SB Nation - Jamal Boykin

Golden Profiles: Patrick Christopher

Avinash — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:00:15 -0000

Let me go out and say this off the bat: Christopher is not playing like the guy I see in the reel above right now.

I'm not trying to go out of my way to bash the guy. He's congenial with that great big smile, he has a fantastic wardrobe, hell, I even dig his crazy shoe collection. But it frustrates me to watch him not play to his potential. (I wonder if this is how Bruins fans felt about Jrue Holiday last year)

Yeah, I know Theo's out, and it makes it easier for defenses to key in on PC, but I saw this all of last season too. There were games where Christopher looked like a great player, like Von Wafer without the insanity. Then the next game, he'd come out and throw up a no-show that would leave you baffled. This pattern went back and forth, sometimes right within games. You'd sit down at your computer, check up the box scores and be perplexed to see 35 minutes next to Patrick's game when it felt like 20 minutes less.

What I'm seeing right now is a player who shies away from contact, who takes tough shots instead of the right shots, who plays below his talents when we really need him to step up. For a guy who is playing for a shot at the pros, it's really disappointing to see.

What are your thoughts on Christopher? Is he playing up to his potential? Will he play better? Or is this who he is and should we come to live with it?

On offense, the biggest issue is PC settles for his jumpers, especially the three ball, instead of driving to the rim and making content. Last year 33% of his shots were 3 point shots, which is about at the mean for a shooter. But so far this season 43% of his shots have been from behind the arc. And he isn't exactly lighting it up--34% from 3 is alright, but that's real inefficiency for a guy taking nearly half his shots back there, especially when he's knocking down a much steadier 45% from 2.

The passive play shows at the line. For a guy that's supposed to score a lot, Christopher doesn't attempt many free throws. He attempted around 2.8 per game last year, and it's down to 1 per game this year. For God's sake, Jorge's attempted twice as many free throws and gone to the basket as much if not more than Patrick, and Jorge isn't exactly the Mexican version of Carmelo Anthony out there. I guess it's great Christopher can generate that many points without heading to the charity stripe, but when his shot is off where will he find his points?

Worse of all, Christopher's game looks totally dependent on whether he's lacing it up at Haas. Since playing in Pauley last spring, Christopher is shooting 43 of 138 on the road for a dismal 31% shooting clip (including the Coaches/Cancer, the Pac-10 tourney game against USC, the NCAA tourney game). Even worse, he's also shooting 12 for 62 from downtown at 19%.

His defense is also hit and miss. Yes, his steals are up--he had four against New Mexico, the lone bright spot of another tough performance. But the little things are missing, things you only see after you watch thousands of basketball games. He isn't closing out on shooters well--there were some wide open 3s in that New Mexico game, and even not-so-obvious open 3s (Christopher would put the hand up, but it'd be pretty late for it to bother the other guy). His help defense seems to be out of whack; when opposing point guards blow by Randle, he rarely comes over to make the penetrator give the ball up, allowing him to attack lumbering bigs like Zhang and MSF. Oftentimes he wades in between both areas, trying to leave options for both sideThe results are lamentable.

Finally, unlike his alley-oop feeder Randle--who plays better on defense, drives to the basket fearlessly, takes high-percentage shots (for him, not for everyone else), who's improved in almost every facet from last season except some turnover hiccups--it doesn't seem like Christopher has improved that much from last season, if at all. Right now he's shooting worse, his defense is worse, his free throw attempts are worse, his 3 point shooting has slightly regressed. And on the road, we can barely count on him at all.

The most damning thing is trust. I feel you can go to war with Randle, with Boykin, with Jorge, and feel like those guys have your back...but I don't know how I feel about Christopher. He has a little too much Upham in him--when you need him the most he's nowhere to be found.

The talent is there, but the will is lacking right now. If Christopher's going to be our barometer, the pressure better start rising now.

Commenting thoughts on Christopher:

CBKWit: Patrick Christopher had has best game of the year, going for 23 points. He didn't have much in the first half and struggled as he has for much of the year, missing two three pointers and scoring only a few points (though he did have a spectacular two-handed put-back jam, getting up way above the rim). Then, early in the second half, he came up with a steal and breakaway for an easy bucket. He was lights out after that, hitting four threes on four attempts from the left arc. The performance was yet another indicator that Christopher's play is, for better or for worse, influenced by his mental state. He wasn't much of a factor in the first half; once he came up with the steal and breakaway, perhaps boosting his confidence, he was the most dominant player on the floor.

concordtom: 2) PC’s disappearing act. Yes, surprising to witness, and very frustrating. He is not the highly rated NBA draftee-in-waiting some have suggested, but we will all be singing his praises once again when he gets his groove going sometime later this season. His long 3 is being targeted and taken away by defenses and he needs to develop some slashing dribble moves to the basket and finding other ways of getting open by moving without the ball. Surely he is working on these things and it’s only a matter of time. Have faith.

