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Stanford Hosts California On Saturday In Regular Season Finale

2009-10 In Review: Fields Produces Memorable Season

April 28, 2010

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2009-10 Final Record: 14-18, 7-11 Pac-10 (T6th)
Stanford wrapped up the 2009-10 campaign at 14-18 overall, missing the postseason for the first time since 1993. Despite multiple injuries, lack of depth and a projected last-place conference finish in the preseason media poll, the Cardinal reached the Pac-10 Tournament semifinals and finished with a better league record (7-11) than the previous year (6-12). An impressive feat considering Stanford's roster featured only seven true scholarship players, two returning starters from 2008-09 and six walk-ons.

Awards Banquet Wraps Up 2009-10
Landry Fields walked away with four awards, including the Hank Luisetti Most Valuable Player honor, highlighting the Stanford men's basketball annual awards banquet in front of approximately 200 people at the Arrillaga Family Sports Center. Fields also claimed statistical award titles with team-high marks in scoring (22.0 ppg) and rebounding (8.8 rpg). Fields also shared the honor of team captain with fellow senior Drew Shiller. Jeremy Green, an All-Pac-10 Second Team selection, received the Most Improved Player award while Jarrett Mann earned the Best Defensive Player award. Emmanuel Igbinosa, one of Stanford's most effective players down the stretch, took home the Most Inspirational award. Andrew Zimmermann captured the Roy Young Toughness award, which was given to the player who took the most charges throughout the year. Jack Trotter was the recipient of the Howie Dallmar Coaches award. Other statistical awards handed out included: free throw percentage (Jeremy Green - 81.5 percent), assists (Jarrett Mann - 4.3 per game), field goal percentage (Jack Trotter - 49.7 percent) and three-point field goal percentage (Drew Shiller - 38.9 percent). Chris Ebersole was recognized for attaining the team's highest GPA.

Stanford Reaches Pac-10 Tournament Semifinals
Stanford now owns a 12-12 all-time record in 24 Pac-10 Tournament games. Fresh off a 70-61 upset of No. 2 seed Arizona State in the quarterfinal round, the Cardinal made its first appearance in the Pac-10 Tournament semifinals since advancing to the championship game in 2008. Stanford was then defeated by eventual champion Washington 79-64.
Stanford 70, Arizona State 61 - Mar. 11 - Quarterfinals - Los Angeles, CA
Three Stanford players scored in double-figures, paving the way for the first major upset of the 2010 Pac-10 Tournament, as the seventh-seeded Cardinal knocked off second-seeded Arizona State 70-61. Jeremy Green led all scorers with 18 points while also grabbing six rebounds. Landry Fields added 17 points and finished 6-10 from the floor, marking just the second time this season he took fewer than 11 shots. Trailing by as many as 17, the Sun Devils began fouling to extend the game and crept to within eight on a three-point play by Ty Abbott. Emmanuel Igbinosa sparked the Cardinal off the bench, contributing a career-high 12 points, three rebounds, one assist and one block. After trailing 29-28 at the break, Arizona State took its only lead of the game on the first possession of the second half. It was all Stanford after that, as the Cardinal took control with a 21-5 run during the next 7:43. Rihards Kuksiks kept the Sun Devils in the game early with 15 first-half points, but was then held scoreless after intermission. Eric Boateng added 13 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Stanford shot 54.8 percent and forced 17 turnovers.
Washington 79, Stanford 64 - Mar. 12 - Semifinals - Los Angeles, CA
Quincy Pondexter scored 19 points and Washington defeated Stanford 79-64 in a matchup of poor shooting teams in the Pac-10 Tournament semifinals. Isaiah Thomas added 17 points and Justin Holiday 11 for the Huskies, who led all the way in winning their sixth straight against Stanford - equaling their streak against the Cardinal from 1974-77. The seventh-seeded Cardinal improved its shooting to 31 percent by game's end, but was just 26 percent from 3-point range. Stanford hauled down a season-best 42 rebounds, but was just 18-26 from the foul line compared to Washington's 25-29 clip. Landry Fields notched his 13th double-double of the season, scoring a game-high 20 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in 38 minutes. Emmanuel Igbinosa reached double-figures for the third time this year, finishing with 11 points. The Huskies led 28-19 at halftime and stretched their lead to 23 points following a jumper from Justin Holiday with just over six minutes left in the game.

