SB Nation - Nikola Knezevic

Kansas Takes on Cal Tonight in the Phog

Denverjhawk — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:00:19 -0000

Kansas vs. California

No. 1 Kansas (10-0) continues is home stand against Pac-10 power California (6-3) on Tuesday, Dec. 22, at 8 p.m. on ESPN2. The Jayhawks and Golden Bears are favored to win their respective conference races in 2009-10. KU was consensus preseason No. 1 nationally, while California entered the year in many top 10 polls. Kansas is coming off a 75-64 win against Michigan on Dec. 19, while California last played on Dec. 9, posting a 69-45 win at Pacific.

	PPG	FG%	FT%	3P%	RPG	ORPG	DRPG	APG	TPG	SPG	BPG	FPG
CAL	79.1	46.6	75.1	38.1	40.2	12.8	27.4	15.3	12.4	5.1	3.0	18.2
KU	88.8	51.3	67.7	43.0	43.0	13.8	29.2	19.3	12.1	9.2	7.3	17.9
CAL Opponents	68.0	41.2	67.2	31.5	33.1	10.3	22.8	12.4	12.8	5.1	4.3	16.8
KU Opponents	58.3	34.5	67.2	26.9	33.7	13.7	20.0	11.5	16.0	6.2	3.0	20.0

Rank and Records	CAL	KU
RPI	#14	#13
Strength of Schedule	#6	#160
Overall	6-3	10-0
Conference	0-0	0-0
Home	5-0	7-0
Away	0-1	1-0
Top 25	0-1	1-0
RPI Top 50	0-1	0-0

About Kansas

Kansas followed final exams with a 75-64 win against Michigan on Dec. 19. Kansas averages 88.8 points per game, is giving up 58.7 points and ranks in the top five nationally with a +30.5 scoring margin. KU is shooting 51.3 percent from the field, while its opponents are shooting 34.5 percent.

Sophomore forward Marcus Morris is coming off his second double-double of the season with a career-high 23 points and 10 rebounds versus Michigan. He is a starter who is scoring 11.1 points and pulling down 5.8 rebounds per game.

Xavier Henry leads the team with a 17.7 point scoring average. He is making 53.5 percent of his shots from the field and 49.1 from three-point range. Xavier leads KU with 26 threes and 18 steals. Senior guard Sherron Collins scores 13.9 points per game, including 19 against Michigan, and he has made 20 three pointers. Collins leads the team with 42 assists, two ahead of sophomore guard Tyshawn Taylor (6.8 ppg). Taylor has 15 steals, two ahead of Collins (13). Junior center Cole Aldrich leads the team in rebounds with 9.7 per game and had 11 boards against Michigan.

About California

Located in Berkeley, Calif., and coached by Mike Montgomery, California (6-3) has won two straight and four of its last five games. The Golden Bears defeated Big 12 foe Iowa State 82-63 on Dec. 5 in the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series matchup and also won convincingly at Pacific 69-45 on Dec. 9. Cal averages 79.1 points and is giving up 68 for a +11.1 scoring margin. The Golden Bears average 40.2 rebounds per game and have a +7.1 rebound margin.

Four Cal players average in double figures led by senior guard Jerome Randle who is scoring 19.6 points per game. Randle leads the team with 46 assists and 23 three-point field goals. Senior guard Patrick Christopher is next in scoring at 15.6 points and he leads Cal with 14 steals. He is also a solid rebounder with his 5.6 boards per game.

Senior forward Theo Robertson was welcomed back to the lineup last game after missing six games due to injury. Robertson averages 14.7 points in his three games played this season. Senior forward Jamal Boykin is a starter who is second on the team in rebounds with 6.9 per game to complement his 12.2 scoring average.

Sophomore forward Omondi Amoke leads Cal in rebounds with 7.2 per game. He scores 5.8points per contest. Sophomore guard Jorge Gutierrez (7.0 ppg), sophomore center Max Zang (4.5 ppg) and junior center Markhuri Sanders-Frison (2.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg) round out the California regulars. Zang is 7-3 and leads the team with 12 blocked shots in his eight games played.

