SB Nation - D.J. Seeley

Golden Nuggets: Prediction Thursday

Berkelium97 — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:15:10 -0000

Congratulations to all the members of the football team who made the Pac-10 All-Academic team! The first team included Mark Boskovich, Alex Lagemann, and Mike Mohamed. Ernie Owusu, Matt Summers-Gavin, and Giorgio Tavecchio made the second team, and Skylar Curran, Chris Guarnero, and Mitchell Schwartz made received honorable mention. At a school like Berkeley, it is even more impressive that they made the list.

Despite thinking that one or both teams may come out playing flat, Ted Miller anticipates a big Cal victory.

California 35, Washington 21: The Bears have steadily -- and quietly -- risen in the Pac-10 since suffering those embarrassing consecutive losses to Oregon and USC. It seems like things are clicking on both sides of the ball, and the Bears certainly have the athleticism on defense to handle a scrambling Jake Locker. Moreover, Cal seems to have an advantage coming off a bye week while the Huskies might not be focused after winning the Apple Cup last weekend.

All five CBS experts predict a Cal victory.

All five Yahoo experts predict a Cal victory.

After the jump, we have player quotes from Tuesday's press luncheon (including some humorous remarks from Tepper), injury updates for Cal and Washington, motivation for both Cal and Washington to win this weekend's game, recap/analysis of basketball's loss to New Mexico, 20 questions with DJ Seeley, and a preview of the weekend in Cal sports.

Cal Football

JO has quotes from a few players from Tuesday's luncheon. They talk about preparing for the December weather in Seattle, the loss to Washington in 2007, bowl game possibilities, bouncing back from the losses to Oregon and USC, and preparing to take on Washington. Tepper had some funny quotes that are too good to pass up:

On bowl experiences

It’s gotten to the point with me that I don’t know where we’re going to go. I’ve been to Vegas, I’ve been to Holiday, I’ve been to Texas before – I’ve been a lot of places. I’ve kind of learned over the years that bowl games are what you make of it. Even though I was under 21 in Vegas, I made the best of it. You find ways. In San Diego, they have the whole gaslamp district and the whole party scene down there. Texas, Dallas had its own little scene down there. It’s what you make it. If you want to sit in your hotel room, like previous centers (Alex Mack), and sit there and do nothing, that’s fine with me. But I don’t think I’m ever going back to Dallas unless I’m playing for an NFL team there, or I’m transferring flights there. So I’m going to go have fun. That’s part of the bowl game. You realize you’re playing a game, but you also realize you’re traveling somewhere and you want to have fun with it. I don’t really care where I go. Vegas is always fun, but I’ve had fun in San Diego and I’ve had fun in Texas.

Tedford seemed quite proud of all the players who made the All-Academic team and made a point to talk about it before any reporters even had the chance to ask about it. In a surprising development, it seems MSG sustained a concussion against Stanford and he may not play against Washington.
No one has forgotten the loss to Washington in 2007, what many considered to be the low point of the season. Holley, Mohamed, and Riley were especially bothered by the loss and are committed to coming out of Seattle with a win.
Most everyone on Washington has seen the clip of Best's concussion-inducing fall and that got the team thinking about whether or not to hurdle defenders. While the players are not prohibited from attempting to jump over a defender, their running back coach makes a point to tell them "If you are going to leave your feet, you are on your own."
Washington's starting center and team captain Ryan Tolar will likely miss Saturday's game after it was determined that he suffered a concussion against WSU. This seems to be a major blow to the O-line, as it was riding momentum from a great performance against the Cougs.
After last week's shutout, Washington DC Nick Holt is especially excited about playing this week. He believes his unit is finally starting to develop into an effective, cohesive group. He thinks Cal will be a great test for the D and he and his players embrace the challenge.

Cal Basketball

Farudo has another segment of 20 Questions; this time, DJ Seeley answers the questions. He talks about his dream team, which historical figures he'd like to have dinner with, best and worst Pac-10 fans, and more.
Injuries, foul trouble, the mile high elevation, and a rowdy home crowd all proved to be too much for the Bears as they lost to New Mexico despite leading for most of the game. With injuries and illness hurting the Bears, guys ran out of energy by the end of the game. Monty's post-game comments indicate that he thought the team played with great effort, but not enough energy. It didn't help that New Mexico switched to a zone D--which has really hurt Monty's team this year--with just under ten minutes to go.. In his post-game notes, Farudo says the Bears have to heal up and play better if they hope to challenge for the Pac-10 title.
No. 19/20 women's bball hosts the Colliers International Classic this weekend, featuring Colorado State, Southern Illinois, and no. 10 Texas A&M.

The Rest of the Weekend in Cal Sports

Women's volleyball opens the NCAA tournament with a matchup against Lipscomb at 4pmEST on Friday.
Women's swimming and diving sends its swimmers to the AT&T Short Course National Championships today through Saturday while the divers will compete at the Texas Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame Invitational today through Saturday. On Sunday, the swimmers will head to the U.S. Long course Timed Final National Invitational.

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

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

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?

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.

CBKWitness

CBKWit — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:14:24 -0000

View full size photo »

With only 3 more chances to Revel in Victory and with Avinash completing basketball recaps before I can even exit Haas, I am running out of my extremely limited usefulness around here. If I don't start contributing, I'll probably miss out on that internet money which is coming to us any day now. So for the 5 basketball fans around here (including 3 mods), I give you CBKWitness, a weekly compilation of what I witnessed from Cal Basketball.

Most important observation so far? Go to the games, people! Haas was about half full for the two men's games, which is embarrassing for a team this good, this entertaining, and this easy to root for. Show up and support our team!

The men won their two preliminary Coaches Vs Cancer games last week, 75-70 over Murray St and 95-61 over Detroit. From the Murray State game:

- The referees respect Montgomery much more than Braun. The lead official called an absolutely horrendous charge on Boykin midway through the first half, and Monty completely dressed him down at the time out as 4,000 Cal fans looked on. Not surprisingly, the refs didn't call much on Cal for the rest of the half and all of the close calls went the Bears' way.

- From my friend Mike Montgomery: "Murray St is playing some good d". They were, for almost the entire game. Murray State is a good team and they challenged Cal for the first half before mounting a serious comeback to close the game. It was a little tense in the final minutes as Randle nearly turned it over a couple times and Murray State hit some improbable threes. Don't be surprised to see the Racers in the NCAA tournament.

- Randle put on 10 or 15 pounds in the off-season to improve his defense (sick of Jorge hounding him in practice, perhaps?) and it looks to have paid off. He was strong on the ball and did not let Murray State's point guard break him down on the dribble.

- The downside to Randle's new bulk? He did not look as explosive offensively and struggled to shake his man. I hope the extra pounds haven't slowed him down, because his speed is one of his chief assets, and at his height he needs defenders to respect his quickness in order to get enough space to get his shot off.

- Randle struggled to get in the lane and struggled with his outside shot, but still finished with 18 points. Like all good scorers, he knows how to get to the free throw line when his shot isn't falling. He hit 10 of 11 from the line for the game, 8 in the final 6 minutes of the first half as Cal built an 8 point halftime lead.

Boykin has some new offensive moves to go with his trademark hugs

via cdn1.sbnation.com

- The biggest cheer of the game came as Max Zhang entered late in the first half. He's still a liability offensively - it would be one thing if he just got out of the way, but his spacing is poor and he's often in the wrong spot. It's the mark of a truly bad offensive player - not just being being ineffective, but making your teammates worse. On the other hand, his defense and boxing out have really improved, and Cal built its lead with Max in the lineup.

- DJ Seeley was the star of the inter-squad scrimmage, displaying a beautiful shooting stroke on a team full of great shooters. In this game, however, he was pretty juiced up and missed badly on his only three point attempt. Once he settles down he'll be able to score off the bench. Defensively he's a huge liability, as he was unable to stay in front of his man. Jorge, teach him how it's done!

- Markhuri Sanders-Frison, our new JC transfer center, was strong defensively, aggressive (at one point diving to the floor for a loose ball), vocal - all things that Jordan Wilkes was not. He doesn't have Wilkes' smooth passing or shooting touch yet, but he was better offensively than expected. One thing he doesn't seem to do is jump - he boxed out fairly well, but I don't think I ever saw him jump for a board. He also lost the opening tip, and something tells me that if we can't win the tip-off against Murray State, we're probably not going to win it much this year.

- We have kind of a freak-show at center: a 7'3 guy who weighs maybe 240 pounds and a 6'7, 270+ pound guy who can't jump. If Max ate Markhuri, I think we'd have an unstoppable force. As it is now, we have some improvement at center from last year in terms of production and a lot of improvement in terms of entertainment.

- Cal was a bit lazy getting out to challenge the three point shot. I thought they played pretty well defensively in general, but this was their weak point, especially at the end of the game. The final score was probably a little closer than the game as Murray State hit some late threes, but Cal has to improve its perimeter defense.

- I love Jorge. He is approaching the Hawk status in my mind. He hit two spot-up three pointers, which wasn't part of his game last year.

