Currently Cal is the only P12 team with a losing record of 2-4. The team just above Cal in the standings at 4-4 is Stanford. Today they lost on the road in overtime to Kansas and were quite impressive in almost winning. Former Cal guard Charlie Moore made several clutch FTs to help the Jayhawks eke out the close win. It's hard to imagine not winning any P12 games but I am hard pressed to think of which P12 team(s) we might beat after watching the first 6 games. Is anyone feeling more optimistic than me?

Some takeaways:
1) austin is neither a PG or a SG. He doesn't have the mentality of a PG and he doesn't shoot well enough from thge perimeter to be a SG. He is a small, athletic player whose instinct is to drive first and pass second.
2) Until and unless Cal gets a bonafide PG , our offense will be problematic.
3) Because of the above point and our lack of height , we will have to outscore opponents this year by hitting a high percentage of three point shots.
4) Monty: " I would never go to Moraga for 100,000 dollars and all the cheerleaders at USC and UCLA."
5) Cal vs USF Wednesday is probably a must win for Cal. A loss could grease the skids for a forgettable Pac-12 schedule.
6) I know Joel Brown is coming next year but Cal must recruit another bonafide PG ( preferrably better than Brown the following year or, to channel Dandy Don, " turn out the lights---the party is over."

I believe Cal needs to and will remove the Guy Mike Williamd Hired As MBB "coach" to end this mess. The only question is will it be during the mid-season or at the end of season.

Having said that, to answer your question, I believe Cal will win 2 to 3 Pac-12 games this season. WSU, and OSU are weak (but, they still have much better coaches than The Guy Mike Williams Hired As MBB "coach") and a few upsets happen in the conference play.

Time for change is now.

Bring Back Respect And Dignity To Cal MBB!

Go Bears!

Yes - Cal will win some Pac 12 games. It's a long season.

Possibly. The league is terrible. Maybe one or two games.

jfc, is charlie starting or coming off the bench for KS?

tenplay said:

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Currently Cal is the only P12 team with a losing record of 2-4. The team just above Cal in the standings at 4-4 is Stanford. Today they lost on the road in overtime to Kansas and were quite impressive in almost winning. Former Cal guard Charlie Moore made several clutch FTs to help the Jayhawks eke out the close win. It's hard to imagine not winning any P12 games but I am hard pressed to think of which P12 team(s) we might beat after watching the first 6 games. Is anyone feeling more optimistic than me?

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Are you kidding?!? We will freaking DOUBLE our last season's conference win total! MAYBE MORE! How many times do I need to tell you people: We may suck this year, but we suck less than last year! And next year, we will suck even less... maybe hardly at all!

We are building something.

Re Charlie Moore, I was impressed that he came off the bench to provide 16 minutes of effective play toward the end of regulation and the whole OT. He took only one shot (a 3 pointer that he missed) but hit 3 of 4 FTs and got 3 assists. To be subbed in during crunch time shows the increasing level of trust that the team has in his play. He would surely be the team leader at Cal if he chose to stay. Major loss.

Even young players of limited skills should be able to play defense; defense is about mental toughness and discipline. (see, Cal football, 2018). Also, Jones has the power to mold players into passers: that power is called the bench. Players want to play and will do almost anything for playing time, even pass. C'mon Coach, coach.

bearchamp said:

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Even young players of limited skills should be able to play defense; defense is about mental toughness and discipline. (see, Cal football, 2018). Also, Jones has the power to mold players into passers: that power is called the bench. Players want to play and will do almost anything for playing time, even pass. C'mon Coach, coach.

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Not necessarily. Players tend to become much better defenders with experience and growth. Most notably were guys like Wethers and Midgely, who had the effort but were defensive liabilities as frosh, but became all-conference defenders as seniors.

Very true. Most freshmen were high school superstars who never had to play much defense. First, it takes them awhile to buy into the idea. Then it takes them awhile to learn some of the techniques and sharpen their intensity.

This is why Jorge Gutierrez was so special.

It's also why I don't agree with anybody who says John Calipari is not a good coach (just a recruiter). Multiple NCAA championships with freshman-dominated rosters... it's not easy to get players like that to share the ball and play defense.

Getting high school stars to play defense---sometimes called coaching.

I heard an interview with Rick Barry this AM. He was highly critical of the AAU system, indicating that kids play too many games v. the number of practices and that coaches don't bother with fundamentals. I would also add that some high school coaches actually ask their star players not to play much defense because they don't want the 25 ppg star wing to get in foul trouble.

