socaltownie;842103184 said:

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There might be an NCAA rule - something like you can't return to practice on your home court (or something like that). Or maybe monty worked out something to get court access someplace down in the SouthBay.

I would say one thing - there has been more zone this year in the conference than in some years. OSU played a bunch and ditto the Ruins (I can't remember how much in our game but I think they have used it for about 30%+ of their minutes this year). And we probably have PRACTICED how to use it defensively. Montana simply looked like they never see anything like it in the Big Sky.

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I don't think he's giving anything up by staying down here. Also, since the team stays in a hotel, I believe, the night before home games anyway (I think they've been staying at the Claremont), you really would only gain the one night's sleep in Berkeley. Probably more efficient to stay at the tournament site, and there probably are rules requiring them to stay locally during the weekend.

Monty coached against Boeheim a few years back in MSG, so hopefully that experience will help in our preparations. Did Monty face Syracuse while at Stanford?

Big East Conference-Only Stats:
http://www.bigeast.org/portals/5/fls/19400/stats/mbasketball/2012-2013/CONFONLY.HTM

3rd FG% Defense: 39.1%
8th 3-Pt. FG% Defense: 31.5%
10th Rebounding Defense
2nd Blocked Shots (5.7 per game)

384 3s were attempted against Syracuse in 18 Big East games, by far the most. The Big East average excluding Syracuse was 305.

Syracuse's defense is fairly predictable. Our best shots are going to be open threes. Cobbs and Crabbe need to make a good percentage and Wallace and the bigs need to do a good job on the offensive boards.

Based on watching most of the Montana game live, I don't think we can beat the Syracuse zone with ball movement in close, because they're too long, and too quick to get back in position. We're probably going to have extend our range back from the 3 pt. line, hope we can make some shots, and crash the offensive board like mad on misses, hoping to get some put backs.

Also, I'm not convinced we can play zone, because they're very good from 3. I might go back to the man-to-man, put Wallace on Triche, and tell him not to worry about scoring, but to focus on following Triche wherever he goes.

Reality is, it's a very tough match-up, tougher than UNLV. We'll need to keep the score down, the game ugly, and just hope to have a chance to grind it out at the end.

socaltownie;842103171 said:

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Another good link.

I was somewhat surprised to hear that we were staying in San Jose. Guess if it was ME I would have bused em back to Berkeley, let them sleep in their own beds, and then had them do a good walk through at Haas - especially since Saturday is a 6 p.m. tip and you could have EASILY had the kids get to the bus for the drive around 11 a.m. to get down to HP.

But hey, maybe just me, I never sleep well in hotels ;-)

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The more time you spend in a gym, the better you are able to shoot at that gym. You understand more quickly where you are on the court. This to me is an advantage of practicing in San Jose.

Now I was just a high school bench warmer, so maybe these guys are so good it does not matter.

As to the game, I am happy they are playing a zone team. A top level man team lcan just out-athlete the Bears. They have a fighting chance against a zone if they play smart.

Sluggo

Cal89;842103293 said:

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Monty coached against Boeheim a few years back in MSG, so hopefully that experience will help in our preparations. Did Monty face Syracuse while at Stanford?

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Answering my own question... Stanford played Syracuse in MSG also, in 2011, and in an article I found, it stated that was the first meeting between the two schools, so Monty only encountered Boeheim on the floor once, while at Cal....

Interestingly, Stanford played Syracuse very well in 2011, leading by 7 with about 6 minutes left.

Jeff82;842103289 said:

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I don't think he's giving anything up by staying down here. Also, since the team stays in a hotel, I believe, the night before home games anyway (I think they've been staying at the Claremont), you really would only gain the one night's sleep in Berkeley. Probably more efficient to stay at the tournament site, and there probably are rules requiring them to stay locally during the weekend.

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There is a lot to be gained from keeping the team in San Jose. For one, team chemistry is built by having the kids remain together fir meals, on the way to/from meetings, hanging out at the hotel, watching movies,game film, etc.

