Growing pains. Preaching caution. Forest. Trees.
Trying to remind myself of all the things I said in my previous column, when I basically predicted we would lose this game. This was the one step back, to go along with the two steps forward we witnessed over the weekend when the Arizona schools came to Berkeley. Cal was thoroughly outplayed by Utah in all phases of the game, dropping to 4-4 in Pac12 play and STILL searching for a road win.
Instead of providing my usual “calm and collected” post-game musings, I decided to keep a running diary during the game. We’re gonna see how it plays. If you’ve ever wanted to get a glimpse inside my head during a Cal sporting event, here’s your chance.
I’ll keep it clean, I promise.
PRE GAME
7:35 PM - 25 minutes to tip-off. I’m watching New Girl. Don’t judge me, it’s a great show. I’m excited for the game, but I’m not nervous.
7:59 PM - Flip to ESPNU. Oklahoma State and Baylor still have 3 minutes to play. Scheduling is fun.
8:02 PM - Tip-off has been moved to 8:10 now. Gee, you think 10 extra minutes will be enough when this game invariably goes to overtime?
8:05 PM - ESPNU cuts to our pre-game warm ups for a second. Some studio host points out that Utah has won four of the last five and doesn’t lose at home. Good pep talk guys. Still excited, now nervous.
8:08 PM - Trying to load the game on Watch ESPN, nowhere to be found.
8:10 PM - Game’s over! Switch! SWITCH!
FIRST HALF
19:31 (0-0) - I missed 29 seconds… Anything could have happened.
19:10 (0-0) - Roy Philpott and Adrian Branch with the commentary tonight. Strong start for Roy when he calls Kingsley “Oak-ER-oh” (instead of Oh-KOR-oh). You could tell he didn’t feel good about throwing that pronunciation out there so early in the game.
17:53 (2-5) - Back to back possessions for Utah get extended by weird bounces off of us. Turns into 5 points. Inauspicious start.
16:13 (7-7) - Adrian astutely points out that the Utah D shouldn’t jump out at Jaylen Brown’s shot fakes. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 - Jaylen just blew by someone on his way to a layup AND 1.
16:13 (8-7) - Lane violation on Utah. Lane violations should NEVER happen. That’s one free point for Cal.
15:11 (8-9) - Utah’s passing has been impeccably sharp so far. They are going to FEED Jakob Poeltl tonight.
14:25 (8-14) - I guess if you’re going to leave a shooter open, make it a 17% 3-point shooter. Doesn’t mean he won’t drain it…
12:57 (11-17) - We have to double Poeltl all the time. I want two guys on him when he goes to take a leak at halftime.
12:22 (11-19) - Really bad start. Not surprised.
11:41 (11-19) - Jaylen Brown is missing everything…
11:08 (11-19) - Everybody is missing everything…
11:01 (11-19) - You must be a mind-reader, Philpott. “Cal is 0/6 on it’s last 6 possessions”. Dandy.
10:58 (11-21) - Get Okoroh out of there. Literally stood still while Utah grabbed an offensive rebound, then hacked the guy. The extra possession becomes an easy Utah bucket. Down 10 already…
10:31 (11-24) - Dakarai Tucker drains a 3, and it’s a 17-2 run for Utah. At least Tucker shoots over 17% from 3.
10:06 (14-24) - FINALLY, Jaylen hits a jumper.
8:48 (16-24) - Ivan Rabb holds onto the ball too long, but gets bailed out by a foul call. Ivan just looks uncomfortable tonight.
7:29 (18-26) - Really ugly shot from Ivan, just beyond the free throw line. Flat and short. I don’t think this is going to be an Ivan game.
6:52 (18-26) - It’s impossible to tell on TV whether or not it was a good call, but it just seems like we get called for offensive fouls off the ball WAY too often. Wondering if there’s a stat that tracks that? Or if I need to invent it?
5:02 (18-28) - Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy basketball
5:02 (18-28) - Camera cuts to the Cal bench. Tyrone Wallace appears to be berating Jabari Bird for driving into two defenders on a fast break, and getting stuffed. Tell him, Ty!
4:29 (18-30) - Ivan is getting manhandled down low when he catches the ball. Cleanly, too. He’s just not used to this level of physicality yet.
3:52 (18-30) - How can we be at the under four timeout already? We only have 18 points…
3:35 (18-30) - Singer picked up his dribble up top and had to wait about 8 seconds for someone to come out to take the hand off… This first half has been a mess in terms of offensive movement.
3:21 (21-30) - Stephen Domingo??? With a huge 3.
2:12 (23-32) - Poeltl creates a textbook AND 1 situation, except the ref calls it a foul on the floor. Which is truly baffling. He puts in one of the two free throws. What could have been 3 points for Utah becomes just 1.
1:56 (26-32) - RABB! A discombobulated, whirling, wrap around lay up. Suddenly down by just 6.
1:24 (29-34) - STEPHEN DOMINGO?!?!?! With a HUUUUUGE 3.
0:50 (32-35) - JABARI BIRD! Another 3! Catching fire everywhere!
0:20 (32-35) - Fortunate roll for Cal there. Looked like Utah had corralled the offensive rebound, but Ivan poked it away from Poeltl and Tucker couldn’t hold on when the ball bounced his way. Chance for the last shot of the half, down just 3.
