If the Stanford men's basketball team doesn't have the attention of the Montana Grizzlies, nothing Coach Larry Krystkowiak can say is going to help.
?It's a game where I don't have to conjure up much in the way of a pregame speech,? said Krystkowiak, whose Griz take on the Pac-10 power Friday at 7:05 p.m. in Dahlberg Arena.
The Cardinal are 2-1 and hovering just outside the Associated Press Top 25 in the most recent poll. Coming off their 11th straight trip to the NCAA tournament, the Cardinal are picked to finish second to Arizona in the Pac-10.
And then there's Stanford's starting lineup, which Krystkowiak figures features three future pros in guards Chris Hernandez and Dan Grunfeld, and 6-foot-11 center Matt Haryasz.
?I'm excited to (schedule the game) for our fans and for our kids,? Krystkowiak said. ?To have an opportunity to have a top 20 team come into your home gym ... it seemed to me like a great opportunity. It's obviously a great measuring stick for where we want to go.?
The Cardinal would undoubtedly be in the top 25 if not for a season-opening home loss to Cal Irvine, a game that Haryasz missed with a sprained ankle. But Stanford rebounded with home wins over San Francisco and Cal Poly.
Grunfeld leads the Pac-10 in scoring in the early going at 18.7 points a game. Haryasz has averaged 17.0 in the two games he's played and Hernandez chips in 13.3. All three were starters last year when the Cardinals downed the Griz 84-66 in Stanford.
Tim Morris, a 6-4 guard, and Taj Finger, a 6-8 forward, round out the starting lineup.
?Hernandez has the ball in his hands a lot,? Krystkowiak said. ?He can make a play off the dribble and he's a deadly shooter.
?Grunfeld is a big wing ... who shoots it and puts it down. Morris is real athletic, the slasher type. Finger shoots it real well and Haryasz has a bunch of skills, too.?
The two most difficult matchups for the Griz might be Grunfeld and Haryasz. At 6-6, Grunfeld will be a handful for 6-3 Griz senior Virgil Matthews. At 6-11, Haryasz will have several inches over either 6-8 Andrew Strait or 6-9 Jordan Hasquet.
?We need to put some of our better rebounders on Grunfeld, like Virgil or (6-6 Matt) Dlouhy,? Krystkowiak said. ?It's not easy. They do have mismatches at certain positions.
?But we can't make it more complicated than it really is. The game plan is still pretty simple. We have to play harder and make some plays.?
The Griz have been doing that pretty well while winning three straight since a season-opening loss at Boise State. They're shooting 53 percent from the field while holding their opponents to 43 percent, and have outrebounded their foes by more than six a game.
Strait has been particularly efficient, shooting 68 percent from the field, 22-for-28 in his last three games.
?Overlooked as much as anything - it sounds so simple and it's so obvious - we have to make some shots when we're open,? Krystkowiak said. ?That's how you put points on the board.
?Then we have to defend better than we've defended all year. The exclamation point on any defensive possession is the ability to limit them to one shot.?
UM officials said 4,500 seats had been sold by Thursday evening. The remaining 3,000 will be on sale all day Friday.
Krystkowiak holds out hope for a good home-court advantage.
?It would be great for our kids to come out and have some support,? Krystkowiak said.
?It's a game where I don't have to conjure up much in the way of a pregame speech,? said Krystkowiak, whose Griz take on the Pac-10 power Friday at 7:05 p.m. in Dahlberg Arena.
The Cardinal are 2-1 and hovering just outside the Associated Press Top 25 in the most recent poll. Coming off their 11th straight trip to the NCAA tournament, the Cardinal are picked to finish second to Arizona in the Pac-10.
And then there's Stanford's starting lineup, which Krystkowiak figures features three future pros in guards Chris Hernandez and Dan Grunfeld, and 6-foot-11 center Matt Haryasz.
?I'm excited to (schedule the game) for our fans and for our kids,? Krystkowiak said. ?To have an opportunity to have a top 20 team come into your home gym ... it seemed to me like a great opportunity. It's obviously a great measuring stick for where we want to go.?
The Cardinal would undoubtedly be in the top 25 if not for a season-opening home loss to Cal Irvine, a game that Haryasz missed with a sprained ankle. But Stanford rebounded with home wins over San Francisco and Cal Poly.
Grunfeld leads the Pac-10 in scoring in the early going at 18.7 points a game. Haryasz has averaged 17.0 in the two games he's played and Hernandez chips in 13.3. All three were starters last year when the Cardinals downed the Griz 84-66 in Stanford.
Tim Morris, a 6-4 guard, and Taj Finger, a 6-8 forward, round out the starting lineup.
?Hernandez has the ball in his hands a lot,? Krystkowiak said. ?He can make a play off the dribble and he's a deadly shooter.
?Grunfeld is a big wing ... who shoots it and puts it down. Morris is real athletic, the slasher type. Finger shoots it real well and Haryasz has a bunch of skills, too.?
The two most difficult matchups for the Griz might be Grunfeld and Haryasz. At 6-6, Grunfeld will be a handful for 6-3 Griz senior Virgil Matthews. At 6-11, Haryasz will have several inches over either 6-8 Andrew Strait or 6-9 Jordan Hasquet.
?We need to put some of our better rebounders on Grunfeld, like Virgil or (6-6 Matt) Dlouhy,? Krystkowiak said. ?It's not easy. They do have mismatches at certain positions.
?But we can't make it more complicated than it really is. The game plan is still pretty simple. We have to play harder and make some plays.?
The Griz have been doing that pretty well while winning three straight since a season-opening loss at Boise State. They're shooting 53 percent from the field while holding their opponents to 43 percent, and have outrebounded their foes by more than six a game.
Strait has been particularly efficient, shooting 68 percent from the field, 22-for-28 in his last three games.
?Overlooked as much as anything - it sounds so simple and it's so obvious - we have to make some shots when we're open,? Krystkowiak said. ?That's how you put points on the board.
?Then we have to defend better than we've defended all year. The exclamation point on any defensive possession is the ability to limit them to one shot.?
UM officials said 4,500 seats had been sold by Thursday evening. The remaining 3,000 will be on sale all day Friday.
Krystkowiak holds out hope for a good home-court advantage.
?It would be great for our kids to come out and have some support,? Krystkowiak said.
