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Basketball: UCLA game thread
By Jeff Faraudo
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 at 7:01 pm in Basketball, Gameday.
FINAL SCORE: UCLA 76, Cal 75, OT. Sorry about stepping away . . . an overtime game on deadline . . . well, you don’t really care. Anyway, Michael Roll swished the game-winner with 1.8 seconds left after corraling a deflected pass at the right elbow. “We got down to the end where we needed to get a stop and we got the stop,” Cal coach Mike Montgomery said, “but didn’t get the loose ball. Roll got it, and there you go.” Said UCLA coach Ben Howland, “Honestly, at the end of the game on the last play, we were lucky. The bounce went our way.” They may have been lucky on the final play, but Montgomery acknowledged the Bruins were the aggressors from the start. They took away Cal’s 3-point shot and the Bears’ fastbreak and hurt them with offensive rebounds. Simply put, the Bears aren’t going to win often when they shoot 2-for-18 from 3-PT. Robertson finished with a season-high 24 points, Christopher had 14 and nine rebounds and Randle scored 11, but shot 5-for-16 and missed his first seven 3-pointers.
WE’RE GOING TO OVERTIME: It’s 65-all. Christopher stole the ball from Nelson with six seconds left, but his 3-point try and Robertson’s wild tip attempt did not go down. Robertson tied it for the last time by making a drive with 38.9 seconds left. He has 20 points.
3:44 2nd H: Even at 58-all, although Lee is shooting 1-and-1 after the timeout. Cal is 1-for-15 from 3-PT, UCLA 8-for-18, including 6-for-7 in the half. Deadline beckons and I may be gone for a bit — will be back ASAP.
7:58 2nd H: Another 3-pointer by Roll and UCLA is within 54-53. Nelson going to the FT line for two. UCLA is 6-for-6 from 3PT in the half — three each by Roll and Dragovic. Cal is 1-for-11 for the game.
9:39 2nd H: The Bruins have battled back to trail just 52-50 after another 3-pointer by Roll. Randle took a break — he’s shooting 2-for-11 — but is back on the floor. Amoke did not leave — he has hree fouls and is still playing.
11:46 2nd H: Cal led 42-30 after a layup by Robertson with 15:37, but UCLA has made four 3-pointers, the last three by Dragovic and now trails just 50-45. Randle, meanwhile, is 0-for-6 from 3-PT. Cal struggling outside vs. the Bruins’ zone — 1-for-11 from deep – - but when the Bears move the ball, they are able to get good shots from mid-range or at the rim. The Bears need to find Dragovic. Amoke, who took a turn on him, is out now with his third foul.
15:53 2nd H: Cal’s lead is 40-30 after a reverse layup by Robertson with 16:36 left that pushed him over 1,000 career points — to 1,001. UCLa has turned the ball over on four straight possessions, the last one on a charge call against Lee against Randle.
17:05 2nd H: Cal leads 38-30 after a steal and layup by Christopher — that’s 15 points off UCLA turnovers. The Bruins had climbed within 34-30 when Malcolm Lee, who had missed his first six shots, scored a layup in transition. UCLA opened the half in a man-to-man defense, but has switched a couple times since.
HALFTIME: Cal 34,UCLA 26. A last-second driving shot by Malcolm Lee went in, then was disallowed after a video review by officials. The Bears scored just two points in the final 3:19 of the half, shooting 1-for-7 during that stretch. Christopher has 12 points, but Randle is 2-for-7 against the UCLA zone and has only four. Rebounds are about even now — 19-18 for UCLA. Bruins have eight turnovers to two for Cal, helping the Bears forge a 13-0 edge on points off turnovers, the difference in the game, along with UCLA’s 2-for-8 effort at the FT line. Cal shooting 15-for-35 (.429), UCLA up to 11-for-26 (.426).
3:54 1st H: Cal leads 30-21 and really isn’t playing that well, at least on offense. UCLA’s zone is keeping the Bears from developing a real rhythm. The Bears are 1-for-5 from 3-PT. Amoke has provided a little lift of the bench and has a couple baskets. UCLA is 1-for-6 at the FT line.
