Hey Cal Football Fans:

Like many of you, I also follow Cal Sports on www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk. The guy covering the Cal Football beat there, in addition to the Contra Costa Times, has been Jonathan Okanes. We've not only read his in-game blog and pre-and-post-game newspaper reports, but watched him on Comcast Bay Area's sports show, as well as participated in his online LIVE Q&A interviews with athletes. 

I just learned, per his Twitter feed OkanesOnCal, that we won't get to follow Jonathan's work any longer - at least not at the Bay Area News Group's outlets. Like many other hard working American's, he was laid off due to company wide cuts. 

I would like to make the suggestion that the staff at CaliforniaGoldenBlogs ask to interview Okanes, newly unfettered by his corporate overseers.  Perhaps readers of this post will feel inspired to not only offer appreciation to JO, but also pose their own questions. Heck, maybe THIS will become the JO forum, as JO himself chooses to chime in and talk with us directly!

Here's a few questions to get us started.

JO: Thanks for all your posts and articles! I particularly enjoyed the live Q&A sessions you did online.  I'm sure there were some sessions that were particularly boring in the "studio", but I imagine that at least one of them was full of laughter behind that scenes that we on the other end of things never saw. Care to share any humor there with us now?

JO: Can you tell us your top 3 Cal Bear interviews? Either favorite people to interview or funny interview stories over the years you just gotta tell.

JO: Can you share with us if there is a measure of competitiveness or togetherness amongst Cal sports reporters in gathering angles to work for news stories for the upcoming games?

JO: I used to ride BART into SF every day for a dozen years. Riders buried their noses into the Wall Street Journal, The SF Chronicle, and The Contra Costa Times. BART had to bring in huge trash bins for all the discarded newspapers, and they were often over-flowing. But the last time I rode BART, the bins were mostly empty. I don't know if that's just a matter of timing for me, or a sign that everyone is now on their SmartPhones during the ride. Can you share with us some of the industry wide behind the scenes business reasons for broad cuts at the Bay Area News Group?

Others, join in! Show the love!

Poll

Did you follow and enjoy Jonathan Okanes reporting on Cal Bear Football?

4%

Yes, Contra Costa Times newspaper

3 votes

11%

Yes, CoCoTimes online

7 votes

50%

Yes, via BearTalk

32 votes

4%

Yes, @OkanesOnCal (twitter)

3 votes

1%

Yes, elsewhere (add in your own post below)

1 votes

26%

Yes, all the above

17 votes

0%

Who is Jonathan Okanes?

0 votes

63 votes | Poll has closed

How I'd like to see it.  (maybe.)

Was (pac10) 12 game schedule:
3 OOC games (Out Of Conference)
9 Pac10 games
Then a possible 13th game (Bowl Game)

Now (pac12) we’ll get a possible 13th game as the Pac12 Championship
and a possible 14th game as Bowl Game.

Future (pac16) could be 4 pods (play games in THIS order):
3 OOC games
5 Non-Pod games  
3 Pod games (Cal-Furd-USC-UCLA;   UW-WSU-OSU-UO;   UA-ASU-UT-CO;   TX-TT-OU-OSU)
1 Semi-Final, OR, 1 add’l Non-Pod game vs. a team not yet played (more below)
1 Pac12 Championship Game
1 Bowl game (would almost guarantee National Champ game annually)
= 14 games

Explanation:
The 4 pod winners (based on 3 games) would ALWAYS play in the Semi-Final game.
If someone goes 3-0 in Pod, but is week in the Non-Pod Pac schedule, so be it. At least teams that advance to the Semi-Final are measured against like opponents - a problem with the current Pac12 format. 
Often times, you’d have two 2-1 teams in the Pods, and the record of 5 Non-Pod Pac16 conference games would serve as the tie-breaker. 

One potential problem with my plan would be: What do you do if a team goes 3-0 in their Pod, but losses every other game during the season. They would not become bowl eligible, even if they win the semi-final and the champ game. That would be only 5 wins. So, maybe we make it so you are ineligible to be the Pod winner (advance to semi-final game) unless you have at least 4 other wins ALREADY before Pod play begins. This would relegate a Pod player to being ONLY spoiler for the 3-game Pod series at the end of the season. But I think it’s rare. If a team hasn’t won 4 games out of their first 8, they probably aren’t going to win their pod. So, the ineligible winner will be a rarity.

By playing ALL Pod games LAST, the tie-breakers would be known. It would really create a Playoff atmosphere for the final 3 Pod games. This would generate huge interest at the end of the season for a full month.

For the semi-finals (Final Four), obvious: more playoffs. Play 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3, seeded teams based upon the full 8 game Pac16 record, or BCS ranking if tied.  

Aside from the drama, playing Pod games at the end of the season makes sense anyways because these games are with most schools’ most ardent long term rivalries. Due to smaller distances between proposed Pod schools, student bodies would travel and that would mean tickets would be hot, sell-outs. But mostly, TV interest would be huge. And isn’t that what this is all about? TV revenue?

For the 12 Non Semi-Final qualifying teams, go like this:

Create 6 match-ups for teams’ 12 game of the season based upon who they haven’t yet faced during the season. I would have to run permutations here to see what the chances of repeat games would be, but I think if you can only play 8 of 15 other Pac16 teams earlier in the season, there would be a good chance we’d never have repeat games. Further, you could seed teams and play best vs worst like in the NCAA basketball tourney. Just to give an advantage to the winningest teams. And have the game be played at the home field of the winning team (but split revenue). This would possibly create some scheduling intrigue, kind of like the NCAA hoops tourney: “Oh, then we’d get to play so-and-so”.  The downside is that people might not attend these games. But, if that is the case, I think it is more than offset by the HUGE gain made with the 3 Pod games at the end of the season + the 2 Semi Final Pod games. That would be one hell of a month of Pac16 football NATIONALLY.

