highly skilled jordan matthews (3.55 gpa) and his little bro freshman jonah (who would love to play with jordan at cal) each scored 16 pts as the santa monica vikings (19-6) conquered the morningside monarchs 79-49 in ocean league play

Thanks for the superb updates on our young cubs. Re. Jonah, what position does he play? And while its early, he's a frosh, is he projected to be a blue chip or better then his big bro?

GoCalBears;842076212 said:

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Thanks for the superb updates on our young cubs. Re. Jonah, what position does he play? And while its early, he's a frosh, is he projected to be a blue chip or better then his big bro?

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monty and crew will definitely be keeping an eye on the development of freshman jonah matthews, a 6' 160 lbs crafty combo guard with an excellent bb iq (thanks phil) & strong leadership qualities

powerful #44 kameron rooks muscled his way to 23 pts & 9 boards as mission hills (20-4) rejected the horny middle aged escondido cougars 77-57

6' 170 lbs amhaad rorie (needs to add another 10 lbs of muscle this offseason to help him take hits and still finish around the rim) scored 22 pts, 7 boards, 4 assists & 2 steals as the lincoln abes (17-3) proclaimed shelton must be defeated 82-64

2015 #1 ranked ivan rabb knocked down 18 pts in limited pt as the bod dragons (19-3) firebreathed mt eden 67-50...11 dragons scored as everyone played for hc lou richie except h nickerson sr

bears offered 2014 big man thomas welsh (3.8 gpa) 7' 210 lbs scored 18 pts w/11 boards as the loyola cubs (20-6) barely pawed their way by alemany 89-79 in ot to capture the uber competitive mission league championship

Shocky - are you a fan of Tomm Looney from J.T. the Brick fame? Your reporting style reminds me of him . . .

I have really high hopes for 2014! As in bigs: Welch, Fitzner, others? They have had good press from ESPN recruiting. Both of them and Rorie have mentioned as standing out at tournaments throughout the year.

Anyone know how we are doing with them? Raab?

played whisper rock today in 70% sunny scottsdale weather with bob parsons, founder of godaddy...he employs 3 caddies, one on the bag and then 2 forecaddies (one down the leftside and one down the rightside) and then pays each caddie $400 each (told bob i needed him around when i used to caddie at sfgc)...bob told some pretty lurid stories about models, etc. during the hang afterwards at the rock

went to the cal game in tempe tonight and sat behind the bears bench

funny moment when the smokin hot sun devils cheerleaders threw t-shirts to the crowd and sarah montgomery somehow ended up with one...she passed it down the row...think the cute girl next to her is probably monty's daughter anne who played vb at usc

kudos to the guy (looks like a young sonny dykes, love the slogan "i'm not a lesbian but i like dykes") in full cal gear who was asked by the police to leave the asu student section after they started to chant like bitchy veruka salts "throw him out, throw him out"...hats off to you, my friend

gotta love the youthful passion of t-wall whose smile is infectious and rubbed alan crabbe's head like a pet dog after one of ac's 3 pt bombs during a to

jeff powers likes to stare at the blonde with high heels who delivers stats throughout the game...prediction: jp will attend grad school at asu

sure wish justin cobbs would take up yoga during the offseason...he needs a little more flexibility in the hips to keep up with shorter & faster pgs like carson but more importantly, jc always looks pissed off & ready to punch someone...jc is a special talent but a calmer internal mindset would balance out his angst...the answers to life (and putting) can be found on the yoga mat

rodriguez and frid (along with kreklow) did not make the trip which is newsworthy because walk on galvin suited up...neither rodriguez or frid is developing quick enough to have an impact next season which means kameron rooks needs to say no to krispy kremes and yes to true foods & be ready to play 15-20 mpg as the 1st big off the bench for the bears...his progression from his jr to sr yrs is remarkable, his soft hands are already better than solo and doc kravishs' paws

go beers

Shocky1;842077607 said:

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neither rodriguez or frid is developing quick enough to have an impact next season...

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Are you basing this on two players that are red-shirting not making the trip, or something else?

Civil Bear;842077655 said:

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Are you basing this on two players that are red-shirting not making the trip, or something else?

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something else-feedback

Great post, shocky. Thanks. Love the yoga and krispy kreme comments lol.

