3 game sample size but our defense (2nd) has been better than our offense (7th) so far in conference play. A lot of that is the VT performance dragging us down Iām sure.
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Weāve had extremely long stretches against NC State and Cal of holding them scoreless. Making opponents look like a late era Bennett offense helps the metrics a lot.
I think our defense is capable of being pretty high end itās just really susceptible to some things that can make it completely unravel. Itās high variance which I donāt hate as a strategy if the individual defenders you have are limited, might as well pursue a scheme that introduces a wider span of outcomes.
But also on the coaching side I think every single one of our perimeter defenders has improved over the course of the season and that was probably the teams single biggest hole coming into the season. Good job Odom!
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Yeah almost 1.5 games worth of horrible offense against VT definitely weighing the average down
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Itās a weird resume. They have a Q3 and Q4 loss but also two very good wins (SLU neutral, Lville at home)
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I think this is going to be a very competitive game. Stanford seems better than their NET ranking. And Iām not sure yet whether our much improved defense is real. Wish Jacari was playing, feel like his absence has knocked a few percent off of our 3 pt shooting. This feels like a game that will come down to a few plays made and missed at the end.
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Stanford looked really mid for 95% of the game against VT. They were forced into a lot of bad shots by a mediocre VT defense, and then VT just completely forgot how to play at the end of the game which allowed Stanford to get back into things. I know they won but this had no business being anything other than a comfortable VT win.
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They played a 47-40 game with ND recently.
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Not to re-up the Elijah discourse, but I think whatās happening is:
- Heās a step slower due to his injury
- His coach isnāt on his ass 24/7 about defense so he isnāt as locked in.
Potential is there, but not sure how high the ceiling is any more since his injury. And heās gotta be a bit more self-motivated on that side of the floor if he wants more time.
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First VPI now Stanford. How many cow colleges are on the schedule this year, jeez?
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Also beat Louisville. Well coached but no outstanding talent outside their stud freshman
I have to admit I only saw the last few minutes of the Tech game when Stanford looked like a top 4 ACC team. Iām definitely a āfeelsā fan at times, and this just feels like Stanford comes in with a lot of confidence after their big comeback win, and our 3 pt shooting continues to be a little below where it was before Jacari went down. Iām definitely not expecting Stanford to perform as poorly as NCState did in the first 33 minutes of our game or Cal in the last 30 minutes. Will be really happy to be ridiculed on this board if we end up running away with the win for the third straight time.
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Well, if you are ridiculed, it wonāt be a big deal since you are unknown.
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Against Tech: stud freshman 31 points, rest of team 38 points. They have no depth.
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Their leading scorer scores 6 more a game than ours. Their 2nd leading scorer scores more than ours. Their 3rd leading scorer is same as ours who we donāt have for the game.
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BUR preview:
#76 Stanford at #17 Virginia (-12), 2:15 PM ET, The CW.
This could be a tough turnaround for Stanford in its second game on the east coast. The Cardinal won in dramatic fashion at Virginia Tech on Wednesday, with all-world freshman PG Ebuka Okorie drilling a ballsy dagger with under three seconds left to escape with a one-point win.
The Cardinal have built a surprisingly compelling at-large case so far on the strength of Okorieās brilliance and a solid nightly shot volume advantage. They rank 28th nationally in field goal attempt differential, per CBB Analytics, taking 73 more shots than their opponents through 16 games. Turnover and rebounding margins are consistently in their favor.
Competing on the defensive glass will be critical against UVAās onslaught on the boards. The Hoos rank 5th nationally in offensive rebound rate, with Thijs De Ridder, Johann GrĆ¼nloh and Ugonna Onyenso battering opposing frontlines. GrĆ¼nloh and Onyensoās shot blocking dominance has also made the rim a no-fly zone (6th nationally in 2P% defense, 4th in block rate). The whistle will be huge here: Okorie and Chisom Okpara will try to get Virginiaās bigs in foul trouble early.
Virginia, meanwhile, has looked outstanding in two games after a crushing triple-OT loss at rival Virginia Tech. They whipped NC State in Raleigh and then blew out Cal on Wednesday. Missing flamethrowing gunner Jacari White limits their spurtability somewhat, but this team is still flush with shooters, and freshman PG Chance Mallory has been terrific off the bench as a table-setter.
Ryan Odom and Kyle Smith faced off back on Christmas in 2022, with Odomās USU team beating Smithās Wazzu Cougars in the third-place game in the Diamond Head Classic (RIP). The 3P splits in that game were absurd (VCU 11/17, Wazzu 2/17), though, so thereās not much to take from it. - Jim Root
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Stanfordās team stats. What jumps out are:
- They get to the line a lot
- They generate a lot of turnovers
- Pretty good defensive rebounding team
I donāt think this will be a cakewalk, but it would be nice to see us maintain our quality of play over a 3 game stretch. Itās been up and down from game (or two games) to game. Consistency is the next frontier.
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