Month: March 2014

Michael Duca and Morris Phillips on the NCAA: Bears striving to end regular season on positive note with two home games left

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by Michael Duca and Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–The Cal Bears have lost three of their last four games going into the final two home games this season, Cal is just not playing well, and then there’s the three loses all of them by double digits. The Bears lost in Arizona on Wednesday by 25 points. Cal is just not playing well and of all of the final eight games they had Arizona State on Saturday night had to be the one that stuck out.

The Sun Devils resume to the NCAA Tournament is so similar to what Cal did, Saturday night was a game to win and Cal came up by 18 points. It’s frustrating for Cal and the NCAA Tournament is obviously looking and most people are expecting that Cal will be in but they could easily slip right back out.

The other issue is that Cal’s Justin Cobbs hasn’t been winning his indvidual match ups, Wednesday was a great game for Arizona’s Nick Johnson who scored 22 points to lead the Wild Cats and then on Saturday with Arizona State’s Jahii Carson the point guard who is being declared for the NBA draft and is a really good player. Make no mistake Justin Cobbs is just as good as those guys are but right now he has to play up to par.

It’s been a frustrating season for Cal in as such that it will be up and down, there’s just so much youth on the roster with six freshman, a couple of sophomores, and the team doesn’t score consistently. At times they struggle with their offense, and other times they’ve been incredible in terms of scoring and winning big games.

Overall this has been a wonderful season for Cal given who they have coming back and who they brought in, that could change a lot if they don’t come home next week and win both of their remaining home games left against Utah and Colorado.

The Arizona Wild Cats for the last three weeks have been playing great basketball and after they lost that one point game to Cal they’ve stepped right back into it, the Wild Cats just worked their way to the rim offensively so that was not a bad loss per se for the Bears. The fact they lost by 26 points is frustrating they should have been more competitive and at some point your in the game. When they played at ASU on Saturday they lost by 18 points and the reason why they did is because their just not playing well.

So when Cal faces Utah and Colorado for the last two games of the season at Haas they should be beatable, Colorado is still playing without their key player Spencer Dinwiddie who was lost on January 20th. Meanwhile the Utah Utes have really had Cal’s number over the last couple of seasons. You would imagine that they would not be showing up Cal at Haas and it would be a surprise if they did although Utah is an emerging team.

Morris Phillips and Michael Duca are filling in for Michelle Richardson this week for the NCAA report

Warriors commentary: W’s win in New York should carry over to Toronto Sunday

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by David Zizmor

TORONTO–The Golden State Warriors are in Toronto Sunday afternoon to battle the Raptors for a 1:00 PM PST tip off and the Raptors are a first place club who are holding a four game lead in the Atlantic. The Warriors Stephen Curry who played one of his worst games of the season agianst the Bulls in Chicago last Wednesday in the Warriors 103-83 loss scored only five points going 2-10 as the Bulls contained him on defense.

Then it was onto New York at Maidison Square Garden on Friday night, where Curry was no longer playing doormat as he exploded with 27 points leading the Warriors to a 126-103 win over the Knicks. The Knicks are a mediocre team at best and if they were in the Western Conference they wouldn’t be a playoff team.

In the Eastern Conference their a playoff team but that’s because the Eastern Conference is so much worse than the Western. The Knicks do have Carmelo Anthony who lead the team with 23 on Wednesday who is still one of the best players in the NBA. That definitely gives them a slight edge over the other teams in the east. As far as every single player from number one to number 15 on the Knicks they can’t compete.

The Knicks can’t compete with the top teams in the east and they can’t compete with most of the teams in the west. Their an also ran, their going to tread water so other than that their not very good. There a team that the Warriors should beat and you can’t say that about most eastern conference teams.

Curry going into New York had a triple double which is not as notable or flashy as the 54 points he dropped on the Knicks last year but boy Curry certainly rises to the occasion during a big game when he’s in a notable environment like New York. MSG is one of those places even when the Knicks aren’t very good it still is a great place to play there’s just a certain atmosphere you get there that you don’t get in too many arenas.

