Cal Hoops

Hey there, Cal fans! What a game last night against a fairly tough Southern Mississippi team. The Bears prevailed, on the strength of Devon Hard and Patrick Christopher, and Ryan Anderson coming in the last few minutes after being out most of the second half.

Anderson could not see out of one of his eyes - no reason. Just could not see. That is not a good sign. He says it happened to him once in high school. That is pretty scary. Hopefully it is not a sign of something really major.

The Bears should have won more convincingly. But it is a good win nonetheless. The next game against Nicholls State is a gimme, but then the Bears have San Diego, which is doing well and beat us last year. I think they made the Tournament. And then we go to Nevada, which is always tough. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Bears at 2-2 early in the season. We also have a few other tough pre-season games with Missouri and Kansas State.

If we can get through the preseason undefeated, then I think we will be in a good position for a Tournament run. We would probably need to finish no worse than 8-10 in the Pac 10, which I think is doable with this team. For every team that we lose to pre-season, we will have to win an additional game in the Pac 10 season, which is going to be tough.

Injuries will be tough this year. We are already down three key players - all of whom should be back before the Pac 10 season. However, if we lose others, we are pretty thin.

I also am excited by the recruiting class which we picked up yesterday. We have some talented young guys coming in at the guard slots which we need - that is crucial for playing in the Pac 10 and getting far in the tournament. So there is a lot to be happy about right now with Cal basketball. Remember - John Wooden didn't win until his 10th season!

GO BEARS!!