7:24 1st H: Cal’s lead is 23-15 after a fastbreak layup by Randle off a steal from Amoke. Reeves Nelson just picked up his second foul of the game and is going out. Cal is shooting 10-for-22, just 1-for-5 from 3PT. UCLA at 7-for-17, 1-for-7 from deep. UCLA has six turnovers.
10:18 1st H: Ben Howland is holding a fire sale on timeouts — just called another one. Cal leads 19-11 after a 3-pointer by Theo Robertson countered one by UCLA’s Jerime Anderson.
11:51 1st H: Cal leads 15-8. Nikola Knezevic just fouled Reeves Nelson, which isn’t a bad move. The freshman from Modesto Christian HS already has missed two FTs and is shooting less than 54 percent from the line. He’ll try two after the timeout. Cal converting 7-for-15 from the field, UCLA 4-for-13, including clank-for-5 from the 3PT. UCLA still has a 10-7 rebounding edge.
12:57 1st H: Here’s how you beat a zone defense — steal the ball and go 65 feet for a two-handed dunk. That’s what Christopher just did, prompting a UCLA timeout. Cal leads 13-8.
14:40 1st H: Cal leads 9-8. It’s a little ragged so far. Bears are shooting 4-for-10, UCLA 4-for-11. Christopher is the only player on either team with more than one basket — he has four points. UCLA is hurting Cal on the offensive boards — four already. PG Jerime Anderson is coming in for the first time.
THIS SCORE . . . HARD TO BELIEVE: Seattle U 99, Oregon State 48. Honest. No kidding. In Corvallis. And Elgin Baylor wasn’t even playing for Seattle. Just when you thought the Pac-10 had no more opportunity to sustain any more “bad” losses.
THIS SCORE JUST IN: No. 1 Kansas (14-0), trailing much of the game, staved off the upset and beat Cornell 71-66 at Allen Fieldhouse. Why does this matter? A KU loss would have put a dent in Cal’s strength-of-schedule rating. But Sherron Collins scored 33 points, including 6-for-7 from the FT line in the final 3 minutes and the Jayhawks survived.
STARTING LINEUPS: Cal will go with the usual five — Jerome Randle, Patrick Christopher, Theo Robertson, Jamal Boykin and Markhuri Sanders-Frison. For UCLA, it’s Malcolm Lee, Michael Roll, Tyler Honeycutt, Nikola Dragovic and Reeves Nelson. Cal sophomore Jorge Gutierrez, out with a sprained right knee, is dressed in a bleu velvet Cal sweats, sitting on the bench, watching his teammates warm up.
Greetings everyone. I’m here at Haas Pavilion and we’ll get under way in about 30 minutes.
KAMP UPDATE: Ran into Harper Kamp in the hallway earlier and he said he’s feeling better and practicing more these days. He said he has no regrets, though, about opting to red-shirt this season.
“The hardest decision I’ve ever made,” he said. “But it’s working out so far.”
I asked Kamp if he expects that sitting out this season will allow him to return next season with a pain-free knee. “That’s the plan,” he said.
He seemed happy and content with the road he’s taking.
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January 6th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
I haven’t seen all the games this year, but every time I watch, I’m amazed by how underwhelming sanders-frison is. I thought he was improving. He makes mistake after mistake. Very strange.
January 6th, 2010 at 9:47 pm
This is disgusting the only question is whether the Cal football or basketball teams are the biggest underachievers.
January 6th, 2010 at 9:50 pm
HAHAHAHA…Daddy just texted me from the game with the word CHOKE. I didn’t see the game because I don’t like basketball but I thought you guys were supposed to win the Pac 10.
January 6th, 2010 at 9:51 pm
We should be like Harvard or MIT -we are tops at academics why even bother with sports?
January 6th, 2010 at 10:41 pm
OK, here’s my comments/gripes-
1) How can Montgomery not change up his defense in the 2nd half? More pointedly, how can he not throw a 3-2 zone out for 3-4 possessions to try to break up the UCLA 3 pt shooting drill. Roll and Dragovich werer all open by running their defenders thru screens). Zone would have thrown that off. Frustrating to watch. MY NOTE- this is the first time I’ve criticized Montgomery.