BeastMode: I think people are missing a big part of PC’s game . . . defense. He is a good on the ball defender and actually hustles on that end, more than I can say for a number of Bears. Of course he is an incomplete offensive player, but I think the defensive element makes him a decent college player and at least gives him a shot at the Association.

Missing Barry: He’s got a lot of work to do to get there. Christopher isn’t as athletic as he seems, either – he’s a good jumper, but he’s not that long, and not that quick, laterally or in terms of being explosive with the ball. He’s going to have a hard time making it in the pros. I think concordtom’s assessment is pretty spot on, he’s a good player, he plays D and can shoot, but he struggles to create his own shot at the college level…that’s a pretty good indication that his pro prospects aren’t great. That said, Europe pays well too, so you don’t have to feel sorry for him or anything.

...

It’s not as much the skill of creating a shot itself that’s the problem – it’s that it’s an indication of a lot of skills in general. It reflects poorly on the players athleticism, on their ball handling, on their shooting (good shooters force the defense to play tighter making it easier to drive past the defender to create something)…I wouldn’t ever expect Christopher to be expected to create his own shot consistently in the NBA, it just raises red flags about his abilities beyond that for me.

Poll

Patrick Christopher...

will play much better.

15 votes

will play better.

25 votes

is what he is.

20 votes

will play worse.

1 votes

will play much worse.

2 votes

63 votes | Poll has closed

New Mexico 86, Cal 78: Are the Bears On the Bubble Already?

Avinash — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:08:00 -0000

And seven games into the season, Cal is now staring at the bubble.

You might be laughing at this ("it's only December!"), but 4-3, with a tough game with Iowa State this Saturday and a sure loss at Kansas upcoming, combined with the Pac-10's overall perception as a weak conference has the Bears in the tough spot of having to win their conference to have any shot at a tournament bid. It's not a reality I'm happy with, but that's what it's looking like right now. More notes on yesterday's game against UNM after the jump.

Quick notes.

Jamal Boykin is a man beast, and his midrange jumper is a thing of beauty. Another 20-10 night.
Patrick Christopher started the game 3-4. He finished the game 2-10. This disappearing act is getting a little tiring.
Jorge off the bench>>>Jorge as a starter. No diss to Jorge, who is awesome, but defenses don't respect his shot the way they respect Theo.
For a moment, it looked like Jerome Randle was going to carry us to victory a la Arizona. Then New Mexico started trapping and playing up on him, and no one else could really step up.
Max played aggressive on offense, but New Mexico ran pick and roll straight at him late. Instead of blocking the shot, he ran with them and let them scoop in the big layups!!! AGGGH.
MSF picked up 2 fouls in 2 minutes and really didn't have much of an impact again.
Niiiiiikola nailed a few 3s. He was probably the third best player on the floor tonight. That is a sentence I never want to utter again this season.
Amoke was just never into the game, fouling out and playing like a guy with the flu. If he plays well we probably pull this out.
Our 3 point defense left something to be desired. Lots of clangs by New Mexico kept it close, but we really didn't really challenge their shots enough. And sometimes players were wide wide open.
The officiating was horrible (what do you expect in the Pit?). Didn't really cost us the game though; it just totally disrupted the ebb and flow so that neither team could really pull away. Frustrating, but a footnote for me--you don't go on the road in a loud, obnoxious environment and expect to get many calls.
We can't beat a zone right now. Syracuse with it's vaunted 2-3, now New Mexico with the 1-2-2.
If Cal was a healthy team, we probably win. But sometimes the real world isn't kind enough to hand us the ideal. Hopefully we get Theo back sooner than later and we can see what Cal can do at full strength. Right now we're at 70-75%. Just like our tourney chances.

Are the Bears on the bubble?

Poll

Is Cal already on the bubble?

No way man, it's way too early.

42 votes

Not really, although we're trending that way.

45 votes

Kind of, depends on how the rest of the conference performs.

26 votes

Yes, the Pac-10 is weak and we might have to finish top 2

43 votes

156 votes | Poll has closed

Cal Men's Basketball v. University of New Mexico Open Thread

TwistNHook — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:15:15 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Chiu - AP

21 days ago: California's Max Zhang (14) dunks over Princeton's Pawel Buczak (55) in the first half during an NCAA college basketball game in Berkeley, Calif., Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009. California won, 81-60. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Browse more photos »

Tonight, we have the game against the Lobos. Could be a tough one. Here is the broadcast info:

California Golden Bears (4-2) at New Mexico Lobos (6-0)
Wednesday, Dec. 2, 6:00 p.m. (PT), The Pit, Albuquerque, N.M.
Radio: KFRC 1550 AM TV: CBS College
Line: New Mexico favored by 5.5 (HT 33SwisherSweet)

Injury report: Theo Robertson (out), Harper Kamp (possibly redshirting and out for season), Patrick Christopher (supposedly playing with the flu, not confirmed), Omondi Amoke (playing with the flu), Jorge Gutierrez (playing with the flu), Markhuri Sanders-Frison (playing, but has lost 10 pounds)

Pomeroy ratings: Cal 25th, New Mexico 16th. Yes, SIXTEENTH. Ugh.