Another thing is getting them as acclimated as possible in a short time window to the arena, court, baskets, lighting, acoustics, etc. It may not seem like a big thing but I used to love walk throughs of Pac 10 stadiums in football and international rugby stadiums while touring with the USA national team. Being comfortable with the atmosphere, while not determining, is helpful.

Restricting the amount of longer bus rides for the kids can also be a good thing. maybe not as big a deal for average sized folks bit it is not comfortable for the big kids to fold themselves into bus seats for hour and longer bus rides. Better to keep them loose in their hotel roomthan cramped o a bus.

Finally, while there are family distractions at the hotel the staff can control rhat to some extent. They have far less control over the players' involvement and interaction with students, fans, etc. while they are relatively unsupervised in their dorms/apartments and walking on campus.

I understand some thinking staying in one's own bed sounds good but there are many benefits to taking the other approach. Besides, would you rather sleep in the bed you had in college or the bed you would get at the Fairmont? ;-)

Go Bears!

Beardog26;842103357 said:

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There is a lot to be gained from keeping the team in San Jose. For one, team chemistry is built by having the kids remain together fir meals, on the way to/from meetings, hanging out at the hotel, watching movies,game film, etc.

Another thing is getting them as acclimated as possible in a short time window to the arena, court, baskets, lighting, acoustics, etc. It may not seem like a big thing but I used to love walk throughs of Pac 10 stadiums in football and international rugby stadiums while touring with the USA national team. Being comfortable with the atmosphere, while not determining, is helpful.

Restricting the amount of longer bus rides for the kids can also be a good thing. maybe not as big a deal for average sized folks bit it is not comfortable for the big kids to fold themselves into bus seats for hour and longer bus rides. Better to keep them loose in their hotel roomthan cramped o a bus.

Finally, while there are family distractions at the hotel the staff can control rhat to some extent. They have far less control over the players' involvement and interaction with students, fans, etc. while they are relatively unsupervised in their dorms/apartments and walking on campus.

I understand some thinking staying in one's own bed sounds good but there are many benefits to taking the other approach. Besides, would you rather sleep in the bed you had in college or the bed you would get at the Fairmont? ;-)

Go Bears!

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When we beat Syracuse by 20, SCT will come around!

Go Bears!

south bender;842103403 said:

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When we beat Syracuse by 20, SCT will come around!

Go Bears!

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If we beat Cuse by 20 I will buy your internet service for 6 months so you can continue to post "I told you so" posts every day and I will happily read them. ;-)

socaltownie;842103440 said:

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If we beat Cuse by 20 I will buy your internet service for 6 months so you can continue to post "I told you so" posts every day and I will happily read them. ;-)

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SCT, what about the Fairmount for a week in Oahu instead?

Go Bears!

south bender;842103441 said:

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SCT, what about the Fairmount for a week in Oahu instead?

Go Bears!

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What do I get if we lose? I would hate to bet against the bears but for a 3K bet I gotta get SOMETHING ;-)

I share some crow pot pie with you, and I provide!

Go Bears!

89Bear;842103176 said:

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Anyone see the Syracuse/Louisville game last weekend? The Card put on a clinic on how to beat the zone. Just completely destroyed it in the second half!!! They put two of their big guys on the elbows and the point guard up top. He dumped it to one of the bigs who either shot an open shot, drove, or hit a back door cut. It looked way too easy!!!!

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I also heard that Louisville pressed the hell out of them.

I've been to SJ downtown some, but last night it was pretty live. There is an area within walking distance from the arena that has lots of restaurants, sports bars, etc.

much better than Berkeley, and not bad as a tourney destination. I heard an interview with a Syracuse player, who said he liked the area and the nice weather (summer like weather yesterday before the game, and afterwards was quite warm to walk around)

Shocky1;842103198 said:

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incorrect guesses

monty said he is keeping the team in san jose (at the fairmont) in order to let them enjoy the atmosphere around march madness

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The matchp zone/poor outside shooting combo will prove fatal. I think Cal will be fine defensively, but simply won't score.