2) The only way theat UCLa could have woin this game was the 3 point shooting. What an utter lack of attention paid to their only 2 3-pt shooters. Even as the continued to drill them, there was not more effort to take awayu the 3.
3) Dont you have to try to shoot that badly from 3? What a choke.
4) Maybe we don’t really have a big 3- Christopher and Randle were both absent. That is inexcusable at home, against UCLA, in your senior year, when you are favored to win a down Pac 10 when Cal hasn’t won the conference in like 200 years- Ok, it’s actually somewhere in the 50′s.
5) I thought we would be fine not having Jorge for these 2 games. Bottom line, with Jorge, we win tonight. He ALWAYS shows up. That guy is a winner.
6) Not going to blame this on the refs, but with that said, want to point out a few ref-related screw ups. One, UCLA went to the line in the 2nd half on a lot of ticky tack fouls, Cal was not getting similar calls. Two, and this was critical- late in the game, Dragovich drives to the key, comes to a jump stop with both feet- he lifts one while pump faking (while establishing the other foot as a pivot foot), puts that foot down and lifts up his pivot foot while subsequently putting up a shot. That was as blatant a traveling as you’ll ever see. Whistle blows, traveling, right? Nope, ticky tack foul on Cal. He traveled before the phantom shot. In saw it in real time, rewound ther dvr to be sure- blatant. 3 refs missed it. Dragovich made 2 free throws. Instead of a turnover to Cal, 2 gift points for UCLA. Third- Randall drives to the middle of the key in OT, shoots a tear drop basket, while Malcolm Lee lagging behind cuts Randall’s legs completely out, causing Randall to hit the deck. In what was the most blatant foul of the game, an “and 1″ sure ft point gets missed. It’s mind boggling how these perpetually bad Pac 10 refs miss the most imporant and obvious calls game after game, season after season.
7) For heaven’s sake, just win the flippin’ game. I mean, can Cal finally win these kinds of games in one of the two major sports? Destined to always not to. In a year where the Pac 10 is there to be had (sound familiar?), Cal will find a way not too. Or it will be so painful and frustrating that even that will take years off our lives.
January 6th, 2010 at 10:46 pm
Hate to agree with Moren and especially due to the childish way she frequently states things, but …
CAL=CHOKERS. CAL=Under-Achievers. CAL=Head Cases. Man, it just never ends, does it?
January 6th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
Randle was very unimpressive on D tonight. He still has a lot to learn about being a leader. Montgomery’s coaching was pretty weak too. He should take a lot of blame for not setting up a better game plan and getting these guys playing harder. Being disapointed is not going to get it done. Refs really bailed UCLA out tonight too. Calls were very one sided.
January 6th, 2010 at 11:00 pm
I hate to say it, but Monty has not shown he can win the big game. Maybe the triple-OT game last year against UW, but anything else when it really mattered? I think Cal needs to go 12-6 in the Pac-10 (20-10 overall before the tourney) to ensure itself a spot. Losing at home to UCLA is not how we can get it done.
January 6th, 2010 at 11:30 pm
Tough game to watch, still hoisting the 3′s to live and die by. no inside game in the 2nd half. agree on Sanders-Frison being underwhelming, 2 fouls in what, 5 seconds? he looked ok in the first half though.
only way we beat UW last year in trip-OT was on the lucky bounce that we got to Seeley. tonight lucky bounce didn’t go the Bears way
they clearly miss JG but Amoke stepped up pretty well till fouling out. big 3 needed to be bigger. Randall was bad again – 41 min, 5-16, 1-8 3ptr, 2 assists, 11 points and didn’t get to the line at all.
January 6th, 2010 at 11:37 pm
Being a Cal sports fan whether football or basketball is like being married to a junkie or drunk. You hear about the potential and see the high rankings- you think they can get it together- then the lose to the worst UCLA team in 50 years – at home. You feel burned. Football or basketball starting out the season ranked 12 or 13 and then unranked. IF we get an NCAA berth this year its because the rest of the pac 10 is supposed to suck, and they can’t by their rules keep all the teams out.
