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Basketball: Analyzing the Bears from a distance
By Jeff Faraudo
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 at 11:08 pm in Basketball, Gameday.
I wasn’t at The Pit for Cal’s 86-78 loss to New Mexico, but I managed to find it (thanks to my local sports pub) on satellite TV. A few thoughts:
– The Bears actually gave a pretty good effort, considering all they’re dealing with these days (injury & illness), plus the circumstances of the day (foul trouble & mile-high elevation). They led 66-60 with just under 11 minutes left, then got outscored 26-12 the rest of the way. During that time, they appeared to be on their heels defensively, and relied too much on quick perimeter shots on offense. That didn’t work because they didn’t make a 3-pointer over the final 13:45, and were 3-for-13 from the arc in the second half.
– The roster was diminished thusly: The Bears were without Theo Robertson (foot), who stayed home, and Harper Kamp (knee), who traveled but only to help in practice. They got just 8 minutes (and 3 points) from Markhuri Sanders-Frison, still recovering from the flu, and only 9 minutes(and 0 points) from reserve forward Omondi Amoke, who was battling a cold and fouled out midway through the second half. Those are four guys who play the 3-4-5 positions, leaving the Bears in a bad way up front.
– Max Zhang gave it a shot, but the quick and small Lobos were a tough matchup for the 7-foot-2 1/4 sophomore.
– As a result, everyone else had to play heavy minutes: Patrick Christopher 40, Jerome Randle 38, Jorge Gutierrez a season-high 32. Christopher had 15 points, five rebounds and four steals, but shot 5-for-14 and didn’t score after the first possession of the second half. Randle had 20 points and seven assists, but couldn’t hit from deep late in the game. Gutierrez had 10 points, four rebounds and four assists.
– Another excellent effort from senior forward Jamal Boykin, who had his second straight 20-point performance with 21 points and 13 rebounds.
– Coach Mike Montgomery said earlier this week that big efforts by the Bears in road wins vs. UNLV and Utah were great boosts to the Bears’ confidence last season. The issue Wednesday night was not effort, but the result wasn’t there.
– While it seems certain Kamp won’t return this season, the Bears will benefit substantially when Robertson comes back off the foot injury that has sidelined him the past five games. Over and over on Wednesday, Randle penetrated and drew a defender, looking to find the open man. That guy rarely was Christopher, who opponents won’t leave open. When it was someone else, that guy rarely delivered (3-for-9) the open 3-pointer that Robertson likely would bury.
– Bottom line: The Bears have to be better than this if they hope to challenge for the Pac-10 title. Will that happen if they get healthy and whole again? We’ll have to wait and see.
– Iowa State visits on Saturday for the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series game at Haas Pavilion. The Cyclones started 6-0, but have dropped their past two games, falling 67-65 to Northwestern, then 63-60 to a solid Northern Iowa club tonight.
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December 3rd, 2009 at 8:09 am
that venue was insane. crowds make a HUGE difference, and the Pit was going off. they even stormed the court when it was over. the players were pumped up and wanted it more. i know we have a lot of injuries, but as the game went on, you could see the bears just kind of give up. they showed little heart. we need the same intensity we had in the triple OT game at washington, for EVERY game. monty’s got to get these guys pumped up, and somebody on the court needs to take the lead as well. jorge didn’t play with confidence last night. timid on his drives and on almost every shot. max looks better every game. that follow-up jam would have been huge. he looked like he wanted to take over the game, but then sort of gave up after missing that jam. we took way too many ill-advised 3s. as if we just expect them to go in, whenever we fire them up. very little patience, late in the game. we’ve GOT to start winning tough games. we can’t just give up because a couple guys are hurt. kamp is done for the year. accept it and move on. come on bears. you’re better than this.
December 3rd, 2009 at 8:51 am
they didn’t give up, that’s ridiculous. not sure what game you were watching.
the Bears gave a great effort with a shorthanded and tired team in the second half. yes the shot selection was poor, but we didn’t have the talent to even pass the ball around to get a decent shot, so not sure what you expect when you say they gave up.
we got homered! check the game tape for the phantom fouls in the second half. Randle’s hand-check with 3 minutes. crappy refs make calls with the home crowd and that was a classic case. we shy away from contact and that hurts us, but there were so many awful calls both ways, but more that favored them.
watch Duke or UNC at home if you want an even better example of refs homering a road team.
December 3rd, 2009 at 10:02 am
New Mexico was unranked and although their home record is good – I doubt they had tough opponents. We need to do better than excuses.
December 3rd, 2009 at 11:15 am
No excuses, Cal just needs live bodies, not injured or ill. Getting Theo back and his 15 ppg would be a big start. Jorge and MSF not ill would be big as well. Cal would have likely have won every game except maybe Cuse and OSU (with a chance for a win).
December 3rd, 2009 at 1:06 pm
C’mon guys…how many other teams down 4 of their starting/heavily-contributing players would still be as competitive as this in a notoriously tough arena. New Mexico has always been a solid basketball program and there is no way this was going to be an easy game no matter what. If the effort was there, then I am not worried. Let these guys get some perspective on what it takes to WIN. A high preseason ranking and a Pac-10 1st-place media poll don’t cut it. Fortunately, the PAC-10 schedule is what matters the most and we can kick butt in Jan/Feb/Mar when everyone is healthy. Who knows? Maybe getting kicked around a little will light the fire in these guys to not take anything for granted when our conference foes start showing up.