2014 bf bears offered evan fitzner 6'10" 210 lbs led his team with 14 pts as the francis parker lancers speared the santa fe christians 57-46

fitzner is from a very tight & athletic del mar family

dad mark is 6'8" and was sd bb player of the year in 1974 and later played at stanford...ef might favor the cards but a 3.00 gpa might not clear admissions

mom cheri is 6'1" and was one of 4 sisters to receive dI schollys as vb setters and played for the rainbows on the islands

bro bryce is 6'8" 240 lbs (clear indication that ef can put on more good weight) sr at parker and plays both bb & fb

little sister emily aspires to play competitive vb like her mom

ef brings a ryan anderson game style and a high level skill set, has numerous firm offers from dI programs, and will visit berkeley this summer during a family nor cal roadtrip...ef drains 3 pters with a fluid stroke, deftly brings the ball up court and already dribbles (including behind his back moves) better than any of the current cal wings & bigs and is a team player

the united state of america's top 2015 player (with the bears the current leader) ivan rabb scored 18 pts (4-8 fts), 9 boards & 8 BLOCKS(!) as bod (21-3) stinged the berkeley yellowjackets 64-53...once again the hardware man dnp

planet earth's #1 ranked 2015 player ivan rabb played with nba level intimidation with 22 pts w/16 boards & 9 blocks including 4 rejections in the first 3 minutes which set the tone for the game as ir led bod (22-3) on a grueling roadtrip victory over a very strong gary strong modesto christian (23-3) squad...sir richard midgely dnp for the crusaders due to passport issues

jabari bird scored 7 pts (1-2 fts) but mostly rested as salesian (23-3) denounced the deanza dons in a final non league tune up before the playoffs as 11 pride players scored

Photo http://www.utsandiego.com/photos/2013/jan/17/769900/


The Fitzner family, from left, Emily, 12, Evan, 17, mother Cheri, father Mark, and Bryce, 18.

How are Cal's chances with this guy? I think he is going to blow up. Hopefully being on him early helps. I have never seen a high school player that tall who could shoot that well. And he can handle the ball and move. Wow.



Sluggo

what is one the best moments we can experience as bears fans?

jogging back to the car thru an opposing campus after a cal win in a hostile environment all the while savoring the thrill of victory in one of my favorites...much more fun that the slow death march back to the hotel in columbus full of regrets after jt forgot in the 4th q that he had the most electrifying rb in college fb on his roster

played stone canyon (the best course in southern arizona featuring gigantic boulder outcroppings & towering saguaros along with a walkable routing and clever strategic options) this morning and then sat courtside at mckale (thx artie)

an odd thing about the mckale crowd is that other than the loud students, the crowd is very, very old (they must drive in from all the retirement communities) and very, very white (i did not see a single black person wearing arizona gear)

special kudos to jay john who many of az's largest donors consider the underappreciated mastermind and man behind the curtins during the lute era...tonight is a sweet night for jj

how did monty coach an undermanned (virtually no scoring production from the sr bench of bak bak, smith & the thurminator although they all hustle with 100% buy in to the team concept) bears squad over the #7 ranked wildcats and their roster littered with hs all americans on their home court?

monty basicially pawned sean miller (who is a highly successful recruiter but an average game day coach in terms of xxx's and ooo's) with the unexpected zone defense and thereby protecting the overworked bears starters from foul trouble

my guess is that ivan rabb & his family (what up, grandpa? go bears!) watched the game and must have amazed at sean miller's inability to design plays for his bigs including ashley...this issue is going to get worse for the wildcats next year when sr pg mark lyons leaves tuscon

on the other hand, has anyone ever seen a college bb coach draw up during a timeout more scoring plays after an in bounds play than monty?

cal bb has made recruiting mistakes during the last few years but monty and his newly revamped bb organization (gottlieb is absolutely relentless on the recruiting trail right now and offered a phx area stud this week while in the desert) has created huge momentum for the program

due to these past personnel & strategic mistakes, monty is basically beating ranked (#7 and #10) teams with a starting five backed up by the gutty sr trio with jeff powers always available when he is not on babe watch alert...special shout out to unflappable energizer fr t-wall for 7 assists and no tos in his 1st game at mckale

next year when the bears monster recruiting class of bird, matthews, singer & (k)rooks arrives in berkelely, cal bb will finally field a much deeper team of high character student athletes and be positioned potentially for an epic season at haas

on the drive home tonight from tuscon, listened to my current cal athletics theme song m83's "midnight city" with the top down...i can see that all the planets are clearly aligned...it's good to be a bear


the university of california=#1 ranked public university in the world

way to represent

Shocky1;842078895 said:

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what is one the best moments we can experience as bears fans?

