south bender;842429533 said:

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Isn't it more beware long travel?

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sb, that's correct particularly for a team with minimal proven depth that is learning new offensive & defensive schemes

a key component of the cal basketball schedule is the minimization of missed school days in berkeley...the bears only missed 3+ days this entire fall with the nyc roadtrip to madison square garden...the team traveled to fresno & reno on saturdays for practices at the opponents' arenas, played afternoon games the next day with plenty of time still get back to berkeley on sunday evenings, no missed school time

kudos to the current staff particularly director of basketball operations marco harris for finalizing an effective schedule that celebrates the academic goals of our student athletes

this is why the dumb azz posts wondering why cal doesn't play at georgetown on a wednesday nite during the preseason (a tradeoff of 3 missed school days for 1 game) are kinda misinformed re: the core values of the cal basketball program

the university of california, berkeley=number 1 rated public (number 3 overall) rated university in the world

Good post, Sir Shocky. Being a dumb azz, I had not thought through what you state so well.

Go Bears!

the bears also apparently took off for the holidays losing 2 games on their home court




failure to protect#
back to work (gotta work harder)#

Shocky1;842430133 said:

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the roadrunners are led by the muscular duo of #42 6'9" 250 lbs egyptian aly ahmed (14.0 ppg with .512 fg% & 6.1 rpg) & #10 6'4" 220 lbs kevin mays (8.3 ppg & 9.3 rpg)...cal state bakersfield will try to pound it inside to these guys as the roadrunners are only shooting a skittish .284 from beyond the 3 point line...csb averages 15 turnovers a game so a fiery defensive effort by cal could get the wily bears scooting up tempo on breakaways

believe it or not, this game could be a ******* nightmare if the bears are not mentally ready to play with energy & passion...the roadrunners have lost a bunch of close games including a 63-61 defeat to fresno state & a 57-56 loss to utah state (cal's 1st round opponent in the nit last season)...good teams are predatory in taking down opponents, not playing to the level of the competition

an ideal opening sequence would be a couple of quick perimeter passes to give everybody a touch & then a feed down low to david kravish to let him go one on one & get him going offensively...bears gotta attack the basket with everybody crashing the boards and get ahmed & mays in foul trouble

beep, beep#

---

"18 turnovers and 14 for 25 from the free throw line especially at home that's hard to win games regardless of who you're playing against...respect all your opponents, don't get consumed with what's on the front of the jersery or the record...i didn't think we had two great practices coming out of the break either'
-cuonzo martin

shocky's translation: "our self entitled lazy broken down sorry azz guys thought cal state bakersfield was a joke and they ended up getting the **** kicked out of them"

survival of the fittest#

The Cal campus in the diverse and culturally rich San Francisco Bay area, is also home to one of the classic California hotels ... The Claremont Resort & Spa

[URL=http://imgur.com/p6Dbr47][/URL]

[video=youtube;4ldjbjwim4k][/video]

california golden bears had better be damn sure they're gonna be ready to play this friday nite vs washington

what's in your heart?#

nurse wicked says jb might be ready to resume practicing in 2 weeks...still not clear why bird feels its necessary to take off his shirt for his foot injury exams with nurse wicked



next man up#

ben kone scored 27 points (18 points in the 2nd half) as the archbishop mitty monarchs exiled the saddleback valley christian warriors 69-48

jordan ford scored 22 points as the folsom bulldogs narrowly took a bite out of the issaquah (washington) eagles 58-57

salute#

HoopDreams;842431259 said:

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The Cal campus in the diverse and culturally rich San Francisco Bay area, is also home to one of the classic California hotels ... The Claremont Resort & Spa

[URL=http://imgur.com/p6Dbr47][/URL]

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We came thisclose to losing the Claremont in the 1991 fire. What a nightmare.

oscar frayer scored 15 points & running mate damari milstead scored 21 points along with 8 assists & 3 steals as the moreau catholic mariners shipwrecked the alemany warriors 64-60



frank knight's student athletes#

Shocky1;842431529 said:

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oscar frayer scored 15 points & running mate damari milstead scored 21 points along with 8 assists & 3 steals as the moreau catholic mariners shipwrecked the alemany warriors 64-60



frank knight's student athletes#

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Alemany has 2017 Cal prospect Ernie Sears- played well in this tourney. Great athlete.

his father played so
Maybe we get him

[COLOR="#000080"]Patrick Christopher[/COLOR] is getting his run with the NBA Utah Jazz

