San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Stanford: Cardinal has talent, but who will rebound?
Despite having just one senior and two juniors on his roster, Stanford men’s basketball coach Jerod Haase plainly hates the R-word.
“Our attitude in the locker room is not to talk about rebuilding,” the third-year head coach said.
Sophomores Daejon Davis, KZ Okpala and Oscar da Silva had plenty of experience as freshmen, he pointed out. And the newcomers from a second straight excellent recruiting class “have a great deal of maturity.”
In short, he said, “We’re trying to get after it right now. We’re not looking to the future.”
The Cardinal were 19-16 last season after losing to Oklahoma State in the second round of the NIT. They finished in a three-way tie for third in the Pac-12 at 11-7 with their most conference wins in a decade.
But the losses of leading scorer and rebounder Reid Travis (who left for Kentucky as a graduate transfer), Dorian Pickens (their best outside shooter and second-leading scorer) and Michael Humphrey (their second-best rebounder) were enough that in the preseason Pac-12 media poll the Cardinal were picked to finish ninth.
Davis isn’t fazed by the low expectations.
“Obviously it puts a chip on our shoulder and makes us play harder, but we don’t really care about that,” he said.
Okpala, a 6-9 forward who can drive to the hoop and play tight defense, agreed. “We know what we’re capable of,” he said. “We know we can beat any team.”
Davis ran the show last season at point guard. He provided the most memorable moment of the season when he hit a buzzer-beater from halfcourt to beat USC at Maples Pavilion.
He averaged 10.7 points and 4.8 assists but also four turnovers. He and Haase are
confident he’ll take better care of the ball this time around.
“His summer was off the charts,” Haase said. “His comfort level as a point guard is like nothing you saw last year, especially early in the season.”
Haase is looking for growth and consistency from Okpala as well.
“He can’t be a guy who has 15 points and eight rebounds in one game, and the next game he’s in foul trouble and has two points,” Haase said. “We have to have consistency, and consistency at a high level from him.”
Okpala missed the first 12 games last season because he didn’t meet Stanford’s standards on an advanced-placement calculus test in high school. He went on to average 10 points a game.
Da Silva set a Stanford freshman record for threepoint shooting percentage (55.8) and blocked 30 shots.
“The thing we’re lacking most with the departure of three of our stars is size and physicality,” Haase said. “To name one thing, it’s rebounding.”
Without Travis and Humphrey in the low post, the Cardinal will need to spread the scoring, look to fastbreak and use the slashing style of Davis and Okpala to lead to baskets or free throws.
There probably won’t be much low-post offense. Senior 7-footer Josh Sharma scored just 3.5 points per game last season. Trevor Stanback, a 6-11 junior, played just 13 games, although he impressed in a game at Colorado when he had three blocks, five rebounds and five points in 19 minutes.
Without Pickens, the best outside shooter is likely to be 6-4 freshman guard Cormac Ryan. “He has a presence about him,” Haase said of the New York native. “He has really tangible leadership skills.”
The other newcomers are 6-6 guard Bryce Wills, 7-foot center Keenan Fitzmorris, 6-9 forward Jaiden Delaire and Lukas Kisunas, a 6-10, 245pound Lithuanian bruiser who played at a prep school in New Hampshire. They’re likely to get a baptism of fire when Stanford visits North Carolina and Kansas.
Haase’s third season at his previous stop, Alabama-Birmingham, brought a trip to the NCAA Tournament, in which the Blazers shocked No. 3 seed Iowa State in the second round. It was the school’s first NCAA Tournament win in 10 years.
Getting to the Big Dance this season would be a remarkable feat.