by Michael Duca and Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–If you watched the Arizona game with something other than your heart in your mouth and you stop and looked at the stopped and looked at the stats as the game was developing Cal was shooting over 50 percent for the first 32 minutes of the game. Arizona missed their first three shots and did not shoot above 25 percent at any point in the first half.

Part of that is defense is just a cold shooting night on the part of the Wild Cats through all of that. Arizona was shooting 21 percent in the first 14 minutes of the game and Cal was shooting over 50 percent they still had a six point lead at the time. They are not a dominant offensive team unless and until Cal’s Justin Cobbs decides he’s going he’s going to be a shooter from the moment he falls out of bed to start every game they don’t have the outside threat to run the outside game.

The question that I asked Cal head coach Mike Montgomery after the game against Arizona while everyone else was focusing on the last seven minutes of the game was about Cobbs scoring the last 12 points of the game and so on. What was really intresting was the fact that the six point lead barely eight minutes into the game against Arizona Montgomery had three true freshman on the floor.

He said part of that was just due to the match up that he thought that there are a few teams that the Wild Cats Shawn Rooks could have a very solid effect against and Arizona is one of them with their taller inside game. It’s also indicative of the fact that whether he likes it or not and we know he doesn’t particularly like it Montgomery has been forced to rely on more inexperienced freshman than he normally has.

One indicator is that Cal is an NCAA team for the tournament if they lose to USC at home they will not get into it no matter if they win the seven other games. Even if they beat Arizona a second time, if they have two loses to USC at home nobody is going to be able to stomach that. The Bears have to go 6-2 the rest of the way to insure a spot, 5-3 their going to be a bubble team

The thing you have to look for in games like this is the hangover effect after a game like Arizona you may not be coming out thirsting for blood early on. Monty said it was crystal clear in the Arizona game that he had kids in there at ten o’clock in the morning and you could tell that they were already hyped up for the game and you knew they were going to be absolutely ready when the whistle blew.

Michael Duca and Morris Phillips covers Cal Bears basketball for Sportstalk radio