Month: November 2013

Sitting Sharks: SJ Losing Streak Stands at Four

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By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- The Sharks are not winning anymore. Fans might be having flashbacks to every season past, when even the most magnificent point streak was marred by some inexplicable, nonsensical streak of poor play, bad luck and predictably disappointing results. It would be reasonable to assume that it is time for the Sharks to break pattern, at least in some subtle way.

One could argue that the Sharks’ recent losses were not all due to poor preparation or unsettled play. One could say that the Coyotes had a bone to pick with the Sharks after the insulting 4-1 loss on October 5. One could say that the Canucks had an even bigger grudge to settle, having been defeated by the Sharks nine times in a row, including a playoff sweep. Then one could argue that it is too much to ask of a team to take this season’s Sabres seriously. So that is three of the four losses summarily dismissed, and the fourth was exactly like a game against the Los Angeles Kings: close and exhausting and down to who gets the last change.

Perhaps the Sharks are not in the middle of their seasonal falling sky routine. Maybe the bounces just caught up to them. Nevertheless, they have not responded well. They have not matched their opponents’ intensity. They shifted gears, but not to the right gear. Their passes were rushed and sloppy, their corrections off the mark. With each successive loss, their panic peaked higher and their ability to recover declined.

The most talked-about gaffe of the Vancouver game was Jason Demers’ bad pass followed by his worse decision to hit instead of defend. Not every Sharks player is combining errors so quickly and disastrously, but that sequence revealed the kind of hasty decisions too many Sharks are making. Did it go wrong because Demers was in the process of making the pass while he realized he should not make it? Was it just dumb luck? It doesn’t matter, he lacked poise at that moment. Demers was not the only Shark showing signs of needless panic. Blind passes, a lack of awareness and ill-conceived plays abounded from the blue paint outwards. It took the team two periods to burn off the panic.

Todd McLellan will probably respond with line changes for Sunday’s game in Winnipeg. He may sit Demers, he may shuffle forward combinations. McLellan was clearly disappointed after the Vancouver game, as was every player interviewed. Of course they were. But the team had already made the right correction. In the third period of that game, they were clearly more composed. Passes started to connect, lines were able to move the puck from here to there without giving it away. Even if Vancouver was sitting back, it still allowed the Sharks to compose themselves, go back to basics, settle down. That is exactly what the Sharks needed to do to prepare for the next game. Will they start slow again? It depends how high their pain of loss threshold is.

History suggests that McLellan will pull the lines apart and sit the most conspicuous offenders. The same history reveals a peculiar Sharks habit of allowing veterans to “play through” bad spells, while young skaters sit after  poor performances. It seems counter-intuitive that a veteran should be less able than a younger player to come in and out of the lineup. Demers has played a lot of NHL games for a defenseman of his age, but he hasn’t played more games than a professional player of his age. It is fair to say that he has yet to reach his potential. The same is even more true of Matt Irwin. To sit a game won’t hurt, but Irwin has been out for three now. His absence doesn’t seem to be helping. James Sheppard, though not a prototypical fourth liner, has shown that he can do the job if it is his to do.

Scott Hannan and Mike Brown should be better able to sit until needed. They have both played well, just not well enough to carry the team to wins recently. They shouldn’t have to do that last. Neither player was brought in to be a game changer. They were both brought in to back up a strong team. If the team is struggling with or without them, wouldn’t the ice time be better spent getting the team back on track?

All of this is true of the team’s goaltenders as well. Even if Niemi plays better when he plays more, he should not play as many games as he has in past seasons with the Sharks. If he needs to play a lot, let him do that closer to playoffs. At this time of the season, all he gains is wear and tear. Alex Stalock has shown that he can do the job and maybe he would be even better if he played more too.

If the Sharks want a different result from this season than seasons past, they should probably make some changes to their lineup, just not the ones they usually make.

Bears punt away another one, this time to USC, 62-28

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USC-CalBy Morris Phillips

Coach Sonny Dykes turned 44 Saturday, but admitted during this time of the year, football coaches don’t celebrate anniversaries, holidays or birthdays.  So when asked, Cal’s coach said his team’s dismal showing on the field didn’t add to or subtract from the occasion.

Jackson Bouza played his last game at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, and despite the 62-28 loss to USC and his Bears’ 1-9 record, he remained resolute: he wouldn’t change anything about his four years at Cal.