Yes, I render the OOC games virtually meaningless. But by doing so, we’d no longer have any interest in scheduling a cupcake just to pad our W-L record. Instead, there would be a focus on scheduling games against the schools with the most intrigue from the student body (alumni) standpoint, against those with the most marketing appeal. This could create an incentive for schools to go out and schedule big money making OOC games. Teams are not penalized for scheduling multiple Notre Dames, and not rewarded for scheduling Southern Miss. No more "1 hard, 1 medium, 1 easy." Fans and TV eat it up. The BCS schools would play each other more. The big get bigger. The only benefit to scheduling cupcakes is to make sure you get to 4 wins before Pod Play, and simply to warm up your players, as is often the case.

Yes, I render the 6 Non-Pod games with possibly little meaning. But I don’t care so much because I hate the way the Pac12 is going to run it this season where you can beat everyone in YOUR division, but miss out on the Champ game solely because of non-division performance. It lessens the true round robin drama. If you prove you are the best against YOUR opponents, then YOU deserve to advance. When teams play non-similar opponents, it’s unfair the measure them against one another. Yet, there are plenty of tie-breaker possibilities here. And, you are always playing for Non-BCS bowl game seeding.

 

With this scenario, everyone has a chance until the end. Drama = Money.

Larry Scott can send me my consulting fee check upon approval by the 16 school presidents. Hey, their office is right down the road. Maybe I should put this write up in a glossy folder and hand deliver instead of posting here.

 

PS: It is not lost on me that the 4-team Pod format is similar to the World Cup soccer format. If you want to envision what drama of the final month would be like, think of what those 3 World Cup games mean to fans. 

PPS: You'll notice there are a number of rules here. Intricacies. Tie-breakers and dependencies. I think this only creates more stir amongst fans, as they explain the rules and the set of tie breakers. 

Very interesting. I'm not sure what to make of the deal, other than they are testing the Groupon model. Looks like tickets would be $26 each (not sure how this compares but they say it's 51% off), and you can buy up to 12 tickets per order, AND that only 10 deals are available for sale (of which 2 have already been sold). 

Here's the link.

Choose between the following options:

• For $26, you get one upper-reserved (UR) corner or end-zone ticket (a $40 value before fees, or up to a $53.05 value online, including all Ticketmaster fees).
• For $45, you get one lower-reserved (LR) corner or end-zone ticket (a $75 value before fees, or up to a $90 value online, including all Ticketmaster fees).

• Must redeem together to sit together. Parking not included.

...Looks like a great thing if you are taking a large group to the ballpark!

While reading the news of the Warriors draft pick just now, the thought of this being a bad omen for Cal Basketball crossed my mind. I mean, lots of people have tabbed Allen Crabbe as a young version of Klay Thompson. They have similar height, physical builds, and pure shooting motions that often hit nothing but net from deep.

Thompson expanded his offensive tool belt this past season at Washington State by showing off an ability to drive the lane to score, rather than just hit outside jumpers as he did his first season, as Crabbe did for Cal in his freshman season.

But, there are things that Thompson lacks, it's been said, to be a top NBA draft pick: primarily, overall strength and defense. Banish the thought! Thompson was picked ELEVENTH!

Could Thompson's lottery draft status impact Crabbe's decision to stick around? How will Thompson's local presence and success, or lack thereof, affect Crabbe's thinking in April of 2012, or even 2013? I mean, selfishly, we don't want Crabbe to be thinking about the NBA until 2014, right?!?!!! She we quietly be rooting against any Thompson-Warriors success the next 2 seasons?

And what exactly must Coach Montgomery be thinking about this all as it relates to his recruiting picture. Lose Crabbe and you gotta have someone to fill. Should we secretly be glad that Alex Rossi had to (injury) redshirt his freshman season? Should we be thinking about Crabbe replacing recruits already, even though he still has 3 years of eligibility left?

Alas, for basketball junkies like me, November can't arrive soon enough!

I say "allegedly" because I wouldn't want to wrongly accuse anyone, and Overton (recent graduate from UW basketball) has yet to be found guilty in a court of law. But get a load of this story, which has Overton telling his girlfriend, who told police she loves Overton, that she should hook for cash, that it's an easy way to make money, and that she won't have to do it anymore after he makes the league.  Pimp Overton was arrested by police as he picked up his ho at a fast food joint, said he knew it was wrong, but that he wasn't going to turn away money from a girl.

This alleged incident is the lowest of lows, even lower than the horny details of Overton trying to get a 16 year old drunk enough to perform oral sex on him. That's low, but understandable, given the genetically driven horny state of mankind. But to get your girl to walk the streets for money FOR YOU? Lowest of the lows.

Henceforth, any UW highlight tapes from the past 4 season featuring Overton should be burned. I would not welcome Venoy back into the UW family for a second. Goodbye.

Check out the details here, or at any other news outlet of your choice. It's all over the place.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=ap-washington-overton

Now then, can I get a DBD?

So, UCLA's coach has left for LSU.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/basketball/ncaa/04/03/lsu.caldwell.ap/index.html

 

I seem to recall that UCLA had more than a few good recruits. Any chance we can nab one of them to take the place of our own departed pivot DeNesha Stallworth?

For instance, Justine Hartman is really high up on this list. Will she really want to play for an unknown new coach?

