Gold
Well-Known Member
-Night and day difference between the Stanford and Cal games. The Buff fans showed up, but didn't have as much of an impact on the noise level of the game as we did in Palo Alto. Credit the PA announcer who screams out the Cal players name after scoring a bucket. Cal fans are peculiar, they're caught in the middle of admiring and emulating Stanford's elitist "who cares it's only sports" attitude, but are intrigued by showing the passion of CU fans. No one gave us any ****, but they're also smug and not likable either. Imagine the grumpy old guy who wants to cut you off at the grocery check out. That's Cal. It's a passive aggressiveness.
-Haas is a cool place to watch a game when the PA guy isn't screaming into the mic. It's like watching a steel cage match where you're looking down on the court. The lighting is way too much. It's so bright, I can see opposing teams coming in and being distracted by it. It's a confusing place to settle in at.
-Scrappy, tenacious, high percentage shots from the inside. This was CU vs. Stanford. We're a noticeably different team from just 3 days ago, and one of the differences was Josh Scott. Next year he's going to be cooking soup, but yesterday he played like a guy returning from a concussion. It's not just the weight he needs to add, it's an attitude that's missing. Dunk on someones head! Dude, foul someone hard in the paint! Cal was sofa recliner comfortable getting in our kitchen and taking lightly contested, high percentage shots all game. Scott is has to get tougher on defense, and his touch down low wasn't strong enough against Cal's aggressive front. Josh, save your Twitter war energy for taking on Oregon.
-Dinwiddie didn't want any part of Cal's four man stacked box in the first half and stayed on the perimeter most of the night until the end. His shot was off on his jumpers despite some good looks. The missed open looks really hurt our ability to keep the defense honest. Part of the issue with Dinwiddie and other players was they only wanted the layup. They didn't pull up for enough 5-6 footers in the lane, which they could have had most of the day. Instead, it was the mauling at the basket that never let up.
-Dre was out on assignment against Crabbe, hence the low rebounding numbers. His defense was still great. He had a harder time slashing to the lane with Scott down low and the offense didn't look as crisp. When he did drive, he was the most efficient out of the team and played with the most poise under the basket.
-Booker gets most of the flack for games like this, but he wasn't the root of the problem. He had a lot of open looks he bricked, but unless we have a better shooter on the court (who would that be? Stalzer?) you can't fault him for taking open shots. Had he taken more floaters in the lane that might have helped. But overall it was another dismal performance where he tried to 3pt shoot his was out of the problem.
-Xavier did a lot of Xavier Johnson-like things out there. He hustled. Played good defense. Attacked. Hit some 3's. He's the most demonstrative CU player by a lot. But down low where he's supposed to do his damage he was constantly mugged and harassed Not much slashing because the offense as a whole couldn't figure out how to penetrate the paint before the ball handler was assaulted.
-The bench was an unsolved mystery. Adams didn't play much but spun around the few minutes he was in. Talton was not seen after his slip-up with the shot clock winding down on a 1st half possession. SHT did his best SHT impression. Sab's 3 at the buzzer was the most memorable shot of the game for CU (second being Dre's And 1 mid second half) but overall the bench was benched.
We were a step slow, and tired at the end. It felt like Cal's senior day. And we were still hanging in there late in the 2nd half. We were atrocious shooting the ball, couldn't penetrate and finish with poise, and gave up way too many baskets underneath the hoop. This was an ugly performance against a team we dominated a month ago. It happens.
-Haas is a cool place to watch a game when the PA guy isn't screaming into the mic. It's like watching a steel cage match where you're looking down on the court. The lighting is way too much. It's so bright, I can see opposing teams coming in and being distracted by it. It's a confusing place to settle in at.
-Scrappy, tenacious, high percentage shots from the inside. This was CU vs. Stanford. We're a noticeably different team from just 3 days ago, and one of the differences was Josh Scott. Next year he's going to be cooking soup, but yesterday he played like a guy returning from a concussion. It's not just the weight he needs to add, it's an attitude that's missing. Dunk on someones head! Dude, foul someone hard in the paint! Cal was sofa recliner comfortable getting in our kitchen and taking lightly contested, high percentage shots all game. Scott is has to get tougher on defense, and his touch down low wasn't strong enough against Cal's aggressive front. Josh, save your Twitter war energy for taking on Oregon.
-Dinwiddie didn't want any part of Cal's four man stacked box in the first half and stayed on the perimeter most of the night until the end. His shot was off on his jumpers despite some good looks. The missed open looks really hurt our ability to keep the defense honest. Part of the issue with Dinwiddie and other players was they only wanted the layup. They didn't pull up for enough 5-6 footers in the lane, which they could have had most of the day. Instead, it was the mauling at the basket that never let up.
-Dre was out on assignment against Crabbe, hence the low rebounding numbers. His defense was still great. He had a harder time slashing to the lane with Scott down low and the offense didn't look as crisp. When he did drive, he was the most efficient out of the team and played with the most poise under the basket.
-Booker gets most of the flack for games like this, but he wasn't the root of the problem. He had a lot of open looks he bricked, but unless we have a better shooter on the court (who would that be? Stalzer?) you can't fault him for taking open shots. Had he taken more floaters in the lane that might have helped. But overall it was another dismal performance where he tried to 3pt shoot his was out of the problem.
-Xavier did a lot of Xavier Johnson-like things out there. He hustled. Played good defense. Attacked. Hit some 3's. He's the most demonstrative CU player by a lot. But down low where he's supposed to do his damage he was constantly mugged and harassed Not much slashing because the offense as a whole couldn't figure out how to penetrate the paint before the ball handler was assaulted.
-The bench was an unsolved mystery. Adams didn't play much but spun around the few minutes he was in. Talton was not seen after his slip-up with the shot clock winding down on a 1st half possession. SHT did his best SHT impression. Sab's 3 at the buzzer was the most memorable shot of the game for CU (second being Dre's And 1 mid second half) but overall the bench was benched.
We were a step slow, and tired at the end. It felt like Cal's senior day. And we were still hanging in there late in the 2nd half. We were atrocious shooting the ball, couldn't penetrate and finish with poise, and gave up way too many baskets underneath the hoop. This was an ugly performance against a team we dominated a month ago. It happens.