jogging back to the car thru an opposing campus after a cal win in a hostile environment all the while savoring the thrill of victory in one of my favorites...much more fun that the slow death march back to the hotel in columbus full of regrets after jt forgot in the 4th q that he had the most electrifying rb in college fb on his roster

played stone canyon (the best course in southern arizona featuring gigantic boulder outcroppings & towering saguaros along with a walkable routing and clever strategic options) this morning and then sat courtside at mckale (thx artie)

an odd thing about the mckale crowd is that other than the energized students, the crowd is very, very old (they must drive in from all the retirement communities) and very, very white (i did not see a single black person wearing arizona gear)

special kudos to jay john who many of az's largest donors consider the mastermind and man behind the curtins during the lute era...tonight is a sweet night for jj no doubt

how did monty coach an undermanned (virtually no scoring production from the sr bench of bak bak, smith & the thurminator although they all hustle with 100% buy in to the team concept) bears squad over the #7 ranked wildcats and their roster littered with hs all americans on their home court?

monty basicially pawned sean miller (who is a successful recruiter but an average game day coach in terms of xxx's and ooo's) with the zone defense and thereby also protecting the bears from foul trouble all the while resting a bit the overworked bears starters

my guess is that ivan rabb & his family (what up, grandpa? go bears!) watched the game and must have amazed at sean miller's inability to design plays for his bigs including ashley...this issue is going to get worse for the wildcats next year when sr pg mark lyons leaves tuscon

on the other hand, has anyone ever seen a college bb coach draw up during a timeout more scoring plays after an in bounds play than monty?

cal bb has made recruiting mistakes during the last few years but monty and his newly revamped bb organization (gottlieb is absolutely relentless on the recruiting trail and offered a phx area stud this week while in the desert) has created huge momentum for the program

due to these personnel & strategic mistakes, monty is basically beating ranked (#7 and #10) teams with a starting five backed up by the gutty sr trio with jeff powers always available when he is not on babe alert...special shout out to fr t=wall for 7 assists and no tos in his 1st game at mckale

next year when the bears monster recruiting class of bird, matthews, singer & (k)rooks arrives in berkelely, cal bb will fianlly field a much deeper roster of high character student athletes and positioned potentially for an epic season at haas

on the drive home tonight from tuscon, listened to my current cal athletics theme song m83's "midnight city" with the top down...i can see that all the planets are clearly aligned...it's good to be a bear


the university of california=#1 ranked public university in the world

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Shocky1;842078895 said:

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on the drive home tonight from tuscon, listened to my current cal athletics theme song m83's "midnight city" with the top down...i can see that all the planets are clearly aligned...it's good to be a bear


the university of california=#1 ranked public university in the world

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awesome song!

Shocky, you amaze me! I am glad you enjoyed the game! I think this is your reward for your diligent reporting of our future. Enjoy!

ianbearnson;842078907 said:

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awesome song!

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ian, totally agree about m83, also listening to a lot of interpol these days

i'm low tech, any chance you could post a concert video link to midnight city?

parent tip: great song to get your kids moving in the morning too...WHOO!!!

sam singer led ransom everglades (24-2) with 14 pts & 8 boards in only 3 q's as the raiders pillaged terra (74-28) and doral (team mascot should be changed to the blue monsters) 56-19 in the opening rounds of the state playoffs

thx to r90 for linking today's feature re: ss & amIII in today's miami hearld

key points:

ss is leading miami dade county in scoring with a 27.3 ppg along with 10.4 rbg, 6.7 apg & 4.5 spg

singer received the game ball after the raider's opening win but has refused it ever since and confers with hc claude grubair after each game re: which teammate should receive the ball

trey mourning III quote: "it's a great pleasure to play with sam because he's so unselfish...in the past we've had issues with him in passing up open shots"

amIII is receiving "a's and b's" at re (which is equivalent to a 3.8 gpa at a california public high school), is already multilingual, interested in international business (haas undergrad biz school ranked #1 in the nation) and is interested in going away for college

amIII is currently 6'9" 210 lbs and still growing and might reach 7'2"...re will be tripping again to the cal camp this summer which will allow monty and co a first hand evaluation of his development and also reunite the raiders with ss who will be arriving in berkeley early for summer school

seriously doubt a well educated family like the mourning's will send their son to a jc caliber academically basketball factory for myopic dumb azz hoopsters, this might shape up to be a georgetown, harvard & cal recruiting battle

monty won 24 games last year and in 2010 with overall good (not great) talent...what's going to happen when the bears monster recruiting class arrives in berkelely?


the university of california, berkelely=#1 ranked public university in the world

Ahmaad Rorie's latest highlight. I like what he says around the 1.43 mark "I'm definitely excited to come to California to play basketball."

