Stanford BB Team Very Impressive in Opener

[Rocky17]

Maui Invitational.  Decimates Bama.  Wish it was football.  Great depth, talented starters.  Incredibly smooth frosh Ziaire Williams lit up the place.  Was shocked to see announcers project him to be the #5 player selected in the NBA draft THIS year.  Guess we only get him for one year.  Damn.

[rjnwmill]

A couple of thoughts:

-This team may be able to shoot free throws?

-There are scoring options. There are at least four or five guys who could be the leading scorer on any given night.

-Haas seems to engender a commitment to defend.

-I didn’t see North Carolina tonight. Rocky, do we have a shot tomorrow?

Here's a toast with one last pour, may it last forever and a minute more;
Good fortune seems to you have sung, to live and love way past long

[Legend]

Watched a little bit of it. We looked smooth and athletic. Nit the usual Stanford.

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Sic transit gloria mundi (so shut up and get back to work)

[Rocky17]

We have a chance.  UNC is experienced, has good size.  We are also strong up front and we have two guys 6’9″ coming off the bench, one of whom is a frosh and in addition have Adam Keefe’s kid who appears to have great potential. We can match UNC`s quickness, strength and athleticism for once.  History is against us as we are 0-12 all time against UNC.  UNC has 2 guys only who shoot very well from distance but we have 5 or 6.  We just may have the best guy on the floor in Williams.  His release and accuracy from 3 point range is astounding.  A phenom with an incredibly cool, collected court personality and presence.  If we stay out of foul trouble and do not turn it over as much as we did against Bama, we have a very good chance on a neutral court in front of no one but cardboard cutouts.  Bryce Wills, Daejon Davis and Oscar da Silva are all the real deal and will hold up.  Every one of them including Spencer Jones can hit the 3.  Our starters were 7-13 from 3 point range vs. Bama and every one of them shot 50% or better from that range.  That is an incredible stat and UNC cannot collapse in the lane or we will kill them from 3 point distance as we shot 53% from 3 point territory which was even better than the nearly 52% we shot from the field overall. Our 22 turnovers were ridiculous and we cannot do that against the Heels because they are too good and will make us pay big time.  If you love college BB, take the time to watch Williams this year because he is special and not the kind of guy Stanford recruits much of, at least not since I have been around. We get him for one year.  Better than nothing.  He plays small forward despite his size and must be careful not to get into foul trouble guarding a smaller, possibly quicker guy for UNC.

Bottom line for me is that if we limit turnovers and fouls, we can beat those guys.

(Bob, both UNC and Stanford were mediocre from the FT line yesterday.  We only had 19 FT`s, UNC had 32.  Our guy Wills was 0-4.  Three of our starters including Williams did not draw a foul.  A bit concerning because we could outscore them from the field and lose it at the line.  We need to stay out of foul trouble big time)

[Mick]

Don’t know that I would say we have great depth.  We have four guys who can really play.  Zaire is terrific, Davis is solid, Wills is very good.

As I write this, Stanford is down to UNC by 46-45.  Stanford’s backups haven’t played much, though they’re better free throw shooters than the starters.

[Rocky17]

As I surmised might be possible, Williams foul trouble most likely cost us the game.

[Author]

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