46 Comments

GOBEARS49

Cal wins and the Cal color announcer just said Cal now has a chance to be in fourth before the Pac 12 tournament starts. But you, no doubt, woulld say that IS impossible. It is not, but I'm looking forward to reading that yOu think it is.

BtW, Tyson is Cal's best player since Jaylen Brown. But of course, if I said it, so I just must be wrong.

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Cal definitely has a chance to win the PAC 12 tournament. It will statistically be extremely difficult. But yes nothing is impossible. And if Cal wins then Cal goes to the NCAA tournament.

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If Cal does NOT win the PAC 12 tournament. Then it will be impossible to get into the NCAA tournament even if they finish third in the conference.

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But of course you can prove that -- NO!

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Maybe someone should explain to Bob this way with more specifics so he can understand what everyone else is thinking: there has never been a team accepted into the NCAA tournament with an overall record one or two wins above or below .500 except for teams thad automatically qualified by winning their conference tournament. And that is why everyone here keeps repeating that the only way into the big dance (aka the 2024 Men’s basketball NCAA tournament) would be to win the 2024 pac 12 conference tournament starting on March 13 in Las Vegas. Winning that would result in automatically qualifying. It has NOTHING to do with whether Cal finishes third in conference. If a .500 team finished third then it makes the conference look even weaker and prob ensures that only 2 teams get in (unless someone else outside of the top two wins the conference tournament).

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Gobears49

Published before yesterday's game versus Oregon St.. We are still in there to finish third in the conference, which could result in Cal getting in. Would love to see an article which agrees with me that Cal still has a shot by finishing third in th Pacr. With four games left in the confernce that would seem to be possible.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10109982-ncaa-tournament-2024-stock-watch-for-bubble-teams

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Feb 24·edited Feb 24Liked by Piotr Le

Either learn about CBB or stop arguing when everyone tells you you're wrong.

Cal men's basketball has as much chance of getting an at-large bid this year as a 4-6 football team does of making the CFP.

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author

The only postseason we have a shot at is CBI and that would only work if we finish somewhere in the top 100 of analytics with a .500 record. And right now it’s a big uphill climb to get in to the top 100

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author

No article will agree with you, Bob, no matter how often you post this.

Trust me and the other basketball writers who follow college basketball way more than you do.

The only path to the NCAA is for Cal to win the conference tournament. UCLA, who may tie for 3rd, probably has to also win the tournament.

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Gobears49,

Do not care if noboduy agrees with me. If there is a mathematical chance for Cal to get in, I'll stick to my guns. I'm still amazed others disagree that there is no chance Cal can get in; Is this another form of tyranny of the left?

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author

"tyranny of the left" is when I am wrong, everyone tells me I am wrong, but I am too stubborn to acknowledge it. Will you finally take time to grow up please?

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Gobears49

You describe "tyranny of the left" perfectly, which I guess all lefties do. It's when someone disagrees with them. Dumb lefties call that "free speech."

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Yes Bob you’re right. The commies are conspiring to keep Berkeley, of all schools, out of the tournament.

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Gobearrs49

Take out my last sentence.

Ii'm not going to comment on this topic anymore. A waste of time. You guys stupidly indicate anyone who disagrees with them are stupid even though their view of things is not close to being mathematical certainty and, in fact, is not even close to that.

Cal men's basketball is very talented, though a bit thin on talent now with an injury or two, and is not a very tall team. But they have a great coach who could lead them to the NCAA's. "Could" is the pivotal word.

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Feb 24Author

Could, in 2025 yes, or on an extremely fluky autobid by winning the Pac12 Tournament this year, which would be the Cindarella-est of stories and require a LOT of breaks to go our way.

What Madsen has achieved in year 1 is amazing, and is truly a remarkable turnaround. A few more of those single possession losses turn to wins and you start to maybe have a case. But your argument is entirely centered on the difference between a 0% chance and a 1% chance. No one will tell you they’re the same here, but they aren’t that different.

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Is anyone coming to the Utah game?

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Celestine’s back-to-back steal/layups were big. Newell with a huge corner 3 as well…Rodney showed flashes in the 2H with a nice dime to Daws and a sweet take to the tin for a big layup.

THAT’S probably our nucleus next year, unless Tyson shocks the world and returns to Berkeley…solid group. Adding some bigs and a PG crucial.

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Curtis, Askew, Brown, Newell, Okafor, Larson, Celestine - that’s a decent rotation but no reliable point getter (for now)

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Exactly. Barring some attrition, we need a reliable big & a legit PG…not sure Jeremiah Wilkinson is an impact guy as a true FR. Kind of a lost year for Okafor, unfortunately, so really don’t know what you’ve got there.