0:05 (34-35) - Jaylen with one of the more vicious spin moves I’ve seen to draw a foul… Didn’t see the foul on Poeltl honestly, but I’ll take it. Jaylen calmly sinks them both, and it’s a one point game at the break.
HALFTIME THOUGHTS
- Cal was thoroughly outplayed, but trails by just one. Feels like the Arizona game, which I suppose is a good sign. Hoping we keep the hot hand coming out of the break.
- It seems like Poeltl has been a dominating force inside, but he’s only 3/6 from the field. Kam Rooks has done a terrific job guarding him 1-on-1.
- Rabb has not looked good, but I want him to keep shooting.
- No one on our team has four fouls yet, so that’s a nice change.
- Is anyone else weirded out by these commercials where DeAndre Jordan is running around in a dress and wig? He really doesn’t make a pretty girl.
- College halftime breaks are too long, it’s already past my bedtime…
SECOND HALF
19:47 (36-35) - Cal leads.
19:14 (36-35) - First defensive possession of the half is tremendous, forces a shot clock violation.
18:42 (38-35) - More great defense, Okoroh creates the turnover with active hands in the passing lane.
18:19 (40-35) - Cal leads BY FIVE. Game feels like it’s turning...
16:53 (40-40) - Jaylen misses a wide open 3 (we have already established that’s not his game), Utah’s Brandon Taylor responds with a made triple. Feels like we missed a chance to create some separation there.
15:54 (40-45) - Yup, it’s a 10-0 run for the Utes. Infuriating. Missing good looks again, and now turning the ball over carelessly. Momentum completely gone.
14:41 (42-50) - That’s a bad call on Jaylen. That was a charge by Poeltl. You don’t know anything, Branch!
13:42 (42-50) - Sam Singer with a huge block to save a transition basket. Ball still ends up with Utah, but I appreciate the effort. Effort is about the only thing we’ve done well the last five minutes.
13:23 (42-52) - Now Poeltl is dominating. Too easy for him to score down low. Rabb missed a pretty simple rotation on that one.
12:52 (42-52) - “Another turnover for the Golden Bears”. Five in the last eight possessions. I counted.
12:25 (42-54) - 17-2 run by Utah. Gee, that sounds familiar. How many games in the history of the universe have seen two separate 17-2 runs by the same team? Like… Seven?
11:57 (42-54) - Disappointed in the defense in the second half. The offense isn’t doing itself any favors, but the defense is lazy and uncoordinated. The defense should be keeping us afloat during these rough patches.
11:57 (42-54) - Taking a break until the under 8 timeout. Need to cool off.
7:40 (54-61) - I’m back. We’re at the beginning of a Cal comeback run. Lead is down from 14 to 7. Rabb just put a tasty move on Poeltl to draw the AND 1, and the defense seems to be regaining its form. For those scoring at home, I think the Utah run got all the way up to 23-4.
7:23 (54-61) - Refs steal another AND 1 from Poeltl. Again they call it a foul on the floor. Totally perplexing. And Utah isn’t in the bonus yet, so no foul shots.
7:03 (57-61) - An ugly fade away falls for Jaylen, and the foul! Only down 4, we can do this!
6:38 (57-61) - Poeltl misses the front end of the 1-and-1. The game is turning! We’re only down 4 WITH the ball, we can DO THIS!
5:37 (57-64) - Aaaaaand it’s turning back. Cal misses two good looks. Then stupid Brandon Taylor, who isn’t even looking at the rim, gets the layup to fall. Plus the foul. Total momentum killer. Second time this half it feels like we let an opportunity get away.
4:54 (57-66) - Officially turned. Jaylen misses a front end, and Poeltl ends up with an easy layup on the other end. Suddenly we’re down 9 with under 5 to go. Despair setting in.
3:41 (57-66) - We’re jacking up too many 3s. And none of them have been by Mathews… In fact, where is Mathews? I think I can remember him making one play in this entire half. And that play was a lazy turnover.
3:18 (57-69) - Kyle Kuzma blows by Ivan. Bucket, foul, game.
2:45 (57-70) - “Cal hasn’t scored in 4 minutes”. You say that like it’s a surprise, Philpott.
2:21 (58-70) - Adrian Branch responds to that nugget by saying Cal looks like a Sweet 16 team… Just going to leave that one alone.
0:50 (62-70) - Ivan Rabb has recorded the quietest double-double in the history of college basketball. First insightful thing the announcers have pointed out all night.
0:49 (62-70) - Utah just had their inbounder pass the ball laterally to another player, who was also standing out of bounds, and then THAT guy inbounded the ball. You can’t do that! … Can you do that??
0:16 (64-73) - They did it again!! How have I never seen that before?? You learn something new everyday.
0:00 (64-73) - Utah wins by 9. Sigh. This team can’t quite get it together on the road. Played very poorly for most of the first half… and most of the second half. Never deserved to be ahead by 5 to begin with, then totally collapsed. I did say to proceed with caution - growing pains and all that. There are worse losses than @Utah.
We miss Ty.
Chin up, fellow Bears. We’ll get ‘em next time.
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