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Stanford feeling vulnerable Late-season slide, injuries increase pressure on Cardinal
Posted: Wednesday March 10, 1999 10:40 PM
SEATTLE (AP) -- Stanford's regular season ended ingloriously with a 14-point loss at Oregon State. In February, the Cardinal were embarrassed by an 11-point home loss to a Connecticut team missing its best player. Now key reserve Jarron Collins, one of Stanford's best inside players, is using crutches because of a sprained ankle. He's an athletic 6-foot-9 forward who is averaging 5.2 points and 5.9 rebounds. Could Stanford be vulnerable when it opens the NCAA tournament against Alcorn State on Thursday? "Definitely, we have the most pressure on us," Stanford's Arthur Lee said Wednesday. "But we've had pressure on us all year long." "Going to the Final Four is the ultimate," teammate Mark Madsen said. "I think we have the same hunger to make it back." A Final Four team last year, Stanford is making its fifth straight trip to the tournament under coach Mike Montgomery with its highest seeding ever, No. 2 in the West. As Pac-10 champs, the Cardinal (25-6) are aiming to go farther than last season, when they lost in overtime in the NCAA semifinals to Kentucky. In the tournament opener, they're matched against a No. 15 seed from the Southwestern Athletic Conference from Mississippi. The Braves (23-6), from Lorman, Miss., got their first tournament berth since 1984 by capturing the SWAC tourney title. Montgomery doesn't think he has to do a selling job to his players about the danger of dismissing Alcorn State. The Cardinal were guilty of overlooking Oregon State, Montgomery said. A year ago, Stanford beat College of Charleston 67-57 in its tournament opening game. "I would be disappointed if the kids didn't understand in a field like this that anybody can beat you," Montgomery said. "I think these kids are smart enough to recognize that." The Stanford players will never be accused of not being smart. But are they as good as they're advertised? "When you've been here before, it's like, 'Now we've had some success here, let's have some more success,'" Lee said. Alcorn State beat Prairie View, Mississippi Valley and Southern in the SWAC tournament to earn a trip to Seattle. The Braves think they can add big-time Stanford to their list of victims. "They've got everything to lose and we've got everything to gain," Alcorn State coach Davey Whitney said. "I'll let you tell me which team is under the most pressure." Said Braves guard Reuben Stiff: "We're not really intimidated by them. We're not in awe of them. We didn't come up here to lose." Whitney playfully took a jab at Madsen, Stanford's 6-foot-9, 235-pound senior forward who fights for inside position on the blocks as tenaciously as a wrestler goes after pins. In fact, the Alcorn State coach compared him to a wrestler. "What is the name of that wrestling thing?" Whitney said. "The WWF. He'd be great doing that."
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