Curry dropped 54 points last season at MSG, this time he dropped a triple double and just kind of controlled this game, remember he hit a triple double in essentially three quarters of basketball because he barley played in the fourth, had he been given another ten minutes to play his numbers would have been more impressive.

The Warriors face the Raptors with Toronto’s high scorers DeMar DeRozan (22.7), Rudy Gay (19.4), and Ken Lowry (16.9) the Raptors have got some good offense winning seven of their last ten games. The Raptors have had recent success against Cleveland twice, Orlando, Washington and Atlanta. The Warriors coming into Sunday have won seven of their last eight games.

David Zizmor covers the NBA for Sportstalk radio

Quakes leave Portland positive

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Photo credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports

By Pearl Allison Lo

The San Jose Earthquakes finished the Rose City Invitational 2-1, as they won over the Jamaican club Portmore United 1-0 Saturday.

It was the same score by which San Jose won their first game as they were back in their red and white kit as well.

Portmore made an early move in the 16th minute. Adoah Nickels came in to replace Alonzo Adlam, who was injured.

In the 39th minute, Adam Jahn won a battle up front and passed to Cordell Cato. Cato received the ball on his body and got it to the back of the net as goalie Kenmar Foster slid and the ball went off his teammate.

Cato also had a lot of touches in the first half and passes into the box, especially in the 13th-14th minutes.

The Quakes dominated the stat board in the first half winning corner kicks 7-1 and shots 15-5.

Game notes: Regarding lineups, Foster was Portmore’s third starting goalie of the tournament. San Jose’s Steven Lenhart was absent but looks like he would have played if it was a regular season game. Instead of being done with the preseason at this point, the Quakes will play one additional game, added Wednesday. This following Wednesday, March 5 at 7p, San Jose will travel to Tucson to face the Sacramento Republic FC. Tucson will also be home to the Quakes’ Player Development League. San Jose will be without Victor Bernardez, who will be participating in a game for the Honduran National Team. Also Thursday, the San Antonio Scorpions received Sam Garza and David Bingham via loan.

 

Timberwolves down the Kings 108-97

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

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Photo credit: Rocky Widner NBAE/Getty Images

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Sacramento Kings 108-97 on Saturday night. The Kings lost because they played inconsistent defense and did not take care of the basketball.

DeMarcus Cousins returned to the Kings’ lineup after serving his one game suspension on Friday night. Cousins posted his 35th double-double of the season scoring 21 points and grabbing 17 rebounds. Cousins’ outstanding performance was not enough to make up for the lack of defense.

Rudy Gay had two entirely different basketball games. In the first half, Gay scored 22 points to help give his team a 56-53 halftime lead. In the second half, he scored only two points. That lack of scoring by Gay did not help the Kings who struggled especially in the third quarter.

Isaiah Thomas put up 22 points and dished out eight assists. Down the stretch, Thomas played in the backcourt with Ray McCallum (nine points) running the point. The two guards worked well together.

“The big three” (Cousins, Gay and Thomas) were the only Kings to score in double figures.

Kevin Martin was the scoring leader for the Timberwolves with 26 points. Martin’s night was similar to Gay’s as he scored 19 in the first half and just seven points in the second half.

Kevin Love posted 22 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Love 12 for 14 from the free throw line.

Nikola Pekovic scored 20 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Corey Brewer scored 13 points.

Turnovers killed the Kings on Saturday night. Sacramento turned the ball over 19 times and that resulted in Minnesota scoring 27 points off those turnovers.

The other area that helped the Kings to lose was the lack of scoring in the third quarter. Sacramento was outscored 31-14 in the third period. A team cannot win in the NBA scoring 14 points in a quarter.

