COUGARS

It's only a few minutes before game time here at Stanford and we have some news and notes concerning Washington State's game with the Cardinal. Read on ...
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• News first, thoughts later. The news is simple. For the first time this year, WSU has been hit with an injury. Charlie Enquist (ankle) and John Allen (same) were unable to answer the bell and didn't make the trip. They were replaced on the traveling squad by Anthony Brown and Ben Loewen, two Spokane-area high school graduates. For you trivia buffs, that means of the 13 players on the traveling group, three are from Greater Spokane League schools. For 50 points, name the third and the schools the three played for. ... Now some thoughts about playing the Cardinal in Maples Pavilion. ... As I mentioned in my notes this morning, Stanford has yet to lose a conference game here. It can't be explained by saying this is such an intimidating venue and leave it at that, because this place isn't that – when you average 6,453 in a building, it shouldn't be, though that is 88 percent of capacity. It must have to do with the team on the floor being more comfortable at home. "Just because we are at home doesn’t mean we can take that for granted," Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins said this week. "We have played fairly well at home and have been very consistent, but when you walk out there you need to be prepared the same way and train the same way so you can put your best foot forward whether you are playing at home or on the road." But the Cardinal haven't been doing that. "I think our margin for error is a lot smaller on the road, it is at least for us," he said. "Those mistakes and mishaps kind of add up and if you have too many of them you are not going to be successful. On the road we have had too many breakdowns whether they are mental or physical that has put us in the situation." Stanford is 0-7 on the road in conference and perfect in four home games. ... There's one Cardinal who has been consistent, whether home or away. That's Pac-10 leading scorer Landry Fields, who comes in averaging 23 points a game, but 29.4 over his last four. The 6-foot-7 senior may not play in the NBA (I'm not a scout and I did not stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, so I have no idea) but he has an NBA player's understanding of how to use his body to get a defender off-balance. A little push here, an elbow there, a shoulder here-and-there and he's got enough separation to get his shot off – and possibly draw a foul. I thought that was one reason Klay Thompson, who works out with him in the summer, was able to do a decent defensive job when he was on him in the first game. Thompson was ready for those things. Despite that, Fields finished with 18 in Pullman, adding 10 rebounds for good measure. ... It was Jeremy Green who hurt the Cougars with 24, but it took the 6-4 sophomore 22 shots (9 makes) and 14 3-point attempts (5 makes) to get there. ... The Cardinal shot 26 percent in the first half of that game and trailed 46-26. WSU, which hit 53 percent of its first-half shots, only got up 21 in the second half, was outscored 47-31 and barely held on. ... So what's the key tonight? My default is always going to be defense. If the Cougars defend like they did in the first half against Stanford in Pullman – or like they did for most of the Arizona game – they can play with anyone in the conference. I don't believe Fields or Green can be stopped, unless shots just aren't falling. But the rest of the Cardinal can't go off. Against USC, Fields had 27 – but Stanford had 49. Against UCLA he had 35 – and Stanford 73. The Cardinal lost both. But there is one caveat. Both were on the road.

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• That's all for now. We'll be back at halftime. Until then ...

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