Use this thread to discuss all the action between Cal and UNM. If you want stream updates, I'll try and find something for you guys before tipoff--the link will be in the comments. GO BEARS!

After the jump, New Mexico fritters about this big matchup, while Monty constantly is forced to tinker with new lineups.

Due to the injuries and general sickness and malaise surrounding our team, Coach Montgomery has been forced to mix and match according to Jeff Goodman of the Daily Cal. Those of us who watched the Princeton game saw some interesting lineups, and we might see more of that tonight.

Because of injuries and illnesses to several of his players, Montgomery has made several adjustments in an attempt to alleviate the Cal men's basketball team's current lack of depth.

He's altered the Bears' starting five several times, more by necessity than by choice.

He's also called upon players like D.J. Seeley and Nikola Knezevic to replace forward Theo Robertson and guard Jorge Gutierrez in the regular rotation.

Reserves and starters alike -- Max Zhang, Jamal Boykin, even Jerome Randle -- are taking on new roles.

"Max played more minutes (on Sunday) than he normally would," Montgomery said. "Jamal played over to the five ... That would not be the norm."

Montgomery is even considering moving Randle off the ball and allowing freshman Brandon Smith to bring the ball up the floor and run the offense.

"Brandon is a good facilitator," Montgomery said. "He's a natural point guard. It would give us a different look."

Once Robertson returns from his foot injury -- the senior has been running on a treadmill with 90-percent weight and will continue rehabbing during the Bears' short trip to Albuquerque, N.M., for tonight's non-conference game against New Mexico (6-0) -- Montgomery might try him in a lineup with Smith, Randle, swingman Patrick Christopher and one post player. It would keep three perimeter shooters on the court and, potentially, take some pressure off of Randle.

Many Cal fans are nervous about venturing into the Pit to take on this 6-0 team. But surprisingly, Lobos fans are nervous, too, about this game:

The Lobos haven't exactly been challenged in The Pit, but have staged two gutsy wins on the road - at NMSU and at Hawaii. The Lobos have posted their unblemished 6-0 record with a smooth combination of focused offense and rock-hard defense.

The defense surely will come in handy against Randle, Christopher and Jamal Boykin, a hot-shooting 6-foot-8 senior forward. So far, the young Lobos = one senior on the roster, period - have been all ears (and moving feet) when it comes to Alford's message about how much he likes to see his Lobos play defense.

"Our defense has been killer," said [star guard Jamal] Fenton. "Coach Alford is such a competitor and the athlete in him comes out and we feed off that. When I came here, I knew the Lobos would have scorers, so I felt I needed to bring something else and I decided it would be defense. I have no problem playing defense."

Fenton, fast becoming a Pit crowd pleaser, helps provide exactly what the Lobos need in their upset bid against Cal: a spark to spark The Pit. "I hope I can do that," Fenton said of rallying The Pit. "When they are behind us and loud, it makes a big difference."

Alford obviously has seen a few areas in which his young Lobos need to improve. Mostly, they need game time and on-the-court challenges. UNM has one senior, Roman Martinez, and one junior, Dairese Gary, who saw action as a Lobo in 2008-09.

But these pups haven' been puppy-like so far. They won by 10 points at NMSU. They won by 12 at Hawaii. Their closest call in The Pit was 16 points over Cal Riverside.

Alford said his Lobos were a little unfocused in the first half at Hawaii, but shouldn't have that problem against a ranked team out of the prestigious Pac-10. Martinez agrees.

"This is a huge challenge," said the El Paso product. "We're not going to just show up and beat a Top 25 team. They are athletic and big and we'll have to show up with our A-game.

"Cal's a great team and they can score in bunches. It's important for us to take their best shot when it comes, and keep on fighting."

The Lobos haven't played a ranked team in The Pit since No. 15 Air Force on Jan. 9, 2007. That was an 8-point loss. UNM's last win over a ranked team was Feb. 21, 2005 over No. 13 Utah, 65-54.

Poll

If I were a gambler, I'd take...