Hard work + Staying the course = Living the dream

Shocky1;842399116 said:

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the california golden bears 2016 class is gonna be led by uber athletic oscar frayer of moreau catholic & the oakland soliders and hopefully jonah mathews too...this class will likely have a strong nor cal & california (and hopefully nevada too) presence of guys that are gonna be howlin' at the moon together in berkeley at the #1 ranked public (#3 ranked overall) university in the world





salute#

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jordan ford scored 33 points including a criminally insane 7 3 pointers in the 2nd half as the folsom bulldogs chomped 62-59 the archbishop mitty monarchs despite 21 points from ben kone

Shocky1;842369682 said:

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cuonzo martin has officially offered 2016 6'2" 175 lbs santa monica vikings man on fire sharpshooter jonah mathews

mathews is a huge cal recruiting priority and also has offers from asu, usc & utah...like his older bro jordan he also excels academically in the classroom, he ain't a dumb azz

jonah loved growing up in san francisco when his dad phil was the hc for the usf dons



dude already got the right gear

cal family#

update: jonah grew up a ucla fan & his dad was later an assistant coach with the bruins for ben hovland...if ucla offers as expected the best 2 on the west coast, then the bears are gonna be in fierce recruiting battle for the future ocean league mvp

visiting with jonah a couple of time ain't gonna get it done...cuonzo & tracy need to grabbing that quick hour+ flight down to lax during every open recruiting window to show jonah the bears staff love for him, they gotta be southwest a-list preferred members

---

jonah mathews scored 23 points at the santa monica vikings walked the plank 86-67 vs the loyola cubs

"i've gotten to this point in my career and realized that, yeah, i've got a lot more dreams and i want to go further but at the same time i don't want to do it if it's at the expense of my happiness...and i don't want to do it if it's at the expense of my sanity or if i have to become someone who is so out of touch with what's real, the people that love you and the people that you love"
-j cole

Cal takes down #1 Arizona

Shocky1;842398627 said:

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the targeted potential 2015 class is intended to forever change the trajectory of the cal basketball program, to compete for national championships...these guys are elite 5 star immediate impact blue chippers that have been ranked in the top 40 of their class, they are all truly diamonds

stephen domingo, #35 ranked player in the 2013 class, is already a california golden bear


tyler dorsey, #19th ranked player in the 2015 class


brandon sampson, #40th ranked player in the 2015 class


caleb swanigan, #8 ranked player in the 2015 class


ivan rabb, #1 ranked (prior to a minor summertime injury) player in the 2015 class





diamonds are forever#

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there are 2 national recruiting battles that might signficantly impact cal's potential diamonds are forever class:

*****malik newman: the #1 rated guard in the nation is looking hard at his favorites, kansas & kentucky...kentucky's recent commitment from elite guard isaiah briscoe might give kansas the edge...newman has indicated that he will not decide until april at the earliest
http://zagsblog.com/articles/malik-newman-father-talk-recruiting-possibly-teaming-up-with-briscoe/

newman's impact upon cal: tyler dorsey's favorites are kansas & cal with oregon (and its facilities) 3rd with asu & colorado chasing closely behind...the questions become, how long is tyler dorsey gonna let bill self slow play him?...is td interested in a world class education (or a mediocre one) that will have a lifelong impact after his basketball playing days are over?...how important are the relatively quick & inexpensive southwest flights from burbank to oakland vs the costly & time consuming flights from lax to kansas?...does tyler want to go to college in california or the freezing azz corn fields of the midwest?...how important is td's personal connection to the cal's players & coaches?

*****antonio blakeney: the elite florida guard is strongly considering pulling the trigger on lsu as "lsu commit ben simmons has been vocal in his recruitment of both blakeney and img academy jaquan lyle"
http://zagsblog.com/recruiting/antonio-blakeney-could-decide-soon/#more-126023

blakeney's impact upon cal: brandon sampson's favorite are lsu & cal with st john & usc (coaches visited last week) also in the game...sampson has gotta be wondering why the lsu coaches are encouraging simmons to be recruiting guards blakeney & lyle

searching for answers in the mines#

update: antonio blakeney will be announcing his collegiate destination this friday afternoon on espnu between lsu & kentucky with missouri the longshot...blakeney recently made a wise observation that at kentucky it's not likely that you will be able to stay on the court & play thru mistakes with their mcdonalds all american bench

if blakeney selects lsu it will end an all out recruiting courtship by the lsu coaches which had the tigers sending multiple coaches to every possible aau & high school game of antonio...it would also formally signify to brandon sampson that he will not be the man at lsu, something that has become increasingly clear since this summer...at that point brandon could make an early january decision between cal & st johns

dominoes#

we got our azzs handed to us the last 2 games, back to work we gotta get better

seasons change, coaches change, people change, some people never gonna change, huf is totally ready, r u ready?