And Jared Goff—as best as he can—is moving on after throwing for the least impactful 255 yards and three touchdowns one can imagine.  With equally-hapless Colorado up next on the schedule, Goff said he’ll be ready, regardless of what transpired with the Trojans.

What normally is a big game with USC was anything but on Saturday for Cal.  Instead, it was hard to watch, hard to play in, and even harder to explain afterwards.  The Bears snuck back into the game briefly at 21-14 in the second quarter, only to experience an avalanche of USC points that left them trailing 55-14 midway through the third quarter and well on their way to an eighth straight loss.

Given that backdrop, Dykes, Bouza and Goff deserve all the credit for attempting to put a hopeful spin on their dire situation.  But that they did in the postgame interview room with all three steadfastly maintaining that better days are ahead for Cal football.

“In a weird sort of way, the experience they have gotten this year and the hard luck will help our team respond faster,” Dykes said.  “We are going to get this thing right, I don’t have a doubt in my mind.  I feel more strongly about that right now than I did December 5th when I was hired.”

But before the Bears can prepare for a feast, they might have to—even privately–come to grips with how they got so hungry in the first place.

The Bears haven’t won a game against a Divison I opponent in over a year.  They’ve lost all but one game this season by at least 14 points, and have routinely fallen behind from the start.  On Saturday, USC’s Javorius Allen blew through the Cal defense for 43-yard touchdown run, and the Trojans had a 21-0 lead over Cal before the first quarter had expired.

Injuries and inexperience are hurting Cal more than anything.  That continued on Saturday when middle linebacker Hardy Nickerson was felled by a foot injury.  Nickerson, himself just a redshirt freshmen, had been counted on to call the defensive signals and get the Cal defenders in the right alignment pre-snap.  Without him, that job fell to true freshman Chad Whitener, and the Bears’ defense suffered as USC averaged nearly nine yards per carry, and saw maligned quarterback Cody Kessler have an error-free game.

“We missed a lot of checks, and rolled the coverage the wrong way several times,” Dykes said when asked about Nickerson’s early exit. “We got out of position as a result, and when you get out of position, you are trying to recover, and when you are trying to recover, you are diving a people’s legs and it looks bad.”

For Cal, with injuries and inexperience commonplace—Dykes reminded everyone that only three seniors have places among Cal’s top 44 players—capable special teams are still supposed to be a given.  That’s one of Dykes’ hallmarks along with his high-octane pass attack.  Dykes explained that his Louisiana Tech teams always excelled on punt and kickoff coverage, and here at Cal, he starts several practices each week with special teams’ drills.

Ah, special teams can save the day.   Just not on Saturday.

First the Bears allowed Nelson Agholor to return a punt 75 yards for a score less than two minutes into the game.  Then USC’s Soma Vainuku blocked a punt in the second quarter that teammate Josh Shaw returned 14 yards for a 35-14 Trojans’ lead.  Just a couple minutes after that, Agholor struck again, this time with a 93-yard punt return.

Goff gamely attempted to keep his team in the game, and got a big assist from emerging freshman receiver Kenny Lawler, who has caught five touchdown passes in two games.  But Goff plays in a high risk, high reward system that so far hasn’t reaped many rewards.  Once again, the Bears couldn’t strike deep, and Goff had to look short.  So while Goff chucked it downfield 52 times, he only had 255 yards passing.   When the turnovers and sacks are factored in (and on Saturday the Bears had just one sack, and no interceptions) Goff’s five-yard average per pass attempt just isn’t high rewards enough for a major college team to have success.

With the loss, the Bears haven’t beaten USC since the epic triple-overtime win in 2003.  The Bears hadn’t surrendered as many as 62 points to the Trojans since the 1930’s.  And yes, three punt return touchdowns for USC ties an NCAA record and equals a Pac-12 conference record that stood unmatched since 1954.

Next week, the Bears travel to Boulder to face Colorado, which probably will be Cal’s last opportunity for a win this season with No. 4 Stanford after that in the season finale.

Stanford Women’s Hoops gets the Win to Start the Season

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By: Joe Lami

The Cardinal took to the road to start the 2013-2014 campaign, and they start it with a victory, beating the Boston College Eagles by the final score of 83-70.

The Cardinal were led by non other than their pre-season All American center Chiney Ogwumike scoring 30 points and picking up 14 rebounds.  Stanford also had some amazing help from Junior point guard Amber Orrange who scored 19, dished 10 assist and was just one rebound away from accumulating the triple-double.  Bonnie Samuelson came off the bench to score 15, with nine of those coming from beyond the three-point line.