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I think he’s a Pac-12 err ACC rotation player. I don’t think he’s a starter (yet) based on what he’s shown but a summer of practice and training and who knows.

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Couldn't finish this because Sling's DVR is a joke. Was chatting with their technical support, and apparently they have it in T&C's that their shit is broken and not guaranteed to work. They specifically wrote out the bugs that have existed for over a year, meaning they don't ever plan on fixing it. What in the actual hell?

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That was another roller coaster ride with the Bears cutting the lead down to low single digits then giving up a couple buckets to fall deeper in the hole. As aggravating as that was the resilience the coaches have instilled in our guys is evident. So we know what the crowd size was? Must be midterms because the south end student section was a ghost town. No matter, those of us who made it to Haas brought the noise and energy. The two picks and jams by Celestine brought the roof down.

Love to see a statistical analysis of shooting percentages of both team on the south end for the season. Our consistent first half slumps through out the season are perplexing. Though JT didn’t have his A game going last night, his block in the last minute was one of the standout moments of the game. Trying to understand why Oregon State got possession after the review when we collected to ball after the block.

Despite their bottom dwelling status, the Beavers were well coached. First half they disrupted everything with quick hands and multiple blocks.

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author

Official crowd was around 3100. Kinda sparse for a Thursday game.

OSU got it because it was a stoppage of play for review. Ball goes to last team that had team possession. No continuation type of rule.

Interesting idea about shooting difference on end of floor. I'll do some number crunching over the next week.

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Enjoyed the game, my second of the season after boycotting the Wyking Fox years. I was impressed at how the Bears hung in there when shots weren't dropping and the Bears were clicking. This is a resilient team and fun to watch. Can't wait for more visits next season. What a turnaround.

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The trick will be avoiding Arizona in the tournament. If we can do that we can play with anyone. Sneaking into the big dance in mad dog's first season would be awesome 😎 and almost an incomprehensible achievement.

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Correct me if I’m wrong, but are we looking at a worst case scenario of us going from 3 wins to double digit wins in the first season with a new coach, and a best case scenario of winning out the season and finishing as one of the top 4 seeds in the pac-12 tourney?

Is the best case scenario just crazy talk, or is that a possibility?

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It could be possible.

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Hey I just wanted to say that we are so lucky to have your son as our coach. Not only is he a great coach but he has been a wonderful influence on our fan base. He has made following Cal basketball fun again, something that it hasn’t been in years. Additionally, everything that I hear is that he is a quality guy and an excellent representative of the church (I am a member as well).

Just wanted to say thank you!

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Three of Cal's last four games are all on the road and thus tough to various degrees. Most projection systems are predicting a 9-11 final conference record, so a 1-3 finish, but a 2-2 finish would be more likely than an 0-4 finish. And the chances of a 4-0 run to finish off with a 12-8 record? That's something like a .5% chance of happening. 1 in 200, so I'm saying there's a chance!

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Feb 23·edited Feb 23

Pound for pound, the Mountain trip is the toughest in the Conference.

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If Jordan Pope enters the portal Cal should take a long look at him.

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author

Oh man, would be a great hypothetical addition to the gaping void at point guard for next year

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author

Pope and/or Rice. They would be fantastic if they did look to move from OSU/WSU.

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Strange new world where the what ifs can be more than pipe dreams. Nice to have a 6’3” PG already committed.

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Maybe he doesn’t want play in the WCC next year? And, I think he’s from the east bay.

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It's astounding how accustomed I've become to large leads meaning nothing. Down or up double digits, I feel absolutely nothing until we're in the final 2 minutes.

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you could post this on a Warriors board as well...altho, it would only apply to the Dubs blowing the big lead. Haven't had many comebacks this year, alas.

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I do have to remind myself when we're down, which is calming when it happens. The inverse, of course, is dreadful

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Great win! Question: what does "winless-in-conference Oregon State Beavers" mean? They have 3, including the one over Arizona..

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author

My mistake. I meant winless on the road in conference. I will update.

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Also need to update the time for the Oregon game on Saturday. It's at 4pm, not 2pm.

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author

Thanks for the catch. Corrected. This is why I usually come home and proofread and not just publish from Haas.

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you went to Haas, which is great...so you get a mulligan! considering going tomorrow.

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author

Of course. Can't miss senior day.

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When one Jaylon is faltering it’s good that we have two more Jalens as options!

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