ASU Basketball: 2019 Pac-12 Week 8 Power Rankings
By Trevor Booth
10. Stanford Cardinal (6-5) LW: 9
Stanford’s subpar record once came with a caveat. Linked to defeats at the hands of North Carolina, Wisconsin, Florida and Kansas, the Cardinal’s capabilities were perhaps unshaped.
But after scraping by 3-8 Fresno State and falling in a road test at San Francisco, perhaps those assumptions were too buoyant.
The 1-1 week was marred by much of Stanford’s prior inconsistencies, including a heavy reliance on KZ Okpala. The sophomore took a combined 30 shots in the two games, finishing with 25 points against the Spartans before a dismal 11-point, 4-of-15 shooting performance against the Dons.
However, Okpala wasn’t the only Cardinal to shoot poorly. The team shot just above 40 percent in the two games and converted 26-of-41 (63 percent) of its attempts from the free throw line.
Complemented with an assist-to-turnover ratio of .87, coach Jerod Haase hasn’t yet built an offensive flow without Reid Travis. If shots don’t fall, it’s hard for the Cardinal to display an identity.
Heading to conference play, Stanford must also construct consistent bench production. Much of the team’s output comes from Okpala and sophomore guard Daejon Davis, and the second unit provided only 27 percent of scoring a week ago.
Without it, Travis’ departure – and a potential entrance from Okpala in the NBA Draft – could move the Stanford program back more years from competing.
– Booth