Cal Basketball and other stuff

I did not want to post before the Kansas State game for fear of what would most certainly have been too gushing of a post after dominating a very weak team for 117 points.

However, even in the loss, it was clear that the Bears were the better team on the road against a terrible refereeing crew from the Big 12. It was shame because the Bears would have moved into the top 25 for the first time in a while with a victory. The refereeing was TRULY a joke. This was the most one-sided game ever called in the history of basketball (well, I am just guessing). But it was bad.

All that aside, the Bears should have won anyway. DeVon Hardin played poorly, as is his MO when he gets into early foul trouble, and the Bears got out-rebounded by a significant margin. In addition, there were 20 turnovers. So that is a lot to make up when you are playing with one hand tied behind your back. We needed to be stronger on the boards.

As far as it goes, losing to Kansas State does not do much for us either way. We are ranked currently at 74 in the RPI, and Kansas State is number 86. So it is a fairly close loss. We dropped from 55 after the loss.

We do have two good pre-season wins which will help us down the line in Missouri and San Diego State, both in the top 50 RPI and hopefully staying there. San Diego State has a strong possibility of contending for their conference crown for the third year in a row, and Missouri is also pretty good. So if they play strong, and Kansas State does well, our pre-season will be one that people are semi-impressed about.

Instead, St. Mary's took our spot in the top 25 by beating San Diego State over the weekend, and moving to 24 in the polls. They are also, at 6 - 0, number 1 in the RPI. That is very impressive for the boys from Moraga.

I am assuming that we win out in our preseason, going into the season with an RPI in the mid-40s. Most of the games remaining are against teams that we should definitely beat. And all are at home. The toughest will be against Utah, who has lost to Washington, Oregon and Santa Clara. All tough teams, but the Bears should be as good as that crew.

I just got my East Bay Business times in the mail. There is a postcard advertisement for the Bears, which is pretty impressive. It says something like: Two Naismith Candidates, Three Returning Starters, Seven Returning Lettermen, and the biggest front line in all of NCAA basketball. When you think about it, it is pretty impressive. This should be a great season for the Bears, and I am starting to get excited.

Although not as excited as I was at the beginning of football season. And we all know how that went.

But I do think that the Bears will be playing past the first weekend in the tournament. I think they can win half the games in the Pac 10, which will give them a definite tournament seeding in the top 32. I can see the Pac 10 getting in 7 teams easily, perhaps 8 if Washington can turn it around.

Hopefully, getting Boykins and Theo back will be a positive to the team. I think it gives a bit more flexibility in the lineup to move from a big to small (but not too small) lineup which can be good. This team is so athletic this year, there really is no excuse for not succeeding.

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I apologize that I have not said this before, but CONGRATULATIONS TO THE MEN'S WATERPOLO TEAM for a dominating defense of their National Title. That is the best news in a while. It is great to see Cal at the top again in this sport, where we belong. I always though of Water Polo, Crew and Rugby as the sports where we should win every year. These are sports with a long tradition of victory at the University and we need to ensure that we stay on top.

It would be nice to say that football and basketball have a long history of victory and achievement. But of course we are trying to build that. Two things come to mind when building long term success: Coaches who are good, competent and with a ton of integrity, who can connect with their players and get them to give their best, and coaches who stay at programs long enough for those qualities to be recognized and rewarded with the best recruits. I think in many of our sports, we have started down that path. If you look at the big winners over time (Jack Clark of Cal Rugby, Mike Krzyzewski of Duke, Lute Olsen, Pete Cutino, John Wooden, etc), you will that is the recipe for success. Both Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno had that (until they got too old and probably do not have the pulse of what is really going on now). I think that is what we are trying to do with Jeff Tedford and Ben Braun. I think both of those men have had failures, but the idea is that the program is a positive one, that positive consistency means that players come to you. In other words, if you are 10 years old and look up to the best in the business right now, you would consider Jeff Tedford and Cal one of those. If he is still there in 8 years, that is probably a place where you want to go, if you have a choice, and your parents are smart. It is comforting to know that a good program is in place. That is why Lute Olsen is getting paid big bucks to tell people he will be back next year.

So it is nice to see that in other Cal sports as well - trying to make a transition from a sometime winner to a consistent winner. Our Soccer Teams are trying to get to that level, and our Women's basketball team is certainly building that. Also, Women's Volleyball is doing well for the third straight year (actually beating Nebraska - defending champs - and making it into the final four).

I think a lot of this has to do with an re-emphasis on athletics at Cal, and a lot of this has to do with increasing contributions from alumni due to the success of the football team over the past few year. But most of this has to do with hiring the right coaches, paying them a competitive salary, and making it comfortable for well qualified athletes to make Cal home. But certainly California Athletics is on a very positive upswing over the past 5 years or so.

GO BEARS!!