He inherits a team that will lose the Lopez twins, Brook and Robin, to the NBA draft, but will return its primary perimeter players in Mitch Johnson, Lawrence Hill and Anthony Goods, who will all be seniors next season.
Despite flirting with Georgetown a few years ago, many people do feel that Dawkins will one day replace Mike Krzyzewski at Duke. Getting the Stanford job as his first head coaching gig is quite an endorsement of how good of a coach he is.
They are getting a great guy. Dawkins wanted his first head coaching job to be at a school with high academic standards that also had a great hoops program. Stanford is definitely that. He's just 44 years old, so he could be around Stanford for many years to come.
Or when Duke looks for Coach K's successor.
He's also in charge of player development for the U.S. Olympic Team as they get ready for the Beijing Games this summer.
Home teams in all CAPS: Sorry for the lack of posts this week, folks. I've been stuck working 12-hour days covering the Washington 4A High School basketball tournament. (The talent isn't what it's been in the past...)
WASHINGTON STATE over Usc - Second place on the line, Friel Court will be rocking. Cougs are the better team and the defense will be too much.
Ucla over WASHINGTON - Like the Huskies can win back-to-back games...
Arizona over STANFORD - Arizona has way more athleticism, but height of Tree could cause problems for the 'Cats.
CAL over Arizona State - Arizona State is playing well, but on the road, going for its second win...yeah...don't think so.
OREGON over Oregon State - If Oregon State can shoot better than 70% from the free throw line, well, it will be a moral victory. Ducks win this one easily in the Civil War on the hardwood.
The injury bug is going around the Pac-10 and Anthony Goods, Stanford guard, has picked it up. Goods hurt his ankle in Stanford's loss to Washington Sunday and will miss the Cardinal's next two games if not more.
Not good for the Tree as Goods is their best long-distance shooter and Stanford will now turn the point guard position over to Mitch Johnson, from Seattle's O'Dea High School. Johnson, mistakenly rocking the long hair/head band look, hasn't been too good lately. He didn't score in either game against the Washington schools last week and his turnover-to-assist ratio isn't something you would choose to highlight.
Goods was virtually non-existent last season, but has emerged this year as a true scorer. The Cardinal will be hurting without him, and ranked and virtually a lock for the Dance a few weeks back, Stanford, with the loss of Goods, may be sniffing the NIT when all is said and done.
Lot of top teams losing around these parts this past week, but all the losses maintain a status quo. Washington is playing well at home, but is yet to look better than a rec-league team on the road. UCLA has a tough loss in West Virginia, but handling business in conference is more important now.
As always, if you think I'm smoking the same stuff as those Gonzaga players, call me out in the comments. 1. UCLA - Win over USC does much more good than road loss to West Virginia does bad. 2. Washington State - Sweep of Bay Area schools just solidifies the Cougs as the Pac-10's second best team. 3. Oregon - Ducks, despite recent losses, still athletic as anyone and can run plenty of teams out of the gym. If only Sub-Zero Brooks can relocate his shot. 4. Arizona - Just when you think the Wildcats are done... 5. USC - Two close losses against UCLA doesn't score brownie points. 6. Washington - If only they can bottle up their play at home and take it on the road. 7. Stanford - It's just about that time of the year for Tree to start hitting the bottle again. 8. Cal - Six straight losses won't have Ben Braun clapping anytime soon. 9. Oregon State - Sweep of ASU feels like making Final Four for the Beavers. 10. Arizona State - At least the weather's good.
I know I just used this picture in my last post, but it's pretty appropriate as things were all cheery and smiley for the Huskies Sunday.
Washington beat No. 25 Stanford 64-52 Sunday at Bank of America Arena in a game that really wasn't that close for the last five or six minutes. UW led by as many as 19 late in this one. Spencer Hawes, who literally threw the game away for UW when the two teams met last month in Palo Alto, led all scorers with 18. Lawrence Hill had 15 for the Tree.
Let's check back in on the Huskies' locker room white board:
To do list:
Beat Cal Beat Stanford Beat Wazzu Beat Pitt Beat Oregon State Beat Oregon Beat USC Beat UCLA Win Pac-10 Tourney Make NCAA Tourney Win NCAA Tourney Party like it's 1979
The Huskies can cross off those top two, as they finally put together two good games in a row and played awfully well at home this week. But U-Dub faces five ranked teams in the next six games, and that road game against Oregon State won't be easy. The Dawgs have the schedule to get themselves back on the bubble -- there are five opportunities for resumé-building wins -- but things could also go sour and UW might lose its next six.