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/recruiting/rankings/_/class/2011

 

 

Hello Everybody:

I thought I'd share this fun story with you and see what you think. My 10 year old daughter has now memorized all the players and coaches on the men's basketball team and says she has joined me as a real Cal fan. She asked me to quiz her by pointing to anyone in the team poster and she'd identify them. Realizing she'd be right, I simply asked her who the best player was.

She said Crabbe.

I then told her we'd draft players back and forth and we would see who would win. It went like this:

Daughter: Crabbe

Father: Kamp

Daughter: MSF

Father: Gutierrez

Daughter: Brandon Smith

Father: Solomon (to which she winced in seeming regret)

Daughter: Bak

Father: Hmmm. I need a guard - Carter

Daughter: Murray

We then decided we couldn't pick any of the players that hadn't played and that left Powers or Thurman left for me to pick. Should I go big and overpower her? Or take Powers to stretch the floor and have someone a little quicker on the perimeter? Either way, I'm a bit concerned she may have me with too much quickness at the guard position and have enough size to take away Kamp and Solomon.... 

Maybe I take Powers to guard Crabbe on the perimeter. Crabbe hasn't shown, yet, that he has superior drive and shoot tendencies. If I take Powers, I'll just have him stay on him guarding an area, and force Crabbe to beat us with dribble drive.

What do you all think? Who drafted better?

Wow. That was a fun game yesterday. I don't care that it was "only" the NIT. A championship is a championship. I was waiting for the confetti, but apparently the $3 tickets don't cover such things.

After also watching two of our incoming recruits, Lindsay Sherbert and Afure Jemerigbe, in the McDonald's game on TV just now I decided to do a little forecasting work on the lineup next season. Here's what I came up with:

NAME	depth	HT	position	POS	Year/EXP	Hometown/High School
Eliza Pierre	1	5-7	1	Guard	Soph	Pasadena, Calif./John Muir
Layshia Clarendon	1	5-9	1,2	Guard	Soph	San Bernadino, Calif./Cajon
Lindsay Sherbert	1	6-1	2,3,4	guard	Fresh	Temecula, CA
Gennifer Brandon	1	6-2	4	Forward	Soph	Chatsworth, Calif./Chatsworth
DeNesha Stallworth	1	6-3	5	Forward/Center	Soph	Richmond, Calif./Pinole Valley
Talia Caldwell	2	6-3	5	Center	Soph	Los Angeles, Calif./Marlborough
Rama N'diaye	2	6-5	5	Center	*5th-SR	Dakar, Senegal/Keisei (Japan)
Afure Jemerigbe	2	6-0	1,2	guard	Fresh	Stockton, CA
Mikayla Lyles	2	5-8	2	guard	Fresh	Oakland, CA
Rachelle Federico	2	5-11	2	Guard	SR	Tucson, Ariz./Flowing Wells

Now, of course, this isn't perfect. But i think the starting 5 looks about right. They said on the McD game that they thought Sherbert would be in a position to come in and play a ton of minutes, and that appears about right. She is bigger than I thought, has a big time work ethic, and can play positions 2 thru 4, according to Boyle. Leaving Pierre and Clarendon in, who played lots this year, while adding Sherbert to take AGL's spot seems easy enough. The rest of the starting team is what I saw on the flooring winning the NIT yesterday. Jeremigbe looks ready to take Vital's spot, and Lyles to take Greif's spot and rotate in with the other guards. As always, exact minutes will be earned.

What was interesting to me thru this analysis are these unanswered questions:

1) Will N'diaye be back for her 5th season after an injury this year. (Or has she had 2 injured seasons and thus be possibly granted her 6th, which is rare?) If so, great - we'd have 4 interior players, not just 3 (important).

2) How come we only have 10 scholarship players, only 9 if N'Diaye is not back. Men get 13 - women the same, I assume. Answers are: Thierra Rogers' injury, Brenna Heater transfer. But that's only 2 or 3 of the answers. So I went back to find the missing players.  I found several transfers and academic issues:

a) In Nov 2006, Boyle announced 3 recruits, only 1 of which is on the team, Federico. Lenita Sanford made the 2007 McD game, but never qualified academically (NCAA, not Cal standards), while Kelsey Adrian, who got some decent playing time at Cal and played for the Canadian team, transfered to UCSB last summer. 

b) Casey Morris and Shawna-Lei Kuehu were the announced recruits in Nov 2007. Morris played a good amount her freshman year, but then also transfered last summer, to Texas Tech. Kuehu apparently never qualified academically so coach Boyle brought in Angelei Aguirre, daughter of NBA's Mark Aguirre, as a late recruit in the spring of 2008. However, Aguirre ALSO transfered to UCSB last summer.

c) Heater dropped from the team just this mid-season, and I'm not sure why or where to yet.

For those counting, that's 2 gifted recruits who didn't qualify and 3 who have left the team in less than 1 year.  So, what's Boyle to do? Is she going to bring in another late recruit this spring? Or will she keep the spots for next year and hope to land some more big fish, as she's been doing. Saving the roster spots for 2011 recruits would balance out the classes as well as add more quality bodies than could be got right now and is probably the advised route. But the team is again at risk of having depth issues again should anyone get injured, especially if N'daiye does not return.

Any insights are welcome. 

WHO THINKS THEY KNOW OUR CAL BEAR FOOTBALL TEAM BEST?

We're all giddy over yesterday, right? We got some stud recruits and even Tedford and Gregory say most all these freshman have the potential to play right away. In fact, listening to Gregory, it sounded almost as if he was throwing some of his current players under the bus, indicating they simply may not have the physical gifts necessary to do what the defensive scheme requires.

