Stanford's victory over a Weber State team that has a fairly consistent history of being a pain for power conference teams showed some of the problems the Cardinal will need to overcome. There were some rough stretches, especially to start the game, but, within the framework of the system that head coach Jerod Haase is establishing, the Cardinal were able to build a decisive margin of victory.
Turnovers were an issue for the Cardinal, who had 17 to only 16 assists. But the Cardinal also forced 15 turnovers and allowed only seven assists by the Wildcats, who shot 30% for the night.
The Cardinal are not a great three-point shooting team and they made 4-of-14 attempts, which is two less than they attempted two nights before. Dorian Pickens scored 12 points and made two three-pointers. Pickens' importance as an outside threat may be critical to this team because he may be the only one who is consistent. Marcus Sheffield had a rough night with turnovers and shooting and was visibly frustrated.
The emphasis of the offense is definitely to get the ball inside, where Reid Travis and Michael Humphrey lead the way. But Josh Sharma has provided a noticeable spark when he's in the game and he's flashing skills that could make him a special player.
Travis is dominating opponents in the first three games of the season. He finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds. He made 8-of-9 free throws.
Haase Quotes
We're excited about that game. We think Weber State has a fantastic chance to have a great year. They're a team you often see in the NCAA Tournament and I think they are that caliber of team this year. Defensively I think we did some nice things, especially after a slow start. To hold them to 30% field goal percentage is a heck of a job because they do have a lot of talented players and good shooters. So, I thought we really locked into their shooters, and it wasn't just one person or two people shadowing and getting there on the catch. It was guys jumping toward the basketball and making life hard on them.
Offensively I was little more disappointed. I didn't think the ball flowed (or) move instinctively as I want it to. But that's an area for improvement and we'll work on it.
Weber State's leading scorer Jeremy Senglin was a 17.5 ppg scorer last year and Marcus Allen and Dorian Pickens guarded him today. What was the emphasis in that?
I love to be able to give a great offensive player different looks, different sizes, athleticism so hopefully he doesn't get comfortable. I thought Dorian and Marcus really did a nice job trying to make life difficult for him. But I really do think the other guys were so alert, so attentive and when he did break free there was usually somebody there to keep him off balance.
How is it to see Reid Travis healthy and playing like people expected?
He's an amazing player and probably an even better person. For us to have him on the team is a huge asset in a variety of ways. His playing ability is obvious but his leadership is phenomenal and I think the guys respect him a ton.
On Travis remaking his shot.
Jeff Wulbrun on our staff gave him the instruction of -- we asked him the question, 'Do you want to change your shot?' Most kids in college don't want to do it and if you're not willing to do it (then) it's pointless to change because now you have two things: a bad shot and something you're not committed to. He said he was committing to change it and with a little instruction and just a ton of reps on his part he was able to do it. I think it's still a process as well and he's still improving nearly daily.
Talk about the turnovers.
A few of them were careless. In the first half there were some travels that I thought were not making the easy play. We were trying to manufacture things at times instead of just making the easy play. Some were caused by that. Some of them were caused because they were trying to do what I asked them to do --- get the ball inside and penetrate. And (they) didn't make the right reads and we just need to keep the ball flowing and the plays I'm asking for will be the easy plays. We tried to make the difficult play too many times.
On Mike Montgomery being enshrined Friday in college basketball hall of fame.
He's extremely deserving of being in the hall of fame. He recruited me. I'd spoken with him about a half dozen times over the past 20 years and once I got this job I've visited with him on a number of occasions. He's visited practice already and I think of him as very deserving of that honor. I'm anxious to get on a plane bright and early tomorrow morning and go see it first hand.
Kodye Pugh is red-shirting.
I visited with Kodye at length and he and I agreed that for his long-term plans and long-term plans of the program we would red-shirt him. We would only do that with someone who we think has a chance to be a special player. We really think he will be.
Where Sharma is right now in his development.
He'll still make a couple silly mistakes. I think some of the time he's not playing low enough offensively and defensively. But he's so versatile. He has the ability to shoot to the three-point line. With his back to the basket he is very good. He's a really good passer and defensively he's a game changer right now.
Reid Travis
We started the game slow (on defense). We were letting them get some looks on some actions that we scouted. We were pretty disappointed by the fact that we were letting them get open shots and that's when they got hot. We ended the half the way we wanted to but then it sparked up again in the second half. We have to keep eliminating that. The more we can stay steady with our communication and our defensive effort it shows we can play with anybody.
On his free throw shooting improvement: I did a lot of work last spring into the summer to really get my form to where I wanted it to be. I put in a lot of reps. Now it's going up there and trusting those reps and shooting the way it has to be.
What did you do to change the shot?
I could write a book on it. There's a lot of things I had to tweak when the new staff came. But one of our assistants (Wulbrun) really helped me and really stayed on me about it where it was a three-month process. I wouldn't leave the paint. I was just working on my form. There's a lot of little things we tweaked. It's a daily process. It's not where I need it to be, yet. It feels great. It's nice to shoot the same shot every time and have confidence in it.
Michael Humphrey
I thought it was great team defense. Our No.1 key on defense was transition defense. We did a great job of finding our shooters and sticking with our game plan. There was a ton of ball pressure.
