At last Tuesday’s press conference, sophomore point guard Mitch Johnson was asked about the leadership that senior forward Fred Washington brought to the team.

“He’s so much more developed and mature,” Johnson said. “He brings a lot of experience and maturity that we don’t have. We’re little kids compared to how much experience he has. He’s got the most energy. He’s always out there leading the drills.”

“Mitch was just giving me some props,” Washington responded. “I can’t name a time I’ve ever led a drill. I’m always right behind him.”

“I’m trying to give you some credit, Fred,” Johnson said. “Take it and run with it.”

The interaction sums up the leadership roles of both Washington and Johnson perfectly. Washington may be the public veteran face, and the most vocal on the court, but it is Johnson, the team captain, who is the go-to guy behind the scenes.

In his second year with the Cardinal, Johnson has stepped into the role occupied by Chris Hernandez ‘05 last year. A big difference, however, is that while Hernandez was Stanford’s top scoring option, Johnson has done much of his leading from the bench.

When freshman forward Brook Lopez returned from a back injury that sidelined him for the season’s opening weeks, a struggling Johnson found himself on the bench at the start. It was a new experience for the sophomore, who started 20 games in his freshman season.

“I think it was a way that the team had to go,” Johnson said. “What was more frustrating than not starting were some of the struggles that I was going through personally. The frustration was coming from myself. I believed that I had more to contribute than what I was showing early in the season. When the team made the lineup change, it was probably the best thing for the team at the time.”

But while Johnson was forced to sit on the bench, it gave him a new perspective on the game. He was able to watch from the sideline and notice what his teammates on the court could do to step up their game.

“I respect Mitch a lot,” sophomore forward Lawrence Hill said. “When we went to the bigger lineup, Mitch took it and kept leading us. He kept us in games and spiritually talked to us, keeping us hyped up.”

During his time on the bench, the challenge became not just leading the team emotionally, but also running the offense when he did get his time on the floor. Johnson struggled early in the year to hang on to the ball in Stanford’s half-court offense. His shots weren’t falling, and his time on the bench increased. But Washington said that there is no one on the Stanford roster who could do what Johnson does.

“Mitch has always been our starting point guard — we’ve never thought of it any other way,” Washington said. “Anthony was starting at point, but we all know that me, Anthony and Lawrence don’t add up to the point guard that Mitch is. He runs the team and he calms us down. When I’m in one of my moods, or I’m pissed off about something, he calms me down. He runs the team and knows what to do.”

When sophomore guard Anthony Goods went down with a sprained ankle two weeks ago against Washington, Johnson got another shot to be the actual starting point guard. In his first games back, the Seattle native did not disappoint. In just his second game back in the starting five, Johnson had 12 points, two assists and, most importantly, no turnovers in an 88-69 upset over Oregon.

“I think the biggest thing for me, people probably won’t believe it, but it is all about confidence,” Johnson said. “There is so much in your mind that needs to happen to get ready to shoot, especially if you don’t do it that often. [Against the Oregon schools] I took the mentality that I was going to have my feet set and my hands ready. If it was open, I was going to let it go.”

He has done it all with the funkiest jump shot this side of Josh Childress. Johnson said that advisors have tried to convince him to ditch the current shot, even shoot from the right side rather than from his natural side, as a lefty. But Johnson says that his shot is here to stay.

“My shot is something that I’ve always had. It has the basics — keep the ball up, follow through and all that,” Johnson said. “If I had come in and made 50 percent from the three-point line starting last year, people wouldn’t have talked about how it looked. Guys like Reggie Miller, even Lawrence, have different shots. Plenty of guys in the NBA have different shots, but when it goes in, people don’t question it.”

Johnson’s scoring numbers have been on the rise as the season progressed, while his turnovers have dropped. In 23.5 minutes per game this season, Johnson has averaged 4.4 points and notched 87 assists to 51 turnovers.

But despite the increased scoring in recent games, Stanford head coach Trent Johnson maintains that his point guard’s status is still the same.

“He’s knocked down a couple of shots, but Mitch is still Mitch,” Trent Johnson said. “His role is not going to change. He is going to be in charge of taking care of the ball. As long as he doesn’t try to do too much, he’s going to be fine.”

Now that Mitch Johnson is back in the starting lineup and playing the best basketball of his Stanford career, does he think the Cardinal have a chance to make a run? Like a true leader, he keeps everything in perspective.

“We were supposed to be seventh in the Pac-10,” Johnson said. “No one on this team was supposed to be very good individually. But we have believed in ourselves. If we just keep doing what we’ve been doing, we have a chance to win every week.”