Off-day in AnaheimWritten by: Todd RosiakAnaheim, Calif. -- Off-day as far as games, that is.
MU and us ink-stained wretches were both hard at work again on Friday. The Golden Eagles used about 1 hour 20 minutes of their allotted 1:30 at the Honda Center (closed practice, so no details; sorry), and then met with reporters afterward.
The most talked-about storyline surrounding the MU-Stanford game, obviously, was size vs. speed. MU's news conference was markedly longer and more in-depth than Stanford's. Ousmane Barro's story and background has been discussed at length by those national outlets looking for an interesting player angle.
Reporters were also trying to get the lowdown on the relationship between 7-foot twins Brook and Robin Lopez, but didn't have much luck because not only were Taj Finger and Anthony Goods not all that informative, for some reason Stanford didn't send either Lopez to the news conference (although they did speak in the locker room).
-- Goods was asked about Dominic James, and had some interesting things to say.
"He is definitely one of the most explosive players I've seen on tape," he said. "Looks like his second and third step is just as quick as his first. Really, he can jump, he can get off the floor and he finishes well. It's going to be tough to try to keep him out of the lane."
Goods was then asked for a comparison to James in the Pac-10.
"His handle kind of reminds me of (Oregon's) Tajuan Porter a little bit," he said. "He's real athletic. He's kind of like, I don't know, I really can't describe it. The way he dribbles, it reminds me a lot of Tajuan Porter. Obviously, he is a little bigger and can finish a little better around the basket. He is something like Tajuan."
Coach Trent Johnson was also complimentary of James.
"Number one, he is probably one of the more explosive guards in the country, and he's extremely difficult to guard," he said. "I haven't seen anybody able to keep him out of the lane and where he wants to go with the basketball.
"Then his demeanor on the floor; he is very competitive but always under control. So he is a catalyst for their basketball team. I think the No. 1 ingredient is he is an extension of Tom (Crean) on the floor."
-- Although it's probably no real secret, Goods said Stanford will try to slow MU down.
"I think we'll probably end up trying to slow the game down," he said. "Because they excel in transition we're going to have our perimeters get back and try to stop them from getting a full head of steam and getting those transition baskets.
"Playing slower is going to be to our benefit because we have size and we have strength down low. So we're going to try to slow the game down and pound it in the post."
-- Crean said he had plenty of congratulatory voicemails and text messages waiting for him following MU's first-round victory over Kentucky on Thursday, but that he didn't revel in it too long.
"Enjoyed it for a while, sat in the restaurant, called some coaches that would have an idea on how to play Stanford," he said. "Then we watched film. We met as a team at 8, set in motion what we're trying to do, let them get some rest, got up and watched some more tape.
"It's been great. You're working with a smile on your face. That's what it's all about."
-- Much has been made over the years of the number of former Crean assistants that have gone on to head coaching jobs elsewhere.
Darrin Horn, who left MU following the Final Four season in 2003, became the first to notch an NCAA tournament victory when his Western Kentucky team outlasted Drake in a first-round thriller in Tampa on Friday.
"Tim Buckley and myself have been talking with him whether through text or on the phone," Crean said. "Really proud of him. That's outstanding. He is showing what we've known -- that he's an outstanding coach.
"He had a plan for his team to win, and that's what the bottom line is. Regardless of whether the shot goes in or not, he had a plan, and I'm proud of him."
-- Although it's been touched on out here in the local newspapers, no one asked Crean in the news conference about his brother-in-law Jim Harbaugh, who, of course, is Stanford's football coach.
"He's at the hotel. Saw him this morning," said Crean. "He won't be conflicted; he's got to support Stanford. I totally understand that. Nothing's going to change our relationship."
-- Crean and the Golden Eagles are preparing for a heavily pro-Stanford crowd at the Honda Center, even though Palo Alto is about a six-hour drive (with minimal traffic).
"I would think so. It'll be interesting to see if it's a pro-Pac-10 crowd," said Crean. "Hopefully we can get some people that were on the fence to join our side. But I'm not sure; I've never been in a game with two Pac-10 teams in the arena."
-- Oh, yeah: it's 80 and sunny here today. I heard a little snow fell in Wisconsin.
Sorry!
http://blogs.jsonline.com/muhoops/archive/2008/03/21/off-day-in-anaheim.aspx
