Oregon heads to the Maples Pavilion in beautiful Palo Alto, California this week for a clash against the Stanford Cardinal in Men's Hoops. The Ducks are 0-6 in the Pac-10 and seem to be flying apart at the seams. The Cardinal are coming off a big win against the Cal Bears at home and look to continue their winning ways. Oregon hasn't won at Stanford since 1986 and have lost 8 of the last 10 meetings.
Johnny Dawkins, coach of the Cardinal is off to one of the best starts in Stanford history. Their 10-game winning streak to start the year was their best start since the 2003-04 team that opened with 26 wins. All of this has been done without the fabulous Lopez Brothers from last year. Although they have had a tough start to the Pac-10 season, this Cardinal team is better than a lot of people will give them credit for. With UCLA, ASU and Cal getting most of the limelight, Stanford is sitting quietly back at 12-3, looking to move up to 14-3 during this home stand against the Oregon schools.
The Cardinal's strengths will cause havoc for Oregon's weaknesses. Stanford is leading the conference in three-point field goal percentage defense at 28.7 percent. With a young Oregon team looking to throw the ball away at a moment's notice, Stanford will have an easy time causing turnovers, just like they have all season. If being a good defensive team wasn't scary enough, Stanford ranks third in the conference in scoring at 76 points per game.
Anthony Goods is the Pac-10's fourth-best scorer averaging 17.3 points per game and can launch the three ball with ease.
Oregon's Keys to the Game
Minimize Turnovers
Stanford is going to get their steals. We can't give them more opportunities. With as much as they score and how often we don't score, we need to capitalize on every position and not throw the ball away. No easy buckets.
Feed Dunigan
The big man is hungry and he can dominate inside. Give him the ball, give it to him often and don't let him get in foul trouble. If he stays out on the floor, we can control the middle. If he doesn't, it could be a long night.
Someone Give TP Directions to the Maples Pavilion - map
Tajuan Porter absolutely needs to show up in this game. We cannot afford for him to be lackluster in his play or his desire to get his teammates involved. We saw him come out of his shell when Ernie got ejected. TP, maybe more than anyone can help us turn this around and we'll need him at his best to get the win.