​Stanford basketball is nearly back, but the early results could be concerning. Taking the court for two exhibition games against Santa Clara and Oregon, the Cardinal were unable to get the job done in either game, losing 83-78 to Santa Clara and 85-57 to Oregon. Both matchups were on the road.In what was a close game against Santa Clara, the Cardinal got 26 points out of Julius Price, 15 from Christian Bliss and 16 out of Anthony Batson Jr., but received minimal production from everyone else. Freshman forward Aziz Olajuwon started, scoring six points in just over 18 minutes of play.The Cardinal trailed 37-32 at the half, and while the second half was dead even with each team scoring 46 points, Santa Clara’s better first half was too much for Stanford to handle. The Broncos played a smaller rotation, but saw several players score in double figures. Guard Brayde Kuykendall, who came off the bench, led Santa Clara in scoring with 18 points.The next game against Oregon was a different story. Trailing 40-24 after the first half, the Cardinal were outscored again, 45-33, in the second half. Only three Cardinal players scored in double figures, but this time, Olajuwon led the team in scoring with 16 points. Guard Julius Price and forward Nick Townsend each scored 11 points. Oregon played a lot of its roster, with Fred Payne leading the charge with 15 points. Malique Ewin had 11 points and Sean Stewart added 10 points. The Cardinal’s exhibition slate is over, with opening night set for Nov. 2 against Eastern Washington at home. The next four games after that are against Oakland (at home), Rice (at home), UNLV (on the road) and UC Irvine (at home). Those games will give the program adequate preparation before it plays in the Acrisure Series around Thanksgiving. The Cardinal will face Colorado in their first game of that tournament.Stanford lost some key players this offseason, most notably star freshman Ebuka Okorie, but is bringing in a recruiting class that could fill the void rather quickly. Headlined by Olajuwon and Price, the class also includes guard Elias Obenyah, Isaiah Rogers and big man Drew Anderson. The program also lost multiple players from last year’s roster, such as Oskar Giltay, Chisom Okpara, Jeremy Dent-Smith and others, but landed transfers in Bliss, Townsend, and center Austin Maurer. The Cardinal need those guys to step up and be stars for them right away.Stanford has missed the NCAA tournament in each of the last 12 years, but has finished with a winning record in each of coach Kyle Smith’s first two seasons. The hope is that this is the season that the Cardinal can break the curse and return to March Madness. For that to happen, everyone needs to step up, including the young freshmen who are eager to cement their legacy on The Farm.Stanford’s first three games of the season tip off at 7 p.m., while its matchup against UNLV is at 6 p.m. The program then faces UC Irvine at 7 p.m. followed by a 7 p.m. tip-off against Sacramento Stat