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Basketball: Morning after Murray
By Jeff Faraudo
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 9:39 am in Basketball.
Some next-day thoughts on Cal’s opening night 75-70 win over Murray State:
– It’s the nature of a game played on Nov. 9 that even a good team may have it together enough to forge an 18-point lead against a team favored to win its conference, but still have enough rough edges to let much of that advantage slip away. If the Bears are doing this a month from now, it’s a cause for worry. On opening night against a capable opponent, hey, it’s a win.
– Mike Montgomery was worried about the Racers’ ability to cause the Bears trouble at the point of attack, but MSU’s quickness also was an issue on defense. Murray had the ability and resolve to get in the face of both Jerome Randle and Patrick Christopher and dare the Bears to beat them with other players. Theo Robertson and Jamal Boykin — both seniors — played solid games start to finish, and Jorge Gutierrez showed improved offensive confidence and calm to go with what he’s always brought on defense.
– Center Markhuri Sanders-Frison will help the Bears, no doubt. He’ll need to stay out of foul trouble because Cal has depth issues up front — at least until Harper Kamp gets back. But Sanders-Frison is just what the Bears needed — some muscle and attitude inside. The guy’s not afraid to bump and grind on defense, he’ll rebound the ball, he seems to see the floor on offense and his scoring will come. He’s still not very tall, but he will make Cal tougher.
– Freshman Brandon Smith drew praise from Montgomery for his solid stint in the first half, but had more trouble when he returned in the second half. All in all, though, a pretty decent opening game.
– The fans love Max Zhang, and he contributed a rebound and a blocked shot in five minutes on the floor. At almost 7-foot-3, he’s going to get fouled, so he needs to make his free throws — he was 0-for-2. He appeared quite nervous Monday night, but his presence alone caused at least one Murray State player to think twice when it seemed he was about to drive the lane. Max isn’t going to reinvent the wheel, but Monty seems willing to be patient with his development. So stayed tuned.
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November 10th, 2009 at 11:04 am
I thought Cal played fairly well and Murray St was a good team that could shoot well. Two areas that hurt us last night were free throws and Jorge’s two offensive lapses later in the 2nd half where he tried to post up a turn-around jumber while being double teamed and a quick long distance shot. Both of those plays resulted with little time off the clock, poor shots and easy transition scores for Murray St. Montgomery let Jorge have it on the next time out. Without those issues I don’t think the lead would have been under 10 in the second half.
Boykin really played much improved over last year.
November 10th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Good insights, Jeff. I like the active blog posts. Would have liked to have seen the Bears go down low to MSF a few more times. Would have helped alleviate pressure on Jerome and PC. All in all, a solid win over a school that will win their conference.
November 10th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Joey, those were my thoughts as well. The defense in the last 10 minutes of the first half and the offense in the first 10 minutes of the second half were the difference in the game. Cal was in control and if not for Jorge’s shot selection it would have been a bigger win. Murray wasn’t supposed to be a great perimeter shooting team and Cal played them that way, but the Racers heated up late.
I think had Murray State been playing UCLA, Arizona, ASU, WSU, USC, or Stanford last night — teams with a lot of new parts — they would have come away with the win. They were physical, athletic, well-coached (especially on defense) and fearless.
They defended Randle and Christopher very well in the first half, but Robertson, Boykin, and Jorge stepped up. Cal is still refining their identity though with the addition of MSF, and I think he’ll become a bigger part of things down the line.
Amoke played solid minutes in the first half. I was surprised he didn’t play much in the second half.
As it was for a first game on Nov. 9 against a quality opponent, I thought Cal performed pretty well. I’d give them a ‘B’ as a team.
November 10th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Following up on GoldenBV’s comment about Amoke, I also found it curious that Omondi had 14 pretty solid minutes in the first half, but very few (maybe 2?) minutes in the second half. Especially since Monty made a comment in the post-game that maybe the starters tired in the second half. Do you know why Omondi did not get more minutes in the second half. I also think it is important for him to get more minutes, because he needs work finishing his shots (he does a great job of getting to the rim and drawing fouls), and I think playing-time is what it is going to take to get there.
November 10th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
JF, great information. Thanks.
I agree, I like what I saw of MSF and he will provide some much needed muscle on the low block.
Maybe it’s wishful thinking on my part but Max didn’t look yoked up exactly but it does seem like his time in the Weight Room is paying off. It was nice to see him running hard end to end.
More TV time/exposure tomorrow.
Go Bears!
November 10th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Great report JF. I look forward to your detailed break downs for the rest of the season. Lets hope Kamp gets better.
Looks to be a great season.