So, what kind of team are we looking at next year? I went onto Calbears.com, grabbed the current roster (where Seniors like Alualu and Sydquan have already been removed), and added in the recruits, just to see where we are at on positions.

Take a look at the Defensive positions after the jump, and then I'll leave it to you all to debate the proper depth and specific positions for an 11-man 3-4 squad (3 Linemen, 4 Backers, 2 Cornerbacks, 1 Strong Safety, 1 Free Safety).

Leading Defensive Players Lost to Graduation:

Tyson Alualu, Devin Bishop, Eddie Young, Brett Johnson, Syd'Quan Thompson, Marcus Ezeff.

* Asterisk indicates projected starter.

                                                                                TACKLES

Pos  Yr          Name                    Letters    GP-GS Solo-Asst-Tot        HT    WGT

LINEBACKERS - While many thought our D would be great in 2009, it wasn't. Now it will simply be interesting to see if any of the stud LB recruits will supplant the existing players. Spring won't answer - will have to wait until the Fall and into the season as players prove themselves week in and week out. Mohamed is a lock, however.

ILB    SR    *   Mike Mohamed              3V    13-13   69   43   112       6'3"    237
OLB  SR        Keith Browner                2V    13-1      2      3     5
LB    SR        Charles Johnson            2V    12-0      2      8    10
LB    SR        Jerome Meadows          1V     10-0     2      2      4
LB    SR        Jarred Price                   1V     12-0     5      1      6  (been playing all downs - not just 3rd
ILB    Jr.    *   D.J. Holt                        2V     13-8    20    17   37
LB    Jr.     *   Mychal Kendricks          2V    13-6     38   33    71       6'0"   230
LB    Jr.          Solomona Aigamaua     SQ    1-0      0       2      2
LB    Soph      J.P. Hurrell                    1V     13-0     4      6     10
OLB  Soph     Chris Little                    1V     11-0      7     3      10
LB    Soph      Robert Mullins              SQ   
LB    Soph      Nick Rosato                 SQ
LB    RS FR    Dan Camporeale         RS
LB    RS FR    Steven Fanua              RS
ILB    Frosh      Nick Forbes    (4-star recruit)
LB    Frosh      Chris McCain    (4-star recruit)
LB    Frosh      Cecil Whiteside    (4-star recruit)
LB    Frosh      David Wilkerson   (4-star recruit)

DE    Frosh      Gabe King    (4-star recruit)
OLB  Frosh  *   Chris Martin   (5-star recruit)

 

SECONDARY - Other than Cattouse, all spots appear wide open. Youngins are stepping up so we have depth, if not top flight quality.

DB    SR        Charles Amadi            3V     8-0      4    0     4
S       SR        Chris Conte                3V     13-1   19   6    25   SAFETY
CB    SR   *    Darian Hagan             3V    10-4    23   7    30    (must study and regain focus and intestity)
CB    SR   *    Bryant Nnabuife         2V     10-4   26   4    30
S      Jr.          D.J. Campbell           2V     12-0    9    5     14  (cattouse backup)
S       Jr.    *     Sean Cattouse          2V     13-6   28    9    37   SAFETY
S      Jr.          C.J. Moncrease        1V      12-0    5     1     6    SAFETY
DB    Soph     Marc Anthony            1V     
DB    Soph  *  Josh Hill                    1V       11-5   30   4    34
DB    Soph     Tyre Ellison               SQ

S      RS FR   Alex Logan               RS  (could be surprise upside)

CB    RS FR  Vachel Samuels RS (Tedford fired up about as CB in Spring)(rather play CB, but will take PT however)
CB    RS FR   Steve Williams         RS   (could be surprise upside)
DB    Frosh     Michael Coley    
DB    Frosh     Adrian Lee      

 

DOWN LINEMEN - We lost the recruiting wars for those who play "Front 3",  lost the mighty Tyson Alualu to graduation.

NT    SR         Derrick Hill (2)           3V      10-8      6   12   18
DE    SR    *    Cameron Jordan     3V      13-13  22   26   48
DE    SR         Michael Costanzo    2V     12-0     2     2      4
DL    Jr.          Ernest Owusu          2V     12-0     6     1      7
DE    Jr.     *   Trevor Guyton         2V      11-0     3    10    13
DL    Jr.           Ryan Davis            RS      
NT    Soph  *   Kendrick Payne     1V       12-2    8     5      13  (appears to be beating Derrick Hill for NT starter)
DL    Soph      Aaron Tipoti           1V       12-4    1     20    21
DL    RS FR    Austin Clark    RS
Outside RS FR   Deandre Coleman (2) RS (Tosh says he is 6'5", 312, very powerful, has NFL potential. Must study)
DL    RS FR    Keni Kaufusi    RS

Hello basketball junkies,

I'm not sure what the rule here is on copying and pasting information from other websites, so I'm simply going to provide the URL's. However you should enjoy these minor updates to incoming Bears during their senior (high school) seasons.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/basketball/mens/news/story?id=4815659

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/basketball/mens/news/story?id=4794636

http://www.slamonline.com/online/college-hs/high-school/2010/01/pangos-dream-classic-recap/

http://www.maxpreps.com/news/UN-LCvKWEd6UswAcxJTdpg/maxpreps-holiday-classic-saturday--top-ranked-and-hungry-st-patrick-rolls.htm

Yo, is there nobody out there? Where's our chatter? Anyone got the video feed? They are already playing the first game at Haas.

Up tonight is Furman vs. UC Santa Barbara at 5pm,

Then Cal vs. Utah Valley (who the hell are they?) at 7:30.

Come on - can we get a twitter from one of the players before tip-off? Say, something like, these dudes look about as short as us (save Max)!

So, there have been a couple of developments recently I've found interesting as it pertains to the future of Cal Bear basketball. Of course, the biggest issue surrounding the team now is the lack of size and depth on the interior, and it's not just for this year b/c Jordan Wilkes graduated early, Taylor Harrison's career ended, or Harper Kamp is sidelined. No, this continues to next year. Sure, Max if real tall, but he's always going to be thin. MSF is only 6'7" and will be around for just one more year. Meanwhile, our best interior player, Boykin, is graduating this year.  Amoke is something to get excited about, but he's more of a 3 than a 4 or 5.

Anyways, back to the developments.... Kamp appears set to redshirt, which means we'll have his 6'8" discipline for 2 more years, which will be a nice bridge for whatever recruits come in in 2011, AND Bak doesn't appear to be redshirting after all. Finally, the early signing period is over, and baring any springtime surprises popping up on the recruiting scene, we are really looking at 2011 at this point to solve our needs. I've scoured the obvious sources and don't see anyone hanging out there for 2009 who appears to be in our sights, and vice versa.

So, at this point, next year's interior looks like:

C: Max (jr), backed up by MSF (sr)

PF: Kamp (jr), backed up by incoming Richard Solomon (fr)

It will be interesting to see where Monty plays Amoke (jr). He has unfortunately continued to be used as if he were a big guy, when I'd really rather see him at the 3 spot. And I am kinda forgetting about Bak (jr) - how is he going to fit into the rotation his Sophomore year? Can he earn minutes at the 4 spot? And, oh, let's not leave out 6'10" transfer Robert Thurman (soph) - will he be a practice only player, or anything more?

As such, we've got 6 or 7 guys to fill the two power positions on the floor, but to be honest, I don't think any of them forecast future Cal championships, especially not when UCLA is taking in Josh Smith (5 stars, projected 1-and-done to NBA, 6;10" 270 lbs), Stanford gets Dwight Powell (5 stars, 6'9"-6'10", 215 lbs.) and Washington lands superstud Enes Kanter (6'9"-6'10", 240 out of Turkey via Switzerland.

So, that means, unfortunately, we need to be looking forward to new stud blood in 2011, unless we accept being a 2nd tier program. (Not me.)

So, what do you all see out there in your crystal balls?

I was scouring one list (click on 'Basketball' and '2011') and see the following names (sort by height) of big guys from the west coast that we should be pursuing:

Norvell Pelle. Here's an interesting story. The kid recently transfered from Compton Dominguez to join Cal recruits Crabbe and Solomon at Price high school. Do we have an "in" with the Price coach or what? Crabbe and Solomon will certainly be able to let Pelle know if Berkeley is a preferred destination. But, how come Cal isn't shown on the list of "college choices"?

Kyle Wiltjer. This 6'9" star from Portland is 5-star rated and apparently lots of folks are after him, including Cal. Here are a couple (1 and 2) of articles about him.

Kyle Caudill. This big kid initially committed to ASU, but this fall re-opened his recruiting. Do the Bears have a shot?

Robert Garrett. Here's a tall kid from Sacramento who has a mix of high and mid major schools following him, including Cal. Not much press out there on him, however.

Then there's the hotly pursued 6'8"-6'11" Angelo Chol (5 stars) out of San Diego. But how come Cal is not listed here? Chol has been offered by all Pac-10 schools and probably many top programs across the country. UW was recently at the top of his list, but his coach told him to slow down and take a look at more schools. He's originally from the Sudan. Could Bak Bak put in a good word for him?

Here's an interesting article about some other big guys, including 6'9" Marcellous Clay of Skyline in Oakland and Brendan Keane of Alameda. 

Then there's 6'8" 3 star Kevin Johnson from LA. He's got a man's body.

Anybody know anything about 6'7" Andre McPhail of Antioch, 6'7" Stuart Wesonga of Novato, the other Ryan Anderson (6'7" from Long Beach) or any one else?

Take this where you may...

 

HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MONTY DID IT. HE GOT A CENTER FOR 2010!!!!!!!! OH THANK HEAVENS ALMIGHTY. WE ARE SAVED!!!!!!


Richard Solomon is 6-9, 200 pounds, ranked 4 stars (Rossi and Crabbe are both 3 stars) by Scout.com. He goes to the same high school as Crabbe. Says:

"Long and slender young post with significant upside. Bouncy, with good feet and hands. Offensive game a bit raw, but he's potentially one of the top posts in the west for 2010."

Dudes gonna get plenty of playing time as a freshman, and should be around to develop nicely.

WAY TO GO. MONTY AND STAFF!!!!!

http://california.scout.com/a.z?s=166&p=8&c=1&nid=4195384

Rivals:
"There were a handful of prospects who topped our watch list in Las Vegas less than two weeks ago, and one of those was the No. 81 ranked overall prospect in the country, Southern California big man Richard Solomon. A must see rising frontcourt big with terrific athleticism, Solomon, along with his close friend and future Price high school teammate Allen Crabbe, were quite the combo to follow on the AAU scene. After making his college decision tonight, Solomon and Crabbe will not only play their senior years together, but also in the Pac-10."

http://ucla.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?pr_key=97964&Sport=2

http://mslacat.wordpress.com/category/msu-2010-recruit/richard-solomon/

 

Whereas a moment ago we were dirt, now all of a sudden we have tremendous potential. If Monty can bring in one of the following bigs who are on Cal's radar, then we have a great class as two bigs can dominate together!

