It’s hard to put a timeline on a turnaround for the Stanford men’s basketball team.
Under first-year coach Jerod Haase, the low point came New Year’s Day with a 91-52 drubbing at Maples Pavilion from No. 4 Arizona.
Flash forward a few weeks, and the outlook is different after an upset bid fell short during a trip to the desert for a rematch.
“The bottom line is we’re not about moral victories,” Haase said. “We didn’t leave there saying, ‘Hey, everything is rosy.’ But we did say we’re improving and we’re going to get to where we need to. It’s maybe a little bit nontraditional and different than most people think, and the losses aren’t fun. …
“And I think if you just don’t look at the results, but how we’ve played and how we’ve grown since the start of conference season, I think there’s reason for that belief.”
Stanford (14-13, 6-9 Pac-12) will face another test Saturday in its home finale against No. 6 Oregon (25-4, 14-2).
The Cardinal rides a two-game winning streak into the 1 p.m. tilt, which includes last week’s 73-68 victory over rival Cal, avenging a 66-55 loss suffered at Haas Pavilion at the end of last month.
“One of the great things about college athletics in general is rivalries,” Haase said. “It’s a fun deal, whether it’s Kansas and Missouri, or Duke and Carolina, or UAB and Middle Tennessee State. And Cal-Stanford is a fantastic rivalry, I’m lucky to be a part of it and I’m proud for us to get our first win.”
Sporting a green tie to support “Coaching for Literacy” along with the rest of his staff, Haase was much more than just a coach on the bench against Cal.
Oftentimes he was spotted waving his arms to inspire not only the 4,870 fans in attendance, but also his players after a slow start in which the Cardinal trailed 19-7 in the first half.
“Coach, he brings it every day,” junior guard Dorian Pickens said. “He brings a ton of energy, a ton of focus and a ton of passion. And I think that really carries through each and every one of us — guys that play, walk-ons, the whole staff. And it’s great anytime coach can give us that little spark and show us that he’s ready, too.”
Eventually, the players settled down and took a 38-34 lead into halftime.
“When we came into the locker room at halftime, just the stuff that people were saying,” junior forward Reid Travis said. “You could see the fire in their eyes that we weren’t going to walk out of here with the L tonight. You could just see the passion he’s building and building.”
“I think it really sank in when I was chest-bumping the guys as they came off for a timeout,” Haase said. “I was giving them energy, they were giving me energy. … We’re all in this together, and it’s not my job to sit over there and draw up cool plays. It’s my job to be in there in the trenches with them the most that I possibly can.
“I’m just over my playing weight, but I’m still going to give it everything I can for them.”
Marcus Allen, Christian Sanders and Grant Verhoeven won’t be around to see if and when it all clicks into place at Stanford.
The three seniors on the roster will play their final game at Maples Pavilion on Saturday.
“It will be bittersweet,” Allen said. “I’ve had a lot of good times playing on this court.”
“Think of it as just another game that we need to win, but it will be sad afterwards, especially with your family,” Sanders said. “So that will be a tough moment because you’ve shared four and five years with them.”
Expect Verhoeven’s father in the stands, considering he’s never missed a home game, even it means three-hour trips without traffic from Hanford, Calif.
“I’m not really sure how it’s going to feel until afterwards,” Verhoeven said. “Definitely going to be some nostalgia, but I’m sure it’s not going to settle in maybe until a couple of days after when I finally realize that I’m not going to play there again.”
It hasn’t been an easy final season on The Farm for the seniors, particularly after saying goodbye to the coach who recruited them after Haase was hired to replace Johnny Dawkins.
“If you added all their points and assists and steals and rebounds together, it’s not an accurate description of their contribution to this team,” Haase said. “They’ve certainly been very valuable in terms of they’ve all started, they’ve all provided meaningful minutes, but the biggest thing we’ve tried to do since we got the job is to develop a culture, develop an identity for the team and the program. And while we still have a ways to go with that, those three have been invaluable. And I think they’ve been foundational pieces to getting the program where it needs to get to.”
Haase will continue to methodically bring in his type of players in search of success, with his first recruiting class coming in the fall.
That will push up the timeline, as fans will expect more than belief.
“Just the way he coaches and preaches fighting and playing hard every time, it’s been pretty easy, at least for me, to buy into that,” Verhoeven said. “I think we’re really laying the groundwork. I have no doubt that Coach Haase is going to have success here. We haven’t had as much success this year as we’d like, but it’s coming.”