Players do get better with strength and experience. However, most of the "better" is due to accepting the role and buying into the system. All players know a bit about defense. Clearly, college defense is much more intense than high school of AAU, but again, that is why colleges have coaches: to teach and inspire players to execute to their abilities. Really, defense, just like passing, can be taught and can be demanded. Thus far, I don't see much "demand" and certainly don't see much execution. Freshman do plenty well in other programs, why not MBB? Coaching.

bearchamp said:

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Even young players of limited skills should be able to play defense; defense is about mental toughness and discipline. (see, Cal football, 2018). Also, Jones has the power to mold players into passers: that power is called the bench. Players want to play and will do almost anything for playing time, even pass. C'mon Coach, coach.

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What a concept!!

socaliganbear said:

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Possibly. The league is terrible. Maybe one or two games.

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My thought exactly. This is in the "blind squirrel/acorns" category.

Anyone still confident that we will win some P12 games? Which ones? Our basketball team resembles our football team except it doesn't have any D either or capable coaching. Our team kinda reminds be of the sad state of the Seattle Mariners who have never even gone to the World Series and are trading away all of their established players for "promising" minor leaguers. I am having an increasingly difficult time justifying staying up until 2 here on the East Coast to watch the rather depressing games. Last night I admit that I switched from the Cal game after we fell behind by 25+ over to the exciting Gonzaga vs Washington game that the Zags won with only 6 seconds on the clock. I have been hanging in there rooting for Cal since 1952 and so will probably grin and bear it for now. Insanity is doing the same unsuccessful thing over and over again while hoping for different results.

tenplay said:

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Anyone still confident that we will win some P12 games? Which ones? Our basketball team resembles our football team except it doesn't have any D either or capable coaching. Our team kinda reminds be of the sad state of the Seattle Mariners who have never even gone to the World Series and are trading away all of their established players for "promising" minor leaguers. I am having an increasingly difficult time justifying staying up until 2 here on the East Coast to watch the rather depressing games. Last night I admit that I switched from the Cal game after we fell behind by 25+ over to the exciting Gonzaga vs Washington game that the Zags won with only 6 seconds on the clock. I have been hanging in there rooting for Cal since 1952 and so will probably grin and bear it for now. Insanity is doing the same unsuccessful thing over and over again while hoping for different results.

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Maybe one, sure. Is this worse than getting blown out by Chaminade? You have to think lots of schools in the conference will overlook us. We're no bigger threat than Cal State Bakersfield tbh. That's what this program has become.

tenplay said:

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Anyone still confident that we will win some P12 games? Which ones? Our basketball team resembles our football team except it doesn't have any D either or capable coaching. Our team kinda reminds be of the sad state of the Seattle Mariners who have never even gone to the World Series and are trading away all of their established players for "promising" minor leaguers. I am having an increasingly difficult time justifying staying up until 2 here on the East Coast to watch the rather depressing games. Last night I admit that I switched from the Cal game after we fell behind by 25+ over to the exciting Gonzaga vs Washington game that the Zags won with only 6 seconds on the clock. I have been hanging in there rooting for Cal since 1952 and so will probably grin and bear it for now. Insanity is doing the same unsuccessful thing over and over again while hoping for different results.

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Solution: DVR!

socaliganbear said:

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tenplay said:

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Anyone still confident that we will win some P12 games? Which ones? Our basketball team resembles our football team except it doesn't have any D either or capable coaching. Our team kinda reminds be of the sad state of the Seattle Mariners who have never even gone to the World Series and are trading away all of their established players for "promising" minor leaguers. I am having an increasingly difficult time justifying staying up until 2 here on the East Coast to watch the rather depressing games. Last night I admit that I switched from the Cal game after we fell behind by 25+ over to the exciting Gonzaga vs Washington game that the Zags won with only 6 seconds on the clock. I have been hanging in there rooting for Cal since 1952 and so will probably grin and bear it for now. Insanity is doing the same unsuccessful thing over and over again while hoping for different results.

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Maybe one, sure. Is this worse than getting blown out by Chaminade? You have to think lots of schools in the conference will overlook us. We're no bigger threat than Cal State Bakersfield tbh. That's what this program has become.

