Big C said:

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concernedparent said:

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Big C said:

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Been saying for months that the weakness in our roster was PG. What first set me off was when we got a fairly-highly recruited 5-11 guard who could score. "Hey, great!" But he's not a PG, he's a "combo guard". Red flag! Run in the opposite direction! (almost as fast as in football, when I hear that we got a "dual-threat quarterback") These are usually euphemistic terms: Fine to have a combo guard in the rotation, just don't expect him to be the main PG.

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Steph Curry, James Harden, and Allen Iverson are all combo guards. It's not a combo guard problem, it's a Cone isn't shooting or scoring well enough to offset his weaknesses problem.

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Even if Cone is shooting better (and he probably will be... I hope), we lack guards who can facilitate. The guards you mention can also run up assist numbers.

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The hope is Kennedy. If not then maybe Pavlovic or Robinson, who played relatively well last year.

Cal favored by 1.5 over SantaClara

oskidunker said:

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Cal favored by 1.5 over SantaClara

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Well that's unexpected considering Santa Clara is 7-1 and we've lost to much worse teams. Hopefully, Kennedy's return will marking the turning point.

Look again. Santa Clara is a 2.5 point favorite.

concernedparent said:

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Big C said:

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Been saying for months that the weakness in our roster was PG. What first set me off was when we got a fairly-highly recruited 5-11 guard who could score. "Hey, great!" But he's not a PG, he's a "combo guard". Red flag! Run in the opposite direction! (almost as fast as in football, when I hear that we got a "dual-threat quarterback") These are usually euphemistic terms: Fine to have a combo guard in the rotation, just don't expect him to be the main PG.

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Steph Curry, James Harden, and Allen Iverson are all combo guards. It's not a combo guard problem, it's a Cone isn't shooting or scoring well enough to offset his weaknesses problem.

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Again, the problem is not the fact that we have a "combo guard" problem. The problem is a "point guard" problem. The fact that Cone isn't shooting well enough is not the "problem", its the RESULT of the fact that we are lacking good point guard play from someone else.

RedlessWardrobe said:

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Look again. Santa Clara is a 2.5 point favorite.

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You are right. It was Cal by 1,5 earlier. Probably another game that goes down to the wire.

I hate to sound pessimistic, but based on what I've seen this year I actually hope it's close enough to come down to the wire. Of course I really want to be wrong on this.

RedlessWardrobe said:

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I hate to sound pessimistic, but based on what I've seen this year I actually hope it's close enough to come down to the wire. Of course I really want to be wrong on this.

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Maybe Santa Clara will miss a few shots. Hopefully we don't allow uncontested 15 ft shots to their best player.

[url=https://ibb.co/8XF816f][/url]

RedlessWardrobe said:

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I hate to sound pessimistic, but based on what I've seen this year I actually hope it's close enough to come down to the wire. Of course I really want to be wrong on this.

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Why wouldn't this game with Santa Clara go to the wire? Based on what I've seen this year, Cal has had only two games that did not go down to the wire, the game with Pacific, where Pacific got hot and out shot Cal, and Bakersfield, which was a blowout win for Cal. You have high standards, if that makes you pessimistic. We are much better than last year, a season when Cal lost seemingly a lot of games before the first half was over. I'm not yet optimistic, but as long as we are competitive like we have been, I'll take it, and hope for improvement by the early conference games. It takes time to build chemistry, and we still have some key players out with injuries.

The great poker player, Amarillo Slim, once said when asked if he bet the horses, "No. I never bet on anything that eats."

It's simple. I've watched every Cal game and I've watched Santa Clara play 4 times this year. I think they have slightly more talent than us and I definitely think they have more cohesiveness than we do. It's just a gut feeling based on what I've seen so far. OTOH we've both watched enough CBB to know that things can turn around. Hoping today is the day.

Let me add, I don't bet the horses because for every $1 that goes in the pool, only .82 cents comes back. 18% too hard to beat.

RedlessWardrobe said:

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It's simple. I've watched every Cal game and I've watched Santa Clara play 4 times this year. I think they have slightly more talent than us and I definitely think they have more cohesiveness than we do. It's just a gut feeling based on what I've seen so far. OTOH we've both watched enough CBB to know that things can turn around. Hoping today is the day.

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Santa Clara did look more cohesive but we looked more talented, especially our 4 transfers.

Wow. I appreciate you going easy on me. Santa Clara didn't look like the team that played Furd and Oregon,but our guys plated really well. Kennedy was a plus. I was so wrong about this one but I'm so freakin' happy!

Give me our starting line up tonight.....Let Celstine and Askew back them up....I really liked the flow of this team on the court.