Two observations. First, Pac-12 is no longer the bottom scraper of FBS. Lincoln Riley, Oregon’s resurgence, generally some quality teams. Second, there are basically two levels of teams: ranked teams and bottom feeders.

USC and UCLA are of course part of that improvement so some of this is temporary. I wonder what Riley is thinking now that he is going to be back in the mix with the Big-10? No easy path through tOSU/Michigan/whoever else is hot.

Has Shaw ever faked a punt in a dozen seasons?

Has he ever gone for it on 4th and short from his own 34 in the first quarter?

Has he ever gone for it on 4th and long from just outside his kicker’s range in the first quarter, or twice in the first half?

I know Shaw’s issues extend far beyond game management, but it must be nice to root for a coach who isn’t chickenbleep. Or play for one.

While attempting to fill an overall boring second half... I feel the broadcasters last night used the entire second half to dissect and basically crucify Stanford and Shaw's football program. I got the impression that they 'tipped-toed' into the pool of 'criticizing' the program & Shaw in the middle of the 3rd, but by the end of the 4th they had been able to dissect Shaw's years and Stanford's future problems (not accepting transfer's) in detail. Even I was getting uncomfortable by the end of the game with their continual crushing criticism of the programs downfall and questionable future... even though I am a supporter of this needed collapse to get Shaw replaced, it was hard to hear constantly.

Author clearly doesn't understand Stanford, as there's no way they're firing Shaw before end of season, even if we lose 100-0, but this is the 3rd major article in the last 10 days about how we suck and need to do something about it,

25-23, 25-23, 25-19

Onward

Read that here.

Read that here.

for Utah, with Stanford favored to get 0 more first downs.

Read that here.

On the USC broadcast tonight, Austin Jones’ father told Perris that Austin left Stanford in part to have fun. Pathetic comment for our program.

Read that here.

Read that here.

Read that here.

Read that here.

Watch that here. On the injury front, Shaw said Levani Damuni, Patrick Fields, Ricky Miezan, and Kendall Williamson are all questionable. Not as bad as they feared. Wednesday is going to be key of as to whether or not they can go. Brendon Barrow will be out. Connor McLaughlin and Jack Leyrer on the offensive line will travel and are fine. Shaw said the offensive line is the healthiest it has been in a while, which is a good thing. I'll get my thoughts and notes added later on in this thread.

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........ THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!!!

This is a real dilemna. What a shit show.

Read that here. I decided to turn this into a mini-feature on him. He deserves it.

And it's official. I was getting good vibes over the weekend and also today. 2023 4-star SF Andrej Stojakovic has committed to Stanford. He just announced. I'll add a write up in here once I get it done. Really nice get for the Cardinal. They needed someone to join Carlyle in this class.

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I used to work in Watts where she grew up. Many years ago. Hoping she picks Stanford.

At least they take several real concerns head-on instead of lauding Shaw and letting the injury/NIL/transfer excuses carry most of the weight...

Also is the lead story on their college football page (covering rebuilds of four other programs as well), so it gets eyes and brings Shaw into the national spotlight a bit more.

• 5 -- Win or be fired
• 4 -- Start improving now
• 3 -- Pressure is mounting
• 2 -- All good ... for now
• 1 -- Safe and secure
• 0 -- Untouchable

This adds onto the ESPN+ article discussion, and indeed there is significant overlap between the teams/coaches mentioned in that article and this one, but notable that publicity is continuing to stir.

I hate the bolded sentence so so so much. That's not how this works. However...

I love the italicized phrase right afterwards and how the preseason rating has changed. From "1 -- Safe and secure" to "3 -- Pressure is mounting" honestly sounds about right from a not-on-this-board wider audience's perspective.

Read that here.

Read that here.

I just came from Maples for what was a really fun day for Stanford hoops. My thoughts are below...

The Kids
Whoever said this is the loudest Maples could be all season was spot on, these kids were enthusiastic and loud all game, screaming during opposing free throws and waving their free pom poms. It created an awesome environment. When the team took the court for warmups the crowd (kids) went crazy and the Stanford players were all grinning. It is the loudest they have probably ever been cheered taking the court.

Maples capacity is 7,233. I would estimate 1,500 school aged kids (3rd-5th grade?) and 500 "regular" fans putting the area at roughly 28% capacity. Kids filled up the entire 6th man section (but where were the Stanford students?!) and the entire lower bowl behind the UoP basket (smart move) as well as 2 upper sections behind UoP's bench. In the 2nd half some of the older kids had filtered down into the lower bowl to where I was sitting (right behind UoP's bench). Sure they were a bit annoying but I always loathe how empty Maples' lower bowl is due to indifferent season ticket holders and the overly-aggressive seat enforcers.