Stanford, meanwhile, got swept on the road, but losing two at the Washington schools is nothing to be ashamed of. Though the Cardinal shot 28 percent Thursday at Wazzu and wasn't much better Sunday. The Tree, at one point in the second half, were shooting 15 percent in the second period. Stanford finished shooting 38 percent. That won't win you much of anything.
The Huskies have a short week, playing a day later than normal today and then playing on Wednesday against the Cougars, a day before they often do. Then a trip across country to Pitt, and the Dawgs head to the Oregon schools. It will be a telling few weeks for Washington.
Oregon State 59, Arizona State 55 - This one stings more than usual for the Sun Devils and coach Herb Sendek, pictured giving his best "just shoot me" pose. The loss, ASU's fourteenth straight, makes the 'Devils 0-13 in the Pac-10 and could very likely go 0-18 in the league, which hasn't happened since Sendek had a full head of hair. Arizona State's best chance to get that elusive first win is March 3 at Cal, the last game of the regular season.
Sasa Cuic had 22 points, a guy named Wesley Washington added 13 for the Beav, and for the Sun Devils, well, we don't need to go there. I'd imagine I'll be hearing the cliche "soul searching" coming out of Tempe these next few days.
No. 14 Washington State 59, Cal 46 - Daven Harmeling had 26 points and the Cougs continue to roll. I'm telling you, Wazzu has Final Four written all over them. Man, they're tough.
Cal shot 34 percent from the field and the Bears have now lost six straight. I imagine coach Ben Braun is rocking a similar hand-to-forehead look that Sendek is.
OREGON over Arizona - Mac Court will be awfully riled up for this one, and while the 'Cats are playing better now, the Ducks will be hungry. Oh, and Jenn Sterger may be in attendance. That'll get the team playing with an extra hop in their step.
ArizonaStateover OREGON STATE - The Sun Devils are soooo close to winning their first league game. This is ASU's best chance to avoid an 0-18 conference record.
Ucla over WEST VIRGINIA - Big road test for the Bruins, but UCLA is gonna be just too talented for the Mountaineers. A win in Morgantown would help arguments next month for UCLA to be the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
WASHINGTON STATE over Cal - The Cougs are becoming a favorite in nearly every game they play. Wonder if they would prefer the underdog role...
WASHINGTON over Stanford - It's pretty much do or die for the Huskies at this point, so they can't afford to lose at home. As for the cheerleader, I believe (not positive, but fairly certain) that she's Jon Brockman's girlfriend. Yeah.
No. 24 Arizona 72, Oregon State 66 - Oregon State, losers of seven straight and bearers of a 1-11 conference record had two things to be happy about Thursday: Sasa Cuic scored a career-high 25 points and the Beavers were six of eight from the free throw line, much better than they normally are. Arizona's Marcus Williams had 23 points and Ivan Radenovic had 19. That's not much of a shock. The score of this one is.
No. 13 Oregon 55, Arizona State 51 - For the third straight game, ASU, winless in the Pac-10, was facing a double-digit halftime deficit just to make a strong charge in the second half and fall just short. Tajaun Porter, the freshman speedster, led the Ducks with 24 while Sub-Zero Brooks had a rare off-night with just five points. The Sun Devils, led by Derek Glasser's 17, shot just 31% from the floor. That won't make coach Herb Sendek too happy.
No. 14 Washington State 58, No. 25 Stanford 45 - The Cougs opened up a close game at the break by outscoring the Tree by 11 in the second half. Wazzu's stingy defense held Stanford's leading scorer, Lawrence Hill, scoreless on 0-10 shooting. Derrick Low and Kyle Weaver both had 12 for WSU and Brook Lopez led all scorers with 13. Yeah, led all with 13. Fun times.
Duke associate head coach Johnny Dawkins will be the next head coach at Stanford, according to sources. Dawkins, a former Duke player and assistant for 11 years, takes over for Trent Johnson who left for LSU. 
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The injury bug is going around the Pac-10 and Anthony Goods, Stanford guard, has picked it up. Goods hurt his ankle in Stanford's loss to Washington Sunday and 
Lot of top teams losing around these parts this past week, but all the losses maintain a status quo. Washington is playing well at home, but is yet to look better than a rec-league team on the road. UCLA has a tough loss in West Virginia, but handling business in conference is more important now. 
Home teams in all CAPS:
