sitting directly behind the cal bench in the 1st row i got to meet the ugly azz virginia mascot, the cavalier

asked that fashion nightmare fiasco if he's ever gonna tie his shoes, the cavalier stared at me with a nasty snarl & was speechless

boom




if the candy azz soft fans that are whining about tonite's physically & mentally battle would actually attend next monday's game vs davidson at haas pavilion, they could help create positive energy for the cal basketball program on gamedays...let's be real here, watching cal basketball on tv is for ugly dumb azzs, hide the donuts

don't be a dumb azz#

Shocky1;842620785 said:

---

sitting directly behind the cal bench in the 1st row i got to meet the ugly azz virginia mascot, the cavalier

asked that fashion nightmare fiasco if he's ever gonna tie his shoes, the cavalier stared at me with a nasty snarl & was speechless

boom




if the candy azz soft fans that are whining about tonite's physically & mentally battle would actually attend next monday's game vs davidson at haas pavilion, they could help create positive energy for the cal basketball program on gamedays...let's be real here, watching cal basketball on tv is for ugly dumb azzs, hide the donuts

don't be a dumb azz#

---

See you there. No donuts!

Sierra Canyon HS in livestream action with Cal recruit targets Cody Riley and Ira Lee. playing against La Lumiere of Indiana.

http://livestream.com/scoringlive/events/4609748

late in the game jaylen brown is getting ready to shoot a critical free throw when a virginia guard starts pointing out an imaginary sweat puddle to the ref who was handing jaylen the ball...the cavs player is pointing at the floor a couple inches to the right of jaylen so then the ref started pawing the floor with his sneakers, no idea why he isn't asking for the towel kid...now it's in brown's head & he is actually scraping the floor a couple of time too with his kicks

finally brown shoots the free throw & misses for the only time of the nite (8-9 on free throws)

bears lose by 1 point, it's called freezing the shooter



gamesmanship#

parentswerebears;842620792 said:

---

See you there. No donuts!

---

good job, teach...let's say hello



conditioning (both mentally & physically) starts with discipline#

[SIZE=5]against the best team Cal has played this year, [COLOR="#0000CD"]Jaylen Brown[/COLOR] played his best game as a Golden Bear scoring 18 points, including attacking the basket and 8 or 9 free throws + 6 tough rebounds

but Jaylen knows what's truly important in life ...[/SIZE]

Shocky1;842620838 said:

---

late in the game jaylen brown is getting ready to shoot a critical free throw when a virginia guard starts pointing out an imaginary sweat puddle to the ref who was handing jaylen the ball...the cavs player is pointing at the floor a couple inches to the right of jaylen so then the ref started pawing the floor with his sneakers, no idea why he isn't asking for the towel kid...now it's in brown's head & he is actually scraping the floor a couple of time too with his kicks

finally brown shoots the free throw & misses for the only time of the nite (8-9 on free throws)

bears lose by 1 point, it's called freezing the shooter



gamesmanship#

---

Yeah, noticed that too..

Shocky1;842620785 said:

---

sitting directly behind the cal bench in the 1st row i got to meet the ugly azz virginia mascot, the cavalier

asked that fashion nightmare fiasco if he's ever gonna tie his shoes, the cavalier stared at me with a nasty snarl & was speechless

boom




if the candy azz soft fans that are whining about tonite's physically & mentally battle would actually attend next Monday's game vs davidson at haas pavilion, they could help create positive energy for the cal basketball program on gamedays...let's be real here, watching cal basketball on tv is for ugly dumb azzs, hide the donuts

don't be a dumb azz#

---

I admit it - I'm a dumbass, waking up in my own bed, looking out at the sun rising over the ridge. I think I'll think I'll go have a donut and read the morning paper. Nah, I don't eat pastries anymore.
What flight are you catching? Have fun with that.

"tough one down the stretch...i give those guys credit for executing down the stretch and making plays...i thought both teams competed, fought, executed and grinded the game out...it was probably a great game to watch from afar...it was a tough one to learn from and continue to move forward...i thought our guys did enough, but we just came up a little short"

"i am not embarrassed or ashamed by losses, but when you lose after you have competed you have a tendency to sleep a little bit easier...but when you don't play hard and you don't compete or even if you win the game, there's a bad taste in my mouth...but i thought our guys fought against a very good team on both sides of the ball...bennett is one of the best coaches in the game...they are experienced guys who are battle tested...it was a tremendous environment...we can up short, but we will learn from it...i thought our guys did enough to win the game...but it was just another lesson that down the stretch of the game you need to execute what you are doing...just try and win the ball game"

-coach martin

Shocky1;842620750 said:

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the bears competed with the required relentless intensity that is necessary for championship basketball for a full 45 minutes tonite at the deafening john paul jones arena against the #5 ranked team in the nation at the university of virginia

yeah, the guys got a long nite in front of them with a bus ride to washington dc, a couple of hours of sleep at an airport hotel & then a 7:00 am flight back to the bay area but they should be very proud of their collective effort

until this epic game i kinda wondered if this squad had the heart & killer instincts to potentially win the pac 12 championship, that question has been answered

time to move on, the bears gotta learn from this ncca game like experience & battle for another win vs davidson on monday december 28th to wrap up the preseason with a 10-3 record



resilience#

---

+1. Gotta love the competitive fire. I know the nervous nellies are mad about a 1 point loss to the number 5 team in the nation on their home court with some good ACC home cooking. I'm not. Get the Davidson win (as above) and then do well against mountain schools. Both will be a "bear" - Utah in particular so young Mr. Rooks is going to need to be a beast in the block for us to compete.

socaltownie;842620943 said:

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+1. Gotta love the competitive fire. I know the nervous nellies are mad about a 1 point loss to the number 5 team in the nation on their home court with some good ACC home cooking. I'm not. Get the Davidson win (as above) and then do well against mountain schools. Both will be a "bear" - Utah in particular so young Mr. Rooks is going to need to be a beast in the block for us to compete.

---

People are just looking for excuses to tear down the coach. I don't get it. This effort was light years ahead of where we were in Vegas, and in a far more hostile environment. It's something to build on going into conference. Win Monday, go 12-6 in conference, and we will very likely finally get off the 8-9 "seed of death."

Jeff82;842620966 said:

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People are just looking for excuses to tear down the coach. I don't get it. This effort was light years ahead of where we were in Vegas, and in a far more hostile environment. It's something to build on going into conference. Win Monday, go 12-6 in conference, and we will very likely finally get off the 8-9 "seed of death."

---

12-6 in conference may or may not get us off the 8/9 game. Too early to tell. We don't really have a quality nonconference win, though SMC may be one.

12-6 means 22-9 going into the Pac-12 tournament. Obviously, it depends who the 12 are, but I'd take my chances with that record. My goals are still the same--finish second in conference, beat U of A at least once, get off the 8/9 seed, make it to Sweet 16. All are doable if we play our game. Last night was more evidence of that.

Yeah but whatever happens this season, we are building something here. Too many people around here are apocalyptic. We can have a very good year that builds for the future even if we don't have a signature win or go as fAR as we might lIke in the tourney. Last night was disappointing but also very encouraging. Play that game 10 times and we probably win at least 5 of them. We haven't really had that feeling for a while. People need to calm down and let the program be built. Support the team and coaches. Good things are happening.

tsubamoto2001;842620972 said:

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12-6 in conference may or may not get us off the 8/9 game. Too early to tell. We don't really have a quality nonconference win, though SMC may be one.

---

As if it's known what our non conference record will be.
Lotta ball yet to be played!

Jeff82;842620966 said:

---

People are just looking for excuses to tear down the coach. I don't get it. This effort was light years ahead of where we were in Vegas, and in a far more hostile environment. It's something to build on going into conference. Win Monday, go 12-6 in conference, and we will very likely finally get off the 8-9 "seed of death."

---

Thought the Bears would go 10-2 in OOC (loss to UVa and another random loss), so not terribly far off. Much better game vs UVa than expected, but Davidson is no gimme.

12-6 is a reasonable goal, but Bears are a little worse than expected and the PAC is better than expected.

OldBlue1999;842620983 said:

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Yeah but whatever happens this season, we are building something here. Too many people around here are apocalyptic. We can have a very good year that builds for the future even if we don't have a signature win or go as fAR as we might lIke in the tourney. Last night was disappointing but also very encouraging. Play that game 10 times and we probably win at least 5 of them. We haven't really had that feeling for a while. People need to calm down and let the program be built. Support the team and coaches. Good things are happening.

---

Agreed. While it may be true that Monty wins that game with these players, Monty doesn't get these players as a coach. And this game, with the type of players Monty recruited, is a 15-20 point loss, because we probably get athleticked right off the court. I'm much more optimistic having a coach that can recruit, and is still finding his way on Xs and Os, than a coach who knows what to do at the blackboard, but can't get the guys he needs to come and play for him.

Jeff82;842620989 said:

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Agreed. While it may be true that Monty wins that game with these players, Monty doesn't get these players as a coach. And this game, with the type of players Monty recruited, is a 15-20 point loss, because we probably get athleticked right off the court. I'm much more optimistic having a coach that can recruit, and is still finding his way on Xs and Os, than a coach who knows what to do at the blackboard, but can't get the guys he needs to come and play for him.

---

+1. Plus I am TOTALLY not convinced that Martin is challenged with Xs and Os. Right now the rule change/area of emphasis is a big problem for the way THIS year's Bears CURRENTLY are built.

A) There is such an advantage of having a micro guard who can both quickly defend at the point of attack and drive. We are playing without one. Scary to think what Randle could do without any hand checking.

B) Last night was a very important game for Brown. Not only leading the way in scoring but it is starting to click. Balis was wrong about one call (where Brown just barrel to the rim). If he is going to shoot FTs the way he did last night EVERY break and secondary break I want Jaylen taking it hard to the hole. He will darw fould on guys like no tomorrow. I think what he is finding out is that he can't just lower shoulder but he has the tools to make just a bit of a fake and avoid the charge/draw the block.

C) Rabb is finding out his role. THIS year he isn't a post guy (sorry shock). Oh we should try that but he isn't strong enough to go down and just plant himself at the block. What he is AMAZING at is rebounding.

D) Rabb and Rooks both need to work on screening Bird and Mathews. Over time that is going to be important.

Would have rather had a W but again, monty loses by 20 against those guys without any answer to their better athletes.

I agree with you about the officiating, SCT. One thing that occurred to me when they called the fifth foul on Okoroh was that the official blowing the whistle may have forgotten about the change in the arm bar rule. It looked to me like the whistle came just as Kingsley was getting into his defensive position. He was mystified about the call, and so was I, as under the new rules, that appeared to be legal contact for the defender.

Jeff82;842621007 said:

---

I agree with you about the officiating, SCT. One thing that occurred to me when they called the fifth foul on Okoroh was that the official blowing the whistle may have forgotten about the change in the arm bar rule. It looked to me like the whistle came just as Kingsley was getting into his defensive position. He was mystified about the call, and so was I, as under the new rules, that appeared to be legal contact for the defender.

---

Was a HORRIBLE call. Not sure it mattered but it was a horrible call. Yes, the ref totally blew it.

socaltownie;842621005 said:

---

+1. Plus I am TOTALLY not convinced that Martin is challenged with Xs and Os. Right now the rule change/area of emphasis is a big problem for the way THIS year's Bears CURRENTLY are built.

A) There is such an advantage of having a micro guard who can both quickly defend at the point of attack and drive. We are playing without one. Scary to think what Randle could do without any hand checking.

B) Last night was a very important game for Brown. Not only leading the way in scoring but it is starting to click. Balis was wrong about one call (where Brown just barrel to the rim). If he is going to shoot FTs the way he did last night EVERY break and secondary break I want Jaylen taking it hard to the hole. He will darw fould on guys like no tomorrow. I think what he is finding out is that he can't just lower shoulder but he has the tools to make just a bit of a fake and avoid the charge/draw the block.

C) Rabb is finding out his role. THIS year he isn't a post guy (sorry shock). Oh we should try that but he isn't strong enough to go down and just plant himself at the block. What he is AMAZING at is rebounding.

D) Rabb and Rooks both need to work on screening Bird and Mathews. Over time that is going to be important.

Would have rather had a W but again, monty loses by 20 against those guys without any answer to their better athletes.