Meet the Opposing Coach

Mike Montgomery is in his second season overseeing the California program. He has a 28-14 record with the Golden Bears and a 575-258 (.690) overall mark that includes eight years at Montana and 18 seasons at Stanford. Montgomery has coached teams to the NCAA Final Four (1998), four Pac-10 regular-season crowns (1999, 2000, '03, '04) and one Pac-10 Tournament title (2004), as well as one NIT title (1991). He was named the Naismith Coach of the Year in 2000 and is a four-time Pac-10 Coach of the Year (1999, 2000, '03, '04).

The Series

Kansas leads the overall series with California, 14-3, and has won the last eight meetings with Cal. This series dates back to 1929 when the two teams met Jan. 3-4-5 in Oakland, Calif. The following year, the teams clashed Jan. 2-3 in Kansas City, Mo., and Jan. 4 in Lawrence. Of the 17 matchups between KU and Cal, only one has been played in Berkeley, Calif., and two in Lawrence. The rest have been in Oakland, Kansas City, Mo., Anchorage, Alaska, St. Louis, Mo., and Lahaina, Hawaii. KU won the last meeting on Dec. 10, 2005, at the Kemper Shootout in
Kansas City, Mo., during KU's third season under head coach Bill Self.

KU-Michigan Leftovers

The Jayhawks attempted 29 two-point field goals, KU's lowest this season.
The game marked the second time all season the Jayhawks committed more turnovers than their opponent.
Sophomore forward Marcus Morris recorded his fourth career double-double with a career-high 23 points and 10 rebounds. Marcus' last double-double came against Oakland on Nov. 25.
Marcus was also 8-for-8 from the free throw line. The eight makes were the most by a Jayhawk this season and 100 percent from the line is the highest percentage by an individual this season with at least seven attempts.
Junior center Cole Aldrich registered 11 rebounds tying him with Kenny Gregory for 22nd on the all-time rebounding list. It also marks the fifth time this season he has had 10 or more boards.
Senior guard Sherron Collins moved into fifth place on the career three-point field goal attempts list with 474, passing Brandon Rush.
Junior guard Brady Morningstar logged 22 minutes in his first appearance of the season.

		GP	GS	MPG	PPG	FG%	FT%	3P%	RPG	ORPG	DRPG	APG	TPG	SPG	BPG	FPG
#23	P. Christopher	9	7	32.889	15.556	43.7	76.5	34.7	5.444	1.778	3.667	2.111	1.778	1.556	0.0	2.222
#3	J. Randle	9	8	32.333	19.556	44.7	93.5	39.0	1.667	0.333	1.333	5.111	3.111	0.444	0.0	1.667
#10	J. Boykin	9	9	25.667	12.222	63.0	66.7	0.0	6.889	2.111	4.778	1.0	1.444	0.889	0.222	2.0
#2	J. Gutierrez	9	8	21.667	7.0	47.8	50.0	58.8	3.222	0.667	2.556	3.0	1.111	0.667	0.111	2.333
#21	O. Amoke	9	0	17.111	5.778	42.1	80.0	0.0	7.222	2.778	4.444	0.111	0.889	0.222	0.333	1.556
#45	M. Sanders-Fris	8	3	17.25	2.875	34.6	83.3	0.0	4.375	1.25	3.125	0.75	0.5	0.375	0.25	3.125
#14	M. Zhang	8	4	14.5	4.5	64.0	33.3	0.0	3.75	1.375	2.375	0.25	0.625	0.25	1.5	2.625
#13	N. Knezevic	8	0	11.625	3.25	34.8	75.0	33.3	0.375	0.0	0.375	0.625	0.875	0.625	0.0	0.5
#24	T. Robertson	3	2	30.0	14.667	60.0	76.9	57.1	4.0	1.333	2.667	1.0	2.0	0.0	0.333	2.333
#12	B. Smith	9	2	8.333	1.333	31.2	0.0	40.0	0.333	0.0	0.333	1.111	0.444	0.111	0.0	0.556
#1	D. Seeley	9	2	8.222	1.778	28.6	75.0	14.3	1.667	0.333	1.333	1.0	0.556	0.111	0.111	1.0
#15	B. Bak	5	0	7.0	1.2	12.5	100.0	0.0	1.4	0.4	1.0	0.2	0.6	0.0	1.0	0.4
		GP	GS	MPG	PPG	FG%	FT%	3P%	RPG	ORPG	DRPG	APG	TPG	SPG	BPG	FPG
#4	S. Collins	10	10	29.8	13.9	46.2	77.8	41.7	2.0	0.2	1.8	4.2	2.0	1.3	0.0	1.4
#1	X. Henry	10	10	27.7	17.7	53.5	80.6	49.1	3.8	0.9	2.9	1.7	1.9	1.8	0.7	2.0
#45	C. Aldrich	10	10	26.0	11.3	54.1	68.8	0.0	9.7	3.2	6.5	1.3	1.4	0.6	3.5	1.9
	T. Taylor	10	8	23.5	6.8	39.7	68.4	29.4	3.0	0.6	2.4	4.0	1.9	1.5	0.2	1.9
#22	M. Morris	10	8	23.4	11.1	57.6	73.8	36.4	5.8	2.5	3.3	1.3	1.5	1.0	0.5	2.4
#21	M. Morris	10	2	16.0	8.1	69.8	65.4	66.7	5.7	1.9	3.8	1.2	0.9	0.7	0.9	2.2
#14	T. Reed	10	0	15.6	4.9	43.6	75.0	38.7	1.6	0.1	1.5	1.4	0.4	0.9	0.1	0.9
#0	T. Robinson	10	0	11.9	5.1	46.2	44.1	0.0	4.8	1.7	3.1	0.7	0.5	0.4	1.2	1.9
#15	E. Johnson	9	2	12.222	4.333	51.7	55.6	36.4	2.111	0.889	1.222	2.667	1.111	0.667	0.0	1.889
#2	C. Teahan	7	0	7.286	2.714	50.0	66.7	42.9	1.429	0.857	0.571	0.857	0.429	0.286	0.143	0.571
#13	C. Henry	5	0	8.6	5.2	60.0	50.0	53.8	1.2	0.2	1.0	0.4	0.2	0.2	0.2	1.2
#12	B. Morningstar	1	0	22.0	2.0	50.0	0.0	0.0	2.0	1.0	1.0	3.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	2.0

