I was at the game. It was the first game this year I could watch in person due to scheduling conflicts, so hopefully I can attend a bunch more going forward. Here's my take and observations:
1. We came out of the gate super strong with our defensive effort. All five guys were clearly putting in maximum effort, by staying glued to guys, fighting hard through screens, making successful switches and not losing guys. It was a defensive effort I haven't seen from our team all season. It must have been a stressed plan going into this game.
2. Jaylon Tyson on the bench to start the game was very curious. I consider Tyson to be our best player, or at least the most skilled. I've noticed we don't have a "go-to" player on the team yet, a clear leader. Tyson is perhaps the most likely candidate, but his demeanor is often low-key, even if that isn't how he is feeling on the inside. So when Tyson is on the floor, it seems like we often defer to him, and I wonder if that sometimes takes away from our flow. We clearly played fantastic ball the first 5 minutes of the game, and kept the ball moving offensively, leading to great looks. We need to figure out how to keep this ball movement going with Tyson, as well as have a collective high effort on defense. Sometimes defense just comes down to desire.
3. I loved the free Cal holiday socks they gave away to fans. They are a little thin, so I'm not sure how long they'll last, but I'm going to rock them this holiday season and let the chips fall where they may.
Go Bears! This is a really fun team to root for. The team has flaws, but it also has talent. It seems like all the players get along, which makes me want to support their progression throughout the season.