Random and not-so-random thoughts following Stanford’s 73-68 victory over Cal on Friday night …

*** The Bears’ subpar performance was as predictable as their offense is difficult to watch. (And goodness, it is difficult to watch.)

Somewhere along the 40-mile bus ride from Berkeley to Maples Pavilion, the Bears forget how to play.

No matter how good, how talented, how hot – they save their worst for Maples.

They kick the ball, leave two-foot shots one-foot short, commit silly fouls, play on their heels more than their toes, clank free throws off the front of the rim and generally conspire to doom themselves in all manners possible.

Two telling stats from Friday night:

1) The Bears were 3 of 10 from the foul line and 2) They committed 20 turnovers.

As Cuonzo Martin noted: That was 20 turnovers “against a team that doesn’t press.”

*** The opposite is true, too.

No matter how bad, how flawed, or how low it sits in the Pac-12 standings, Stanford invariably plays near its maximum at home against the Bears.

Late in the first half and throughout the second, Stanford was the aggressor. The Cardinal mixed defenses, attacked the rim, pounced on Cal lapses. It was more efficient and more energized despite having less on the line (i.e., no at-large possibility).

This was the Cardinal’s sixth win over Cal in the last seven games at Maples, which makes it Cal’s sixth loss in the last seven games at Maples.

In the majority of those seasons, by the way, the Bears have finished with a better conference record than the Cardinal.

It’s not like they are consistently losing to a far superior team/program.

*** The loss could prove to be a gut-punch to the Bears’ NCAA tournament prospects.

They are 9-5 in conference play but on the NCAA bubble because of a lack of quality wins and soft non-conference schedule.

They have beaten one team, USC, in the top 50 of the RPI

That would be problematic enough with a light finishing schedule. But the Bears have Oregon at home and the difficult Mountain roadtrip remaining.

It’s entirely possibly that they’ll enter the Pac-12 tournament on a five-losses-in-six-games skid. At that point, there is only one path to the NCAAs: Win the Pac-12 title.

All of which means Oregon’s visit on Wednesday has become as close to a must-win game for the Bears as it gets.

Neither Utah or Colorado is anywhere close to the top 50. It’s the Ducks or bust for a resume that’s currently a tad too thin.

*** Step back for a big-picture assessment, however, and the Bears, despite their Maples malfunctions, remain on sound footing relative to their rival.

Consider this:

Cal finished four games ahead of Stanford in the Pac-12 standings last season, lost 57 percent of its offense, and is once again four games ahead of the Cardinal.

Meanwhile, Stanford finished in ninth place last season, lost just 21 percent of its scoring, and is back in ninth place. How many teams return 10 of their top-11 players and don’t improve by a single rung in the standings?

Yes, the top of the conference is better, but the bottom tier isn’t. The bottom tier is worse.

*** Does that mean the Cardinal is doomed to mediocrity under Jerod Haase? No, but it means the roster Haase inherited is woefully lacking, especially on the perimeter.

College basketball belongs to the guards, and Stanford’s contingent is far below average.

One notable difference between the Haase and Johnny Dawkins eras (and there are many):

Whereas the Cardinal’s performance typically got worse the second time through the conference under Dawkins, it has improved under Haase.

The uptick isn’t necessarily easy to spot, because the losses are mounting. But Stanford has been far more competitive against Cal and the Arizona schools than it was six weeks ago.

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