we attack#

congrates to Cal soccer stars Alex Morgan and Servando Carrasco who were married on new years eve

stephen domingo, a top 35 player in the 2013 class, graduated a year early from st ignatius (in san francisco, cue the music baby) & traveled 3000 miles to the east coast...he was probably not mentally or physically ready for the adjustment to big time d1 basketball & earned only limited playing time at georgetown

at the closed practice i attended before the season domingo displayed a deadly 3 point shooting stroke...but like alan crabbe early in his career i noticed that he did not attack the basket or display a mid range game with pull up jumpers and/or floaters...during the scrimmage he drifted around the perimeter with zero lane penetration

in order to significantly contribute next season stephen must learn to attack the basket & finish thru contact...if he just floats around the 3 point line without the threat of attacking the basket, elite +1 defenders will simply close out on domingo earning him a quick spot on the bench next to the coaches

dude is a major talent with exceptional shooting skills & offensive upside, his development of his game during this blueshirt season is gonna be critical to cal's fortunes in 2015

stephen, you got 10 months until your 1st game in a bears uniform, how hard are you gonna work until showtime in november of 2015?...are you gonna become multiple in your attack?




cable car baller#

kameron rooks was a cal vs arizona (dad sean was an all american as a wildcat) recruiting battle with official visits to both schools...tipping the scales in the bears favor were cal's worldwide academic reputation (nobody with a 3.5 gpa like kam has probably ever enrolled in tucson) & sean miller's stipulation that rooks redshirt his 1st season in order to get his body right

so kam signed with the california golden bears after an epic summer of losing weight & was playing his best ball of his life vs arizona in tucson successfully banging with zeus in the paint (mike started rooks over a candy azz soft richard solomon in the 2nd half) when he was injured



cuonzo & company have challenged kam to work even harder in developing his athleticism...jay john (lute olson's braintrust) has told me that kam is at about the same point in development right now as his dad who later played 12 seasons in the nba

kameron, you got 10 months until your next game in a bears uniform, how hard are you gonna work until showtime in november of 2015?...how bad do you want this?




serious musical talent#

https://instagr.am/p/xNM-PEuVxJ

forget academics, turn pro#

the huskies are led by #5 6'3" 190 lbs nigel williams-goss (13.6 ppg but only .250 on 3 pointers, 6.7 apg, 5.3 rpg), #12 6'2" 195 lbs andrew andrews (12.0 ppg & 4.4 rig), #24 7' 250 lbs robert upshaw (10.8 ppg, 7.4 rig & 4.6 blocks per game, commits a lot of fouls), #40 6'9" 255 lbs shawn kemp jr (10.3 ppg & 4.2 rpg) & #11 6'4" 205 lbs mike anderson (7.9 ppg & 5.9 rpg)

the entire starting 5 for washington are strong rebounders complemented by upshaw's ability to block/alter shots...the bears need to aggressively attack the boards & chase down loose balls...david kravish, christian behrens (the seattle area native is gonna bounce back fast & furious after no showing with only 1 board & 1 fg in 23 minutes vs bakersfield, cb needs to channel his inner battling dad every time he gets on the floor, there's no shame in battling & sometimes losing in life but not even competing is a whole another thing) & the king gotta bang with the washington bigs

getting upshaw (who had criminal & academic problems at fresno state) in foul trouble is the key

the bears cannot afford another SLOW start, guys gotta play with energy & confidence from the opening tip

reid travis, stanford's leading rebounder with 6.9 boards per game along with 7.5 ppg, is out indefinitely wikth a stress fracture after undergoing arthoscopic knee surgery in july

beep, beep#

shock says: david kravish=usa olympic dodge ball team

Looks like Kravish is pretty good in dodgeball...

[SIZE=4][COLOR="#000080"][video]https://instagr.am/p/xNM-PEuVxJ[/video][/COLOR][/SIZE]

Shocky1;842432260 said:

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https://instagr.am/p/xNM-PEuVxJ

forget academics, turn pro#

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HoopDreams;842432440 said:

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shock says: david kravish=usa olympic dodge ball team

Looks like Kravish is pretty good in dodgeball...