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

24 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)

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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

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."

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~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)

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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.

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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?

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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

T.H. — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:42:59 -0000

In honor of the upcoming games in New York, I and the people behind the SB Nation blogs for Ohio State, Cal, and Syracuse got together and traded a couple questions each to get a handle on the various teams. Here are my questions for the other bloggers, and their responses; the dastardly lies I told them are being published on their sites, here, here, and here.

My questions for We Will Always Have Tempe:

Big Ten basketball is, to put it politely, a game of deliberate possessions. To put it less politely, it's mind-numbingly slow. With an offense heavy on guard play and perimeter talent like Turner, Buford and Lightly, is there a temptation to run the ball a little? Maybe break 80 once in a while?

Thad Matta is not all that dissimilar from Jim Tressel; if his team doesn't need to score a ton of point to win, it probably won't, unless it's playing some OOC scrub like Alcorn State. That said, he is not really one to interfere with how his players play if they're doing it well and lighting up the scoreboard. Lighty is not the most consistent of outside shooters, but I do think Turner, Buford and Jon Diebler will be good for multiple 80+ point totals this season, if not 90+. It's very possible that this will be the best offensive basketball team we've seen under Matta, not that that's saying much.

How does Ohio State handle an opponent with 5 players 6' 10" or higher, on both offense and defense?

Well, I'm not sure it can. One of the curses of the post-Oden era at Ohio State has been a shocking lack of competent, physical big men. Koufos and Mullens were both highly touted, but neither was even a shadow of an Oden-like presence in the paint. Right now, only one Ohio State big has earned a designation of more than just "has a pulse", and it's Dallas Lauderdale. Zisis Sarikopolous and Kyle Madsen are both meagerly-talented transfers who have seen limited or no time. Both have size, but neither should see the court much if Ohio State wants to win. To even begin to frustrate Carolina's athletes, Ohio State's smaller guys - Lighty especially - have to play great defensive games. Lighty is a defensive mastermind, and really, the only defensive player that I'd call less than "solid" might be Jon Diebler. To beat UNC, Ohio State will have to force UNC to play Mattaball; the team simply doesn't match up well enough to compete if UNC has its typical productive, hot shooting night out of its regular offense.

And California Golden Blogs:

The Bears kind of fell apart down the stretch last season, losing five of their last seven and exiting in the first round of both the conference and NCAA tournaments. Was it something you could have seen coming, or just string of awful luck? And how do you think the team will be prepared for March this season?

