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Cardinal cram for Duke
Updated: Thursday December 21, 2000 12:52 PM
By Steve Rivera, Special to CNNSI.com Coming into the season, Arizona was a unanimous pick for top team in the Pac-10 Conference. That may still occur, but the team of the first month has been Stanford. And although the Cardinal (7-0) have played nowhere near the schedule of Arizona, they still are one of the two undefeated teams in the conference (USC is the other) heading into a showdown with No. 1 Duke on Thursday. Stanford is hardly working with smoke and mirrors. Despite the departure of forward Mark Madsen and guard David Moseley (both used up their eligibility), the Cardinal are still loaded with talent at nearly every position. Not surprisingly, Stanford finds itself ranked No. 3 headed into the Duke game at the Pete Newell Classic in Oakland. "I don't think we've earned that yet," Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said of the lofty ranking. "I think Arizona, Michigan State and Duke are very, very good basketball teams. We've certainly handled the challenges that have been before us. But we haven't been healthy and we haven't been able to compete in practice. A good team needs to get themselves ready for that level. That's not to say we can't get there, but right now our reputation coming in and the fact that we haven't lost probably has put us in a pretty good position. But I'm not convinced yet that we deserve that ranking. Right now, it's just paper stuff." Stanford should get some added help and depth this week. Expected back is forward Justin Davis, who has been out with ankle problems and abdominal muscle problems. Although Montgomery said Davis is not in the greatest of shape, he said Davis will play against Duke. Also back may be 7-foot sophomore center Curtis Borchardt, who has played in five games and leads the league in blocked shots (2.4). Borchardt has been hobbled with a broken toe. What's clear this week is that Stanford will face its toughest test this week in Duke. "Duke has talent, coaching, tradition, athletes, you name it. They are very, very good," Montgomery said. "They play great pressure defense. They have great open court players. They have three or four guys that can really hurt you. Jason Williams, Shane Battier, Mike Dunleavy, the list goes on. Duke is a great basketball program with a lot of pride. They are legitimately one of the top three teams in the country." Arizona coach Lute Olson, whose team was No. 1 before the season and has been replaced by Duke, said he expects to see a "great game." But he's concerned about Stanford's two-week layoff and not-so-tough schedule to this point. "Duke has played some pretty good teams," Olson said. "I'd have to say Duke [will win]. But if Stanford hadn't been hit with that two-week layoff and had played against a couple more good teams then I think Stanford could beat them. They still might beat them, but those two things are working against them."
Bad karmaThink you've had a bad month or two? Try being associated with the Oregon State Beavers men's basketball team.Coming into the season a few conference coaches felt the Beavers had enough personnel to be one of the league's darkhorses, possibly good enough to finish in the upper tier of the league. But now nearly a third of the way into the season it seems a black cloud has followed them around. They are 4-5 overall. Among the problems: junior college transfer Philip Ricci injured a knee and decided to redshirt the season; Derek Potter, another player with a knee injury, is redshirting; junior forward James Jones was declared ineligible by the NCAA and has left the program; and sophomore guard Mike Cokely was suspended for a couple of games last week because of academics. Oh yes, there's more. Over the Thanksgiving holiday a few items were stolen from player's apartments. And then came the Beavers' trip to Denver and Casper, Wyo. OSU fell to Denver, 54-53, then proceeded to lose to Wyoming as it played with only six scholarship players. Adding to their problems was the trip back home. The team left Casper at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday but didn't get home until 11:30 p.m. because the plane on the return to Eugene, Ore., was having problems with its landing gear. It hovered around the Eugene area for two-and-a-half hours to burn fuel before touching down safely. Ironically, first-year coach Ritchie McKay wasn't on the flight, after failing to get on it originally. "There's still a lot of season left -- it's just that it's been a bit frustrating," Ritchie said. "I have high expectations of myself and I thought we'd be better than 4-5. Someday somebody will write and say the adversity we've gone through will have made us a better team, a better program. Unfortunately, I can't tell you when that day will come."
Mr. Thick SkinnedThe calendar reads only December but already Steve Lavin is feeling the heat. And from the opposing fans no less.In UCLA's close 65-60 win against UC-Irvine when the game was still in doubt, Anteater students were the ones yelling "Fire Lavin." Apparently, it seems everyone wants to get into the act of ripping the coach. For most of his five years as head coach, Lavin has heard negative comments about his teams. This year, despite having some pretty good talent, is no different. The main reason is UCLA's 4-3 record, the first time this year the Bruins are above .500. That could change, however, this week. UCLA faces North Carolina at Pauley Pavilion. "We're not playing good basketball so I'm discouraged from the standpoint as a coach," Lavin said. "You're always to be more efficient and effective at this point. We're not playing consistent from position to position or game to game. It's still early because I think our best basketball is still ahead of us. There's no need to panic. Our kids know they need to get better every day." As for being the target of second-guessers and naysayers, well, Lavin is used to it. "You're always going to be in the hot seat," he said. "In five years as a head coach and five as an assistant coach [at UCLA] you understand you'll always be in the hot seat as the head coach at UCLA. From the day John Wooden resigned, every subsequent coach has been on the hot seat from the beginning of the season to the end -- that's a given. So you don't spend a lot of time, energy or emotion on something you can't control."
Walton's stock risingHe's unsung, but he's one of the more appreciated players for the Arizona Wildcats. He's Luke Walton, son of former UCLA great Bill Walton, who made news earlier this season when it was learned he provided Wildcat forward Richard Jefferson with three plane tickets and a ticket to the NBA Finals over the summer.Luke and Jefferson are best friends. The younger Walton didn't let any of the problems phase him. He made his fourth start of the season Saturday against Illinois. Olson said this week he'd likely find more time for Walton because he's playing so well. "I look at Luke much like I did Jason Terry a couple of years ago when he was coming off the bench but logging as many minutes as the starters," Olson said. "I think Luke is that valuable to us. He competes hard in all phases and he understands how to play." He's averaging 23 minutes, 6.8 points and 5.4 rebounds a game. He's also the team leader in steals with 16. "I know I'm valuable to the team coming off the bench, but there a lot of solid bench players on the team," Walton said.
Worth notingThe Oregon Ducks were off to their best start in 26 seasons at 6-0 before falling to Auburn, 101-97 in overtime, in Las Vegas. Oregon had a 14-point second half lead. With 67 three-pointers so far this season, Oregon is on pace to break the school record for threes wet two seasons ago with 263. ... The USC Trojans are 7-0 and off to their best start in 26 seasons. Dating back to last season, USC has won nine consecutive games. ... It was a good and then bad week in what could be an up-and-down year for Washington State. The Cougars opened last week by allowing just 18 points in the second half in a 67-54 win over Montana. However, they followed that game with an 87-63 loss to Utah for their worst non-conference loss in more than 17 seasons. Steve Rivera covers the Pac-10 for the Tucson Citizen. Check back Jan. 2 for his latest CNNSI.com Insider.
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