Cal just doesn't play smart basketball.

Mods, please remove this attempt to jump the game thread to the game thread.

SFCityBear said:

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Alkiadt said:

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HateRed said:

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Cal just doesn't play smart basketball.

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Disagree. Get real.
At this point they're just not talented enough.
It would be nice to have the #1 recruit in the nation in addition to his older brother. But we weren't smart enough to hire their dad as an assistant coach.

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And I'll respectfully disagree with you. If Cal could to take USC to being just one bucket behind at the 2 minute mark, then they were talented enough to win the game. This is the first game this season, when Cal's entire rotation was present and able to play, and their best player was not yet back at full strength. Cal was talented enough to beat both USC and UCLA at Haas, and I think both USC and UCLA know that. Maybe not good enough to beat these teams in LA or in Las Vegas, but talented enough to beat them in Berkeley. Put a big crowd of screaming fans in Haas, and I think Cal wins both these games.

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SFCityBear, I'm curious why you don't think Cal could win in LA or Vegas against the UCLA and USC teams this year. Is there really a home court advantage if there are no fans in the stands? I tend to agree with you that Cal could win a game against UCLA or USC, but I would have to also concede that the odds are not in Cal's favor overall regardless of where the game is played (at least this year).

very encouraged by both games. Helps recruits understand Cal is not hopeless.

Joel Brown...15 points..two treys..seven rebounds...Becoming one of my favorite players. D.J. Thorpe..6 rebounds..

helltopay1 said:

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Joel Brown...15 points..two treys..seven rebounds...Becoming one of my favorite players. D.J. Thorpe..6 rebounds..

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those two and Grant had good games
Kelly too, especially defensively

Great to have Bradley back

if we can get our shooters to get back on track we have something

01Bear said:

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SFCityBear said:

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Alkiadt said:

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HateRed said:

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Cal just doesn't play smart basketball.

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Disagree. Get real.
At this point they're just not talented enough.
It would be nice to have the #1 recruit in the nation in addition to his older brother. But we weren't smart enough to hire their dad as an assistant coach.

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And I'll respectfully disagree with you. If Cal could to take USC to being just one bucket behind at the 2 minute mark, then they were talented enough to win the game. This is the first game this season, when Cal's entire rotation was present and able to play, and their best player was not yet back at full strength. Cal was talented enough to beat both USC and UCLA at Haas, and I think both USC and UCLA know that. Maybe not good enough to beat these teams in LA or in Las Vegas, but talented enough to beat them in Berkeley. Put a big crowd of screaming fans in Haas, and I think Cal wins both these games.

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SFCityBear, I'm curious why you don't think Cal could win in LA or Vegas against the UCLA and USC teams this year. Is there really a home court advantage if there are no fans in the stands? I tend to agree with you that Cal could win a game against UCLA or USC, but I would have to also concede that the odds are not in Cal's favor overall regardless of where the game is played (at least this year).

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I'm mostly going by the record. Cal is 5-4 at home and 2-6 away from home. And two of those road losses were by blowouts, to UCLA and Colorado. Cal has lost 4 games at home, but none were blowouts. Some pundits have said there is still some home court advantage due to the schedules and travel time for a visiting team on long bus trips during the lockdowns, but not as much of an advantage, perhaps, as a visiting team playing in arenas filled with hostile fans.

There is always some home court advantage, even with no fans in the stands, I believe, due to the difference in the floors, the rims, and the background when you are shooting at the basket. That Oregon floor is one example. I would find it distracting. I don't know how much uniformity there is in rims, floors, and backgrounds today. In my day, some floors were like playing on concrete, some were on springs and different feelings in between. Some rims were tight, some loose, and some anywhere in between. Some backboards were glass, but most were wood, and the outdoor half-moons were all made of steel. Back in Hank Luisetti's day, courts were surrounded by a chain link fence, so there was that to worry about running into. And in some cases, the schedule and travel in bad weather, has always been iffy, like traveling to and from the Palouse, which can be very tiring. Players and teams usually feel more comfortable playing at home, visiting teams and players not so much.

SFCityBear said:

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HoopDreams said:

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helltopay1 said:

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Joel Brown...15 points..two treys..seven rebounds...Becoming one of my favorite players. D.J. Thorpe..6 rebounds..

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those two and Grant had good games
Kelly too, especially defensively

Great to have Bradley back

if we can get our shooters to get back on track we have something

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Betley is in a bad slump. One thing is that if Cal's shooters need to get back on track, they need to be on the floor. I'm not sure why Hyder is playing so much. He is not a good three point shot, as yet. I agree with him backing up Brown, but to play him at the same time as Brown, puts Foreman on the bench. If you need three point shooting, Foreman needs to be on the floor as much as possible. Bradley, Anticevich, Foreman,and Betley are the best we have, with Brown starting to look like he may belong in that group. Foreman played only 16 minutes in that game. Maybe the matchup was bad, but USC was playing a lot of zone. One option would be to limit Betley's minutes, until he makes some baskets, or to limit Hyder's off-guard minutes to get Foreman on the floor to shoot threes. It is what he does.

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Exactly. Bentley cost us two games, in my opinion. Im sure he did not miss on purpose and I like him but Foreman should have gotten more minutes.