[SIZE=4][COLOR="#000080"][video]https://instagr.am/p/xNM-PEuVxJ[/video][/COLOR][/SIZE]

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He has the perfect dodgeball physique. Might be too nice of a guy though, the best dodgeball players are sadists.

Blakeney to LSU. NEXT?

calfanz;842432531 said:

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Blakeney to LSU. NEXT?

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Not unexpected. Makes me wonder about Sampson. Does he have a timetable?

More important is what Martin does with this team from this point forward. Have to think that right now is critical from a recruiting standpoint. Can they rebound from the debacle of Sunday and beat Washington? If the team is listless, that has to hurt with the recruits. I saw that Frayer and teammates are going to be at the game tonight. This is Martin's team and he needs them to perform exquisitely tonight.

Shocky1;842431646 said:

---

there are 2 national recruiting battles that might signficantly impact cal's potential diamonds are forever class:

*****malik newman: the #1 rated guard in the nation is looking hard at his favorites, kansas & kentucky...kentucky's recent commitment from elite guard isaiah briscoe might give kansas the edge...newman has indicated that he will not decide until april at the earliest
http://zagsblog.com/articles/malik-newman-father-talk-recruiting-possibly-teaming-up-with-briscoe/

newman's impact upon cal: tyler dorsey's favorites are kansas & cal with oregon (and its facilities) 3rd with asu & colorado chasing closely behind...the questions become, how long is tyler dorsey gonna let bill self slow play him?...is td interested in a world class education (or a mediocre one) that will have a lifelong impact after his basketball playing days are over?...how important to the dorsey family are the relatively quick & inexpensive southwest flights from burbank to oakland vs the costly & time consuming flights from lax to kansas?...does tyler want to go to college in california or the freezing azz corn fields of the midwest?...does dorsey wanna play arizona & sean miller 2-3 times a year?...how important is td's personal connection to the cal's players & coaches?

*****antonio blakeney: the elite florida guard is strongly considering pulling the trigger on lsu as "lsu commit ben simmons has been vocal in his recruitment of both blakeney and img academy jaquan lyle"
http://zagsblog.com/recruiting/antonio-blakeney-could-decide-soon/#more-126023

blakeney's impact upon cal: brandon sampson's favorite are lsu & cal with st john & usc (coaches visited last week) also in the game...sampson has gotta be wondering why the lsu coaches are encouraging simmons to be recruiting guards blakeney & lyle

searching for answers in the mines#

update: antonio blakeney will be announcing his collegiate destination this friday afternoon on espnu between lsu & kentucky with missouri the longshot...blakeney recently made a wise observation that at kentucky it's not likely that you will be able to stay on the court & play thru mistakes with their mcdonalds all american bench

if blakeney selects lsu it will end an all out recruiting courtship by the lsu coaches which had the tigers sending multiple coaches to every possible aau & high school game of antonio...it would also formally signify to brandon sampson that he will not be the man at lsu, something that has become increasingly clear since this summer...at that point brandon could make an early january decision between cal & st johns

dominoes#

---

antonio blakeney has made a commitment to lsu...congrats to tigers head coach johnny jones & recruiting lead assistant david patrick as this will now allow the staff to focus upon former oregon non student athlete jaquan lyle per the staff's targeted strategy conveyed to ben simmons

Shocky1;842432557 said:

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antonio blakeney has made a commitment to lsu...congrats to tigers head coach johnny jones & recruiting lead assistant david patrick as this will now allow the staff to focus upon former oregon non student athlete jaquan lyle per the staff's targeted strategy conveyed to ben simmons

[IMG][/

---

Zagsblog:
[COLOR="#000080"]Simmons and Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy guard JaQuan Lyle joined Blakeney while on his official visit to LSU. Afterwards, Lyle told SNY.tv that Simmons was recruiting both Blakeney and himself to join him to form a one-two-three freshman punch in Baton Rouge.[/COLOR]

bad news: wannah bail has been declared academically ineligible leaving the bruins now with 8 scholly players

good news: even more shots for bryce now...in ucla's recent loss to alabama the final sequence as designed by dad steve was a kobe like jacked up off balance 25 footer with 3 opponents draped all over him while several bruins teammates were ignored despite being wide open...yeah, the shot missed the mark & the bruins lost their 5th game of the season

ruh roh

this is ucla basketball#

Shocky1;842432589 said:

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bad news: wannah bail has been declared academically ineligible leaving the bruins now with 8 scholly players

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Wannah Bail is originally from the Bahamas. He committed to Texas Tech but never qualified academically to play. Well, that's what one site said. Another blamed his TT departure on Coach Billy Gillespie's craziness with the players, saying Bail <<didn't return after the first summer school session. Bail's summer coach, Terrul Henderson, told CBSSports.com that Bail's departure had nothing to do with academics -- as had been speculated.>> So, then 1 year after his h.s. graduation, he committed to UCLA.