Terrence Jones, 6-7 PF of Portland

James Johnson, 6-8 C of San Diego

Alex Kirk, 6-11 C of New Mexico

Dwight Powell, 6-9 PF of Toronto

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=9&c=4&cfg=bb&pid=44&yr=2010

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=9&c=4&cfg=bb&pid=45&yr=2010

http://w3.nbebasketball.com/2009/07/10/dwight-powell-continues-impressive-july/

Some of Mike Montgomery's post game quotes, probably at his most candid of the entire year:

http://www.calbears.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/031909aaf.html

On how Cal can continue to improve: 
We've got to bring people in ...

The easiest example is Jerome is not going to get bigger. At 5-8 he needs a little space even though he has great range. He needs space because a bigger player can maybe change shots. One of the problems we have, we don't have a lot of ball handlers and, unfortunately, Jerome has to do a lot of things.

...It was really hard for us with our bigs. You know, Jordan has been wobbly.

...we're just okay because we're not physical, we're not big, we don't have shot blockers.

...lack of ability to get it to the low post. 

...we just don't have something that we can go to that we're very good at, very comfortable with. So that hurts us.

...What you're supposed to be able to do against a zone is rebound the ball.

...perhaps just it's a limitation that's not going to change.

That first line says it all. Need more, better recruits.

 You criticize Jerome for being too small (Braun recruited that size). Why, then, have you brought in another small guard in Brandon Smith?  

You criticize Wilkes for being too wobbly (Braun recruited him). Why, then, have you brought in another weak tall guy in Bak Bak?

You point out that we have no shot blockers, can't assert a post game, and can't rebound. Why then have you only been able to bring in a 6'7" earth-bound (275 pounds) Sanders-Frison?

Nor are either Gutierrez or Allen Crabbe program saviors from the guard position.

Good luck Mike. Your managing of this year's squad was great. But your recruiting efforts are going to determine how your Cal career will be judged.  So far, it's looking iffy.

Much has been said nearly all season about Theo being the #1 3-pt shooter in the nation. And we've all noticed that he not only hasn't been making as many of his shots recently, but also has been reluctant to even attempt them.  So, I wanted to see exactly where he stood. Here is a table of just Pac-10 play. As you can see, Theo is only tied for 7th in terms of accuracy and doesn't rank in the top 10 in # of makes per game (during conference play).

 

3-POINT FG PCT		Cl	GP	3FG	3FGA	Pct
1.	Shipp, Josh-UCLA	SR	17	39	72	.542
2.	Roll, Michael-UCLA	JR	17	25	49	.510
3.	Thompson, Klay-WSU	FR	17	48	100	.480
4.	Rochestie, Taylor-WSU	SR	17	42	92	.457
5.	Dentmon, Justin-WASH	SR	17	41	91	.451
6.	Dragovic, Nikola-UCLA	JR	17	42	95	.442
7.	Robertson, Theo-CAL	JR	17	28	64	.438
	Wiley, Drew-ORE	FR	13	14	32	.438
9.	Glasser, Derek-ASU	JR	16	25	58	.431
10.	Christopher, Patrick-CAL	JR	17	33	78	.423

 

3-POINT FG MADE		Cl	GP	3FG	Avg/G
1.	Porter, Tajuan-ORE	JR	17	52	3.1
2.	Thompson, Klay-WSU	FR	17	48	2.8
3.	Kuksiks, Rihards-ASU	SO	16	42	2.6
4.	Dragovic, Nikola-UCLA	JR	17	42	2.5
	Rochestie, Taylor-WSU	SR	17	42	2.5
	Randle, Jerome-CAL	JR	17	42	2.5
7.	Dentmon, Justin-WASH	SR	17	41	2.4
8.	Shipp, Josh-UCLA	SR	17	39	2.3
9.	Christopher, Patrick-CAL	JR	17	33	1.9
	Goods, Anthony-STAN	SR	17	33	1.9

 

That said, it was nice to see Theo driving the lane and putting pressure on the defense from the interior. He also jacked up 11 3's in that game - the most by far all season. Too often he's passed up shots, and we complained. He must be a CGB reader!

Keep shooting, Theo, both inside and out. Defenses are going to be geared to stop Randle and Christopher first and second. We simply have to have a 3rd scorer. All great teams got 'em. I love it when you drive the lane. You are a big bodied guard who can draw fouls with your size. Make 'em foul you! Then pop the J when they sag. But, uh, I guess you already know that, huh? Good luck, Theo. We're cheering for you here in Concord, home of DLS!

Theo's stats by game: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=27115

 

Continue reading this post »

U.S., Latin American and European investigators widened probes on Thursday into the far-flung financial empire of Texas billionaire Allen Stanford, accused of "massive fraud," and Venezuela seized one of his banks.

Would somebody please do a piece on the current Stanford Fraud? I think this guy Allen could be the descendant of the cousin of Leland Stanford.

It's too bad the Cal - Stanford Big Game isn't for another 9 months or so. Of course, in these serious times, Cal officials would doubtfully allow a full blown mock of financial pain people are feeling = distateful. Nonetheless, we are not Cal officials.

 

Lookie here - he's showing his true colors!

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Sport/Pix/pictures/2008/10/28/1225180320163/Sir-Allen-Stanford-001.jpg

 

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4667942n

Here is the 60 Minutes profile on USC head coach Pete Carroll. It aired on Dec 14, 2008. I finally got around to watching it on my DVR just now.  I've never been a fan of USC, but I find nothing ignoble here:

Good recruiter

Excellent practices

Positive communicator

Community involvement

Inspiring figure (see the policeman at the end)

Not to mention all those victories and championships. But that seems like the minor stuff.