January 6th, 2010 at 11:48 pm
I was at the game, a few points:
1) With Jorge, Cal definitely wins this game. His little burst of defensive and offensive intensity would have stemmed the tide against UCLA in the second half.
2) In the first half we were getting great inside shots, pretty much at will. For some reason we went away from the inside game in the second half, and it cost us. Of course it would not have mattered a lick if every shot Randle took for the first 38 minutes of the game wasn’t rimming out…
3) Reffing was terrible as usual. The Dragovich travel/offensive foul that turned into a foul on Cal was atrocious. Lots of ticky tack fouls on Cal in the second half and OT…fouls that were NOT being called on UCLA.
4) MSF has been underwhelming all season long, which is a little disappointing as he is a Junior, not a frosh.
5) Why not start Max at the beginning of the game, and/or the OT? He obviously gives us a better chance to win the tip off than the 6’8” MSF. And Monty could still sub MSF in at the first opportunity if that’s who he wants playing the most minutes at the 5 spot.
6) Very disappointing to lose AGAIN to UCLA at home…hoping we get some revenge at Pauley. More globally, I am praying this team seizes the moment this year. Very, very, VERY rarely has there been an opportunity this ripe for Cal (or anyone) to win the Pac 10…
January 7th, 2010 at 12:05 am
I don’t know what Moren said, but her team just lost to a team we destroyed by 25 points…just sayin’…
January 7th, 2010 at 12:26 am
Moren, please tell us, how is the USC basketball program doing these days?
January 7th, 2010 at 12:39 am
Eric, I’m not saying monty can win the big games, but today certainly wasn’t a big game. Unless you consider other Pac 10 games big games. B/c Monty sure won a lot of those.
January 7th, 2010 at 5:25 am
There is no excuse for what happened last night. I agree that Jorge is the lynchpin. Randle Is out of control and sanders frison is out of his league out there as is nikola. Nice guys, I’m sure, but not helping in the slightest. this game looked like your standard issue tedford phone-in.
January 7th, 2010 at 6:08 am
Cm give it up. To have to say “With Jorge we win” at home against the worst UCLA team in ages shows we SUCK. UCLA might have had some injuries too. POOR POOR excuse.
Here CM say something you can feel is true. “With Jason Kidd and Kevin Johnson at their prime we would have won this game” There! Unfortunately we don’t get players like that anymore, but hey if we did have them we would have won- feel better?
January 7th, 2010 at 6:35 am
As I mentioned earlier, this is the first time I have criticized Montogmery. but he got out-coached in the 2nd half. Yeah, ucla was unconscious from 3 and the refs were killing Cal, but you watch how those guys got/were open. It was all set plays that were designed to get those particular guys open. That is coaching.
What is galling is that you had to know that was the only way ucla had a chance to get back in the game, stay in the game and have a chance to win. How did Montgomery not know that and change up his defense. Imentioned earlier how about a 3-2 or 2-1-2 zone for 3-4 possesions just to try to change their momentum- I mean, what did he have to lose?
Also, many times Cal defenders were got caught flat footed, losing their man, not rotating. and, worst of all, not hustling I mean c’mon, what was that, the 14th game of the season? Very disappointing. I am very disappointed in Montgomery. Please tell me he is not another Tedford in game.
Finally, we all know we have shortcomings upfront. But now know that we can’t count on at least 2 of the “big” three to be there EVERY night in their senior years? Not a good sign. The most painful part of this is how winnable the conference seems to be, just like everybody thought. Just like football. Someone will seize the opportunity. Don’t we just all know in the back of our minds that it won’t be Cal? I guess once again I will have to adjust my expectations and just be glad Braun is gone- just like I am supposed to be jumping for joy that Tedford is here instead of Holmoe. Drats!!
