Stanford doing it with defense

Under Trent Johnson Stanford made the NCAA Tournament three times in four seasons. But in Johnny Dawkins' fourth season they've yet to find themselves in the Dance. Johnson's teams were noted for their defense, and in all four seasons finished with a higher defensive rank than offensive rank. They also improved their defense every year. In Johnson's first year Stanford ranked 56th, and in his last they ranked 15th. But in the three completed seasons under Dawkins the best they've ranked is 74th, and that was in his first season and utilized Johnson's players. They regressed to 106th in 2010 and were just 85th last year. They also have failed to finish better than 7-11 in the Pac-10. But the Pac-10 is now the Pac-12, and Stanford is now playing defense. In fact they're the 9th stingiest team in the nation, allowing just 0.86 points per possession. Their offense is a pedestrian 64th, but their defense is special. As a result they are 8-1. Critics point t...