Boykin, Christopher, Randle Carry Golden Bears Over Sun Devils

I shook my head in amazement watching Jorge in the last 3 minutes of the game. Dude doesn’t score all game, but sticks a 3 right after ASU had cut our lead to 1. ASU backed off him, choosing to double team Christopher. Clutch shot, and a good shot, too: wide open, in rhythm. But to make that shot, in that situation, with the game in the balance and mojo on ASU’s side, was impressive. ASU was daring him to take that shot, and he nailed it.

And THEN, Jorge picks up a charge on the defensive end to kill an ASU possession. That was a huge play. At that point, I was feeling pretty good about hanging on FTW, as we were in control once again (especially the way we were shooting FTs).

Good win on the road against what I think to be a good basketball team. Would love to see us TCB on Sunday at UA, as that would give us a 2-game lead on the rest of the Pac.

unnecessary three pointers early on in each possession.

More importantly, who was the smoking hot chick behind the bench yesterday – she had dark hair and a blue shirt. The game wasn’t in HD so maybe I missed her flaws, but in SD she’s smokin. Anyone?

The last 30 seconds to a minute was oddly poorly played. And a friend of mine who is not a big Cal fan, but loves the Sharks called me up really upset about it. Not because the poor play reflected poorly on Cal, but it kept delaying the game, keeping them from switching over to the Sharks game. “This is the worst final 20 seconds of a clear victory I’ve ever seen!” “Can they hold onto the ball and just dribble?”

Joke, however, was on him! The sharks lost!

Is how good Cal can be out of a timeout… At one stretch I think they said they were 5 for 5 in making shots coming out of a timeout… If this trend keeps up Cal will be much better prepared if they make it to the tourny, having the ability to stop the game and change (or increase) the momentum is a great tool to have in your bag when facing very talented teams. Great win Bears, and good job coaching by Monty.

Anyone know why Zhnag was so limited in PT in the 2nd half? Was it just fatigue or foul trouble? He seemed to do well when he was out there last night as ASU did not have a bulky big man to deal with

Wow, we only had 3 offensive rebounds the whole night? I guess we made a lot of shots, but still…

they made some deep, contested threes in the second half that players other than our senior guards usually miss. They also dominated on the O Glass (not at all surprising to see the difference on the four factors chart). I think we won because we found higher quality shots (boykin inside) than they did.

With Amoke sick, it makes Jamal’s play all that more impressive. He more than held his own on both ends against a much bigger post player. I actually thought the Bears did a pretty good job on their defensive glass until the end of the game when ASU was selling out to crash the boards, especially considering we played most of the way with 4 guards and a small forward playing center. After ASU got a bunch of easy baskets in transition in the 1st half, I think Monty told the guys to concentrate on getting back instead of looking for offensive boards…probably a good idea considering the depth issues with our bigs.

Damn, it’s nice having a coach who can make savvy in-game adjustments.

I thought Max played well in the 1st half and was a little surprised he didn’t get more time in the 2nd. It’s probably a matchup deal – Playing Gut instead gives you more ballhandling/passing/outside shooting vs. the matchup zone, and you have tighter man on man defense against the long ball.

It was unusual for Theo to have an off night since he’s usually the steadiest guy on the team. But, he contributed with solid D on their best outside shooter.

I just hope the guys have enough left in the tank for Az. I’m worried that their length and athleticism is going to really disrupt our offense and give them a ton of points off turnovers. If we’re strong with the ball, we have a chance. Like always, we have to hope our shots are falling.

Cal’s radio broadcasts with Roxy, correct? I like him. Not a homer and, for the most part, objective.

Refs sucked. I felt some calls went Cal’s way at the beginning (and was surprised b/c we were the away team), but then they evened out by the end when ASU got some calls.

Theo gave ASU their first 2 or 3 baskets, either by turnover or crappy defense, not moving feet. It was interesting that some said he was a “great defender” but his lateral movement is not so great, so people can go around him or be quicker, so he never gets in their grill. As such, he got burnt in this game a few times, methinks. I think he understands positioning very well, doesn’t lose focus on his man, and can play help D. Fundamentally sound, Athletically not a freak. Anyways, was frustrating to see Theo have an off night – especially those turnovers early.

Randle got his groove on with that first shot.

Boykin was awesome. Can we get him the ball more?

Amoke getting blocked – don’t try to dunk it. No need for the power drop step that takes time, just turn and flip it off the glass quickly.

Gut’s 3 pointer at the end – man, was that huge. Thank you, Lord.

I thought ASU was going to beat us after the first 10 minutes. They seemed to have more weapons, and the fact that we had only 3 scorers the whole game backs that point up. But then we just kept hitting shot after shot and things were going our way. I finally decided we’d win when Boykin’s baseline jumper was off, but hit the rim, backboard, and in. Also, how about Christopher’s running backer that was flat off the backboard, but right in. Both those shots were good breaks for us.

Nice to Seeley get more playing time. He still made a stupid turnover and remains lax, but getting better. Experience this year will pay big dividends next year, I hope. He’s so mellow and relaxed, though. Can we get a nickname going for him?

Did Smith play at all? Has coach realized what we on this board have?

Who was that with Randle’s mom (the lady in the yellow shirt)?

You know, if Boatang had done a better job of drawing fouls on Boykin, or made a couple more of those shots that rimmed out, ASU would have been in much better situation. I can’t believe that we didn’t get hurt more there. That was likely the ballgame, no? Boykin goes 10-13 and Boatang was 9-15 – wow, did he MAKE that many shots? Hmmm. But Boykin only 2 fouls. That was huge.

You know, Boykin played 37 minutes, and I have always wondered why he doesn’t play more. He is averaging 27.7 minutes and it’s not because of foul trouble. He only has 34 fouls thru 20 games, less than 2 fouls per game. Why take Boykin out at all, when he is by far our best (only?) interior player. Does he get tired?