Friday, November 13, 1998
By SCOTT M. JOHNSON
Enterprise staff writer
In a highly publicized stunt a few weeks ago, some students at Cal allegedly stole The Tree, Stanford's athletic mascot, and held it for ransom.
If the UC Davis men's basketball team is going have any chance to begin the 1998-99 season with a victory, the Aggie Pack might have to kidnap seven more trees from the Palo Alto campus.
When the Aggies open their season Saturday, Stanford expects to have seven players taller than 6-foot-6, including All-America candidates Tim Young (7-2) and Mark Madsen (6-9). UCD has none, boasting a four-headed center of Brent Wyse (6-6), John Surina (6-6), Jordan Moss (6-5) and Keith Johnson (6-4).
``We'll just keep bringing those guys in fresh and let them bang the heck out of people,'' UCD senior point guard Dante Ross said. ``The ref can't call it all game. It's not like you just have (former center Justis) Durkee down there, who had to bang the whole game. Each guy can bring six minutes a half, and for the whole 40 minutes, they'll beat the living bleep out of you.''
Unfortunately for the Aggies, Stanford's frontcourt is more than just size. Young and Madsen could be NBA draft picks over the next two years, while the bench boasts two players -- twins Jarron and Jason Collins who were McDonald's All-Americans in high school.
But size might be enough against the vertically-challenged Aggies. The Cardinal's starting three up front average 6-10, 237 pounds. Their top three reserves check in at an average of 6-9, 240. It's sort of like replacing an 18-wheeler with a Mack truck.
``We have five really good post guys and don't lose much off the bench,'' Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said. ``They're big, experienced and pretty strong and can wear people down.''
UCD coach Brian Fogel hopes his frontcourt, which also includes 6-6 stringbean Jason Cox, doesn't get thrown around too much.
``We don't match anybody,'' Fogel said. ``If Madsen wants to, if Jason Cox gets stuck playing behind him, and Madsen posts up on him, Cox could end up in the third row.''
UCD's ``big'' men say they aren't intimidated.
``They all put their clothes on the same way as we do; they all put their shoes on the same way,'' Johnson said, while acknowledging the fact that the Cardinal's apparel is a few sizes larger.
UCD's big men have been preparing for this game with spirited, physical practices. Moss had to get stitches on two different occasions last week.
``I've never had to get them before in my life until last week,'' he said, still sporting a stitched-up right eye socket.
Moss and his teammates hope the banging will pay dividends.
``In a game like this, where they're obviously a lot bigger and a lot stronger, it's good maybe to give them some different looks,'' Moss said. ``We have guys who will get in there and bang with them, and then when they get used to banging, we'll bring in some guys who might be able to shoot it over them. We'll bring guys in and out and just go from there. Maybe something will be working, and we'll go with it.''
Of course, girth is not the Cardinal's only attribute. Stanford, the No. 3 team in the country in the Associated Press preseason poll, also has one of the top backcourts in the nation. Point guard Arthur Lee replaced All-American Brevin Knight last season without much dropoff, and Kris Weems is a deadly outside shooter who thrives when teams try to fall back into the zone.
By the way, the same lineup took Stanford to the Final Four last season.
``They're flat awesome. Awesome,'' Fogel said. ``Obviously, they have a very strong chance to win the national championship. I went and watched them Friday night, when they beat the Taiwanese national team by like 48. I don't know if it was a good thing that I went down and watched them or a bad thing that I went down and watched them.''
The closest thing UCD has to a good matchup is at point guard, as the lightning-quick Ross will battle Lee all day long.
``Arthur Lee's going to get surprised,'' UCD senior guard J.C. Timmons said. ``He's heard of Dante by now, I'm sure, from someone. If Lee doesn't come into the game ready to play, he's going to be in a world of hurt.''
Any pain the Aggies cause will probably have the same effect as a flea's itch on a pit bull. Stanford returns five starters, 11 lettermen and all but one point -- Pete Van Elswyck's free throw against Kentucky -- from five games in the NCAA tournament.
It will be UCD's third consecutive game on television the national semifinals and finals were broadcast last year. Fox Sports Bay Area (Cable channel 61) will televise the season opener at 7 p.m.
Fogel doesn't make any misnomers about shocking Stanford, even though his Aggies are the defending Division II national champion. The obvious question, then, is what the heck does UCD think it's doing?
``It's a great experience,'' Fogel said. ``It's fantastic exposure for the university and for these guys.''
Still, UCD isn't going in just to have fun.
``If you're not looking to win, you're not going to play basketball,'' Timmons said. ``You have to go into the game looking to win and expecting to win. Otherwise, you'll be rolled over. But one thing you have to remember about Stanford is, it's one game on the schedule. They happen to be No. 1 in the country (in some polls), but it's still only one game on the schedule.''
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