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I think you can make an argument that Chaminade could be justified away as one would do while walking through a graveyard in Transylvania -3rd game in 3 days after an emotional loss and in a weirdo gym. Now the year would go from bad to worse but I always thought that one I could live with.

This is at home, with no excuses against the DONS??!!! and was a Lot closer on paper than it actually was. 17 minutes of garbage time. At home. To the DONS!!!???!!

socaltownie said:

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socaliganbear said:

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tenplay said:

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Anyone still confident that we will win some P12 games? Which ones? Our basketball team resembles our football team except it doesn't have any D either or capable coaching. Our team kinda reminds be of the sad state of the Seattle Mariners who have never even gone to the World Series and are trading away all of their established players for "promising" minor leaguers. I am having an increasingly difficult time justifying staying up until 2 here on the East Coast to watch the rather depressing games. Last night I admit that I switched from the Cal game after we fell behind by 25+ over to the exciting Gonzaga vs Washington game that the Zags won with only 6 seconds on the clock. I have been hanging in there rooting for Cal since 1952 and so will probably grin and bear it for now. Insanity is doing the same unsuccessful thing over and over again while hoping for different results.

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Maybe one, sure. Is this worse than getting blown out by Chaminade? You have to think lots of schools in the conference will overlook us. We're no bigger threat than Cal State Bakersfield tbh. That's what this program has become.

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I think you can make an argument that Chaminade could be justified away as one would do while walking through a graveyard in Transylvania -3rd game in 3 days after an emotional loss and in a weirdo gym. Now the year would go from bad to worse but I always thought that one I could live with.

This is at home, with no excuses against the DONS??!!! and was a Lot closer on paper than it actually was. 17 minutes of garbage time. At home. To the DONS!!!???!!

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"We're building"

socaltownie said:

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socaliganbear said:

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tenplay said:

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Anyone still confident that we will win some P12 games? Which ones? Our basketball team resembles our football team except it doesn't have any D either or capable coaching. Our team kinda reminds be of the sad state of the Seattle Mariners who have never even gone to the World Series and are trading away all of their established players for "promising" minor leaguers. I am having an increasingly difficult time justifying staying up until 2 here on the East Coast to watch the rather depressing games. Last night I admit that I switched from the Cal game after we fell behind by 25+ over to the exciting Gonzaga vs Washington game that the Zags won with only 6 seconds on the clock. I have been hanging in there rooting for Cal since 1952 and so will probably grin and bear it for now. Insanity is doing the same unsuccessful thing over and over again while hoping for different results.

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Maybe one, sure. Is this worse than getting blown out by Chaminade? You have to think lots of schools in the conference will overlook us. We're no bigger threat than Cal State Bakersfield tbh. That's what this program has become.

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I think you can make an argument that Chaminade could be justified away as one would do while walking through a graveyard in Transylvania -3rd game in 3 days after an emotional loss and in a weirdo gym. Now the year would go from bad to worse but I always thought that one I could live with.

This is at home, with no excuses against the DONS??!!! and was a Lot closer on paper than it actually was. 17 minutes of garbage time. At home. To the DONS!!!???!!

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To be fair, this is not a bad Dons team. While it is early, the KenPom ratings currently have them 53rd, higher than 7 Pac-12 teams, and within fewer than 10 spots of four of the other five.

That said, the last two games have NOT been good signs. Even if the Dons (or the Gaels) are on a par with the current state of conference teams like UCLA, Arizona, UW, Colorado, USC, and OSU, I don't want to be losing to any of them by 29 at home with 17 minutes of garbage time.

The question arose last year whether the team was the worst I'd seen in my then 44 seasons of Cal basketball or whether 78-79 was still the champ. Right now, the 18-19 team is looking like it may be the undisputed champ of what is now 45 seasons. At least the 78-79 team was competitive at home against the Bill Cartwright led Dons. This Dons team did not have a Bill Cartwright, and I don't think Andre Kelly could have handled Cartwright as well as Doug True did.

Anyway, it isn't the fact that it was the Dons that bothers me, or the fact that we had 17 minutes of garbage time against the Dons. It is the fact that we looked uninspired, like we didn't care. I saw too much of that last year. This team needs to play like they care if I'm going to avoid eating a lot of tickets during the conference season.

Is there a way to record online games on the P12 network? I watch the games live online from Canada using an American friend's Comcast signin and VPN. I would love to record and watch West Coast games at a reasonable hour. Anyone figure it out? Thanks.

Why????