Boston College was led by their senior forward, Kristen Doherty, who scored 16 points. Right behind her and coming off the bench putting up15 points was Shayra Brown.  Stanford dominated the boards, out rebounding the Eagles 44-26 with the offensive battle going in Stanford favor as well 17-11.  Though Stanford did lose the turnover battle by four, they were still able to squeak out the 13-point victory.

This win, for the Cardinal, brings coach Tara VanDerveer, to win number 895, just five away of the prestigious 900 mark.  She would become just the fifth coach in women basketball to do so as well, joining the ranks of legendary coaches Pat Summit and Jody Conradt.

Up next for the Cardinal is what very well could be their toughest challenge of the entire season, as they travel to Storrs, Connecticut , to go up against the number one team in the country, UConn.  Stanford will look for its’ revenge after last season’s 61-35 embarrassing loss against the Huskies breaking its 82 home game winning streak.  The game is on Monday, November 11, and can be found on ESPN 2 as a national broadcast.  Tip-off is set for 4pm.

Cal’s Wallace shot on in season-opening win over Coppin St.

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By Morris Phillips

Among Mike Montgomery’s mix of veterans and greenhorns, sophomore Tyrone Wallace may possess the greatest potential for growth.  In the season-opener on Friday, it appeared Wallace may be ready to realize that potential.

Wallace collected 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds in Cal’s 83-64 win over Coppin State at Haas Pavilion.   The still rail-thin swingman looked much improved from his up-and-down freshman campaign in which he played in every game, and started 20 times, but shot just 34 percent, including just 22 percent from three.

“Basketball, 24-7, this off-season,” Wallace said when asked about the growth in his game.  “All the work I put in is really translating over to games and I am really confident right now in my shot.”

Wallace knocked down half of his 14 shots, including three of six three-point attempts on his way to leading the Bears in scoring.  Cal depended on heavily on its starters in dispatching the Eagles, playing them extensively in a first half in which the Bears established a 15-point, halftime lead.  Cal’s shooting and wow-factor improved in the second half as high-flying freshman Jabari Bird put his imprint on the game.

Justin Cobbs added 16 points and six rebounds, and Bird chipped in 14 points and seven rebounds.  Coppin State was led by Sterling Smith with 16 points and Arnold Fripp with 10.

The Bears have won all six of their season openers under Coach Montgomery and are attempting to make a fifth NCAA appearance under the watch of the veteran coach.

“There were a lot of bright spots,” Montgomery said.  “We had some really good individual performances…  I thought we lost our attention span defensively a little bit.  There was probably a point in time where we didn’t feel threatened so we didn’t play quite as hard defensively.”

The Bears are picked in the middle of a crowded Pac-12 conference race, primarily because the eight newcomers outnumber the five returners.  Wallace stands out because he’s not quite a veteran, but with 21 starts under his belt, experienced enough to know what Montgomery demands at both ends of the floor.  The Bakersfield native became a natural at the defensive end, but given his statistics, he could make a great deal of growth on offense.  Friday all that was apparent as Wallace knocked down open shots and found his teammates when appropriate.

According to Coppin State Coach Ron “Fang” Mitchell, the Bears offensive versatility gave his Eagles fits, as much as their lack of size made them vulnerable to the Bears in the paint.

“They shot the threes, made us extend a lot more, and then they started taking it in,” Mitchell said. “They did a tremendous job.”

The Bears host familiar opponent Denver on Tuesday in the continuation of a four-game homestand.  Cal may not get its first real test until Thanksgiving when the Bears travel to Maui and open the tournament there against Arkansas.

Bulls open at home with a win, beat Condors 2-1 but lose Mitchell to injury

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by Kahlil Najar

SAN FRANCISCO –

The San Francisco Bulls (3-5-1-0) opened up the 2013 season at home with 2-1 victory against the win-less Bakersfield Condors (0-7-0-1). Dean Ouellet and Kyle Bigos scored for the Bulls and Tyler Beskorowany stopped 34 shots. The win snapped the Bulls four-game losing streak and it was the first meeting for both teams this year. The Bulls have a great history against Bakersfield – they went 7-4-1 against them in the 2012 campaign.

