At the beginning of the season, CBS Sports predicted, \u201cStanford fans will suffer through another tough campaign, no question.\u201d Doc Sports announced, \u201cThis is going to be a long, long year for coach John Dawkins . . . it\u2019s going to get real ugly, real fast around Palo Alto.\u201d Bleacher Report was the most optimistic for Stanford basketball, backhandedly complimenting the Cardinal with this gem: \u201cAre they the worst team in the Pac-10? No, but someone has to finish last. Coach Johnny Dawkins has a long way to go with this program.\u201d<\/p>\n
To every basketball pundit\u2019s surprise, Stanford men\u2019s basketball has not self-imploded into an amorphous blob of five players chucking a ball toward a hoop. Who knew? The kids can actually play.<\/p>\n
To celebrate the Cardinal\u2019s delightful mediocrity (10-9, 4-3 Pac-10), let\u2019s hand out some midseason awards. At the beginning of the season, CBS Sports predicted, \u201cStanford fans will suffer through another tough campaign, no question.\u201d Doc Sports announced, \u201cThis is going to be a long, long year for coach John Dawkins . . . it\u2019s going to get real ugly, real fast around Palo Alto.\u201d Bleacher Report was the most optimistic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1816,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-234927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1816"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234927\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMost Valuable Player<\/strong>: Toss up between forward Landry Fields and guard Jeremy Green. Coming into the year, Fields was the clear-cut favorite. As the only returning starter and proven scorer on the roster, Dawkins was expecting a Herculean effort from Fields game in and game out for Stanford to be competitive. But the sharp-shooting Green has been a revelation of sorts. Never afraid to pull the trigger from deep behind the arc, the Texas native is averaging 17.5 points per game and lit up the UCLA defense for a career-high 30.
\nMost Improved Player<\/strong>: Forward Jack Trotter. There were moments last season where Trotter looked like a boy among men on the court. Not this year. Averaging nearly seven points in just over 24 minutes, the 6\u20199\u2019\u2019 Trotter has been a steady presence to a revolving front-court for the Cardinal. Still only 220 pounds, Trotter could be a wrecking force down low if he adds a few more pounds to his frame.
\nAn honorable mention to The Sixth Man committee. After a disastrous season last year that saw record-low membership, the committee responded with a price cut and an incentive based system to encourage people to attend games. While the turnout hasn\u2019t been great (more on that later), it would be scary to imagine the results without the proactive moves of the committee.
\nFan Favorite<\/strong>: Without question, forward Matei Daian. Seriously, have you ever seen a crowd go as crazy over a routine lay-up, as Maples Pavilion does on every Daian score? Is it the fact that he\u2019s from Romania? Is it that he often looks a little, umm, lost on the court? Or is it that no one on the team has the heart to tell him to pull his shorts below his belly button? Whatever the reason is, Stanford fans will be treated to two more years of the happy-go-lucky Daian.
\nMost Welcome Addition<\/strong>: Forward Andrew Zimmermann. It wasn\u2019t much of a competition for Zimmermann as the two other newcomers, freshmen Gabriel Harris (8.9 minutes per game) and Andy Brown (0, torn ACL), have seen limited action. Still, the Santa Clara transfer has impressed teammates and fans alike. Before going down with an injury earlier this month, Zimmermann was a vocal, energetic leader on the court. Zimmermann played every minute like it was overtime in the NCAA Championship, diving for every loose ball and always being the first to congratulate a teammate.
\nBest Halftime Show: The Shaolin Monks. Lying parallel to the ground being supported by nothing but four sharp stakes while shirtless? Enough said.
\nLeast Valuable Player<\/strong>: The Sixth Man. I\u2019m aware that Stanford is undefeated at home in Pac-10 play. I understand that has something to do with fan noise. But seeing the student section three-quarters empty five minutes before tip-off is disheartening. Stanford is one game out of first place in the Pac-10. Finish up your problem sets and go to the Thursday night games. Start your pre-gaming early and go to the Saturday twilight games.
\nMike Lazarus is now training to become a Shaolin Monk. Send encouragement to mlazarus@stanford.edu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"