Cal +5.5

19 votes

New Mexico -5.5

5 votes

24 votes | Poll has closed

CBKWitness - at least we're not ucla

CBKWit — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:00:16 -0000

First thing's first: BIG, big props to CaliforniaCMB for his great work above. If you want to submit a (mens or womens) Cal bball photoshop/MS Paint to be featured in this space, email us at goldenblogs@gmail.com. A couple of football notes before we get to bball:

TwistNHook had the line of the night about the Neuheisel/Carroll D-bag competition: "dude, I bet Neuheezy is happy, because you know that dude bet the fucking over." Well put, Twist

I turned on the Stanford/Notre Dame game just in time to see Condi Rice administer the coin flip as this week's Stanfurd honorary captain. I'm hoping they drag out Donny Rumsfeld for the Emerald Bowl

And to basketball: About 40 minutes into one of our podcasts (so nobody heard it), Ragnarok predicted that Jamal Boykin would have a 20 point game sometime this season. I was skeptical, because I didn't think there'd be enough points to go around with Randle, Christopher, and Robertson. On Sunday, Roberston was not in the lineup due to his mysterious foot injury and Christopher continued his uneven play, chipping in only 5 points. It was the perfect opportunity for Boykin to contribute, and he matched his career high with 22 points. Ragnarok 1, CBKWit 0.

I saw only one Cal game last week, owing to Thanksgiving in the great state of Washington. The women's game against Ohio State was broadcast on Big10 TV, but sadly CBKParents didn't spring for channel 412 in their cable package.

So Cal versus Jacksonville at Haas last Tuesday was it, and there isn't too much to say about this one. Cal jumped out to a big lead early and dominated the game, winning it by 32. It was the biggest crowd by far this year but not noticeably louder than prior games; the crowd was relaxed with a four day weekend on the horizon and a blowout on the floor.

Patrick Christopher had has best game of the year, going for 23 points. He didn't have much in the first half and struggled as he has for much of the year, missing two three pointers and scoring only a few points (though he did have a spectacular two-handed put-back jam, getting up way above the rim). Then, early in the second half, he came up with a steal and breakaway for an easy bucket. He was lights out after that, hitting four threes on four attempts from the left arc. The performance was yet another indicator that Christopher's play is, for better or for worse, influenced by his mental state. He wasn't much of a factor in the first half; once he came up with the steal and breakaway, perhaps boosting his confidence, he was the most dominant player on the floor.

via cdn2.sbnation.com

Omondi Amoke continued his strong play with 15 points and 8 boards. He's a good leaper and persistent on the offensive glass, though he isn't a great finisher around the rim. He is going to play a huge role for the Bears this year, with the not too surprising news that Harper Kamp will likely redshirt and with Theo still out with his foot injury. I wouldn't be surprised if Amoke plays 20 minutes a game at the 3 and 4.

Bak Bak had two block blocks.

Yes, that's all I remember from this game.

via cdn3.sbnation.com

WSU won the Great Alaska Shootout over the weekend, which, amazingly, is not a harbinger of greatness. Cal won it three years ago with the DeVon Hardin/Ryan Anderson/Ayinde Ubaka team, propelling the bears to an 8th place, 6-12 finish in the Pac-10. WSU looks to finish, at least, in the middle of the conference this year. Klay Thompson, a 6-6 sophomore guard, is my pick for conference player of the year. He's an incredible shooter and is going to score a ton of points this year (he set the Great Alaska Shootout single game scoring record with 43 in the final; Glenn Big Dog Robinson had the previous record, 41).

To end on a happy note, ucla lost all three of its games in the 76 Classic, held in ANAHEIM. Yes, the bruins went 0-3 in a tournament held an hour from their campus. Butler is #10 in the country and the bruins almost pulled it out in the end, but losing to Long Beach State by 10 in the 7th place game? Portland has also beaten Minnesota and Oregon, but they didn't win those games by 27, as they did against ucla. To make matters worse for the small ________ bears, their starting forward Drew Gordon has left the team and is transferring out. Ben Braun went after him hard (Gordon is from San Jose), but I believe there's a two year penalty for transferring within the conference so I doubt we'll see him end up at Cal. Not that we need him with Max Zhang patrolling the paint. So yes, we are almost definitely without Harper for the year, Theo's already missed four games, and we lost big, twice, on national TV. But it could have been three times, in Oakland, to lesser teams, with Boykin leaving the team, and with the entire Stanfurd football team mocking us as they run up the score in the last minute. If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: at least we're not ucla.

Cal 81, Princeton 60: Bears Tune Up Before New Mexico and Iowa St.

Avinash — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:46:31 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Chiu - AP

"What kind of party is it?" "Block party." "Who's invited?" "Oh, Omondi Amoke's on the A-list."

Browse more photos »

~Player of the game: Jamal Boykin. He was hitting everything from outside. He grabbed down big rebounds. He hit Max for his slick posterizing of Ivy League Boy. We can't expect this from Boykin all the way, but he's filled in nicely to fill in the scoring gap from Theo.

~Your standard Randle performance. A few alley oops thrown here and there, penetration into the lane, running the fast break, and the ICBM 3 pointers. Ho-hum.