From what I've seen (youtube clips), I like Rorie's game a lot. He's exactly what we need after Cobbs matriculates. Quick PG with handles and a mid-range/pull up game. Good form and balance on his shot and seems to have a soft touch on his shot from what I can tell.

Anybody recall why MM didn't go after Artis? He was a 5* and local. I know he committed to UCLA early, but reopened. Artis would have been great as a understudy of Cobb.... was it Artis' height?

GoCalBears;842079757 said:

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Anybody recall why MM didn't go after Artis? He was a 5* and local. I know he committed to UCLA early, but reopened. Artis would have been great as a understudy of Cobb.... was it Artis' height?[

Artis would have started for Cal early this season, not just an understudy. Big miss, though I do like Wallace and Rorie reminds me of Artis.

It is possible that Cal made Wallace priority #1 after Artis picked UCLA, and that when Artis decommitted Cal stayed true to Tyrone. Better to have one of them than neither.

Both have their strengths and areas for improvement.

all american jabari bird, tags & javid all rested as salesian (24-3) tuned up for the upcoming state playoffs as 11 pride teammates scored as they blasted the st patrick/st vincent bruins 83-46

highly skilled 2014 big man (watch the jaw dropping video of him linked earlier by sluggo) evan fitzner scored 11 pts with little help from his teammates as the francis parker lancers were speared by horizon 47-33

kameron rooks scored a game high 17 pts as the mission hills grizzlies (22-4) endangered the san pasqual golden eagles 68-43

super soph ivan rabb led the bod pirates (23-3) to a 64-57 looting of a strong san leandro team in bod's tiny crackerjack gym, there is 40 inches behind each basket and fans in the front row need to move their feet to allow in bound passes...ir plays with a smooth tempo with quick twitch dominating blocks...highly efficient around the basket with good footwork shades of a not fully developed shareef...unselfish passer who does not force his shots ala jabari bird...at times appears to coast and gets back on offense much quicker than defense...repetitive ft motion with a ball spin followed by a quick lifting of the ball over his head before shooting, could shoot 70%+ fts in college...did not shake any of the opposing team's hands at the opening jump ball which he won handily but shook hands after the game...did not complain re: a few quesionable refs calls and after one 3 second call raised his hand to acknowledge his miscue

if ivan rabb continues to develop and commits to the bears in 2015 (which despite the eventual recruitment by every major program in the country will likely be a stay at home with cal vs go away to arizona decision) coupled with the current monster class, monty will have all the necessary pieces for final four seasons imo...the bears staff including monty cannot afford to miss any bod games on non cal gamedays...monty can either go home on wed nights and watch the history channel with sarah in his favorite chair in his comfy house in the hills (and the bears will be good) or he can go cheer ivan rabb while munching on a to go dinner of top dog & fentons ice cream (and the bears will be potentially great)

ball is in your court, monty, you are arguably the best gameday coach in college basketball but recruits & their families have gotta feel the love too to make it all work out in the end

jabari bird's twitter:@jbird2013

there is hope ha ha rt@yayareastfinest: cal is here to see aaron gordon..."it aint over til its over"

cal at ag's valley christian game

Shocky1;842080614 said:

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jabari bird's twitter:@jbird2013

there is hope ha ha rt@yayareastfinest: cal is here to see aaron gordon..."it aint over til its over"

cal at ag's valley christian game

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I hope and pray.

Would be awesome. That would make for some really fun basketball to watch!

have you seen the new ncca commerical with the super talented & selfish ucla freshmen class?

"and we are all going to go pro (or transfer) next season after playing something other than team basketball"

basically monty outschemed (3 guard high weave offense) & clownstomped ben (who looks about as happy as the captain of the titanic but who really knows for sure, in any case the rogaine ain't working) again with 6'6" chris mccain unleashed & going wild behind the basket

special shout out to doc kravish for the sick clinic he administered tonight against the weak azz bruins (team chemistry is terrible, guys don't seem to really like other at all) on the way to the woodshed tonight as haas

birthday boy (happy 18) #1 sam singer (arguably the most underrated guard in the united states and its territories) scored 30 pts in only 11 minutes including 23 in the 3rd q as ransom everglades (25-2) clonked the key west conchs 90-49 in the florida bb regional quarterfinals...sponge bob square pants would approve

Shocky1;842081061 said:

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have you seen the new ncca commerical with the super talented & selfish ucla freshmen class?