Recruiting Class Ranked Among Nation's Top-20
The 2010-11 edition of the Stanford Cardinal will receive an immediate boost from one of the most highly-touted recruiting classes in school history. Head coach Johnny Dawkins has locked up a six-member, nationally-ranked class that includes November signees Aaron Bright, Anthony Brown, John Gage, Josh Huestis and Dwight Powell along with Stefan Nastic, who signed a national letter of intent in April. At the time of Nastic's signing, Stanford's recruiting class was ranked among the top-20 in the country by several sites (No. 9 by Rivals.com, No. 13 by Scout.com and No. 18 by ESPN.com).

Fields Earns All-Pac-10 First Team Spot, Green Named To Second Team
Landry Fields earned a spot on the 10-member All-Pac-10 First Team while Jeremy Green received Second Team recognition, highlighting Stanford's selections among the 2009-10 Pac-10 men's basketball award winners. Fields is the first Stanford player since Brook Lopez in 2007-08 to be honored with a spot on the First Team. After being selected to the All-Pac-10 Freshmen Team last year, Green continued his emergence as one of the Pac-10's premier players with a selection to the All-Pac-10 Second Team.

Stanford Well-Represented On Pac-10 All-Academic Team
Landry Fields, Drew Shiller and Jack Trotter were named to the Pac-10 All-Academic team, as announced by Commissioner Larry Scott. Stanford's three selections were the most of any Pac-10 school. To be eligible for selection to the academic team, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.0 overall grade-point average and be either a starter or significant contributor. Fields and Trotter were honored for the first time in their careers, while Shiller garnered his third accolade after earning Honorable Mention in 2008 and Second Team honors in 2009.

Fields Produces Season To Remember
After averaging just 7.1 points and 3.7 rebounds through his first three years combined, Landry Fields produced one of the best seasons in school history. Among his accomplishments:
Named to 2009-10 U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) All-District Team and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District 20 First Team.
Tabbed 2009-10 Toyo Tires Pac-10 Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year (criteria: senior receiving a degree, 3.0 or higher cumulative GPA, significant athletic contributor). Additionally, Toyo Tires donates $1,000 to the school's athletic department scholarship fund.
Ranked eighth in the nation in scoring (22.0 ppg) after becoming Stanford's first Pac-10 scoring champion since Casey Jacobsen in 2001-02.
In addition to leading all Pac-10 players in 20-point games (21), double-doubles (13) and minutes played (36.3 per game), nearly snagged the league rebounding title, finishing second (8.8 per game) to USC's Nikola Vucevic (9.4 per game). Also led Cardinal in free throws and attempts (179-257), blocks (25) and steals (51).
Scored in double-figures in all 32 games, becoming the first Stanford player to reach double-figures in every game of the year since Adam Keefe in 1991-92 (29 games).
His 704 points represented the third-best single-season total in school history, trailing only Adam Keefe (734 in 1991-92 and 709 in 1990-91).
Notched nine consecutive 20-point games from Nov. 24-Jan. 2, becoming the only Stanford player since at least 1960 to achieve the milestone.
Two-time Pac-10 Player of the Week, becoming the first Stanford player to be recognized twice in a season since Matt Haryasz won the award in back-to-back weeks during 2005-06.

Season Scoring
For the ninth straight year, a different player led Stanford in scoring. Landry Fields closed out the year with a team-best 22.0 points per game, following Anthony Goods (16.2 ppg in 2008-09), Brook Lopez (19.3 ppg in 2007-08), Lawrence Hill (15.7 ppg in 2006-07), Matt Haryasz (16.2 ppg in 2005-06), Dan Grunfeld (17.9 ppg in 2004-05), Josh Childress (15.7 ppg in 2003-04), Julius Barnes (16.0 ppg in 2002-03) and Casey Jacobsen (21.9 ppg in 2001-02).

Fields And Green: The Nation's No. 3 Scoring Duo
The duo of Landry Fields and Jeremy Green provided Stanford with an explosive 1-2 punch, accounting for 55.8 percent of the team's scoring. Fields and Green trailed only Aubrey Coleman and Kelvin Lewis of Houston (41.1 ppg) and Adnan Hodzic and Josh Slater of Lipscomb (39.8 ppg) as the highest scoring duos in the country. Fields and Green tallied 1,236 combined points to comprise the highest scoring tandem in school history, passing Todd Lichti and Howard Wright (1,182 points in 1988). It was also the third time in school history that a pair of teammates scored 500 or more points each during the same season.