~Max Zhang outscored Patrick Christopher. Something I'm pretty sure I'd never say. It's interesting that Christopher's performance has been a barometer for success, because other than some solid defense he wasn't really a factor in this one.

~Omondi Amoke has been stepping up big hitting the class, with 8 rebounds and a sick looking block. Although, like Thoroughbred points out, he has to start hitting his free throws.

This is for postgame discussion, a chance to look forward to the upcoming games, and an open thread for whatever's going on tonight. How do you think the Bears will do against stiffer competition in New Mexico (and we'll be travelling down there) and home versus Iowa State?

~Really impressed with Cal's defensive effort, lots of steals and fast break opportunities in this one. If they could replicate that against a team that they didn't thoroughly outclass, I'd be even more impressed (first chance: Iowa State this Saturday).

~Nikola still gives me headaches every time he yanks up a horrid looking shot. He's 4 for 15 this year. Easy there boy, pass the damn ball.

~Nice to see Bak Bak get some action. Still miles away from doing anything big, although that block was monstrous.

~Bears experimented with a three guard lineup with Smith, Knezevic and Randle...interesting wrinkle, I'm not sure if it's something we'll see more of in the future.

~I like Smith has the secondary ball handler--he made more smart decisions with the ball, and Cal seemed to play more unselfishly when he was the one running point. Although that might mean Knezevic might shoot more when he gets the ball. It'll be interesting to see how Monty handles this.

~Seeley, STOP SHOOTING 3s. You've made one all season. ATTACK THE BASKET. You're killing me man.

~If Cal can play this way without Theo and MSF...well, I don't know. I still feel they can win both of their games this week, but it'll be tough. Theo coming back would help us out big-time.

Poll

Cal will go __________ against New Mexico and Iowa State

2-0

85 votes

1-1

25 votes

0-2

3 votes

113 votes | Poll has closed

Ohio State 76, Cal 70: Bears Fight Back, Muzzled At the End

Avinash — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:34:51 -0000

More photos » by Julie Jacobson - AP

about 1 month ago: Ohio State's Jeremie Simmons (2) fouls California's Jerome Randle who was driving to the basket during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Nov. 20, 2009, at Madison Square Garden in New York. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Browse more photos »

Can't really put a good spin on this. 0-2 isn't good, especially the way we played at the end. But the last 13 minutes were at least promising. Kind of like Cal's last trip East...35 minutes of horror with a moral victory at the end, if you believe in those things.

Quick thoughts.

Zone defense, help defense. The Bears should practice attacking the former and utilizing the latter. They started to get a feel for it at the end (attack the middle with a slasher, kick it to the cutter, put a man at the high post).
Randle had another fine game (played way better with only 3 turnovers), but is playing way way too much for my liking. Considering Nikola's performance (more on that later), we need Brandon Smith to develop big in the next few months or he's going to burn out in March.
I'm starting to think if Theo was present, we go 1-1, with a 30-40% chance at 2-0. We definitely wouldn't have fallen behind this badly, and he could've switched off to Turner when Jorge struggled with the fouls.
Sanders-Frison still lost on the inside.
Amoke struggled early, but really picked it up late. Lots of nice cuts on the baseline, feeding off of Randle's passes or picking up boards. 11 points, 14 rebounds, promising sign as the season goes on.
Boykin put up another alright performance. We're never going to get great games from him (he'll give something and take something), but if we're cancelling out on the inside, then we'll be okay.
Outside of Theo, our slashers don't really have finishing moves. Jorge threw up some ugly shots, Amoke only could go baseline, and Seeley...meh. How else do Syracuse and Ohio State in zones pile up the blocks? Pass up on bad shots and pass out of the double teams.
Really disappointing from Christopher. It was better than yesterday, but I expected a little better than 5-14.
Like yesterday, pretty bad officiating. This time we had a general gripe, at the end it cost Cal a chance to punctuate the comeback. Still, being down 20 something, it's hard to complain about refs costing us this game (maybe a chance to win, but the win itself?)
Jorge picking up his 4th and 5th fouls on ticky-tacks forced Golden Bears to see Michael Cera into an ignominous starring role as a white dude who can't play defense on anyone. The entire Evan Turner highlight reel is just him owning Nikola. Pretty much doooooooom.

Anyway, Cal will get to rest up the next few games before getting prepared for their trip to Lawrence. Hopefully we'll be at full strength for that one.

Syracuse 9500, Cal 73: Bears Faceplant on the Road

Avinash — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:40:41 -0000

More photos » by Julie Jacobson - AP

The refs weren't the only thing that caused Mike Montgomery frustration in Cal's 95-73 loss.

