Jul 6th, 2010
With the stroke of a pen – or one click on a computer or one nod of the head or whatever was required to grant Josh Owens official clearance on Monday – Stanford suddenly has one of the deepest and most athletic frontcourts in the Pac-10.
Josh Owens could jump over nonconference foes during 2008-2009 season -- AP Photo
Now, before you start buying your Final Four tickets, please understand that does not make the Cardinal the conference favorite. Or even the No. 2 favorite. Or No. 3. Losing Landry Fields, the player that created virtually everything on offense, cannot be negated by labels such as “deep” and “athletic.”
But Owens’ clearance dramatically changes the look of team that had a glaring shortcoming in the frontcourt last season. So problematic was the Cardinal’s situation in the paint in 2009-2010 that its best lineup had Fields playing power forward. Fields is trying to make it as a shooting guard in the NBA, so you can see what we’re getting at. (OK, we ended a sentence with a preposition, so shoot us.)
Owens’ return after sitting out last season with an undiagnosed medical condition gives the Cardinal something it did not have last season – a power forward strong enough and athletic enough to handle Pac-10-caliber big men. Granted, he did not do that in 2008-2009. In fact, the promise the 6-8 Owens showed during the nonconference schedule that season quickly disappeared when conference play began.
No one is more determined to improve than Owens, however, so we suspect he will have more success this season, especially if he can guard power forwards instead of having to deal with a steady diet of top-flight Pac-10 centers. Owens had to go against Arizona’s Jordan Hill, Arizona State’s Jeff Pendergraph, Washington’s Jon Brockman and USC’s Taj Gibson, all of whom were college centers and all of whom played in the NBA this past season.
The conference’s contingent of big men is not nearly as impressive now. Plus, Owens was playing out of position and may be able to play his natural power forward spot this season.
That’s because Stanford is bringing in Dwight Powell, a quickly improving 6-10 center/forward from Canada who might be the best freshman in the Pac-10 this season. Granted, we’re jumping the gun a bit, because no one can be sure what a freshman will do, especially big men, but Powell is athletic, long, skilled and versatile. He can play inside or drift to the perimeter, making him ideal for the center spot in Johnny Dawkins’ offense.
Pairing him and Owens up front in the starting lineup has promise. Off the bench the Cardinal can throw in last season’s starters, Jack Trotter and Andrew Zimmerman, and Andy Brown, a redshirt freshman who sat out last season with a torn anterior-cruciate ligament. And we’re guessing at least one of the three other incoming big men will make an impact. Keep an eye on Josh Huestis, a 6-7 player out of Montana.
We can here you snickering now. “Oh, sure, a kid from Montana is going to take over the Pac-10.” No, he won’t take over the conference, and he is raw, but he can jump out of the gym (we are waiting for someone to literally jump out of a gym to confirm that classic bit of sports hyperbole, but you get the idea.)
So Stanford now has big men who can run and jump — big time.
Here’s how we see the Cardinal starting lineup: Powell and Owens up front, Jarrett Mann at the point and Jeremy Green at one wing spot. Before the season is over, we expect freshman Anthony Brown to occupy the other wing spot.
That means three starting positions will be manned by players who were not on the active roster last season.
Hmm.
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