On the win Head Coach Pat Curcio said,”I think this team, if we can get our power play a little more effective we can score more goals. If we can do things consistently the right way we can get more wins. We worked hard and trying to be as humble as I can, we had three breakaways and that could have been four or five to one. Their goalie was tremendous.”

Rookie standout Dale Mitchell sustained a strained back and was pulled out of the game with four minutes left in the game. The loss of Mitchell is huge as he was one of the key players that Head Coach Pat Curcio called out as one of the bright new stars on the team.

“He tweaked his back from what we saw and we’re sending him to the hospital to find out a little more,” said Curcio.

After a few minutes of both teams trying to figure each other out the Bulls were able to get on the board first on a nice outlet pass from Dylan King to Dean Ouellet who took a nice backhand shot from between the face-off circles and beat Condor goalie Andy Chiodo low glove side to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead. After the Bulls first goal, the Condors started launching shots at Beskorowany and at the end of the first period the shots on goal were 15-13 in favor of the Bulls.

After less than two minutes into the second period,  Kyle Bigos scored on a blast from the blue line to beat Chiodo and bring the lead up to 2-0. As time was running out on a Bulls penalty, the Condors notched their first goal of the game from Defenseman Wes Cunningham who beat Beskorowany in front of the goal and cut the lead to one.

The third period started with both teams tied with 26 shots a piece and both teams not really liking each other. With 11:48 left in the game, the Bulls Chris Crane and the Condors Wes Cunningham dropped the gloves and let the fists fly putting both teams on the ice with four skaters each. Neither team scored but it underlined what could be a great series for this coming year between both teams. A minutes later on a breakaway, Dale Mitchell suffered his back strain and was taken out of the game. With a minute left, the Condors pulled Chiodo but were unable to get the equalizer and the Bulls secured the victory.

Beskorowany commented on the defense towards the end of the game, “They blocked a lot of shots especially in the last minute thirty-five. They made my night a lot easier.”

On his goal Ouellet said “Brace chipped it to me from our own zone and I thought about passing it but i put it on the goal and luckily it went it. I was looking for the deflection maybe but glad that it went in.”

The Bulls head back out on the road and face the fourth place Stockton Thunder on Monday the 11th at 5pm PST.

Kings Drop Fourth Straight Game

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By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings suffered their fourth consecutive loss on Friday night in Portland losing to the Trail Blazers 104-91. It was the first game of home and away back-to-back series that will be continued on Saturday night in Sacramento.

The Kings once again allowed their opponent to be too successful shooting from the field. The Trail Blazers shot 48.8% (39-80) overall and 43.5% (10-23) from 3-point territory. Portland was averaging 44.9% shooting and 40.4% for 3-Pointers for the season.

The Kings defense has been very generous to the opposition over the four game losing streak. Coach Michael Malone has repeatedly said that the opponents are not feeling the Kings. He sees the need for his team to be more physical. Versus Portland, they faced a team that could also shoot from beyond the arc. It proved to be a lethal combination for Sacramento.

The Kings were out rebounded 47-31. They committed 24 fouls to Portland’s 18.

Sacramento did manage to break the 40.0% shooting mark. The Kings shot 41.9% (36-86) from the floor. They shot a miserable 27.3% (6-22) from 3-point land. Those are not the kind of shooting numbers that translate into victories.

DeMarcus Cousins tried to put his team on his back and carry them past the Blazers. Cousins scored 35 points in 37 minutes of playing time. He also pulled down nine rebounds.

Isaiah Thomas had a sub-par night. Thomas scored just 13 points in his 29 minutes on the floor. Greivis Vasquez added 12 points while Patrick Patterson and Travis Outlaw each scored 10 points each.

Portland’s starting five all scored in double digits. Damian Lillard was the leading scorer with 22 points. He also had eight rebounds and seven assists. Power Forward LaMarcus Aldridge added 20 points and seven rebounds. Two guard Wesley Matthews put up 18 points for the Blazers.

The series continues on Saturday night in Sacramento with the Kings searching for a way to make it back into the win column.

 

 

Stanford withstands tough test in opener

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By Jeremy Harness

 

STANFORD – While most top teams in the country are busy getting fat from beating up on much-lesser opponents, the Stanford basketball team is no stranger to being tested early in the season.

 

Friday’s 2013-14 season opener was no different.

 

Bucknell, the defending Patriot League champs, proved to be a very tough out during the entire course of the game. As the Cardinal got out to a big lead by stringing together a few baskets, the Bison made shots of their own and kept the game close.

