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Buried in the deepest recess of the latest, desperate edition of Knowlton Notes is this nugget: "On the men’s basketball front, we haven’t met expectations so far this year and nobody is more frustrated than Coach Fox and I. Our student-athletes continue to battle and work hard every single day." Sound familiar? If you've ever written Knowlton, it's a repeated talking point. I'd also like to know what said "expectations" actually are.

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Nov 22, 2022·edited Nov 22, 2022

Teams have learned that Cal can be had with smaller, quicker players playing aggressively. The thing is, the players that Cal is missing are better, but not *that* much better. I don’t see Celestine saving the day.

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Are we going to win any games this year? Of course, not with plays like whatever that long inbound was. But just in general, I don't know if we have a single win on the schedule.

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That play was what you run when there’s 1.8 seconds left, not 7.8.

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Precisely. The team just seems so unprepared.

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Cal 0-5 59-55

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WTF was that play, Mark?

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7.8 seconds left and you try a full court pass? Turnover of course.

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Baffling play.

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Both teams shooting about 80% free throws late in the game.

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0:07.8 Cal down 58-55

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:19 Cal down 56-53

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0:19 Cal down 54-53

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0:26 Cal down 54-51

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Nov 22, 2022·edited Nov 22, 2022

0:27 Cal down 53-51

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2:00 Cal down 53-49.

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btw - in several years, I’ve yet to see a ref call the foot fault on the free throw shooter. Can’t touch inside the key until the ball hits the rim. Happens a lot.

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Bill Vinovich was the lead official tonight. He was the ref in the ‘19 Niners Super Bowl loss that didn’t call a single holding call on KC despite Bosa getting mugged all f-ing night.

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coasting to retirement...

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And just that quick we give up a wide-open three.

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5:00 Cal down 48-45

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I love seeing the flop calls. It’s about time.

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Askew going one on four for the offensive foul. Inexcusable.

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Bad charge call on Brown. The man was not set, although Brown did lower his shoulder. We’ve seen that sort of offensive foul from Cal way too often this season.

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Braun must be the most positive man on the planet. If you only listened to him, but didn’t watch the game you think that Cal was up by 20.

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12:00 to go Cal down 40-31

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Nov 22, 2022·edited Nov 22, 2022

It’s nights like tonight that I’m thankful I don’t get the Pac-12 network.

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Alajiki still working hard, nice move to the rim.

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Too bad we still can’t guard the three.

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And a nice step back three by Askew.

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Nov 22, 2022·edited Nov 22, 2022

Nice feed to Lars

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Believe me, I am anxious to make a positive remark here, but these guys are the gang that can’t shoot straight.

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Another lazy pass by Askew resulting in a turnover.

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Askew swatted for the second time

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Alajiki’s wide open shot was super close… To the rim.

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Love watching the ball bounce off of Lars.

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Askew just hammered the guy. Bad no call.

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Lyndon B!

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Anwanyu’s back…would say he’s been hurt but guaranteed Fox would’ve mentioned it before.

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Play FASTER Bears.

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author

Time to be a masochist: https://twitter.com/WriteForCalLive follow along with yours truly here

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Cal should be playing the type of defense that Texas State is playing.

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Big Game magic will rub off on this game.

Cal 60 - Texas State 54

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author

Some interesting factoids about Texas State HC Terrence Johnson:

Has only been head coach for 2 full seasons

In those 2 seasons, he has 39 total wins, back to back Sun Belt regular season champions, lead the Bobcats to their first ever NIT berth, is 2 time SBC coach of the year, and was the first ever coach to lead the Bobcats to back to back conference regular season titles.

A great resume for such a short time for the 43 year old HC

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Nov 22, 2022·edited Nov 22, 2022

Bob, you do understand the concept and dynamic of the “interim” coach? I’m not being snarky or sarcastic…but Fox can and should be fired mid-season and replaced with a guy that will simply coach out the remaining games, allowing your buddy Knowlton to rely on a search firm to pick a permanent coach from a larger pool after the season.

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Jimmy: Wait until mid-season? Hell, he should be fired NOW, as in TONIGHT! Holy cow has Cal Basketball become an embarrassment. We are 0-5 and haven't even started Pac-12 play. What do they have to lose by firing Fox and bringing in somebody new? I know that this may seem far-fetched but Cal Basketball may very well finish the season 0-30.

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By mid-season, I meant in-season, my friend. I agree - I think he should be termed out now, but clearly incompetent Knowlton is going to give him until he has Clayton and Celestine back.

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I think Fox should have been replaced after last season, as the program has actually regressed. But it was never a realistic option. If Fox continues to lose games, he will likely be replaced mid season.

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So then what’s the alternative? Keep Fox for years? That’s not an option…if they lose tonight, they’re easily 0-8 to start.

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Must we?

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Texas St forwards average 5' 6". Could be a matchup problem for the Bears...

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Nov 22, 2022·edited Nov 22, 2022

Maybe for a coaching staff that knows anything about offense and how to take advantage of mismatches. This staff has no clue how to do that tho, OoT.

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No comment

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Guess the attendance. I'll go with 46 ppl.

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author

Take the Bobcats with points and maybe on the ML as well

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Spread is down to basically a pick ‘em…Cal by 1, ML is even money.

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Texas State 65, Cal 56

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I thought 56 pts was a little ambitious for us. Turns out I was correct.

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Nov 22, 2022·edited Nov 22, 2022

The schedule gets harder…even if they do improve, which is unlikely, it probably won’t result in wins. You’re looking at a 7 win season, at best.

Gross.

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