For a solid two years now we've been watching Mark Fox try and fail to recruit a point guard, knowing that Cal would be in deep trouble without Joel Brown, who has his offensive limitations but can initiate the offense and handle the ball.
Sure, bringing in combo guards isn't the worst thing in the world, and I'm glad Hyder and Shepperd are on the roster. But point guard has been a massive recruiting failure for the current coaching staff and today was in part a consequence of that.
Didn't watch the game because I went to finally go see Spiderman (looks like that decision paid off) but does look like there was a collapse on offense mixed with a lack of rebounding and the refs bending over backwards for UW. Without Joel Brown this would be tough stability wise but I am still of the opinion that they should have pulled this one out.
I can’t help but respond to some of the juicy points being made.
Overall my impressions this season had been that the days of crappy pac10/12 refereeing were behind us. I guess I am mistaken. That was like a bad nightmare. Last night was a reminder of how refs can alter and disrupt a teams performance.
That said we did not lose the game because of the refs. With the right personnel and all five players dialed in that zone is like no other. A lot teams struggle against it especially if you don’t see it very often. Having Joel Brown would have definitely helped. I have a faint recollection of a strong (ok maybe a good) Cal team being destroyed by Syracuse in the NCAA tourney in the not too distant past.
We caught UW as they for some reason have started playing together over the past two weeks.
I look at the Foul in question as a critical teaching moment for KK. The old days of clearing space using your elbows are long gone. Yes you keep your elbows up but pivoting away from pressure and using your butt to discourage opponents from hanging around is more the norm.
The positioning of the Cal player in the backcourt with Kuany was weak as well. Seeing the Kuany had company that player could have circled underneath and taken a handoff and let Kuany clear out.
It was exciting to see Alajiki make a return. He needs more minutes!!
And a rare sighting of Roberson. Why did he only play a couple minutes?
For a solid two years now we've been watching Mark Fox try and fail to recruit a point guard, knowing that Cal would be in deep trouble without Joel Brown, who has his offensive limitations but can initiate the offense and handle the ball.
Sure, bringing in combo guards isn't the worst thing in the world, and I'm glad Hyder and Shepperd are on the roster. But point guard has been a massive recruiting failure for the current coaching staff and today was in part a consequence of that.
Didn't watch the game because I went to finally go see Spiderman (looks like that decision paid off) but does look like there was a collapse on offense mixed with a lack of rebounding and the refs bending over backwards for UW. Without Joel Brown this would be tough stability wise but I am still of the opinion that they should have pulled this one out.
I can’t help but respond to some of the juicy points being made.
Overall my impressions this season had been that the days of crappy pac10/12 refereeing were behind us. I guess I am mistaken. That was like a bad nightmare. Last night was a reminder of how refs can alter and disrupt a teams performance.
That said we did not lose the game because of the refs. With the right personnel and all five players dialed in that zone is like no other. A lot teams struggle against it especially if you don’t see it very often. Having Joel Brown would have definitely helped. I have a faint recollection of a strong (ok maybe a good) Cal team being destroyed by Syracuse in the NCAA tourney in the not too distant past.
We caught UW as they for some reason have started playing together over the past two weeks.
I look at the Foul in question as a critical teaching moment for KK. The old days of clearing space using your elbows are long gone. Yes you keep your elbows up but pivoting away from pressure and using your butt to discourage opponents from hanging around is more the norm.
The positioning of the Cal player in the backcourt with Kuany was weak as well. Seeing the Kuany had company that player could have circled underneath and taken a handoff and let Kuany clear out.
It was exciting to see Alajiki make a return. He needs more minutes!!
And a rare sighting of Roberson. Why did he only play a couple minutes?
Screwed by the refs; truly a Pac-12 tradition.