These were all PAUSD kids (at one point the PA announcer had each school see who could cheer the loudest. It was... very loud). I saw the daughter of one of Stanford's assistant coaches sitting with her class so perhaps that was one of the connections. How many of those kids are going to go home and ask their parents to bring them back to a game? This was a huge win all the way around! More of this please!

Others in Attendance:

I saw Tara before tipoff, KN95 masked up. Some women's players sat in the corner of 6th man (hopefully the men reciprocate this evening). David Moseley was there, Joe Lacob in his usual courtside seat (I hate how those seats are always so empty, I counted 10 of the 50 "courtside" seats occupied today). Muir did his classic "stand in the corner near the exit" for the 2nd half.

The Actual Game:

This was a B/B+ performance by Stanford given Spencer Jones' absence and fending off a UoP team who got hot and nailed a ton of tough long shots in the 2nd half. Sure they didn't cover the spread but I was thrilled to see a high-impact newcomer look awesome...

Michael Jones was the story today. The guy is a total stud and odds on favorite to be team MVP (Ingram and S Jones are still close though!) He started out hot (3-4 on 3s and 9 of the first 14 points) before missing his last 5 3-pointers (all close) but still found a way to contribute, scoring his last 22 points inside and at the FT line (6-7 on 2-point shots with some and-1s). He made some nice passes and looked solid on defense (long arms and disruptive).

At one point, UoP's top player (Jordan Ivy-Curry) blew by him for a layup and I remarked to my Dad that I was surprised to see Jones guarding UoP's best and fastest guard instead of O'Connell. The next position, Harrison Ingram was on him. Let's all hope that he doesn't pull a Ziaire where his first Stanford game is his best. He was also the only player to see significant minutes with no turnover. Can we get more intel on whether Jones may come back next season? That would be great to know!

Michael O'Connell and Isa Silva appear to be status quo from last year (somewhat even minutes with O'Connell still being the starter and closer). Silva didn't impress today but we shouldn't overreact from one game. That said, it was a disappointing effort from a highly touted player we all hope makes "the leap" this season. O'Connell looked about the same - solid but not spectacular. I feel a lot safer with him on the floor.

The center platoon of Keefe and Raynaud was also interesting to watch. I believe they combine for 40 minutes and substitute exclusively for each other. Keefe started out 1-5 of free throws before nailing 2 important ones late. He was his usual self but could lose some minutes this season because...

Raynaud was fantastic, disruptive on defense and super efficient on offense. His first buckets were on putbacks before Stanford started looking for him late. He confidently nailed all of his FTs and only 3 attempt. UoP was fairly small so don't expect this sort of output in most games but it was a very impressive showing from a young guy with tons of upside. Also noteworthy that Haase kept him in late when UoP was pressing and fouling. That's often when coaches will favor ball handling but Silva remained on the bench. He also led the team in rebounds and blocks.

This was a forgettable game for Harrison Ingram but I'm not concerned. I think we'll see games all season where Jones, Jones or Ingram takes center stage as the scorer. He brought the ball up a few times and was very involved as a distributor. He missed some close 3 pointers and had a few uncharacteristic turnovers. Overall, I think the fast pace of the game and Stanford's ability to get looks inside and clean 3s from other players made Ingram less of a focal point of the offense, which is fine. With 1:33 left, Haase ran a set play out of a timeout for Ingram but UoP fouled him (and he converted 1-2 FTs).

Branden Angel had a very efficient outing and should have played more if not for foul trouble. Max Murrell didn't do much (zero shot attempts) but filled in admirably on defense late when Angel sat with 4 fouls.

Ryan Agarwal was a surprising presence in the first half (where he missed two 3s but at least took confident shots). I don't expect we'll see much of him in close games with a fully healthy team but perhaps that is my wishful thinking that Haase will tighten the rotation to the top 8 guys. As an aside, there were plenty of South Asian students in the crowd today and it's awesome for them to have some representation on the court.

Jarvis Moss also got some good run, his 2 misses from outside didn't look as good as Agarwal's but he flashed some serious athleticism on a rebound and looked ok. But again, not someone I want to see getting meaningful minutes this season.

Turnovers were a bit sloppy but UoP had an athletic team that was fast and flying around. I thought they were ok.

I'm curious why Jaylen Thompson didn't play and really hope that Spencer Jones can be back for the next two games because they are critically important to the NCAA tourney resume - Wisconsin and San Diego State. I'm pumped for this season!