Grading the week: Cal and Stanford split, SJSU rolls and SCU falls
I did not post grades last week — with the BCS title game, my blogging mind was on Ohio State and LSU, plus my final top-25 poll and my top-25 for next year.
But now we’re deep into college hoop season, with only the only football interruptions coming from the draft declaration date and signing day.
As things stand on the local hoops scene: Stanford and Cal are about as good as expected, while Santa Clara is struggling a bit.
The big surprise is San Jose State, which has already won more games (eight) than it has since the ‘02 season.
*** Cal
Results: Lost at Oregon 79-70; won at Oregon State 69-59
Grade: C
Comments: Following the “Bears go as the guards go” theme from a few weeks ago … In the loss at Oregon, Jerome Randle and Nikola Knezevic combined to shoot 1-11 from the floor.
Not that they didn’t have a partner in crime: Center DeVon Hardin had 2 points and 4 rebounds. (He played much better at Oregon State, but doesn’t everybody?)
It was a successful weekend for the Bears in this respect: Missouri, which stands as Cal’s best non-conference win, defeated Texas — providing Cal’s power rating with a small boost.
*** San Jose State
Results: Won at Santa Clara 62-59; beat Nevada 62-60.
Grade: A+ (even if SJSU loses at Hawaii tonight)
Comments: It was without question SJSU’s best week in years — a road win in the Rivalry Series and then a huge victory over WAC kingpin Nevada.
Given the upcoming schedule, SJSU could stay above .500 into February and possibly win 14-16 games.
Forward C.J. Webster, the Texas State transfer, was named WAC Player of the Week after combining for 29 points and 18 rebounds.
If the Spartans win in Honolulu tonight, book your NCAA tickets!
*** Santa Clara
Results: Lost at San Jose State 62-59; lost at St. Mary’s 76-45.
Grade: D
Comments: Hard to imagine the Broncos having a worse week (I guess they could have lost to SJSU 76-45, too).
Point guard Brody Angley was a combined 6-26 from the field, and the bench contributed very little — all of which made SCU more John Bryant-centric than it already was.
Plus, the Broncos, who pride themselves on physical play, were outrebounded in both games.
They get a chance to regroup this weekend against two of the worst teams in the WCC (Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine).
*** Stanford
Results: Won at Oregon State 66-46; lost at Oregon 71-66.
Grade: C
Comments: Cardinal isn’t going to win many conference road games with Anthony Goods going 2-13 from the field, as he did against the Ducks.
Slumping forward Lawrence Hill looked good at OSU but contributed very little in the loss in Eugene.
Meanwhile, the Cardinal’s non-conference resume continues to look bad:
Texas Tech lost by 19 at Oklahoma State, and UC-Santa Barbara, which at one point qualified as Stanford’s best win, lost to UC Irvine and is 2-2 in the Big West.
Little wonder that Stanford’s non-conference strength-of-schedule is 242nd.
The patience that SJSU fans (at least most of them) have shown the past 2+ seasons is beginning to pay off. Yet this is a very young and new team. They have the potential to play with anyone in the WAC, but also are still prone to mistakes and can play down to the level of lesser teams. It’s still very gratifying for the time being.
I’ve been following SJSU basketball for a very, very long time and this team is fun to watch each time they take the court. Yes, they are young but Coach Nessman is doing what it takes to build a winning program. The A+ should also go to him (and his staff).
MartinSpartan is correct they are prone to making mistakes but I think we all need to stop and realize that these are still “young” men. Most of our team are underclassmen which means they will have a chance to mature and grow both as people and players. The best part is that I get to watch them during this process. I cannot remember when I’ve had so much fun attending SJS basketball games as this season.
The good citizens of San Jose have an up-and-coming basketball program and if they want to be a part of something fun, entertaining and the whole family can attend as a group come and watch the Spartans. Ticket prices are very reasonable.
Now, if we could just do something about the officiating!
Stanford may be the first team with 20 wins to not get invited to the NCAA tournament.
San Jose State appears to be on the uptrend in all sports Football and basektball in particuliar. That program has a lot of potential.
What about St. Mary’s College in the East Bay?
They were not even mentioned yet they are the best team in Northern California. St. Mary’s beat Oregon 99-89 with most of the soring 37 points coming from a Freshman. Oregon just beat Stanford and St. Mary’s has also beat Seton Hall, Tulane, San Diego State and is now 13 or 14-2.
San Jose State and St. Mary’s are the two up and comers i think we should be watching!