Three Keys To Stanford Basketball Bouncing Back In Pac-12 Play

Stanford has gotten off to a shaky start to the season, and needs to start figuring things out as Pac-12 play approaches.

Stanford hasn't played since last Thursday, which gives them plenty of time to think about what has been going wrong for them.

The Cardinal are about to embark on Pac-12 play for the final time, but they are doing so with a 5-5 record. They suffered losses to Santa Clara, No. 20 Arkansas, Michigan, Northern Iowa, and San Diego State. They had double-digit leads in three of the five games, and against Arkansas were leading for a large chunk of the game as well. 

In what feels like a do-or-die year for Jeord Haase, this team appears to have the same issues as it has throughout his tenure. Even with an upgraded roster, this team still finds ways to struggle, and if they have any chance of turning things around it will need to be a quick flip of the switch.

Here are the three keys to their success in Pac-12 play which starts on Friday against Arizona State, that they really need to focus on. Otherwise, this team will continue to come up short and waste what is a talented roster.

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Keep Up The Aggressiveness When Leading

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Stanford has gotten out to a handful of really good starts where they look like they are the better team, but end up taking their foot off the pedal and falling flat. While they aren't a transition-based team, they really need to figure out a way to make teams uncomfortable. Stanford ranks No. 320 in the country in fastbreak points, and with a guard like Jared Bynum, that should not be the case. When they jump out to early leads, they need to emphasize delivering early kill shots, not playing it safe and allowing the other team to crawl back into it. 

Improve defensiveley

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Stanford ranks as the No. 240 team in the country in terms of scoring defense, as they give up 74.6 points per game. Offensively they are scoring about 78 points a game, which makes their life much harder when teams start coming back or get hot. If they can use their length to their advantage, and figure out a way to better protect the paint, it would move mountains for them. 

Find The Right Rotations

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We are 10 games into the season, and Stanford has yet to figure out the best rotations for their team. Haase has two young stars on his hands in Andrej Stojakovic and Kanaan Carlyle who both are bucket-getters, and also has a slew of veterans who can score with the best of them. Finding that perfect blend between the two has been a tough balancing act for Haase. Now granted Spencer Jones and Brandon Angel have each missed time with injuries and Carlyle just joined the team two games ago. However, in watching this team it doesn't seem like they have figured out who should be starting or coming off the bench. They could try starting both freshmen, and having Angel and Michael Jones come off the bench to never let up on offense. The issue with not having solidified rotations also means that the players don't always know how to play off one another.