Trent Johnson’s blessing and curse

Kevin McCarthy
 

The hiring of a newish Director of Athletics and the return to campus of the most successful men’s basketball coach in modern history are events that could register a magnitude six or seven for any college coach. Concluding the series on Bay Area Div. I basketball coaches, here is a look at Trent Johnson, the fourth-year head coach of the Stanford Cardinal.

Stanford Coach Trent Johnson

But it’s all simply not much ado about nothing.

Because Bob Bowlsby, the Stanford Director of Athletics both likes and respects Johnson, plus favorite son Mike Montgomery is not going to return to roaming the sidelines at Maples Pavilion.

Period.

Add to the mix that the Cardinal football program is in a state of flux with new coach Jim Harbaugh struggling to right his program, plus a chunk of athletic department change was necessary to pay off the three remaining years of fired gridiron coach Walt Harris’ contract.

So there’s no need to spend further time on Johnson’s tenure as head coach despite the lament by some that &rlquo;we aren’t as successful as we were.’ Who and what Johnson has on hand--his players, plus the projected outcome of this current season and beyond is the appropriate focus.

For the record, Johnson is beginning his fourth season and has led his team to two Big Dance invites, along with an NIT berth. Stanford departed in the second round of the NIT and in the first round in each NCAA national tournament appearance. He’s gone 18-13 (2006-07), 16-14 (2005-06) and 18-13 (2004-05) as Stanford men’s basketball head coach.

Brook Lopez is currently not practicing with the team due to academic problems

Steady starters Dan Grunfeld, Matt Haryasz and Chris Hernandez all graduated after the 2005-06 season yet Johnson and his team still posted the aforementioned 18-13 overall record in 2006-07. This despite residing in one of the toughest conferences, if not the toughest, in the country.

However, two home losses were particularly brutal: a 79-45 debacle at the hands of Air Force and a 62-46 defeat to nearby Santa Clara.

Plus, the loss to Louisville that closed out last season was not a pretty one. Stanford fell 78-58 in the first round of the NCAAs, while being harassed into 21 turnovers in a contest whose outcome was decided early.

Brook and Robin Lopez, the two best players on the Farm last season were talented but inexperienced freshmen, a class ranking not known for consistency. Lawrence Hill was selected as a member of the All-Pac-10 team as a sophomore. But what hurt the Cardinal most was three factors: everyone else on the squad was more a role player than singular talent, not particularly athletic, plus the outstandling ballhandling and leadership of Hernandez was missed far more than expected.

Then not long ago, it was announced that Brook Lopez, the furthest advanced of the Lopez twins, was suspended indefinitely for violating team rules. That was quickly followed by public notice that he also was academically ineligible, lacking the necessary units and grade point average. He currently cannot practice with the team.

This coincided with the news that Robin had also been experiencing academic woes but he remains able to take part in team functions.

WHAT TO EXPECT THIS SEASON

It would be glib to simply offer that Johnson needs to clone former Cardinal backcourter Hernandez.

So getting realistic, Stanford needs better athletes, players who possess more than one particular skill, a savvy point who can create for himself and others and a mindset for more aggressive play. These all speak to future recruiting but such a prescription makes it sound like the Cardinal are headed for a bottom of the barrel finish. That isn’t going to happen--that is, unless the Lopez brothers fail to redeem themselves academically and Brook in particular declines to accept the responsibilities that go with becoming a team member.

Expect Hill to continue his progression as the team’s primary offensive threat. It will be interesting to see if he can upgrade his ability in taking the ball to the hoop more often and also kick up his defensive tenacity. Hill is a lock as the starting small forward.

The Lopez brothers can hold down the fort at center and power forward, even playing at the same time. Scoring, rebounding and shotblocking are the three ‘count-on’ qualities they bring to the court.

6-foot-5 senior Fred Washington is a player all coaches enjoy having on their team. He brings energy and unselfish play to the court, doing the little things that often go unnoticed but aid in winning games. He led the team in assists with 113 but, on a truly solid team, a higher assists figure should be produced by a member of the backcourt.

