This was a game of two halves. Eerily similar to the Wichita State game in Maui last season, in that Cal looked so good as a basketball team in the first half, and then gradually let the opponent get back into a game we had in control. The difference in the two games was that Cal recovered enough last night to keep enough control and be victorious in the end, whereas vs Wichita, Cal never was able to slow down the opponent to wrest the momentum back from them and regain enough control to hold on for a win.
Of course, Hampton is not Wichita State, which was a highly ranked team. Cal is a different team too, with more skilled guards but no experienced bigs this year. I am only talking about the way the Cal team looked. In both games, the Cal team looked more like a team which played together in the first half, and looked much less so in the second half. In both games, there were more assists, fewer turnovers, more open shots, more moving without the ball, more teamwork in the first half than in the 2nd half. In the first half, all the Cal players were moving without the ball better than I had seen under Wyking Jones, and they were looking to find the open man better. There were great two man plays, and plays involving several passes. For anyone who saw the Yale game, it looked like night and day. Cal shot 55%. You don't do that without open looks. Most players are a lot better shots with an unguarded open look than they are in creating their own shot. Cal made 16 FGs on 10 assists, with only 4 turnovers. Austin had 4 assists himself.
In the second half last night Cal looked like they did in the Yale game. Last night in the 2nd half, Cal shot 43%. They made only 10 FGs on 6 assists (which is still good, but was a dropoff from the first half). They made 6 turnovers, and Austin made only 2 assists. Mark my words, as Austin goes, so will go the Cal team. When he plays too fast, or when he tries to score too much himself, like he did in Shanghai, Cal's offense is an ineffective mess. He needs to set the tempo, control it, and run offense. He needs to get players moving, and trusting him to get them the ball if they get open.
Why I harp on the Wichita State game is that I feel that when Cal lost control of that game, and could not stem the tide of the WSU run, that was the image of what the team was which Cal took into the next game and beyond. They lost that focus, and belief in themselves that they achieved in that first half. They played poorly against VCU in the 2nd game, and were blown out by a passing team, a Division 2 team, Chaminade in game 3. The season was gone right there, except for a couple of bright spots like SDSU and maybe Stanford. Cal never returned to the focus, the image of Cal as a team, moving without the ball and unselfishly looking for their teammates.
Against Hampton, Cal lost that image again, and started the 2nd half playing like they did against Yale. I cautiously give Wyking Jones credit for perhaps getting his players out of their funk and regaining some control of the game. It was still too close with a few minutes to go. Now it is up to the players and Coach Jones whether they are going to try and regain that well-oiled machine they showed in the first half, and play more games like that, instead of going downhill like last season. It is so easy to lose control of a young basketball team not used to playing with each other, especially for an inexperienced head coach.
Of course, Hampton is not Wichita State, which was a highly ranked team. Cal is a different team too, with more skilled guards but no experienced bigs this year. I am only talking about the way the Cal team looked. In both games, the Cal team looked more like a team which played together in the first half, and looked much less so in the second half. In both games, there were more assists, fewer turnovers, more open shots, more moving without the ball, more teamwork in the first half than in the 2nd half. In the first half, all the Cal players were moving without the ball better than I had seen under Wyking Jones, and they were looking to find the open man better. There were great two man plays, and plays involving several passes. For anyone who saw the Yale game, it looked like night and day. Cal shot 55%. You don't do that without open looks. Most players are a lot better shots with an unguarded open look than they are in creating their own shot. Cal made 16 FGs on 10 assists, with only 4 turnovers. Austin had 4 assists himself.
In the second half last night Cal looked like they did in the Yale game. Last night in the 2nd half, Cal shot 43%. They made only 10 FGs on 6 assists (which is still good, but was a dropoff from the first half). They made 6 turnovers, and Austin made only 2 assists. Mark my words, as Austin goes, so will go the Cal team. When he plays too fast, or when he tries to score too much himself, like he did in Shanghai, Cal's offense is an ineffective mess. He needs to set the tempo, control it, and run offense. He needs to get players moving, and trusting him to get them the ball if they get open.
Why I harp on the Wichita State game is that I feel that when Cal lost control of that game, and could not stem the tide of the WSU run, that was the image of what the team was which Cal took into the next game and beyond. They lost that focus, and belief in themselves that they achieved in that first half. They played poorly against VCU in the 2nd game, and were blown out by a passing team, a Division 2 team, Chaminade in game 3. The season was gone right there, except for a couple of bright spots like SDSU and maybe Stanford. Cal never returned to the focus, the image of Cal as a team, moving without the ball and unselfishly looking for their teammates.
Against Hampton, Cal lost that image again, and started the 2nd half playing like they did against Yale. I cautiously give Wyking Jones credit for perhaps getting his players out of their funk and regaining some control of the game. It was still too close with a few minutes to go. Now it is up to the players and Coach Jones whether they are going to try and regain that well-oiled machine they showed in the first half, and play more games like that, instead of going downhill like last season. It is so easy to lose control of a young basketball team not used to playing with each other, especially for an inexperienced head coach.
SFCityBear