...Okay, let the reactionary comments fly!

 

 

I liked this line out of today's SFGATE, SFCHRONICLE:

 

"They seldom got the ball inside against the Beavers' treacherous 1-3-1 zone defense, and wound up attempting 33 three-pointers, eight more than their previous season high, and made just eight of them. The Cardinal attempted just 21 two-point shots in a game that cried out for inside scoring by Stanford."

 

33 vs. 21? That's just nuts.   Like I was saying at the end of the Cal-OSU game when Cal was not getting the ball inside, but missing from the outside, "live by the jumper, die by the jumper". Legs (quietly) get tired at the end of games, so while the heart and mind is willing, the shots often don't fall as easily. Thus, pound the ball inside, or make sure you have a deep rotation and guys haven't played 30+ minutes. Not an exact formula, but definitely a consideration!

I would have thought Stanford would have seen from the Cal-OSU game the need to penetrate that zone. Instead, they settled for jumpers and made it a shooting contest. Would Stanford's injured point guard have done a better job at breaking OSU's defense? 

It's going to be fun watching OSU in future years, no matter their level of success. Every pac10 team will have to prepare for this system differently. And the Obama connection will always make it interesting. I bet Obama ends up attending some games, which could bring some limelight to the league.

Montgomery will surely teach Cal how to break a 1-3-1 the next time we play them. It will be fun to watch tactically how we go about it in the next meeting.

Aside from all this strategy talk, it was fun simply to watch Schaftenaar drop incredible shot after incredible shot for OSU. I hope Pac10 names him Player of The Week tomorrow morning, though Haynes could get it to. Or perhaps UW's Thomas. But ya gotta give it to OSU, no?

We all thought Ben Braun was toast and Mike Montgomery resurrected, right? Well, the gauntlet has been dropped. We should all watch with interest to see how the two coaches do in their respective recruiting battles. One would think Monty would have a CLEAR advantage:

1) More success at Stanford than Braun had at Cal

2) NBA experience - kids like that as college is viewed merely as a pathway to the pros, and the coach that knows that path is viewed as helping them best.

3) Braun was fired, Montgomery hired.

So, in their first recruiting efforts:

Monty has two available scholarship openings, and brought in:

1) Bak Bak, Ht: 6-10 Wt: 200, PF originally from Sudan, playing h.s. ball in Sun Valley, Calif. Bak is rated the #156 best PF in the nation by ESPN, who list other possible schools as Louisville, Oregon State, Pitt, Gonzaga, and USC. Rivals.com adds SDSU to that list, but shows that only Cal, OSU, and Gonzaga offered scholarships.Yes, his first and last name are the same, a cultural naming tradition. 

2) Markhuri Sanders-Frison, Ht: 6-8 Wt: 265, PF, originally from Portland, OR, first played at a Junior College in Arizona, now his sophomore year at a JC in TX. ESPN says Sanders-Frison was also considering Idaho, USF, TCU. Rivals states that Cal and those 3 schools were the only ones to extend a scholarship offer, while other schools on the "interest" list were: Arizona State, UAB, Minn, Providence, SDSU, USD, and USF.

That Monty brought in two Power Forwards is not surprising. Everyone knows that the team is in need of a more dominating presence. Perhaps a little surprising that he didn't go for a true center, but let's face it - those are rare, and gobbled up early. Monty didn't have the full recruiting time period required to do a complete job. 

Meanwhile, Braun had the same time period, and is at a less enviable school. So, let's see how he did.

1) Arsalan Kazemi, Ht: 6'8" Wt: 190, #44 rated PF by ESPN, with other suitors being Louisville, Syracuse, Seton Hall, Maryland

2) Tamir Jackson, Ht: 6'2" Wt: 180, #33 rated SG from Newark, NJ. UAB also extended a scholarship.

3) Chris Eversly, Ht: 6'5" Wt: 200, SF from Chicago. Offers came in from Wright St. and U of Ill-Chicago.

4) Egheosa Edomwonyi, Ht: 6'7" Wt: 225 from Princeton, NJ, also UofPenn and Cleveland St. offered scholarships.

Here is a story about Braun's 1st year recruiting effort:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/basketball/mens/notebook?page=hallpass/090114

The 2009 class is locked up, for the most part. So, all the above is history.

But the recruiting wars are well under way for NEXT year. Based upon Cal has 5 total scholarships to hand out for the class of 2010, and one has been filled by Allen Crabbe, from LA.  He appears to be a 6'4", thinly built, sweet shooting guard. If interested, you can do google searches on any of these kids in order to read more about them. Let's hope Montgomery and staff kick butt!

The class he brings in will arguably be the most important thing he does at Cal; (they can give non-binding verbal commitments at any time, but I believe they officially sign in November). Lay and egg with these recruits, and subsequent greats will stay away, seeing no talent to partner with. Grab at least 1 Blue Chip and Montgomery will set the stage for others to follow. 2010 is a VERY important recruiting class for Cal. Pure and simple, ya gotta have talent to win. 

 

Okay, so I have no inside knowledge of any of this stuff - just looking at the charts. But since we have 4 more scholarships to offer for 2010 grads, here are some highly rated players based out west that we should be glad to get. (We already have a verbal from 6'4" shooting guard Allen Crabbe. Now to get the other positions while we can. (In no particular order, just going thru the rating sites and looking for west coast talent that has not yet committed to other schools):

A. Anthony Brown

Small forward
Huntington Beach (CA) Ocean View

Ht: 6-foot-6
Wt: 180 lbs

Anthony is rated by Rivals the #5 Small Forward in the nation. Cal is on his "interest" list, but we have apparently not offered him a scholarship at this time, while Arizona, ASU, Stanford, TCU, San Diego, USC, and Washington State have.