 

“It takes a mature team to win a game like that,” Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins said, adding that Bucknell’s scoring late in the shot clock can be “demoralizing” for an opposing team.

 

In short, they looked just like the team that knocked off Kansas in the 2005 NCAA Tournament, and Stanford could not mount a big run or get a comfortable-enough lead to hold off the Bison.

 

Anthony Brown, who knocked down a big 3-pointer in the final minutes and finished with 14 points and five rebounds, advised that they need to be better finishers going forward, pointing out the fact that the Cardinal could not get a double-digit lead.

 

“Once we get the lead to seven, we need to push it to 10,” Brown said. Once we get it to 10, we need to push it to 15.”

 

It’s not that the Cardinal didn’t play good defense – which has been the staple of this team for the past few years – but Bucknell just kept hitting great shots every which way. The Bison used spin moves to the basket as well as the 3-point shot to stay in the game until the very final seconds.

 

In fact, it wasn’t until Ben Brackney’s desperation heave at half-court came up short at the buzzer when Stanford was able to close the game out. Seconds earlier, Stanford got defensive stops but neither Dwight Powell nor Chasson Randle, who led the Cardinal with 18 points, could make a free throw to seal the game.

 

“Very frustrating,” Powell, who had 17 points and 12 rebounds on Friday, said of his failure to knock down the crucial foul shots. ”Zero percent from the line (to start the season) isn’t fun.”

 

Bucknell hung around in the first half, even taking the lead in the closing minutes and only trailed by a point at halftime. Stanford came out strong to start the 2nd half, quickly opening up a five-point lead on the strength of its 3-point shooting as well as daring moves to the basket by Randle.

 

But Bucknell came right back with a rally of its own, tying the game with 13:19 left when Kaspar pulled off a sweet no-look, over-the-head pass to Dom Hoffman for an easy layup.

 

“He made some of the best passes I’ve seen in a long time, over his head, behind his back,” Dawkins said. “He made a lot of plays at the basket.”

Warriors new arena in S.F. has good chance to get voted down

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by Ken Gimblin

SAN FRANCISCO–After the defeat of San Francisco propositions B and C it was a clear sign to San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee that voters do not want to change to look of the waterfront at the Embarcadero at piers 30-32. Former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos was an advocate of keeping the waterfront just the way it is with no changes.

Props B and C would open the changes for development building new condos and later a proposition at piers 30-32 and the Embarcadero waterfront that would have lead to a new Warriors arena. Voters on Tuesday resoundingly voted no on the props voting down prop B by 62 percent and voting down prop C by 66.5 percent. It was reported that the defeat of the condos called 8 Washington condos was not necessarily bad news for Lee but it could translate how unpopular the Mayor’s idea for development for the waterfront is.

Agnos had allied groups opposing the measure by the San Francisco Sierra Club, San Francisco Tomorrow and members of San Francisco Waterfront Alliance, they were on hand at the No on Props B and C campaign headquarters saying they were in it to win it opposing the condo development, “voters sent the overwhelming message that they don’t want to destroy 50 years of work on the waterfront, under no circumstances will we accept an arena on the bay” said Agnos.

The Warriors intend to develop for a new proposed arena at the cost of $170 million, the sell was that the condos were going to help for affordable housing with construction costs at the tune of $11 million but the point of voters was either mistrust of the Mayor’s proposals or as Agnos said voters want to keep the waterfront looking just the way it is.

Agnos suggested that development for a new arena may work near Candlestick Point or near the San Francisco Cal Train station at Fourth and Townsend Streets. Neither location would appeal to the Warriors who are dead set on building at piers 30-32, “Art Agnos just won a game of ping pong and now he thinks he’s a Wimbledon champion” said Warriors spokesman Nathan Ballard for the Warriors S.F. arena project in commenting on props B and C going down to defeat.

Lee who attended the San Francisco Bulls home opener at the Cow Palace on Friday night did not comment on the loss of the propositions but it was learned through sources at the Bulls that Lee wants Bulls team president and co-owner Pat Curcio to work with him in campaigning together with the Warriors in the construction of a new arena with the Warriors. If all goes to plan it would give the waterfront arena an NHL or minor league regulation size ice rink and a new basketball arena.