I know I didn't really see the the Bears' March fade coming, but I wouldn't attribute it to simply a run of bad luck. In hindsight, I think Cal's real problem was a lack of depth, forcing our three main scorers (PG Jerome Randle, SG Patrick Christopher, SF Theo Robertson) to all play heavy, heavy minutes through conference play. They definitely looked a bit tired in the second half of some games, and tired legs start missing jump shots.

This year, the hope is that additions and improvements to the roster allow Coach Montgomery to spread the minutes out more liberally to keep him from wearing out his stars. Not getting into so many dogfights with less-talented conference foes would also help save some legs. The Bears were playing some Sweet 16-caliber ball last January; if they can keep that up through March this season, I think we'll really have something here.

Cal didn't have much of a bench last season, with only 7 players averaging double-digit minutes. You brought back almost everyone, though - is the team deeper this year, or is just a style of play that prefers fewer, better players on the court?

It is definitely not Coach Montgomery's ideal to run his bench only two-deep, but the roster he was handed from former Coach Ben Braun dictated the situation somewhat. Basically, Montgomery came in last season, and without naming names, declared that while the roster had talent, several of the players he inherited were not Pac-10 caliber, at least not yet.

It would certainly be nice if this year's team ran deeper on the bench. 7' 3" center Max Zhang was certainly not ready for conference play last year, but it seems he's improved enough that he can at least give the Bears some valuable minutes off the bench this season. Defensively, at least, he has a much better idea of what he's supposed to do with his lengthy frame, and he's going to significantly alter a lot of the shots he doesn't outright block.

Another area where the Bears were thin last year was at backup point guard. Starter Jerome Randle is a great player, but you'd love to not have to run him out there for 37 minutes every game. Monty faced the tough choice of giving backup minutes to Nikola Knezevic, whom, based on his in-conference playing time, Montgomery didn't trust, or energetic-but-wild freshmen guard Jorge Gutierrez, who was supposed to spend the year backing up at shooting guard but ended up handling the ball a lot more than expected. Often, it seemed that Montgomery simply heaped those backup minutes on Randle's shoulders, and it wore him out some by season's end. This year, incoming freshman point guard Brandon Smith already seems more natural at handling the ball than either Knezevic or Gutierrez, and if he's able to take some of the load off of the other guards, the Bears will see benefits up and down their roster.

The belated Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician:

The entirely-overdiscussed exhibition loss to Le Moyne - anecdote for a future championship team to show how far they've come, ominous portent for a season you'll eventually want to forget, or just something to entertain the college basketball world for the first week in November?

I think that we've come to learn that this was an anomaly that just so happened to occur on a night when there was no other major sports story or game and therefore became a much bigger story than it needed to be. Granted, it's not fun to lose to a Division II team, let alone one ten minutes down the road. But it was indeed exhibition and apparantly Boeheim was punishing the players by making them play man-to-man the entire time, something they had not worked on much before then. The Orange have since come out strong against Albany and Robert Morris and quelled any fears that the team will be a mess. Of course, they have yet to be tested so we'll see how this week treats them.

Jim Boeheim started the season six behind Jim Calhoun on the all-time wins list, with both coaches around the 800 mark? Who ends up ahead of whom when they've both retired, and how close to Dean Smith and Bobby Knight in the wins column do they retire at?

If I had to guess I would say that Boeheim eventually passes Calhoun. Not because I think Calhoun will fall off but because health seems to be much more of an issue for him than Boeheim. You get the sense Calhoun only has a few years left in him energy-wise whereas there's no expectation at all of Jimmy retiring anytime soon, even with assistant coach Mike Hopkins waiting in the wings. Passing Dean Smith seems extremely doable but passing Bobby Knight will require another 5-6 years of 20+ wins per season. It's possible but it might also be just out of reach. If I had to give an answer, I'd say Boeheim retires as the 2nd-winningest coach of all time behind Coach K, who will lap everyone.

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

California-Chico State Analysis: First Glimpses

Avinash — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:00:25 -0000

by Ben Margot - AP

We'll probably see Brandon Smith and Max Zhang plenty next year. But this season?

View full size photo »

The season tips off against Murray State Monday night at 8 PM PST/11 PM EST, and you can watch the game on ESPNU! Rags will have a preview of the game in tonight's open thread. If you want to start panicking, stare at this horrifying line Vegas posted for the game.

