Stanford is piling up painful losses. The road trip through the mountains (actually the only road week that requires a flight) was a disaster because the close losses also came with a physical cost. The loss to ASU Thursday night was not like the others, though.
Stanford did not have a seemingly commanding lead (USC, Cal, Colorado) or a chance to win the game at the end of regulation like it did at Utah. Instead, the Cardinal failed to make a "winning play" when they had the ball with just under a minute left and down three. Momentum was on their side and they could have gone for a quick two and played defense.
We all saw what happened instead: Daejon Davis couldn't corral the inbound pass and ASU got the ball and command of the lead.
Watching this team you can see it's better than the previous three under head coach Jerod Haase. You can see they are playing like a better coached team and, aside from Thursday night, the defense has been spectacular. The group has great character and they never give up. Haase and his staff get to take their share of credit for all of that.
However, this program is not at the point yet where it consistently makes all the needed "winning plays" to win games when their flaws put them in a trailing position.
The Cardinal clawed their way out of the hole of another slow start. They found a way to overcome an 11-point deficit with 5:34 left in the game. They did a lot of the hard work, but after a long official's review gave them the equivalent of a timeout that lasted a couple minutes, they couldn't complete the inbounds pass -- a simple play in a clutch moment.
Maybe this opinion is an overreaction to one play. It's possible. That play had nothing to do with the stat that had the biggest effect on the game, rebounds. ASU's small edge in second chance points was the difference in a game where almost every other stat was even -- both teams were equally atrocious taking care of the ball. ASU's guards routinely abused the previously superb Cardinal defense. There were a number of issues that all came together to leave the Cardinal short of a must-win.
"Winning plays" have been on mind off and on the past couple months watching this team and I can't shake the feeling that there's just enough missing that they can get close, but they are going to come up short more often than not in those critical moments.
Stanford did not have a seemingly commanding lead (USC, Cal, Colorado) or a chance to win the game at the end of regulation like it did at Utah. Instead, the Cardinal failed to make a "winning play" when they had the ball with just under a minute left and down three. Momentum was on their side and they could have gone for a quick two and played defense.
We all saw what happened instead: Daejon Davis couldn't corral the inbound pass and ASU got the ball and command of the lead.
Watching this team you can see it's better than the previous three under head coach Jerod Haase. You can see they are playing like a better coached team and, aside from Thursday night, the defense has been spectacular. The group has great character and they never give up. Haase and his staff get to take their share of credit for all of that.
However, this program is not at the point yet where it consistently makes all the needed "winning plays" to win games when their flaws put them in a trailing position.
The Cardinal clawed their way out of the hole of another slow start. They found a way to overcome an 11-point deficit with 5:34 left in the game. They did a lot of the hard work, but after a long official's review gave them the equivalent of a timeout that lasted a couple minutes, they couldn't complete the inbounds pass -- a simple play in a clutch moment.
Maybe this opinion is an overreaction to one play. It's possible. That play had nothing to do with the stat that had the biggest effect on the game, rebounds. ASU's small edge in second chance points was the difference in a game where almost every other stat was even -- both teams were equally atrocious taking care of the ball. ASU's guards routinely abused the previously superb Cardinal defense. There were a number of issues that all came together to leave the Cardinal short of a must-win.
"Winning plays" have been on mind off and on the past couple months watching this team and I can't shake the feeling that there's just enough missing that they can get close, but they are going to come up short more often than not in those critical moments.