Ragnarok is right: The band plays a lot more than at football games.

via cdn0.sbnation.com

Detroit:

- Randle came out on a mission to prove that his offensive struggles in Monday's game were a fluke. He looked great, getting around Detroit's point guard with ease. Late in the second half Randle had 15 points, 0 fouls, while his opponent was scoreless with 3 fouls.

- Cal jumped out on Detroit and seemingly put the game away early, building a 40-25 advantage. Detroit scored the last 7 points of the first half and first 4 points of the second half before Cal took over and cruised to a win. Murray State is a better team than Detroit, but Detroit has some impressive athletes and skilled players.

- Sanders-Frison contributed even more offensively with a number of slick moves but struggled with fouls for the second game in a row. With limited depth in the post, this will be an ongoing concern.

- Part of that lack of depth is Harper Kamp, who did not play in either game and will miss the trip to Madison Square Garden. He did practice on Monday, so hopefully he'll be able to play this year. We'll need him.

- Christopher had a tough first half, scoring only 4 while Detroit's two guard went for 15. That changed after half, as he finished with 18 points and clamped down on D.

- Theo isn't very fast or agile, but he's so smart and fundamentally sound defensively that he keeps his man from getting to the lane. His shooting form is beautiful, and he's also taking the ball to the hoop more.

- Midway through the second half, Cal was 24-26 from the free throw line.

- Max played 14 minutes and looked good, altering and blocking shots, boxing out, rebounding, even scoring on a few put-backs to tally 7 points. He has a long ways to go, but he's much improved from last year.

- Jorge again had four fouls, but some were pretty cheap. Monty played him for several minutes with four fouls, perhaps to let Jorge practice playing with more caution. Jorge finished the game and never picked up the fifth foul.

- The senior starters came out early with a huge lead, and our bench played strong in their stead. Our final lineup had players from five countries: Max (China), Nikola (Serbia), Jorge (Mexico), Nigel Carter (USA), and Bak Bak (Sudan)

- Yes, even Bak Bak played, which (I believe) prevents him from redshirting this year. It seemed like a strange move at the time, as Bak is clearly not ready to contribute and won't be for at least another year. If Monty did indeed burn his redshirt, it is probably to maintain class balance. Cal just signed a (very good) recruiting class of four freshman who will arrive next fall, and if Bak redshirts that will make 5 players in one class year. By "playing" (four minutes!) this year, he'll be a sophomore with Brandon Smith next year, making a freshman class of 4 and a sophomore class of 2 instead of 5 and 1. Monty probably wants to avoid having another huge class like our current 5 seniors, which could have been 7 (!) had Jordan Wilkes and Ryan Anderson stuck around. It means one less year of Bak in the program but more balance.

- I'm heading to my first women's game of the year, this Sunday against Baylor, so I'll have plenty about the ladies next week.

- Cal plays Syracuse at 4PM tomorrow. Syracuse lost their exhibition game to a D-II school but will be playing with a huge home court advantage in Madison Square Garden. Cal has a fantastic opportunity to show off for the rest of the country, playing an east coast team at an east coast time. May they be awed by the power of Max

via cdn3.sbnation.com

Go Bears!

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 75, Murray State 70: Defense And Free Throws Carry The Day

Avinash — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:40:19 -0000

More photos » by Marcio Jose Sanchez - AP

Cal fans should be very happy if Jamal Boykin is doing plenty of this through the season.

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Give credit to Murray State. They battled us right through the first half, then came back from what seemed like an insurmountable late deficit to make everyone fritter. Their team is really good as rags indicated, probably one of the best mid-majors in the country. Don't be shocked to see them earn a #14/#15 seed come March.

Still, from an aesthetic standpoint, it wasn't the most impressive win in the world for the Bears, and Jerome Randle continued to struggle (4/12 shooting, again nearly a 1:1 assist-turnover ratio); Isiah Canaan battled him hard and really didn't let him rest out there. The offense was out of sync, they were slow to run out on the 3 point line (they conceded everything from downtown to prevent the penetration to the paint, and gave up 24 points from downtown), and there were too many awkward-looking shots that I'd like to forget.

But the defense picked up when it needed to, holding Murray State down during the middle part of the game, and the offense broke out of its malaise to break it open in the second half. The Bears forced 17 turnovers, a huge improvement over last season, they found a way to get to the foul line (32 free throw attempts to Murray State's 15), Randle made up for his ugly shooting with 10 big free throws, and the zone held. Sometimes, you gotta win ugly.

The Bears are 1-0! Our game against Detroit is this Wednesday.

Vote for your star of the night! Discuss the game here.

Poll

Cal player of the game versus Murray State...

Boykin

25 votes

Christopher

13 votes

Randle

10 votes

Robertson

25 votes

Gutierrez

12 votes

Someone else

8 votes

93 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?

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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