Preseason basketball is a strange animal. Strategy-wise, you learn nothing. Rotation-wise, you learn even less.
This one's all about getting a taste of the icing before diving in.

Unsurprisingly, we learned the least about our seniors. Randle made one of those crazy 3s and had a few nice drives and dishes to Christopher. Theo nailed some wide open shots. In many ways, it was just like old times.

There was only one thing I noticed that I didn't see during those old times. We're playing really hard on the defensive ball.

Chico State only shot 29%, and I can't recall many easy shots. The Bears played very well off their man, scrambled into their rotations, made sure no Chico player got off a good look. They forced 25 turnovers, a trouble spot all of last season. Most importantly, they played great as a team, ratcheting up the pressure on every possession.

Now let me say that it's just effort at this point. We don't really know how efficient the Bears D will be until they start playing quality opponents, starting in Madison Square Garden. But right now I'm really digging the way Cal is digging in. Even Randle sees it.

"I liked the intensity. As a team, we came out and tried to stop them, put it on them defensively. I think the defensive intensity was definitely there. I was proud of my team."

Chico State is not a very good team, so you're free to take what I'm saying and file it away. But if the Bears can replicate that effort through the season and especially on the road, maybe they're as good as our early ranking shows. We should know more in 12 hours.

After the jump, snap judgments and quick thoughts on the players.

Here are quick looks at the players.

Markhuri Sanders-Frison looked a little out of place, although he managed to grab nine rebounds. He didn't really seem to space correctly on offense. Any rebounding down low will be much needed though, so we can worry about that later.
Brandon Smith played unselfish, efficient ball. Exactly what you'd like from your future point guard. He appeared to do everything right with the time he had, dishing off four assists. More importantly, zero turnovers. Good good stuff.
Omondi Amoke? Finished great with the opportunities he got. There'd been a lot of talk that Amoke had made huge leaps this offseason, and it looks like he could be a very capable backup this season. Plus he was rebounding too. Overall I was most impressed by what Amoke was doing.
For what seems like the hundredth straight game, the moment Jorge came into the game, the Bears immediately went on a scoring run. You always worry with him since he always plays amped up, and that ankle sprain near the end of the game left us a little anxious. Everything looks good though.
D.J. Seeley was alright offensively, but really looked good defensively, playing great off the ball and forcing the Chico ball handler to throw into traffic on several occasions. Struggled in the second half a little bit, although Cal was cruising. Sporting a fine beard.
Max Zhang had two blocks on two consecutive possessions. This could very well be highlight of his year, so savor it Max fans. I really didn't see anything offensively in the post to suggest he'll be anything more than a 2-3 minute breather for Sanders-Frison, Boykin, and (when he comes back) Kamp. I hope he proves me wrong. If I does, I'd be sporting the giant Max head on a stick before game days.
Nikola Knezevic looks like he has a crush on his cousin Maeby. Apparently CBKWit has been making this joke for years.
Boykin was a rebounding force early on. His post moves looked really polished and he could really be underrated in his efforts this season, especially with the perceptions that the Bears are weak inside.
Randle looks built. They weren't exaggerating about his offseason workout--you can tell he's Ironmanned it up this offseason. His offensive game looked a little out of whack--four turnovers, including two on two possessions, but hopefully he'll round into form next week.
Patrick Christopher keeps on wearing out his shoe collection with his hops. He was slashing, stroking it from outside, making steals and breaking away for the hammer.
Theo hit a few open shots. That's just what Theo does. What Theo shouldn't do is commit four turnovers.
Nigel Carter's probably going to have to wait his turn barring injury. Too much depth at guard.
A lot of what happens this season could rest on Harper Kamp's knee. With Boykin, MSF and Kamp rotating in and out, I feel the Bears can get by. We'll probably have no such luck if it's Max who has to be spelling the two starters (Note: I don't think Max is totally lost, but at this point, with that height, you have to show some ability inside right?)
As for our future hero, Bak Bak? He displayed some of the potential that'll hopefully be on display in 2010 when he had one freakish block (albeit goaltend) that made him look like Anthony Randolph. Crazy athleticism. He'll probably redshirt.

Poll

To me, Cal's preseason game against Chico State was...

Great

17 votes

Good

23 votes

Okay

8 votes

Bad

3 votes

51 votes | Poll has closed