Despite the horrible third quarter, the Kings cut the Timberwolves lead to just two points with less than three minutes to play. Turnovers and poor fastbreak decisions allowed the Timberwolves to open up the eventual nine point lead.

After the game when asked why his team lost, Kings Head Coach Michael Malone said, “Turnovers – (we) continue to beat ourselves.” Malone cited inconsistent defense as another major contributor to his team’s loss.

With the win, Minnesota’s record improved to 29-29. The loss dropped the Kings record to 20-39 for the 2013-14 season. Sacramento has now lost three games in a row.

The Kings will have Sunday off and will host the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night.

Ogwumike Shines in Final Game, Cardinal Beat Cougars to Finish Undefeated at Home

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By: Joe Lami

Chiney Ogwumike enjoyed her final regular season game at Maples Pavilion.  As she led her team to victory over the Washington State Cougars by the final score of 84-64.  Ogwumike finished her Cardinal career with a new career high 37 points, 21 of them came in the first half.  Ogwumike also added 13 rebounds to achieve her 22nd double-double of the season.  She also achieved her 30th double figure scoring game of the year and later achieved her 13th 30-point game of the season.  She stated after the game “I really don’t care about points and statistics, all I care is that I do enough for us to win, even if I only score two points.”   She later added on her feelings of Saturday’s game “It just felt like another game.  I just care that we won, and that we are playing better basketball going into the post season.  We are growing as a team and that’s what matters.”

The Cardinal started the first half strong, getting the first five points of the game and forcing Washington State to call an early timeout.  Stanford led the entire first half, but did have struggles shooting from beyond the arc.  Stanford went 3 for 13 from three-point range in the first half with Bonnie Samuelson knocking two of them down.  Brianna Roberson drained the other.

Roberson, a freshman, had her most impressive half of her young Cardinal career.  She finished the first half with eight points, a new career high.  Roberson also added a rebound and an assist in the seven minutes that she played.  She finished the game with eight points, as she didn’t see much playing time in the second half.

The Cardinal shot the lights out from the free throw line, as they finished the first half going 14 of 15, for a 93%.

Stanford came out of the second half strong, as they went on a 10-0 run to start things up in the first 4:47.  The Cardinal defense came to play in the second half only allowing 23 points, forcing the Cougars to shoot a dreaded 28%.

Even though the Cardinal held Washington State to 64 points, three different Cougars got into double figures.  They were led by Lia Galdeira, who finished with 16 points.  Both Tia Presley and Sage Romberg finished the game with ten points each.

Amber Orrange went under the radar once again, but had one of her best performances of the year.  The Junior Point Guard finished just two points shy of her career high, scoring 20 points.  She also finished the game with eight rebounds.  “This was one of Amber’s best nights she’s ever had for us” stated head coach, Tara VanDerveer.  VanDerveer also pulled Orrange aside and congratulated her on a great performance.  The key to Orrange’s night “I was being a lot more aggressive.”

The Cardinal finish the year undefeated at home going into the Pac-12 tournament next week.  They will be ranked the first seed and will get a first round bye, and will play their first game on Friday, March 7.

Sun Devils complete Bay Area Pac-12 sweep, rout Bears

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(category Cal Bears)

By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, March 1, 2014

TEMPE, Ariz. – California’s road swing through the Grand Canyon State ended the way it started, with a lopsided defeat.

An early second-half collapse by the Bears led to Arizona State thumping Cal 78-60 Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena, making a tight Pac-12 Conference men’s basketball race even tighter.

The Sun Devils (21-8 overall, 10-6 Pac-12) moved into third place in the conference standings, trailing second-place UCLA by one-half game and league-leading Arizona by 3½ going into the final weekend of the regular season.

ASU won the earlier meeting between the two schools 89-78 in overtime on Jan. 29 at Berkeley. The Bears were looking to bounce back after an 87-59 loss at No. 3-ranked Arizona on Wednesday.

Cal (18-11, 9-7) is tied for fifth place in the Pac-12 with Colorado, both trailing Stanford by one-half game. The Cardinal visit Arizona Sunday.