January 7th, 2010 at 6:38 am
PS- Great posts by everyone (save one). How rare is that on any blog? It goes to show the sports/bb IQ of the Cal fan base. At least we can feel good about that…lol. Don’t you wish just it was a little more ignorance is bliss?
January 7th, 2010 at 7:56 am
Nickle,
You are right that it wasn’t a big game in the sense that we were underdogs against a highly ranked opponent (Kansas), it was a national spotlight game (Syracuse) or it was evenly matched on the road (New Mexico, maybe). But it was nonetheless a big game in that (a) it is UCLA, who we haven’t beaten in a long time, (b) it was at home, and (c) since UW lost at home to Oregon, we had a great chance to seize early control of the Pac-10 race, and now we have given it away. Losing on the road to UCLA, even with this year’s squad, I can probably live with. Losing at home – when it really matters NOT to lose at home – sucks. And I have watched quite a few of the games over the last two years, and I am concerned that when we really need to win a game we absolutely can win, we don’t.
January 7th, 2010 at 8:31 am
There is inappropriate leadership on this team. Randle thinks he is the leader but he also thinks bring the leader means taking the game into his own hands. It doesn’t. Everyone else is either too young or too afraid to step up becaus they like Jerome. Pc is a good candidate to lead, as is boykin or Jorge. One I them needs to step up and dictate the tone on the bench and on the court. Randle is a role player. A great player, but not when burdened with the responsibility of leader. He doesn’t know how to handle it.
January 7th, 2010 at 10:32 am
Okay, just reading your posts… an interesting point about Monty and his coaching. The Furd Monty would have been yelling and screaming, right? Did he turn a new leaf? I think they needed a foot up their posterior last night. Gutierrez would have provided that inspiration, but absent him, Monty’s loud voice could have. He didn’t call Timeouts at moments I thought he should. Hmmmm.
January 7th, 2010 at 10:33 am
agree – watching Randall it looks like he thinks that if the game starts slipping that it means that it is time for him personally to strap the team to his back and start bombing away. This strategy has worked a few times in the past but it is *so* counterproductive if his shot isn’t falling.
You’d think that at some point the coaching staff would recognize that this isn’t Randall’s night, tell him in strong words to wait till the lead is secure before trying to get his shot back, and then start playing to his strengths as a 1 – penetrate (baby!), break down the defense with his speed, and then dish dish dish. He should be going solely for assists at that point or layups if he is able to get close to the basket.
But continuing to bomb away while his shot hasn’t been falling all night while the team is falling further and further behind is… (thinks about it) I’d have to say that it is a failure of the coaching staff for not reeling him in when it clearly isn’t his night to shoot it. There are still other ways he can contribute
January 7th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
SteveNTexas: I do not disagree with you at all: with or without Jorge, Cal absolutely needed to win last night’s game. No excuse for not winning. Not to do so was incredibly, incredibly disappointing. BUT, as Gary Radnich likes to say (LOL), two things can be equally true: with Jorge, we no doubt would have won last night. That’s not an excuse, just a fact.
January 7th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
Eric- Very well written post. I couldn’t have said it better. One add- after reading it, I thought that you could have been writing about the football team. That’s not good.
Uh oh- I hadn’t thought of that, but you are right. Montgomery would have been going ballistic in the 2nd half situation last night when he was coaching at Stanford. Every time the camera panned him on the bench after a big ucla play, he was just sitting there. Very curious. It seem like he was sitting back expecting this senior-led team to figure it out.
I am still bitter about how at several obvious junctures last night he could have gone to a zone, a trap, a press- anything to change the avalanche of momentum you could feel coming down on the Bears. But he did nothing. I was at a funeral last night and was on my way home to watch the 2nd half, when on the halftime radio show, both Eddie K. and Matt Foley were going on and on and about how surprised they were that Cal hadn’t gone to a zone on this poor ucla team. They said that if Cal didn’t come out and change the way things were going, ucla could hang around and put themselves in a position to win. Even they get it- I would love to hear someone in the media ask him that question. I am very perplexed about Montgomery here. This is the type of head scratchijg I am used to with Tedford, but I wouldn’t have expected that out of Montgomery.