CGB Hall of Fame: (3) Mike Montgomery vs. (14) Ryan Anderson

Last week's results

• (1) Justin Cobbs cruised to an 83%-17% win over (16) Rope Coach Kevin Parker.
• (9) Sean Lampley upset (8) Bryan Anger 70%-30%.
• In our closest matchup of the week (5) Marvin Jones narrowly defeated (12) Shareef Abdur-Rahim 51%-49%.
• (4) Mike Mohamed needed no last-minute heroics to earn an 87%-13% win over (13) Tarah Murrey.

(3) Mike Montgomery

Bear in Mind: Mike Montgomery (via CalTV Berkeley)

NorCalNick shares his perspective:

Mike Montgomery has been at Cal for five years now, which means he has now reached the threshold of CGB hall of fame eligibility. Thankfully, Monty has been successful enough that such an achievement is very low down on the list of things he should be celebrating.

It's way too early to get nostalgic about the Monty era, seeing as how it's still going strong. But I suspect that in a decade or two, I'll look back and remember how much fun his teams were to follow. Granted, that's in no small part due to the players themselves. But how much did you love watching Jerome Randle get unleashed for two years under Monty, or how he helped turn Jorge Gutierrez from a defensive specialist into a Pac-12 player of the year? How much did you enjoy watching Allen Crabbe these past few years, and how much fun do you think Jabari Bird is going to be?

Monty has made four NCAA tournaments, won a Pac-10 title, finished in the top 4 of the conference every year, and consistently made basketball games fun, win or lose. That last part tends to get short-shrift, but this is an entertainment business, isn't it?

We might not have Monty for much longer - if he decided tomorrow to spend the rest of his life sipping wine and occasionally sitting in a Pac-12 network studio with Ernie Kent, it would be well deserved. But we still have him and he's going to have some talent over the next few years. Monty may not make the CGB hall of fame this year, but I'd like to think that he will add to his resume very shortly.

Nick was wise to cherish the time Monty was with us, as the legendary coach has since retired.  Will his retirement propel him into the Hall of Fame?  His challenger may have something to say about that...

(10) Ryan Anderson

You can check out some of his highlights here

Ryan Anderson was as overlooked as they get in college, rollonubears argues:

Was/is an absolute monster. In my opinion, if he had stayed 4 years, he would have
been considered an all-time Cal great. His freshman year he was robbed of Pac-
10 Freshman of the year. His sophomore year he was one of the most underrated
basketball players in the nation. He got absolutely no national recognition (talks
about it here around 3:23), mostly because he wasn't on a tournament team. Look
at that team. The people surrounding him were pretty much awful (PChris was the
only other good player on the team. This was back when Jerome Randlewas the
Nate Longshore of basketball). His starting point guard had a 1.2-1 A-TO ration. ERIC
FUCKING VIERNEISEL AVERAGED 24 MINUTES A GAME ON THAT TEAM. I
think I would give Vierneisel a run for his money in a pick-up game. He had a .298%
on threes and still shot 84 of them. And don't even get me started on Devon 'I'll give
effort when I feel like it' Hardin. The point is that Anderson was that team. He was the
only reason we made it to the NIT. That team minus Ryan Anderson would have had
single digit wins

I am still angry that he never got any national props. Look at his stats that year: 21.1
PPG, 9.9 RPG, 49% from the field, 41% from three, 87% FT. He almost (and look how
close he was) threw up a 20-10 in one of, if not the toughest conference in the nation.
The Pac-10 was getting abundant love that year thanks to Love-Mayo-Bayless-Lopez
twins-Budinger-Harden-Afflalo-that whole Wazzu team-etc. However, the guy who
was most valuable to his team and who arguably had the best season that year got no
love at all.

Ryan Anderson: the unloved Cal great.

Kodiak: Incredibly versatile. Inside and outside threat. Equally adept at hitting
the 3-ball as finishing around the basket with an array of post moves. Even
started to incorporate a dribble drive game in his final year. Not an exceptional
athlete, he grabbed boards with smarts and scored over bigger/faster guys with
better fundamentals. If he had stayed to work with Monty, could have been one
of the best bigs to ever don a Cal uniform.