---

Sorry, but point with Rabb that some don't seem to understand, is that he needs the ball. He's by far our best decision-maker and good things usually happen when he touches it. He doesn't need to score every time he has it. He lead the team in assists last night. The fact is, he's criminally underused.

socaltownie;842621005 said:

---

+1. Plus I am TOTALLY not convinced that Martin is challenged with Xs and Os. Right now the rule change/area of emphasis is a big problem for the way THIS year's Bears CURRENTLY are built.

A) There is such an advantage of having a micro guard who can both quickly defend at the point of attack and drive. We are playing without one. Scary to think what Randle could do without any hand checking.

B) Last night was a very important game for Brown. Not only leading the way in scoring but it is starting to click. Balis was wrong about one call (where Brown just barrel to the rim). If he is going to shoot FTs the way he did last night EVERY break and secondary break I want Jaylen taking it hard to the hole. He will darw fould on guys like no tomorrow. I think what he is finding out is that he can't just lower shoulder but he has the tools to make just a bit of a fake and avoid the charge/draw the block.

C) Rabb is finding out his role. THIS year he isn't a post guy (sorry shock). Oh we should try that but he isn't strong enough to go down and just plant himself at the block. What he is AMAZING at is rebounding.

D) Rabb and Rooks both need to work on screening Bird and Mathews. Over time that is going to be important.

Would have rather had a W but again, monty loses by 20 against those guys without any answer to their better athletes.

---

Actually, I think Virginia's lack of athleticism hurts them. It seems that was their downfall in the tournament last year. Aside from Rooks and Okoroh, we were WAY more athletic than them. On one play for example, Bird just jumped about two feet higher than one of their guys, who is taller, for a rebound. We need to use our superior athleticism better since we will have that advantage against every team on our schedule (and all but a few teams in the country).

tsubamoto2001;842621014 said:

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Sorry, but point with Rabb that some don't seem to understand, is that he needs the ball. He's by far our best decision-maker and good things usually happen when he touches it. He doesn't need to score every time he has it. He lead the team in assists last night. The fact is, he's criminally underused.

---

Not sure last night. The brought double teams and Rabb generally had to pass it out to reset. He found the open man cross court I think once. that defense is designed to shut down guys like rabb. Which is did.

socaltownie;842621036 said:

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Not sure last night. The brought double teams and Rabb generally had to pass it out to reset. He found the open man cross court I think once. that defense is designed to shut down guys like rabb. Which is did.

---

Lol, really? He actually found guys multiple times. He led the team in assists and probably should have had more. It's not Rabb's fault guys weren't cutting.

CalEnviroLaw;842621015 said:

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Actually, I think Virginia's lack of athleticism hurts them. It seems that was their downfall in the tournament last year. Aside from Rooks and Okoroh, we were WAY more athletic than them. On one play for example, Bird just jumped about two feet higher than one of their guys, who is taller, for a rebound. We need to use our superior athleticism better since we will have that advantage against every team on our schedule (and all but a few teams in the country).

---

I would have loved to see, when we were up by 11, Martin to go full court. I still believe that this teams best chance to really put teams away is to force turn overs and then get out and run. I guess the worry is that Rooks and Kingsly are going to be challenged as rim defenders. But a line up of

Wallace
Singer
Roger
Rooks/Kingsly
Domingo

Could really make things hard on a team with a trapping zone. I guess the thinking last night is that you don't want to give them the three ball too easy. But against teams like CU, utah, Ruins we should try this.

tsubamoto2001;842621041 said:

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Lol, really? He actually found guys multiple times. He led the team in assists and probably should have had more. It's not Rabb's fault guys weren't cutting.

---

The whole point about the Pack-line is that the cut isn't there. You send 2 guys to help. The strong side permiter stays home. The weak side guys both Sag and Rim defend. What is WIDE open is ball rotation to the weak side but the problem is that you gotta make a nice pass or you risk it being a TO.

I can remember 3 of his assists. One to mathews where he finds the weak side pass. The other was on a pick and roll to brown. A third was a busted play on a dish to Bird.

socaltownie;842621046 said:

---

The whole point about the Pack-line is that the cut isn't there. You send 2 guys to help. The strong side permiter stays home. The weak side guys both Sag and Rim defend. What is WIDE open is ball rotation to the weak side but the problem is that you gotta make a nice pass or you risk it being a TO.

