Right now I'm looking at my bracket and I think Stanford has a legit shot to make the final four. The way I see it working out is you guys beat Cornell, Marquette, Texas, and Pitt. You know your team better than I do, is this reasonable or am I completely insane? I just think that with your strong inside game you can hang with the big boys and surprise some people...
You're not crazy...optimistic, maybe, but not crazy. Stanford plays great defense and has a dominant inside game and that has been a winning formula in more tourney games than not. They are vulnerable to quick drive and slash guards -- especially if they can also pull up and hit from outside. Marquette has that to an extent and Texas is built on that, so it will really come down to who can impose their style and pace on the other.
Free throws have been a little troubling for this Stanford team, but they have been clutch down the stretch of late. A few rattling out at a tense time in a key sequence could start to spell trouble though. Also, if either Lopez gets in early foul trouble, our main strength is negated and all bets are off.
All of that said, yes, they absolutely could make a run to San Antonio. It was ten years ago when they made their last Final Four. In San Antonio. As a #3 seed. After finishing second in the conference and being swept by the conference champion. If those aren't good omens, then I don't know what will be.
If Stanford does make it to the Final Four, I can only hope they have UCLA waiting for them. There have been some great games between them already this year and I'd love another shot at them. Fourth time's a charm, right?
Well, they got past Cornell and Marquette, though the latter win was just by a hair. Beating Texas is by no means going to be a cakewalk. The Cardinal just don't have the guards to hang with Abrams and Augustin. Stanford will have a big edge in the low post, but the disadvantage on the perimeter will be a tough hurdle to overcome. Since Pitt is out now, they will play Michigan State or Memphis, and they would have as good a shot as many against either of those two teams. It's not crazy, they just have their work cut out for them.
I am a season ticket holder for Stanford and would love nothing better than to see us in the Final Four. Beating a great Texas team in Houston is going to be a huge task. They again, present matchup problems at the guard positions for us. Our size should, again, be a dominant factor and one that needs to be if we are going to win.
Assuming we upset Texas then it would most likely be Memphis. This team is so athletic that the reasonable person in me says we would struggle against them. As a pure fan, I say we can beat them!! We have played several athletic teams this year, UCLA, Oregon, Arizona, and WSU to name a few, but none like Memphis.
I also think teams will begin to adapt to the low block position that Brook establishes so that he can lean with his left elbow and go to the basket. Marquette did this towards the end of OT but it was too late for them. Will Texas be smart enough to defend him better? This could decide the outcome of the game!!
I've only seen Stanford play a few times. They are careless with the ball in the low post and their guard play isn't that great. Texas has played some really good post teams this season and faired well against them. Beasley from K State is an excellent example. Look for Barnes to run a lot of Box and 1 type defenses at Stanford and for the Texas guards to keep lighting it up from outside.
Well Crazy we have played quite a few teams with your style of guard play and fared decentlu well against them (except UCLA). I compare the Texas style of pay to an Oregon or WSU and we did very well against those two teams this year. The only problem is Texas is a whole lot better at this style than those other two schools.
Augustin is a whole different animal which will give us some problems. It should be a great game and one that is close throughout assuming neither Lopez gets in foul trouble. If that happens then things could take a turn for the worse.
I am a Memphis fan myself, but I would love to see Stanford in the Elite Eight with either us or Mich St. I'm rooting for you guys to win this game 100%! It's definately possible