Ken Gimblin covers the NBA for Sportstalk Radio

Larry Levitt on Pro Hockey

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by Larry Levitt
DALY CITY–The off ice officials in the ECHL have a very difficult job and when your working behind the net as a goal judge it is tough because you get so immersed in the game you got to remember what your job is and that’s to watch that goal line and watch that puck. It is very exciting down there your right on top of the action I’ve done it a few times.
Any seat around the rink watching a San Francisco Bulls game your right on top of the action and at the Cow Palace your not too far away from the rink so come on down and enjoy the Bulls. Opening night on Friday night is always a good special time and Bulls owner, president, general manager, head coach Pat Curcio wears a lot of hats and I hope he’s ready for the home games after opening night.
Curcio has a lot of dignitaries here at the Cow Palace he’s got San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee here to drop the ceremonial puck and I’m sure some of the investors were at the game Friday as opening night was a big night. So Curcio has to be the general manager and head coach it’s tough just to coach a team but also to be involved in the planning with the parties and all of the events and all the dignitaries it’s going to be tough but Curcio can handle it.
The Bulls play the Stockton Thunder on Monday night and their an interesting team their coach got hired away from the team, the general manager got hired away from the team and half the front office staff got hired away from the Thunder. They did make it away from the ECHL finals against the west coast versus the east unfortunately they didn’t win the finals but they showed a lot of people how good they were.That showed caused a lot of people to turn their heads and look their way and to hire them away.
Tough run for San Jose: Starting with last Tuesday’s loss to the Buffalo Sabers, unfortunately with Buffalo they didn’t even start playing until the third period by then it was too late they did tie it up to get into overtime in the shootout but lost in the shootout and they had a weird goal taken away and not even credited to them.
The league made a huge mistake by not owning up to the mistake and saying “we missed that one lets move on” instead they used the intent of the whistle blow which is a way to cover your rear. Unfortunately it’s over, it’s done. They should have come out against Vancouver and played harder. They really had a flat game the puck was bouncing like crazy in that game.
It just wouldn’t settle down for the Sharks but if a Vancouver stick would touch it it could be as flat as could be and it could go right down the ice. Sometimes a puck would go misdirected but there were a lot of poor decisions. A lot of mistakes and bad passes in your defensive zone which turned it over right to the Vancouver Canucks.
He put it right in the net and Antti Niemi the Sharks goaltender and usually you can count on him to take over when you make those stupid mistakes he wasn’t there and he just didn’t show up. The two brightest things we could take out of that Vancouver game was the fourth line played exceptionally well. They controlled the pace of the play, they controlled the puck every time they were out there.
Larry Levitt does commentary each week on Pro Hockey

Johnny Dawkins

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Stanford’s Johnny Dawkins

Well fans, another college basketball season is upon us. The goal of every team in the Pac-12 and Division I is to make it to the NCAA tournament in March. Everyone knows that there is nothing like “March Madness.” 65 or 66 teams make it to the tournament and fans love to see if their team can advance to the Sweet Sixteen round and then the Elite Eight and , hopefully, to the Final Four.

Other teams that don’t make the NCAAs may be invited to the NIT but it’s not the same as the NCAA

Tournament.

The head basketball coach of the Stanford Cardinal is Johnny Dawkins. Dawkins is starting his sixth season as head man of the basketball program. Johnny is in charge of the program and he is determined to win it all this year. What do we know about Johnny. We know that Johnny had a great college career and played 9 years in the NBA. Where did Johnny get his start? Let’s take a look at his basketball history and what has he done with the Stanford program? Johnny is a native of Washington, DC and went to Duke University to play basketball. At Duke, Johnny was part of three NCAA tournament teams and was captain of the Blue Devils his senior year. Johnny also set many records while at Duke. Dawkins then played nine seasons in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs,

Philadelphia 76’ers and Detroit Pistons. When Johnny retired form NBA play, Duke University retired his number and he was inducted into the Duke Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.

Since being Stanford’s head coach , Johnny’s team are 94-74 and were NIT Champions in the 2011-2012 season. Johnny’s team this year enters the season with high expectations as they have all their starters returning except for one. Aaron Bright, Chasson Randle, Dwight Powell and Josh Huestis

are all veterans and they will be ably supported by center Stefan Nastic, forward Anthony Brown Robbie Lemons, and freshman Grant Verhoeven. Also in the mix will be senior John Gage who has made so many critical three pointers over his college career.

The Cardinal opened the season Friday night against Bucknell. Let’s hope that Stanford will go all the way to the Final Fours and then see what happens then.