I can remember 3 of his assists. One to mathews where he finds the weak side pass. The other was on a pick and roll to brown. A third was a busted play on a dish to Bird.

---

The point wasnt even about last night--I'm well aware of the principles of the Pack-Line as I've known about that scheme since Dick Bennett was at Green Bay--but in general. We did an ok job of getting him touches, which oddly were usually later in the clock for whatever reason.

Up to this point, we haven't done a great job of involving Rabb in the O. This isn't some unskilled player we're talking about. There a multiple ways we can use him. He doesn't have to be in the post all the time. He can pick n roll/pop. There's just no justification for his lack of usage in our offense.

socaltownie;842621005 said:

---

Would have rather had a W but again, monty loses by 20 against those guys without any answer to their better athletes.

---

Better athletes????
Brown. Who is a better athlete than him?
Rabb. Who can pogo stick better than him?
Bird. Who has higher vertical leap than him?
Wallace. Who can finish in the paint with either hand better than him?

We also have 14 feet at center and Mathews is a very good shooter.

Better athletes? This was to be the year, baby! May still be but don't say it's bc they had better athletes as your excuse.

concordtom;842621059 said:

---

Better athletes????
Brown. Who is a better athlete than him?
Rabb. Who can pogo stick better than him?
Bird. Who has higher vertical leap than him?
Wallace. Who can finish in the paint with either hand better than him?

We also have 14 feet at center and Mathews is a very good shooter.

Better athletes? This was to be the year, baby! May still be but don't say it's bc they had better athletes as your excuse.

---

You have neither brown nor Rabb with Monty. You PROBABLY don't have Wallace who enters early. So your starting line up is.....

Sam
Bird
Mathews
Rooks
unknown 4.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm......like I said, we lose by 20.

concordtom;842621059 said:

---

Better athletes????
Brown. Who is a better athlete than him?
Rabb. Who can pogo stick better than him?
Bird. Who has higher vertical leap than him?
Wallace. Who can finish in the paint with either hand better than him?

We also have 14 feet at center and Mathews is a very good shooter.

Better athletes? This was to be the year, baby! May still be but don't say it's bc they had better athletes as your excuse.

---

CT, you are misunderstanding SCT.

socaltownie;842621065 said:

---

You have neither brown nor Rabb with Monty. You PROBABLY don't have Wallace who enters early. So your starting line up is.....

Sam
Bird
Mathews
Rooks
unknown 4.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm......like I said, we lose by 20.

---

Agreed. But we have 4 or 5 future NBA players. Virginia has maybe 0-2. Granted, their guys are mostly 21-23 years old. We should be better than we are, but we have improved since the start of the season, especially on D. Virginia is about as good as they can be. We can be much better.

CalEnviroLaw;842621068 said:

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Agreed. But we have 4 or 5 future NBA players. Virginia has maybe 0-2. Granted, their guys are mostly 21-23 years old. We should be better than we are, but we have improved since the start of the season, especially on D. Virginia is about as good as they can be. We can be much better.

---

+1 this. I think the key "meta" issue is whether the Bears can get enough Wins during this learning phase to avoid a seed of death/missing the tournament. Come March they could be VERY VERY good....and they are especially going to be good in March cause that is the point that refs are going to let Rabb and Wallace and Rabb play. No silly touch fouls and lots of contact.

CalEnviroLaw;842621068 said:

---

we have 4 or 5 future NBA players.

---

Who are they?

I see two, for sure, the freshmen.

south bender;842621071 said:

---

Who are they?

I see two, for sure, the freshmen.

---

Brown, Rabb, Wallace, and Bird. Bird should get there on athleticism and shooting ability. I think Mathews has a shot.

tsubamoto2001;842621014 said:

---

Sorry, but point with Rabb that some don't seem to understand, is that he needs the ball. He's by far our best decision-maker and good things usually happen when he touches it. He doesn't need to score every time he has it. He lead the team in assists last night. The fact is, he's criminally underused.

---

Yep!! My major takeaway from last night is that Rabb is a MAN!!! His rebounding in traffic was fantastic. His poise was impressive. He has got to be the focus of every practice: how to get him the ball in a variety of ways.