching position (eric reveno was also seriously conisdered with a strong recommendation from mike montgomery) & is bringing gameday energy on the bench, east coast (much needed) recruiting connections & a foam paddle board that he beats the **** out of the bigs with during cal's intense & demanding practices
how do we know this is a big game?
shocky is gonna be pulling his daughter taylor out of high school a little bit early (yeah i'm the dad of the year) so we can roadtrip again this time to palo alto
let's do this, knock somebody on their azz, this class warfare battle between the elitist trust funders & the self made blue collar california golden bears is gonna be physical, toughest team wins
the magic of cal basketball (are you gonna be there?)#:wave:wave:wave:wave