"and we are all going to go pro (or transfer) next season after playing something other than team basketball"

basically monty outschemed & clownstomped ben (who looks about as happy as the captain of the titanic but who really knows for sure, in any case the rogaine ain't working) again with 6'6" chris mccain unleashed & going wild behind the basket

special shout out to doc kravish for the sick clinic he administered tonight against the weak azz bruins (team chemistry is terrible, guys don't seem to really like other at all) on the way to the woodshed tonight as haas

birthday boy (happy 18) #1 sam singer (arguably the most underrated guard in the united states and its territories) scored 30 pts in only 11 minutes including 23 in the 3rd q as ransom everglades (25-2) clonked the key west conchs 90-49 in the florida bb regional quarterfinals...sponge bob square pants would approve

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30 pts in 11min on your birthday- very nice

SFBearz;842081152 said:

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30 pts in 11min on your birthday- very nice

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agreed sfbearz

sam's game has not been evaluated by any of the recruiting fan's sites because he did not play aau garbage ball last summer opting to travel with his hs team to the cal camp in berkeley and is therefore unranked...same thing will also likely happen with amIII

with his gym rat work ethic and 100% unselfish (he would make a lousy ucla playah from that perspective) teamplay style, ss will be a key player in the bears future championships & a fan favorite & loved by his teammates/coaches

of course, there will always be a couple of fans who prefer to root for highly ranked dbs like shabazzzz who not only loves his blinged out gucci purses (what's up with that?) but also did not congratulate his teammate for making a last second shot last week prefering instead to sulk and walk off the court by himself because he didn't get to be the man & jack up another shot

the bears monster class is not only about their extraordinary basketball partciularly lights out shooting skills but also about their academic achievements and humble, team first commitments

go bruins (they gonna need it next season when sr pg drew departs westwood along with most of their overrated freshman class)


the university of california, berkelely=#1 ranked public university in the world

rapidly developing big man kameron rooks scored 15 pts, 9 boards & 4 blocks as hc curtis hofmeister's mission hills grizzlies (23-4) chewed up the talented san marcos (23-4) knights in white satin 60-55...rumor has is that former knights wbb star susie rooks was not happy with the outcome and that kr had to walk home by himself in the dark with his bag over his shoulder after the game...sean rooks wisely had no comment

Shocky1;842081262 said:

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agreed sfbearz

sam's game has not been evaluated by any of the recruiting fan's sites because he did not play aau garbage ball last summer opting to travel with his hs team to the cal camp in berkeley and is therefore unranked...same thing will also likely happen with amIII

with his gym rat work ethic and 100% unselfish (he would make a lousy ucla playah from that perspective) teamplay style, ss will be a key player in the bears future championships & a fan favorite & loved by his teammates/coaches

of course, there will always be a couple of fans who prefer to root for highly ranked dbs like shabazzzz who not only loves his blinged out gucci purses (what's up with that?) but also did not congratulate his teammate for making a last second shot last week prefering instead to sulk and walk off the court by himself because he didn't get to be the man & jack up another shot

the bears monster class is not only about their extraordinary basketball partciularly lights out shooting skills but also about their academic achievements and humble, team first commitments

go bruins (they gonna need it next season when sr pg drew departs westwood along with most of their overrated freshman class)


the university of california, berkelely=#1 ranked public university in the world

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Actually, Singer did play AAU ball for a squad called Gold Coast. So, he's been evaluated. Perhaps he's been "somewhat" overlooked (he scored some high major offers, so how "overlooked" can he be?) and not rated in those Top 100's (IMO because he's not considered a "plus" athlete), but he's been seen and known about for awhile. Eric Bossi has seen him and he's from one of those national recruiting sites.

I'm all for pumping up our guys, but let's be accurate.

http://www.sourcehoops.com/sam-singer-gets-buckets/

http://www.floridahoops.com/index.php?view=article&id=1261%3Aprospect-profile-sam-singer&option=com_content&Itemid=57

http://cleveland.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=1072&CID=1405528

tsubamoto2001;842081297 said:

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Actually, Singer did play AAU ball for a squad called Gold Coast. So, he's been evaluated. Perhaps he's been "somewhat" overlooked (he scored some high major offers, so how "overlooked" can he be?) and not rated in those Top 100's (IMO because he's not considered a "plus" athlete), but he's been seen and known about for awhile. Eric Bossi has seen him and he's from one of those national recruiting sites.

I'm all for pumping up our guys, but let's be accurate.

http://www.sourcehoops.com/sam-singer-gets-buckets/

http://www.floridahoops.com/index.php?view=article&id=1261%3Aprospect-profile-sam-singer&option=com_content&Itemid=57

http://cleveland.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=1072&CID=1405528

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tsub, appreciate your links, agreed we should be accurate (as shocky1 bows his head in shame)