One of the things we have to get better at is we have to keep our energy up to the ultimate high the whole time. Sometimes we don't get the ball in the paint or move the ball around as quick as we should. As we get better as a team ... we won't have those drops offensively or defensively.
Turnovers were an issue for the Cardinal, who had 17 to only 16 assists. But the Cardinal also forced 15 turnovers and allowed only seven assists by the Wildcats, who shot 30% for the night.
The Cardinal are not a great three-point shooting team and they made 4-of-14 attempts, which is two less than they attempted two nights before. Dorian Pickens scored 12 points and made two three-pointers. Pickens' importance as an outside threat may be critical to this team because he may be the only one who is consistent. Marcus Sheffield had a rough night with turnovers and shooting and was visibly frustrated.
The emphasis of the offense is definitely to get the ball inside, where Reid Travis and Michael Humphrey lead the way. But Josh Sharma has provided a noticeable spark when he's in the game and he's flashing skills that could make him a special player.
Travis is dominating opponents in the first three games of the season. He finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds. He made 8-of-9 free throws.
Haase Quotes
We're excited about that game. We think Weber State has a fantastic chance to have a great year. They're a team you often see in the NCAA Tournament and I think they are that caliber of team this year. Defensively I think we did some nice things, especially after a slow start. To hold them to 30% field goal percentage is a heck of a job because they do have a lot of talented players and good shooters. So, I thought we really locked into their shooters, and it wasn't just one person or two people shadowing and getting there on the catch. It was guys jumping toward the basketball and making life hard on them.
Offensively I was little more disappointed. I didn't think the ball flowed (or) move instinctively as I want it to. But that's an area for improvement and we'll work on it.
Weber State's leading scorer Jeremy Senglin was a 17.5 ppg scorer last year and Marcus Allen and Dorian Pickens guarded him today. What was the emphasis in that?
I love to be able to give a great offensive player different looks, different sizes, athleticism so hopefully he doesn't get comfortable. I thought Dorian and Marcus really did a nice job trying to make life difficult for him. But I really do think the other guys were so alert, so attentive and when he did break free there was usually somebody there to keep him off balance.
How is it to see Reid Travis healthy and playing like people expected?
He's an amazing player and probably an even better person. For us to have him on the team is a huge asset in a variety of ways. His playing ability is obvious but his leadership is phenomenal and I think the guys respect him a ton.
On Travis remaking his shot.
Jeff Wulbrun on our staff gave him the instruction of -- we asked him the question, 'Do you want to change your shot?' Most kids in college don't want to do it and if you're not willing to do it (then) it's pointless to change because now you have two things: a bad shot and something you're not committed to. He said he was committing to change it and with a little instruction and just a ton of reps on his part he was able to do it. I think it's still a process as well and he's still improving nearly daily.
Talk about the turnovers.
A few of them were careless. In the first half there were some travels that I thought were not making the easy play. We were trying to manufacture things at times instead of just making the easy play. Some were caused by that. Some of them were caused because they were trying to do what I asked them to do --- get the ball inside and penetrate. And (they) didn't make the right reads and we just need to keep the ball flowing and the plays I'm asking for will be the easy plays. We tried to make the difficult play too many times.
On Mike Montgomery being enshrined Friday in college basketball hall of fame.
He's extremely deserving of being in the hall of fame. He recruited me. I'd spoken with him about a half dozen times over the past 20 years and once I got this job I've visited with him on a number of occasions. He's visited practice already and I think of him as very deserving of that honor. I'm anxious to get on a plane bright and early tomorrow morning and go see it first hand.
Kodye Pugh is red-shirting.
I visited with Kodye at length and he and I agreed that for his long-term plans and long-term plans of the program we would red-shirt him. We would only do that with someone who we think has a chance to be a special player. We really think he will be.
Where Sharma is right now in his development.
He'll still make a couple silly mistakes. I think some of the time he's not playing low enough offensively and defensively. But he's so versatile. He has the ability to shoot to the three-point line. With his back to the basket he is very good. He's a really good passer and defensively he's a game changer right now.
Reid Travis
We started the game slow (on defense). We were letting them get some looks on some actions that we scouted. We were pretty disappointed by the fact that we were letting them get open shots and that's when they got hot. We ended the half the way we wanted to but then it sparked up again in the second half. We have to keep eliminating that. The more we can stay steady with our communication and our defensive effort it shows we can play with anybody.
On his free throw shooting improvement: I did a lot of work last spring into the summer to really get my form to where I wanted it to be. I put in a lot of reps. Now it's going up there and trusting those reps and shooting the way it has to be.
What did you do to change the shot?
I could write a book on it. There's a lot of things I had to tweak when the new staff came. But one of our assistants (Wulbrun) really helped me and really stayed on me about it where it was a three-month process. I wouldn't leave the paint. I was just working on my form. There's a lot of little things we tweaked. It's a daily process. It's not where I need it to be, yet. It feels great. It's nice to shoot the same shot every time and have confidence in it.
Michael Humphrey
I thought it was great team defense. Our No.1 key on defense was transition defense. We did a great job of finding our shooters and sticking with our game plan. There was a ton of ball pressure.
One of the things we have to get better at is we have to keep our energy up to the ultimate high the whole time. Sometimes we don't get the ball in the paint or move the ball around as quick as we should. As we get better as a team ... we won't have those drops offensively or defensively.