Looking at his UCLA stats, he was not making an impact. Played in 11 of 13 games and averaged about 10 minutes and about a point and a half.
I don't know how many years of play he may have left with the NCAA, but after not being able to get the books (let alone on court impact) right thru 2 programs, his basketball future looks dim. Perhaps he can finish college somewhere and play for the Bahamian team at some point down the road, but otherwise, it's looking like his career ceiling just got a lot lower. Too bad. Unless you are going to make millions as a professional player, you've simply got to have a degree. Bouncing around and being a former player will do little for you.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/gamelog/_/id/66220/year/2014/wanaah-bail

Shocky1;842432557 said:

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antonio blakeney has made a commitment to lsu...congrats to tigers head coach johnny jones & recruiting lead assistant david patrick as this will now allow the staff to focus upon former oregon non student athlete jaquan lyle per the staff's targeted strategy conveyed to ben simmons

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From ESPN:
[INDENT]Blakeney joins overall No. 1 prospect Ben Simmons in LSU's 2015 class. The two stars played AAU ball together in the Each 1 Teach 1 program, with Blakeney averaging 19.5 points and shooting 44 percent from the field on the Nike EYBL circuit.

"It factored in a lot," Blakeney said of his relationship with Simmons. "I know how good he is, how good he can make a team. Me and him together can take a lot of stress off each other on the court. We have good chemistry on and off the court."
[/INDENT]

It would look like a classic case of buddies teaming up from h.s. to college.
I'm sure Rabb is looking to do the same, but it doesn't appear to be with Sampson or Dorsey that he has a connection - rather Swanigan.
Here's hoping that goes well.
...and maybe Dorsey and/or Sampson will also be a part of it!

LSU:
according to http://www.verbalcommits.com/schools/lsu
LSU has 11 scholarships on roster now. That leaves 2 open. Plus 1 for the 1 senior, means they could have a class of 3 next fall.
Simmons has taken one, and now Blakeney the 2nd. That leaves 1 more available. And if it goes to Lyle, as Shocky indicates, LSU would close their doors, unless a player leaves early due to transfer or NBA.

So, I looked at Draft Express. They have 6'9" Sophomore Forward Martin leaving at the end of this year in the #42 slot. That's definitely on the bubble, leaning toward NOT going. He avg's 34 min and 17 ppg currently, #1 on the team there. The 2nd leading scorer, 6'7" Soph Forward Mickey is said to be #31 of NEXT years draft, leaving after his Jr. year. Again, BUBBLE departure positioning.
If those are the 2 best players on the team, and LSU is adding #1 recruit 6'7" F Simmons, then those 3 could do neat things together next year as a 3 man big rotation - though, one might get nervous about losing PT to Simmons. I suppose Simmons would slide to 3 and they'd all start.

The next 3 returning stars at LSU are all guards: 6'4" Soph Hornsby, 6'6" Soph Quarterman, and 6'1" Jr. Gray, all averaging over 30 minutes. The 6th man is 6'0" Frosh Patterson, avg 17 mins. After that guys aren't getting minutes.

So, next year I would think Martin stays and increases his draft stock by having success with Simmons and Blakeney. Simmons likely shoves Quarterman to the bench, and Blakeney shoves Hornsby to the bench, and Gray is the PG. But wait, remember, there's one more recruiting slot available. I bet he's a PG. Yep: Jaquan Lyle is a 4 star 6'5" PG. That would give a nice lineup of:

F: Martin
F: Mickey
F: Simmons
SG: Blakeney
PG: Lyle
sub1: Quaterman
sub2: Hornsby
sub3: Gray/Patterson
...actually, I'd like to have another big boy sub be able to come in and soak up some fouls against the bigger squads. Maybe 7 footers (and heavy) Soph Malone or Frosh Robinson III can develop. That would be a nice squad.

Point of all this analysis is to see if there is room for Sampson as that last recruit. And, actually, it would appear that Lyle, as PG, is indeed the better fit. They already have Hornsby and Quaterman to fill that non PG slot (I am assuming that the shorter Gray is the PG here).
That's good news for me as a Bear fan!