Lineup change catches Beavers off guard in big loss

By Brooks Hatch
Gazette-Times reporter

Supposedly only the last two minutes matter in an NBA game.

If that’s true, then Thursday night’s Pacific-10 Conference contest between Oregon State and Stanford was virtually the exact anthesis of any professional matchup. Stanford surprised OSU by altering its anticipated starting lineup, jetted to a 15-2 lead in the opening 4:25 and easily handed the reeling Beavers their fifth loss in a row.

Cardinal coach Trent Johnson started 6-foot-8 junior forward Lawrence Hill at power forward instead of 7-footer Robin Lopez to get quicker up front. Hill then justified his coach’s decision by nailing three 3-pointers and a layup while scoring 11 of Stanford’s first 24 points.

“We weren’t ready for (Stanford’s) lineup,” said freshman forward Omari Johnson, who led the Beavers (6-9, 0-3) with 11 points. “We weren’t expecting Hill to start.

“It created a mismatch. We had a game plan for (7-foot twins Brook and Robin) to be in. Hill threw us off.”

By the time the Beavers adjusted, the 23rd-ranked Cardinal (13-2, 2-1) led 24-8 and any suspense concerning the outcome had evaporated into the cool, clear night. There was no way the offensively-challenged Beavers could mount a credible threat and they never came closer than 12 points thereafter.

Hill merely reprised his role as a Beaver-killer. He averaged 23.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in two wins against OSU last season and made a career-best five 3-pointers in a 67-56 triumph at Gill Coliseum.

OSU coach Jay John said he suspected Stanford might go with Hill, who had started 44 games in a row before sitting in favor of Robin Lopez vs. USC on Jan. 5.

“Omari isn’t a great matchup for them because we were going to take (the Lopez twins) away from the basket and clear a lane a little bit,” he said. “Their five 3-pointers came in the first six minutes. Kudos to them. They blew out by hitting those.

“Every button they pushed to start the game was 100 percent right.”

An announced crowd of 4,017 - the smallest against a current conference opponent since Dec. 11, 1961 - was stunned to near-silence by Stanford’s early outburst and had little reason to get excited thereafter. The exodus began as a trickle at the media timeout with 8:48 remaining and began in earnest at the 3:55 media stop.

“Obviously, we have a lot of respect for (OSU),” Stanford’s Johnson said. “We have struggled (at Gill Coliseum) in the past. I thought that we were ready to play from the start and it sort of carried over.”

The Beavers shot 30 percent from the field (17-56) and missed all eight of their 3-point shots in their first game without one in 122 games — coincidentally, since they were 0-for-5 in a 69-65 loss at Stanford on Jan. 27, 2005.

OSU’s top two scorers, Marcel Jones (4) and Seth Tarver (7) combined for only 11 points and Roeland Schaftenaar was held scoreless for the second consecutive game. Jones and Tarver have 17 points between them in OSU’s last two games after averaging nearly 26 together in the first 13.

Stanford was credited with just two blocked shots but the Lopezes made the Beavers alter numerous other point-blank attempts.

“It’s hard to get shots where you want,” said Omari Johnson, who was 4 of 15 from the field. “You have to force different angles and stuff. It’s hard.

“People have to be more confident when they shoot. I guess we were scared, I don’t know. Well, not scared, but nervous. People weren’t ready to shoot on the catch, they were worried about getting to the hole too much. We should have just settled down, concentrated on making shots and swinging the ball around the court.”

Added John: “The height and size takes away your rhythm. They are a physical team. Guys are enduring bumps and they had to try to keep their balance.

“But playing a team like that is why we have to execute. Closer is not necessarily better, you’re better off taking a12-footer rather than trying to get a six-footer.”

Hill had 13 points, Brook Lopez and Anthony Good 12 apiece for Stanford, which John said was the best opponent the Beavers have played so far and a good lesson for a club that has now lost four of its last five home games.

“It wasn’t pretty,” John acknowledged. “For us to understand what it is going to be like playing against a team like that is good for us. I wish we could play them (today).

“If this is what it’s going to take to get this group to continue to learn what it is like to play at this level and not get knocked in the mouth then we learned something today. It just highlights the areas we have to get better at.

“I appreciate Stanford coming in with their ‘A’ game not taking us lightly, and coming to smash us if they could. It sounds crazy to say, but we got better in some areas today.”