As it watched its record slip to 1-6 on the road with back-to-back losses at Washington and Washington State last weekend, the Stanford men’s basketball learned the hard way that there’s really no place like home. Luckily for the Cardinal (8-9, 2-3 Pac-10), the team returns to Maples before its next shot at Pacific-10 Conference opponents, as it takes on Oregon State (8-9, 2-3 Pac-10) and Oregon (10-7, 2-3 Pac-10) on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.

Although it’s still early in conference play, Stanford is looking for a boost back toward the top of the Pac-10 standings — this time last week Fields, Green & Co. was tied for the top spot and now it jointly holds down the bottom. More significantly, the Cardinal heads on its longest road trip of the season (four games) after the Oregon schools come to town. If the past is any indication, Stanford can clearly use all the momentum and confidence it can muster before venturing outside the confines of Campus Loop.

In the meantime, head coach Johnny Dawkins stays focused on the more reassuring 7-2 record the Cardinal has built at home and knows the team is determined to improve upon it further.

“For us to continue to grow, [it’s important] for us to defend our home court,” Dawkins said. “That’s something we talked about earlier in the season and our kids have taken pride in that, so we have to go out this week and do the same thing. [We have to] take it one game at a time, go out there and put everything on the court on Thursday and come back and do the same thing on Saturday.”

The first chance the Cardinal will have to do this is against the Beavers. Last season, Oregon State won both meetings with Stanford, but the Card should have an edge this time around.

The Beavers return a starting lineup chock-full of upperclassmen, so experience alone could pose a challenge to Stanford’s youth. But, even the young ‘uns on Stanford’s side of the court are able to support the team, as sophomore guard Jeremy Green (17.4 points per game) should easily handle Oregon State guard Calvin Haynes (11.7 ppg). Senior forward Landry Fields (21.5 ppg, 8.7 rebounds per game) should also be under matched against small forward Seth Tarver, who averages 11.6 ppg and leads the conference in steals with nearly three per game.

Dawkins recognizes the Beavers’ talent, but knows that Stanford’s biggest opponent may be itself — namely, its ability to execute its own game plan properly.

“Oregon State is a good team. They’re going to play a Princeton-style offense and defense, 1-3-1, match-up 2-3 zone, some man-to-man — and they’re good at it,” he said. “They have some experience — these kids have been around for a while now. We need to execute very well against their zones and we also need to really defend their Princeton offense.”

But, Stanford’s tougher game will come Saturday against Oregon. Senior guard Tajuan Porter (12.8 ppg) is a quick — though little — point guard who has run the Ducks offense for the last four years.
His young sidekick, sophomore Malcolm Armstead, might overshadow him — though just barely in a literal sense at 6 feet — throwing up another 11.5 ppg and also giving the Ducks 4.24 assists per game and 2 steals.
While Oregon will struggle to find an answer for Fields, Stanford will hit its own stumbling block down low.
“[Sophomore Andrew] Zimmerman is out probably two to six weeks with a stress fracture in his foot,” Dawkins said in the Pac-10 teleconference. “It’s unfortunate. You know, he was starting to get our concepts down and was playing fairly well for us. He’ll be missed.”
Without Zimmerman — the Card’s leading rebounder in the post — Stanford will rely solely on Jack Trotter down low. At 6-foot-9 and 220, Trotter stands one inch and 22 pounds smaller than the Duck’s candidate, Michael Dunigan (11.8 ppg, 5.7 rebounds) and when in doubt, Oregon will likely use him to hammer it inside.
Still, Oregon is currently on a three-game losing streak of its own in Pac-10 play and is by no means untouchable. With this in mind, Dawkins is staying optimistic about the meeting. But his focus remains on his own team and its ability to dictate play.

“Our team is really [as] capable of beating anyone as Oregon,” Dawkins said. “Oregon is a team that scores the ball easily at times and so they want a fast-paced game, they want it to be up-tempo — that’s something you need to be aware of when you play them. You need to make sure that you stay within your tempo and within the framework of what you’re trying to do as a team.”

If Stanford can do just that in both games this weekend, it will not only re-earn a winning record in the conference, but also will feel a little more prepared for two weeks on the road.
The challenge begins when Stanford tips off against the Beavers at 7 p.m. tonight at Maples Pavilion.