Home Sweet Home...
Stanford is 40-11 in its last 51 home games dating back to the start of the 2007-08 campaign. Stanford was 10-6 at home (5-4 in Pac-10 play) during the 2009-10 campaign, representing the 17th straight year that the Cardinal reached the 10-win mark at Maples Pavilion.

No Sophomore Slump Here
After being selected to the All-Pac-10 Freshman Team, Jeremy Green continued his development in 2009-10 as one of the Pac-10's premier players with a selection to the All-Pac-10 Second Team. Joining Landry Fields as one of the most potent 1-2 scoring duos in the nation, Green averaged 16.6 points per game, a total that ranked second on the team and sixth-best among Pac-10 players. Green's scoring average last year was 10 points better than his 6.4 points per game clip as a rookie. Green, who led the Pac-10 in three-pointers made (93) while ranking 31st nationally in three-point field goals made per game (2.9), broke Casey Jacobsen's single-season record for three-pointers made with a first-half trey against Arizona on Feb. 27.

Shiller A Contributor During Final Season
Since arriving on The Farm in 2006-07 as a transfer from San Francisco, Drew Shiller came off the bench in 81 straight games before making his first career start against Cal Poly on Nov. 15. A fixture in the starting lineup by season's end, Shiller played in all 32 games and ranked third on the team in scoring at 7.5 points per game and second in three-pointers with 58. Shiller was arguably Stanford's top free throw shooter, making 34-38 last year and 75-84 (89.2 percent) during his career.

Help Wanted
There were nine games last year in which Stanford received less than eight points from its bench. In four of those contests, Cardinal reserves were held scoreless altogether (two of those coming against UCLA). In games when Stanford placed a third player in double-figures along with Landry Fields and Jeremy Green, the Cardinal posted an 11-8 record.

First 20 Were Usually Entertaining
Kentucky. James Madison. Did not matter. For the most part, the first 20 minutes of a Stanford game were very competitive. In fact, the halftime margin was six points or less in 20 of Stanford's 32 games. The Cardinal was 10-4 when leading at the half, 4-12 when trailing at intermission and 0-2 when tied.

Yes, It Was A Business Trip
Aside from the Pac-10 Tournament, Stanford's only tourney experience last year came during a pre-Thanksgiving trip to Mexico. After splitting a pair of home games the previous week to begin the Cancun Challenge, Stanford traveled south of the border for back-to-back games to close out the event. While in Mexico, the Cardinal came away with a gritty 57-52 win against Virginia, thanks to an inspired defensive effort in the second half. Twenty-four hours later, Stanford nearly shocked fifth-ranked Kentucky before falling 73-65 in overtime. In a game that featured 12 ties and nine lead changes, the Cardinal led 38-32 at halftime and 63-61 before Kentucky's John Wall hit two free throws with three seconds left in regulation. Landry Fields and Jeremy Green were named to the All-Tournament team.

Second-Half Adjustment...Check
Stanford played much better during the second half of games last year, scoring 53.6 percent of its points after halftime. The biggest individual difference came with Jeremy Green, who averaged 6.6 first-half points before erupting for 10.0 in the second half of games. Green shot 38.9 percent overall and 38.0 percent from beyond the arc over the first 20 minutes, compared to 41.2 percent overall and 38.2 percent from long range after intermission.

Cardinal Breaks Through On The Road
Stanford opened the year 0-10 on the road prior to victories at Oregon (72-65 on Feb. 18) and Oregon State (65-55 on Feb. 20). It was the first time the Cardinal swept a Pac-10 road trip since winning at both Washington schools in 2008. Stanford became only the third Pac-10 school in 2009-10 to earn a road sweep, joining Oregon (swept Washington schools) and Arizona State (swept Oregon schools).

Closing Out Non-Conference Play
The Cardinal closed out non-conference play at 6-6. Two years ago, Stanford finished 13-0 against non-league foes, joining North Carolina (20-0) and Pittsburgh (16-0) as the only Division I teams to finish with an undefeated non-league record.