Browse more photos »

We can talk about officiating all we want, but this one came down to defense.The Bears did not rotate to their men, did not help well, did not play great off the ball, while Syracuse did, in almost every measure. Cal's offense looked sloptastic, mostly because of the zone, partly because everyone seemed to throw their passes off-target and get into set shots, and more because the Orangemen athletes were just better.

On almost every level, the Orangemen were the better team. Hopefully this trend for every Cal loss this season ends soon.

It's hard to say how much of an effect Theo would've had in this game. It would've been far more competitive than it actually was.
Jerome Randle and the rest of his starting lineup is starting to remind me a little too much of Jahvid Best and the offensive line. Hopefully Randle doesn't start racking up the minutes as the season goes on.
Jamal Boykin again doing all the little underrated things. But other than Boykin and Randle, rest of team shot 30 percent. Yuck.
Every Orangeman shot over 50 percent. Double yuck.
Wesley Johnson looks like a pro.
We could've used Kamp on Onuaku. Just saying.
Patrick Christopher must've catched a late flight, because he wasn't really showing anything until the final minutes. It's becoming hard to discern if he really has any talents other than slashing and an occasional 3 point shot.
Salvage a split tomorrow and it's still a good trip. Not many of us thought we'd go 2-0, so hopefully a good rebound tomorrow will put us back where we need to be.

This is your postgame thread. Feel free to watch the Ohio State-North Carolina game to see who we end up facing, or the Thursday Night game (Colorado 14 Oklahoma St. 10 right now), or whatever else catches your fancy this Thursday night.

nickle had a good postgame comment that I wanted to share here.

In the end, the result of this game doesn’t really matter (well not too much, it still sucks). Lavin and co. might be surprised at the result of this game but I don’t think any of us are. Biggest surprise is Theo being out at the last second, and along w/ Kamp’s injury, we didn’t have a chance from the start. If we get those two back it’s a completely different team.

Cal didn’t schedule these games primarily to build an impressive resume, although that woulda been a huge plus had we won today. But we got a real good look at the Syracuse zone and this experience will help tremendously when it counts most in the tournament (assuming we don’t pull an epic fail this season). Throw that in with the matchup tomorrow against either a very very experienced team or a very very athletic team and we’re getting a huge dose of what to expect from what will be our toughest competition from here on out.

Not a great outing by the bears, but I think it was fine. PC really needs to find a way to get his own shots though.

I think we’ll be fine. I hope…

Cal Men's Basketball vs Syracuse, Pregame/First Half Open Thread

Avinash — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:00:37 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

Can Cal make do in Madison Square Garden in New York City without Theo Robertson?

Browse more photos »

Quick links to get you ready for this. Tipoff is approximately 7:10 PM EST/4:10 PM PST, coverage on ESPN2.

BREAKING NEWS: Theo is out with a foot injury. Jorge would likely take his place in the starting lineup, and we could see more Amoke and Seeley too. Harper Kamp is still out and did not make the trip to New York.

Faraudo's been beastly. Got quotes from Jim Boheim, says Jerome Randle is the key to breaking the Syracuse defense, Cal players adjusting to Madison Square Garden, a 20 question interview with Nikola that doesn't talk about being Michael Cera's body-double, a history of MSG...well done Jeff.
Jeff Goodman of the Daily Cal talks about the team's arrival in NYC, as well as a podcast about how to break down the famous 2-3 zone.
Jim Boeheim is happy with his team's defensive effort in his team's most recent victories.
Wilner ranks Cal 14th, 2 spots behind UW. Hat tip to Berkelium for gathering most of these links!
Shameless self-promotion: CBKWitness recaps the first two games, ieeebear puts the video highlights of Murray State up, and we talk about the game on the podcast for the last few minutes. Additionally, here's our four-way roundtable with the UNC, Syracuse and Ohio State SBN blogs!

This is your thread for the first half. Second half thread will be up around halftime.

Coaches vs Cancer SBNation Roundtable

Avinash — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:03:48 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

Mike Montgomery takes the Golden Bears on the road. How well will Cal perform under the Madison Square Garden lights?

Browse more photos »

We take a quick break from our Furd hatred (although there's plenty of places to discuss it!) to get ourselves focused on the tipoff of a big big weekend in Cal hoops. Coaches v. Cancer and the big women's hoops showdown vs Baylor! All this plus the Big Game! What more could you ask for this pre-Thanksgiving weekend?

To kick off this great weekend, we all decided to take CGB into new territory and try and figure out all our potential opponents for this tournament at once. Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician (Syracuse), Carolina March (North Carolina), and We Will Always Have Tempe (Ohio State) have all set down for an unprecedented four way hoops roundtable!

What we did was take two questions to each group and answered two from each, ending up with four six question interviews that give you a little taste of each team. So if you want to find out more about each team, plus see our answers to everyone else's questions, you'll have to check out each site.

You can view our interviews with all three: Click here for Nunes Magician, here for Carolina March, here for WWAHT! We start off with the team we face today, the Orangemen.

Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magican (Syracuse)

1) How has Syracuse handled the loss of superstar player Jonny Flynn to the NBA?

By replacing him as best we can. It's clear that freshman Brandon Triche is no Jonny Flynn, at least not yet. But he does ensure that the drop-off won't be as severe as it could have been. Coupled with junior Scoop Jardine, the duo will take turns running the SU offense. If Jonny Flynn was Peyton Manning, Triche/Jardine are going to be our Trent Dilfer in 2001. We're not going to ask them to win the game for us, we just want them not to lose it.

2) Briefly describe your 2-3 zone defense. How good is it this year? How effective can it be against a team like Cal, who has a number of excellent perimeter shooters?

Well first here's why the 2-3 zone is so important for us. The loss to LeMoyne? We played man-to-man the entire time, thanks to Boeheim feeling the need to drill it into the heads of the players how lacking their defensive skills were. Since then the Orange have proven themselves pretty adept on zone defense against lesser opponents, causing 60 turnovers in two games so far. Boeheim himself went on record after the most recent win to say this is now the best he's seen the SU defense in a long time.

Of course, if there's any death-knell for the 2-3 zone, it's a hot hand from three-point range. If someone's shooting lights-out, that almost always spells doom for the Orange (and most opponents). If that's the case against Cal, the Orange are going to have to try and maintain control of the game tempo, which has been fast. Unlike recent teams this SU squad likes to run on offense and with athletes like Wes Johnson and Kris Joseph, they'll want turn it into a track meet if they can. Not to mention a certain bigtime shooter of their own, Andy Rautins.

We'll learn a lot about the Orange against Cal. Probably 100 times more than we did in the LeMoyne game or the two previous games.

We Will Always Have Tempe (Ohio State)

Tell us about your point guard situation. Is the offense running smoothly? One of the best ways to slow Cal's offense is to disrupt PG Randle at the point of attack, but it requires an extremely quick defender to stay in front of him; you guys got anyone like that?

Thad Matta has finally decided that the only way Ohio State will be a consistent offensive basketball team is to put the ball in the hands of its best player as often as possible. Thus, Evan Turner is getting a lot of looks at the one, with PJ Hill and Jeremie Simmons supplementing his efforts. The offense has looked good in the early going, and surprisingly so behind the arc. But this is against James Madison and Alcorn State, so it's tough to make an informed assessment just yet. Right now, Turner is very good at improvising, driving the lane, and rebounding, but his sharing skills still seem to need work.

I imagine Ohio State will try to keep a man on Randle at all times, but Thad Matta can be awfully fond of the zone against good perimeter teams. I'm not all that familiar with Cal's offense, but if Matta elects to go man-to-man, I think Ohio State will alternate between putting David Lighty - our best defensive player - and Turner - by far our most athletic - on Randle. Should be a fun match-up to watch either way.

Ohio State has had a lot of transition over the past few years, watching player after player after player go to the NBA. While they did make the NCAA Finals the other year, they also were a NIT team recently and were knocked out by Sienna last year. Do you believe that it might be more prudent to recruit slightly worse players that would stay for more than 1 year than the truly elite players that have been coming through?

This is something I'm quite torn over. I like seeing Matta recruit the dickens out of the Midwest, but I don't like seeing Ohio State becoming a Big Men factory. Our last two biggest recruits - Kosta Koufos, then BJ Mullens - were massive, massive disappointments at Ohio State, and have made it that much harder to understand Matta's recruiting strategy. Still, when those recruits come in and actually do perform, they have achieved some pretty ridiculous highs; Ohio State was just a few bad breaks away from ruining Florida's second championship run, and if they had managed to beat the Gators, few would be questioning Matta's recruiting strategy. But, of course, those are all ifs, and people care more about what actually happened than what came close to happening. Personally, I like what Matta's doing, but if he doesn't start producing some better tournament teams, a shift in the dynamics of his recruiting strategy may be necessary.

Carolina March (North Carolina)

1) The Tar Heels lost a lot of talent off a national championship squad. What's left? Even with the incoming freshmen, is there enough to justify a Top 5 preseason ranking?

What's left? More than you think. None of the freshmen have yet to crack the starting lineup, and there's a reason for that. Marcus Ginyard was the defensive heart of the team through the Hansbrough years, only still around because due to an injury last season. Ed Davis and Deon Thompson were formidable post presences in their own right on last year's team, and Davis especially should be phenomenal this year. Larry Drew's getting a lot a grief for not being Ty Lawson, but even Lawson wasn't Lawson at the start of his sophomore season; he'll improve and impress. And then there's Tyler Zeller and five freshmen; UNC won't hurt for wins this season.

