Practice Makes, Well, Better

Two weeks ago I went to my first Stanford basketball game against Washington State and, admittedly as usual, I was somewhat critical.  The team hadn't won a game since that night (having lost four in a row, all in conference), so when I decided to head back to Maples Pavilion last night for the game against the Oregon State Beavers, I had very low expectations.  But while the team still struggled at times and still has a long way to go before being consistently competitive in the PAC-10 (let alone nationally), I enjoyed my second Maples experience way more than my first.

First off, a few notes on the arena (as promised in my previous Stanford hoops post).  I like the facility - or at least 60% of it, anyway.  The pros? The court has a nice simple design to it, the student section is well placed (from the mediocre camera phone photo below, you can tell that we were right on top of the action), and the lower section of seating is on par with any major college basketball gym.  I really love the look of the cardinal red seats in the main section; you feel like you're on Stanford's campus when you're in the gym.  While it happened to be somewhat cold and uncomfortable last night, in general I like the fact that the concourses of the arena are partially outside (covered, of course, yet exposed to the outside air) - very California, very laid back, very Stanford.  The con is the upper level, where I assume the most recent iteration of the Maples renovation just "stopped."  The bleacher seating, dim lighting and stained concrete of the upper section resembles something you might find at Lafayette or Binghampton, and cheapens the rest of the arena in my opinion.  Luckily there aren't many fans sitting up there to make noise or distract you from the lower-level action.

Stanford plays almost exclusively above the rim.

For my second run at Stanford basketball, I got a bit more into the bizarre Stanford student section (dubbed the Sixth Man Club) routines - during pregame introductions, during free throws, etc.  While I've never been a huge fan of the overly elaborate and unique student section chants and rituals - I'd rather the fans focus on the nuances of the game rather than their rehearsed antics - trying to participate with the rest of the (unfortunately sparcely populated, at tip-off anyway) student section made me feel more involved than last time.  As the game went on, the crowd seemed to fill out and get louder, making the second half (when Stanford pulled away with an impressive run) a lot better than the first.

And, while the team isn't good, they are extremely athletic, young and fun - Stanford scored almost exclusively on a combination of deep threes and alley-oops, exactly what casual basketball fans love to see.  The athletic department might not be able to sell students on the team's competitiveness this season (though, given the athletes they have on the floor, that may be coming in a couple years), but they might want to try letting people know that the team's offense resembles that of the Harlem Globetrotters.  The dunks, alley-oops and blocks from Saturday night's Oregon State game alone could have filled up a Sportscenter Top 10 segment (or at least a Top 5 segment . . .) - while the team is still only 4-5 in conference, at least they're giving the people what they want.