 

B. Terrence Jones

Small forward
Portland (OR) Jefferson

Ht: 6-foot-8
Wt: 220 lbs

Cal, Georgetown, ASU, Oregon State, Washington have apparently already offered him a scholarship. Jones is listed as the #10 Small Forward in the country.

 

C. Daniel Alexander

Power forward
Dripping Springs (TX) Dripping Springs

Ht: 6-foot-8
Wt: 195 lbs

Alexander is shown to have high interest in Arizona, medium interest in Texas and Texas A&M, and low interest in Kansas and USC, with A&M being the only school that has made a scholarship offer, supposedly. He is listed as the #8 power forward in the nation, and most have already committed to other schools. He is from a Western state, and seeing as how he has a high interest in playing at Arizona in the Pac-10, I think he can easily be shown to come a little bit further to Cal, a much better program at this point, and in a much better metropolis. Come take a look, Daniel! 

 

D. Josh Smith

Center
Covington (WA) Kentwood

Ht: 6-foot-10
Wt: 270 lbs

Smith is apparently THE BIG DOG when it comes to recruiting for this class. He is currently listed as the #1 center in the class of 2010. Here are the lists of schools that have already offered scholarships: Arizona, Cal, Kentucky, Louisville, Oregon, Oregon State, Texas, Stanford, Tennessee, UCLA, Washington, Washington State, Gonzaga. Sounds like he could go pretty much anywhere he'd like. Go Monty, Go! Everyone knows you are a great coach to post players and could help Smith prepare for the next level.

 

E. Damian Terry

Power forward
Colorado Springs (CO) Sand Creek

Ht: 6-foot-8

Terry is a 4-star post player with interest in Colorado and Arizona.  Why not take a jaunt to the Bay Area and see what good things are brewing in Berkeley, Damian?

 

F. Moses Morgan

Shooting guard
Las Vegas (NV) Palo Verde

Ht: 6-foot-4
Wt: 200 lbs

Even though we already got Crabbe at shooting guard, you can never have enough shooters, and we all know that GUARDS WIN IN COLLEGE HOOPS, not necessarily centers. Gee, just take a look at this year's squad. So, I recommend Mike Montgomery places his bet on this Vegas kid and offers him a scholarship. Morgan is rated the 18th best SG, most are already committed elsewhere, or reside on the far east coast, and the 55th best prospect in the 2010 class. There are no colleges listed for Morgan, which means he's holding his cards close to his vest. I'll bet he and Crabbe could create a devastating scoring combination punch for the Bears. But, and here's where I show my inexperience in such matters, would the lower rated Crabbe get freaked out and decommit if her learned of another player in his position coming into the program? Hmmmm...

 

G. Terrance Ross | Shooting Guard

Hometown: Portland, OR 
Montrose Christian School (MD)
Ht: 6'6" Wt: 180

Ross may be considered the No. 1 2-guard prospect out West in the Class of 2010. He possesses a Jordan-esque frame with long arms and his athleticism is off the charts. He has excellent quickness and he had a number of resounding dunks over the weekend that were quite impressive. His jump shot is tight and he gets great lift on it. His shot is consistent out to the stripe and off the mid-range pull-up as well. If there is an area of his game that may come into question it's whether he can break down defenders off the bounce. Overall, if he continues to develop his skills and feel for the game, he has a chance to be outstanding.

Some confusion over Ross - while ESPN lists him out of Portland, he's shown to be playing h.s. ball out of Rockville, MD, a former home of yours truly. This could be a great 3, wing pick-up for Montgomery. In fact, we have already offered him a scholarship, along with Washington, Arizona State, and Oregon State. However, he appears to have his heart set on UCLA, as it is shown with HIGH interest, though no scholarship has apparently been offered. Who knows what you can believe on these websites, or what a kid and his family are discussing. One thing appears certain, however - we Cal fans should be real lucky to land this highly touted talent! Come on down to Berkeley, Ross. I think you'll love it here! We have a real need for a wing player on this team - the position is entirely open and waiting for you to fill it up from Day One on campus. You'll be a star!

 

SUMMARY:

We know that Monty's got to get some bigs out of these available slots for 2010. Sanders-Frison will come in next year as a junior and be around only 1 year with the 2010 freshman. Same with Kamp. The only depth we'd have is with Bak Bak, and who knows how that's gonna be. We need to get some big bodies in 2010 - that's a Montgomery specialty. 

Stay tuned, Bear fans, it will be fun to watch this offseason stuff unfold! Remember, 80% of the game is recruiting - the game before the games.

 

 

 

Okay, I'm hoping to make some noise with that Title to this post. Did anyone see the ASU - Arizona just now (Wed, Jan 21)? What the heck is Dave Libby thinking, calling a foul on Jordan Hill as AU attempted a tying bucket with 12 seconds left, other than, "oh my gosh, I need ASU to win this one".  And then a technical foul was immediately called on the AU bench when they rightfully protested.

This was a disgusting! I sure hope the Pac 10 office in Walnut Creek investigates. If Dave Libby isn't involved in some Tim Donaghy type scandal, then he should be reprimanded, if not suspended.  

I look forward to hearing a statement from the Pac 10 on this one!! As a fan of college basketball, I'm pissed. That type of thing simply ruins the game we all love. I generally try to be understanding of refs - it's a tough game to call, with so much happening so quickly. But that was an isolated play at the top of the key that had all eyes on it and was a normal, non-call, screen.  What a joke! Poor Arizona.