BearTalk

Mike Montgomery hopes the silver lining of Cal’s 75-69 loss at Stanford last Saturday is that his players get serious tonight for Oregon State.

“What you hope happens,” he said, “is they got rocked back a little bit and are going to come back and reassert themselves and maintain a little better focus.”

The Beavers have beaten just one of the past 26 Pac-10 opponents they’ve faced — counting the conference tournament — but there’s no telling how they will come out tonight at Haas Pavilion.

Coach Craig Robinson rejoined the team on Wednesday afternoon in Berkeley after flying back from Washington D.C., where the day before he watched as his brother-in-law, Barack Obama, was sworn in as U.S. president.

It’s also possible the Beavers will be motivated to show Cal assistant Jay John — their coach until his firing at mid-season last year — that they are on the rise.

Montgomery’s concerns include the Beavers’ deliberate style, fueled by a Princeton-based offense and 1-3-1 zone defense.

“I look at Oregon State and they scare me because of the style they’re playing,” Monty said. “What they’re doing is sort of different — another zone team with another zone concept.”

Cal fared well on the opening weekend of the Pac-10 schedule, pocketing wins against Arizona State and its matchup zone and Arizona with its more traditional zone alignment.

“Theirs is a pure 1-3-1 zone,” Montgomery said of the Beavers, “with good size across the middle and up top. They’re using their quickness along the baseline to chase back and forth, but they’re making it hard for you to turn the ball.”

The Bears will need to pass the ball crisply and find holes in the zone in order to solve a defense that is allowing just 63.6 ppg.

Offensively, the Beavers spread the floor, and look for either open 3-pointers or layups against a sleeping defense.

“They have pretty good size and they’re very, very patient on offense,” Montgomery said. “They shorten the game, less possessions, and they make it difficult for you to have a 100-possession game. You’re going to have to execute very well and be focused against them.

“If you’re not patient, they’ll back-cut you to death.”

A particlar challenge is 6-foot-11 center Roeland Schaftenaar, who often steps out high to either shoot the ball or deliver passes to cutters dashing through the lane. His 41 assists are tied for the most on the team.

“Schaftenaar is a perfect fit for what they’re doing as far as the Princeton system,” Montgomery said. “He’s a very smart player, has very good skills. He’s not exceptionally athletic, but he’s very player. He’s fit very nicely into what they’re trying to do.

The Beavers’ top scorer — their only double-digit scorer — actually doesn’t even start. Sophomore guard Calvin Haynes, who sat out the first semester due to academics, has averaged 14.6 points in 10 games. He had 16 points in the Beavers’ upset win over USC two weeks ago.

But Oregon State remains a work in progress on offense, where its 59.5 ppg rank ninth in the Pac-10. They shoot just 32.9 percent from 3-point range (tied 8th in the Pac-10) and rank last in the league in foul-shooting (63.2 percent) and turnover margin (minus-2.4).

HOME AGAIN: The Bears are back at Haas Pavilion for the first time in three weeks, and will be welcomed by their student section as classes resumed this week. Cal is a perfect 11-0 at home, and Montgomery wants to keep it that way.

“You can’t make up home losses,” he said. “A home loss is a double-edged sword because they get a plus, you get a minus. They essentially get two games on you. That’s the way I’ve always looked at it.

“If you’re going to have a chance to compete for the top spots in this conference, you have to win at home and then sneak out what you can on the road. As many as you can.”

PAC-10 SHAKEOUT: Montgomery said he’s a bit surprised there are no unbeaten teams just three weeks into the conference schedule.

“I wouldn’t have necessarily expected that,” he said. “Once you got to last week with UCLA not having lost, I wouldn’t have expected they’d have lost at home (to Arizona State). I thought we had a fair chance to win at Stanford.

“But I don’t think anybody is so superior they’re going to march through this unscathed.”

Cal, UCLA and Washingon all enter play tonight with 4-1 Pac-10 records. The Bruins are at Washington State, while the Huskies play host to USC.

TIPOFF: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Haas Pavilion, Berkeley.
TV: None. RADIO: 1550 AM.

NOTES: Cal has won seven straight and 20 of the past 21 meetings vs. Oregon State . . . The Beavers are 1-5 on the road this season, have lost 18 straight Pac-10 games away from home, and haven’t beaten Cal in the Bay Area since 1997-98 . . . Jerome Randle pocketed his 300th career assist last Saturday at Stanford, and needs 10 more to move into 10th place on Cal’s all-time list . . . Patrick Christopher is 41 points shy of reaching 1,000 points for his career . . . Theo Robertson, who leads the Pac-10 in 3-point accuracy at 58.3 percent, currently sits atop Cal’s career chart in that category at 45.0 percent.

 
   PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS:

   Cal (15-3, 4-1):
   PF Jamal Boykin, 6-8, Jr., 9.9 ppg, 6.2 rpg
   SF Theo Robertson, 6-5, Jr., 12.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg
   C Jordan Wilkes, 7-0, Jr., 4.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg
   SG Patrick Christopher, 6-5, Jr., 15.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg
   PG Jerome Randle, 5-10, Jr., 18.7 ppg, 5.1 apg

   Oregon State (6-10, 1-5):
   PF Daniel Deane, 6-8, So., 7.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg
   C Roeland Schaftenaar, 6-11, Jr., 7.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg
   SG Seth Tarver, 6-5, Jr., 6.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg
   SG Lathen Wallace, 6-3, So., 6.8 ppg, 2.0 rpg
   PG Rickey Claitt, 6-2, Sr., 7.2 ppg, 2.6 apg