“(ASU) is a good team and they’re playing well right now,” Bears guard Justin Cobbs said. “It’s not discouraging. It hurts to lose, and nobody likes to lose, but we’re not done. We’re still in the hunt for a top four spot (in the Pac-12), so we just got to get it done at home.”

Despite the loss, Bears Coach Mike Montgomery said that finishing in the Pac-12’s top four is still a possibility.

“Sure, we can,” Montgomery said. “These guys (ASU) have to go to the Oregon’s, Stanford plays the same schedule that we have, and Colorado and Utah have to come to us and Stanford. It’s in our hands, just like the others. It’s a matter of who gets the job done.”

Arizona State and Cal battled back and forth throughout the first half, with the score tied five times and four lead changes. The Bears led by as many as six (12-6 with 13:25 left in the half) and held it’s last lead at 22-20 on a David Kravish jump shot at 3:38.

ASU tied the game at 24-24 on a jumper by Eric Jacobsen, which sparked a 5-0 run to end the half with a 29-24 lead that the Sun Devils would never relinquish.

What did Cal in was a 15-6 Sun Devils run in the first five minutes of the second half. After the Bears cut the ASU lead to 29-26 on a pair of free throws by Justin Cobbs, Jermaine Marshall answered by draining one of his six 3-pointers.

The run included six points by center Jordan Bachynski, four points by Jonathan Gilling and a layup by Jahii Carson. A free throw by McKissic with 5:58 to play gave Arizona State its biggest lead at 68-48.

“They made shots,” Cobbs said of the second-half collapse. “We didn’t play defense and they made shots.”

In particular, it was Marshall who had the hot hand. Marshall finished with a game-high 22 points, hitting 7 of 11 from the floor – 6 of 8 from 3-point range – and, along with McKissic, Gilling and Bo Barnes, finished with four assists each.

“We lost vision on open shooters,” Montgomery said. “We played really good defense in the first half and did exactly what we were trying to do. Right toward the end of the first half, we had three breakdowns and they hit three 3’s. We would have been up, even as poorly as we were shooting the ball. That gave them some momentum.

“That carried over into the second half and we lost vision of open shooters time and time again,” Montgomery continued. “To (ASU’s) credit, they knocked down shots – there was a time they were shooting 83 percent from the floor. (ASU) got 33 points on 19 possessions, which is incredible production.”

Gilling added 15 points off the ASU bench, hitting 6-of-9 field goals, including a pair of 3-pointers. McKissic finished with 10 points; he and Barnes each grabbed six rebounds.

Bachynski, the nation’s leading shot blocker (4.25 bpg), added four more rejections to his season total of 123. He also pulled down seven boards as the Devils outrebounded Cal 34-29.

“Arizona State really hurt us with that small lineup,” Montgomery said. “Marshall and Gilling did a great job of shooting the ball when they were open. To Arizona State’s credit, they moved the ball very well. When they’re open, they find the open man.

“It’s discouraging, because we’re not playing very well right now.”

“We’re letting our play at one end of the court affect the other end of the court,” Bears forward Richard Solomon said. “We’ve just got to play through it and play harder.”

Cobbs led Cal with 15 points (6-of-9 shooting), but was held to six points in the second half. Jordan Mathews added 14 points and Kravish scored 12. Solomon and Kravish each pulled down eight rebounds.

When postgame talk switched from the Pac-12 postseason tournament to reaching The Big Dance, Montgomery and Cobbs each refused to speculate that far ahead.

“We’re just trying to win a game right now,” Montgomery said.

Cobbs added, “That’s the last thing we’re worrying about right now. We just have to focus on the next one.”

That would be on Wednesday night, when the Bears host Utah at Haas Pavilion. Game time is 8 p.m.

(TAGS: Cal,Bears,Arizona State,Pac-12,men’s basketball,Daniel Dullum)