The other bigs (Kravish and Soloman) are good and Kravish is getting better. Soloman seems to better understand that his primary job is to get rebounds and block shots, not score. Smith was an adequate starter and a really good reserve. Thurman is an unexpected surprise at reserve forward and appears to be able to add significant minutes. If Murray can continue to play like he did against Utah, that would be a very welcome surprise addition to the bench strength, although I’ve never thought he was a good shooter. Hope the Utah game was not an aberration. Maybe Rossi will come out of nowhere and be able to contribute significantly by year end.

This appears to be a Cal team that is jelling during the year, like all good Montgomery teams, and will be ready for post-season play. I would not be surprised if Cal can win two games in the NCAA’s. Cal’s only weakness is when they play teams with a lot of big, powerful guys up front. That’s when they don’t match up well and get beat up, and beat, like the Missouri game.

This could likely be Cal’s last excellent team for years unless recruiting picks up.

If Cal and Stanford are still tied for 1st (or #1 and #2), Jan. 29th will be a VERY interesting day. Glad that one’s at Cal.