Taj Finger is a decent backup, as is Peter Prowitt in the frontcourt. Something is askew if either senior plays major minutes.

However, it is the backcourt where pieces of the puzzle still seem missing.

Junior Anthony Goode is a scorer but needs to shoot better than his .369 from the floor last season and also establish himself as the kind of player who can be counted on for a set number of points every time out. His lack of penetrating ballhandling ability produced but 86 free throw attempts last season and that figure needs increasing.

Returnee Mitch Johnson, also a junior, needs to shoot better, period. His lack of explosiveness is what it is. The same with sophomore Landry Fields.

It will be interesting to see how USF transfer Drew Shiller produces. His shooting range should be among the best on the team and he’s been associated with a leadership role as a sterling quarterback on his high school team.

Da’Veed Dildy played little as a freshman and is a darkhorse backcourt candidate but more than likely still a year away from consistent production.

KEY POINTS

When Johnson took over as head coach he said, "My nature is to be aggressive from start to finish, offensively and defensively." Quickness/speed and athleticism, combined with agressive play is a winning trifecta but pugnacious play by itself will get a player and a team only so far.

Stanford has suffered from negative differentials in turnovers--459 for Johnson’s squad to 364 for opposing teams--and also in points off turnovers. Opponents nabbed 253 steals against the Cardinal, who could produce but 144. These numbers point out the glaring weakness--a lack of speed and quickness--in the Stanford backcourt. Corrective measures are needed but not necessarily currently on the roster.

The seniors on the team are role players with the best talents underclassmen or in Hill’s case, a junior. This can produce a tangled web regarding leadership.

The roster still lacks a true point guard, one whose play makes those around him more effective and therefore better. Johnson apparently has plans to use two 2 guards this season but it remains to be seen how effective such a strategy will be.

AS FOR THE FUTURE

With the Pac-10 being a brutal conference and no lessening in sight, what does Johnson do after the Lopez’ expected departure for the NBA after this season?

In a way, landing the Lopez’ was both a blessing and a curse. They certainly have been a boon to Stanford basketball but will be more than likely leaving early for the pros and, unlike a Florida, a North Carolina or a Kansas, comparable replacements aren’t on the horizon. Stanford’s academic admissions limits the recruiting talent pool so seven-footers with pro potential are truly an anomaly on The Farm. Plus, there will be those who unfairly say ‘Johnson landed the Lopez brothers, why can he get more Parade or McDonald’s All-Americans?’ Or ‘he got the Lopez’ so why not a five star point guard or outside shooting demon?’

Again, the Lopez brothers winding up at Stanford was a form of harmonic convergence, nowhere near the norm.

In comparing Stanford and across-the-bay rival Cal, the Bears have been able to bring in more talented recruits at positions other than center. Granted, Cal has lower academic entry standards but its clear that Ben Braun does better at landing much better athletes than Stanford has done of late. But this may be an apples/oranges comparison due to the entrance differences. What will be worthwhile to watch is how each team does next season as Cal will lose its big men in DeVon Hardin and more than likely Ryan Anderson, matching the expected Stanford loss of Brook and Robin Lopez.

It’s still early but Johnson has yet to prove he can bring in the athletic talent surrounding the center or power forward spots that is necessary to be a consistent first division team in the Pac-10.

Mike Montgomery won at Stanford with toughness and efficiency, aided by borderline pro talent. Josh Childress was a wondrous athlete but Chris Hernandez, Mark Madden, Brevin Knight, Curtis Borchardt, Jarron Collins, Jason Collins, Adam Keefe, Todd Lichti, Mark Madsen and Casey Jacobsen were generally good and productive collegians but none possessed jaw-dropping athletic skills. Also, the Pac-10 was not as good then as it is now.

What it all boils down to is this: Anyone in a head coaching position can coach well enough even though some are better tacticians or greater motivators. But the bottomline--the absolute key--is getting a continual flow of talent possessing athletic ability and basketball skills.

Not doing so limits success. Limited success leads to no job.

Let’s see if Johnson can upgrade the rest of his roster in the next few seasons because he’ll need to do so in order to compensate for the expectation of not having any uber-productive behemoths in the frontcourt.