That being said, none of this justifies a preseason Top 5. The Heels are at present overrated, but they're not alone in that regard. Everyone remembers the two or three true freshmen who have truly elevated their teams over the last few years, and have generalized that to all highly-rated freshman. Duke and Kentucky, to name two teams that quickly come to mind, are equally overrated. The team with the experience of years playing together have an advantage that shouldn't be taken lightly.

2) There've been a lot of hated Dukies you've had to deal with over the years. Who's the one you want to punch in the face the most?

Ah, the endless debate, always being hashed out in coffee shops and bars in Chapel Hill. There's no real wrong answer here, but you have to first recognize that J. J. Redick took being punchable to new heights at Duke. First, by parlaying two skills (excellent free throw shooting and a quick-release three-pointer that worked well with Duke's perimeter screens) into enough glowing media profiles you'd think he was Jesus in hightops. Then he'd compound it by being an ass on the court, only to garner more glowing profiles for how brave he was to suffer the cruel insults of opposing fans. Heavens forfend a basketball fan outside of Durham should deign to say something mean about our poor little tortured poet.

That being said, his would not be the face I'd punch. (And only because I wouldn't want to read the articles on how heroic he was to suffer such a blow) No, I'd have to go with with the ur-annoying Duke guard [1], Steve Wojcjechowski. What he lacked in skill, he made up for with extreme annoyance, constantly slapping the court [2], and otherwise being the apple of Vitale's eye. But his biggest sin is post-graduation, when he moved up the bench to be an assistant coach. There is an unspoken compact between Duke players and Carolina fans - after four or five years, they go away. Because I still have to suffer Wojcjechowski on my TV is grounds for face-punching.

[1] It can be argued that Bobby Hurley was the ur-annoying Duke guard, but Wojcjechowski has one attribute Hurley lacks, mainly a thorough failure on the national stage during his time in Durham.

[2] One of the great moments in the UNC-Duke rivalry that never makes the highlight clips was when UNC point guard Ed Cota brought the ball up the court against Wojcjechowski. The defender leaned down and slapped the floor, only to have pick that moment to drive past him like he was, well, bending over a slapping the floor in the middle of a basketball game. Who does that?

Poll

Cal will ______________ game(s) in the Coaches v. Cancer Tournament.

Win both

33 votes

Win against Syracuse, lose the second

44 votes

Lose against Syracuse, win the second

18 votes

Lose both

13 votes

108 votes | Poll has closed

Cal 95, Detroit 61: Golden Bears Play Possum, Still Maul Titans

Avinash — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:42:17 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

Jerome Randle and the Bears are 2-0. Can they carry their success on the road to Madison Square Garden?

Browse more photos »

Nervous about Syracuse already?

The Bears played out of sync for a lot of the first half. Cal was taking tough shots, and like the Murray State game was living off of free throws and hustle. Good stuff to see the Bears playing tough on the boards, but you'd kind of prefer to see that type of effort in conference play rather than against a fairly mediocre squad like Detroit.

After Randle carried the offense in the first half though, Christopher and Robertson took them home, scoring 26 of the first 30 second half points, including the last 22 points in that stretch. Bears got solid hustle and rebounding from Boykin, Amoke, Zhang (yes, Max looked really good tonight!) and Sanders-Frison, and Cal blew the door open in a game that probably looks closer than the final

However, at least the slow start can be partially explained to a lot of strange lineups and rotations, with Montgomery liberally subbing in 10 players in. So it can help explain why the Bears offense looked discordant. Once Monty said "screw this, we're going with our five best guys", Cal busted it open and never looked back.

Cal fans might have to prepare for a few more of these close calls though, especially against conference foes. TedfordIsGod put it best:

We rely a lot on shooting. That makes it kinda difficult to blow people out. Its not like we are going to go out and hit 90% of our jump shots. Teams that run more can blow teams out because they get tons of layups/dunks. That isn’t who we are. We aren’t playing well, but not exactly crappy either.

And Ohio Bear had this to say about how the quality of our opponents might help us in the long run.

On Monday, Cal played what was clearly the toughest opponent (Murray State) among the other Coaches v. Cancer hosts (i.e., UNC, Ohio State, and Syracuse). I don’t know whom Ohio State plays tomorrow night, but this could be true again: Detroit looks way better than Robert Morris and NC Central, whom Syracuse and UNC beat soundly tonight, respectively.

Not a complaint, just an observation. If anything, assuming we can hang on for the win tonight, the tougher competition will help us, hopefully, in the RPI.

Time to get ready for New York! Hopefully Cal's eight/nine man rotation will be enough to duel with the Orangemen in what amounts to a road game for us. Vote for your Golden Player of the Game!

Poll

Your Golden Player of the game against Detroit is...

Jerome Randle

27 votes

Patrick Christopher

16 votes

Theo Robertson

40 votes

Someone else

12 votes

95 votes | Poll has closed