Category: Cal Bears

Cal squeezes UCLA, win streak grows to four

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By Morris Phillips

Find the open man and trust your teammates doesn’t necessarily include fifth-year graduate student Dwight Tarwater when the game is on the line against an opponent as critical as UCLA.

But on Saturday night at Haas Pavilion with Cal trailing by a point and fewer than 20 seconds remaining, Tarwater’s number was called.  And he delivered.

Tarwater, the Ivy Leaguer who joined Cal’s basketball team this season with his degree in hand and little–in terms of playing time or a role—promised to him by the team’s coaching staff.  But he’s quietly worked himself into the starting lineup coinciding with Cal’s winning streak that now sits at four after the 64-62 win over the Bruins.  In this case, Cal’s leading scorer Tyrone Wallace tried to stick his nose into the lane and was greeted by three defenders which left him to pass to Tarwater in the opposite corner where he calmly sank the game winner with UCLA’s long, athletic Kevon Looney closing fast for the potential game-saving block.

“Me and Jabari [Bird] were supposed to cross and Tyrone [Wallace] got in the paint and kicked it out to me, and then I shot the ball with confidence. It went in- thankfully. Jabari says I shot the ball really high and it just went in. It was great,” Tarwater said.

“I don’t think I could’ve asked anybody else to contest any better than that,” a disappointed UCLA coach Steve Alford said.  “That’s the highest arc shot we’ve seen in a long time.  That was a great contest.  The senior (Tarwater) made a couple threes, I think he’s shooting 20-something percent on the year.”

Tarwater’s actually a slightly more proficient 32 percent shooter from three on the season, but in conference play with everything intensified defensively, the Cornell transfer had missed 15 of his previous 19 attempts from distance.  But that didn’t matter with 17 seconds remaining.  His shot came without hesitation—and after teammates Sam Singer and Wallace had won Cal’s two previous games in the same manner.

“The thing about it, and what I said in the huddle to Dwight was to be ready to shoot the ball,” coach Cuonzo Martin recounted.  “We had what we call a wildcard action, and Tyrone would curl off Dwight and Dwight sprints to the corner, the same corner where we made the shot.  He put a lot of arch on the ball, it went in because that was the only way it was going to get in there.”

After losing six of seven to open conference play, the Bears have won four straight with a winnable game in Boulder, Colorado up next on Thursday.  For UCLA, the loss was a bitter one, coming after the Bruins squeezed Stanford on Thursday.  Now, the Bruins and Bears are basically in the same boat: well outside consideration for March’s Big Dance, but at least Cal has some momentum they would love to maintain.

Leading to the resurgence for Cal is undoubtedly Martin’s ability to find and trust some new faces.  Singer has emerged during the streak and he contributed 13 points off the bench as Cal’s reserves outscored UCLA’s 17-2.  In the starting lineup, Tarwater has found a niche and Jabari Bird has regained his health and provided desperately needed scoring.  Leading up to the game-winning shot, Bird hit a pair of big threes that helped Cal wipe out a five-point deficit with less than two minutes remaining.

Besides Tarwater, the new sources for offense, the Bears dug down and got tenacious defensively as well, all things that bode well for the Bears leading into the final seven games of the conference schedule, only two of which are in Berkeley.  Cal shut down UCLA in the final two minutes much to Martin’s delight.

“I see our guys growing, I said even when we lost six-straight, our guys are making progress. But, it’s hard to see that when we lose the game, but today we competed well, we got our post-double defense that we have been working on going, Kingsley [Okoroh] did a great job one-on-one defending,” Martin said.

Cal Bears basketball commentary: USC closed the gap at the end of the first half but Cal kept the fight going and won with buzzer beater

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by Michael Duca and Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–The Cal Bears Tyrone Wallace went 40 feet with the ball and went from goat to hero in three seconds. This whole thing occurred because he had possibly the worst night at the free throw line in his career where he went three for nine. The last miss was in front of a one one plus Cal trailing by a point when the game winner came. USC had control of the game in the last seven minutes, Cal led almost the entire game. Cal head coach Cuonzo Martin said there are going to be some guys working on their free throws into the night.

The Bears went on a nine to zero run sparked by a seven points by David Kravish and a 29-0 run and they had a 14 point lead in the first half. Right at the end of the first half the Trojans closed it to nine and half points. It was one of those very strange games where USC couldn’t hit the ocean if they threw the ball out of a row boat in the first half. The Trojans were 6-24 to start the game from the field.

Then the Trojans got 13-15 shots 16 of 24 shots and later 22 of their last 31, so it was really a tale of two games and the Trojans came back and took the game with eight or seven minutes in the half. Then they began to stretch it out and the Trojans went up by five with two minutes to play and it did not look good for the Bears. I could tell you up and down press row Wallace hit that shot and we all just kind of looked at each other and we had to start all over on the scoring.

Mistakes was the flavor of the day in this game the Bears committed nine turnovers in the second half they had a stretch where they ha one basket and committed seven turnovers and went 1-7 in those turnovers when the Trojans went from five behind to five ahead. This is the 13th game this year they’ve had ten turnovers. They had a stretch where they hit one basket with seven turnovers and were only five points behind during that sequence. The difference for Cal in winning three straight games is that every coach in the history of the game have told their players it’s 40 minute game or it’s a 32 minute game.

If anyone had to tell the Cal Bears about playing all 40 minutes in the last two games they were sound asleep and they won both games in less than five seconds on the clock. Both games came down the last shot at the buzzer and that included both Washington and Thursday night’s USC game. Basically last night’s game the lights went off and the horn sounded and all was on it’s way downward.

Were sitting directly across from the basket and from that angle we all thought the shot was going to be short, somehow it wasn’t and it was like a San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum pitching motion and the last second there was a little hop which managed to clear the iron. These are character building games, these are games that will get Cal to come out with a little bounce in their step. The Bears play UCLA next on Saturday.

Michael Duca does Cal Bears commentary and podcast each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Buzzer beater: Cal’s Wallace shocks USC with a 3-pointer at the horn

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Wallace winner

By Morris Phillips

Tyrone Wallace’s final dash up the floor could have easily fallen into the same category as the entirety of Thursday’s USC-Cal clash: mildly entertaining fare emanating from the Pac-12’s soft underbelly.

But Wallace’s rush up the floor and buzzer-beating, game-winning three was much more than that.  It not only surprised the young Trojans, robbing them of a win both rare and unlikely, it also incited an impromptu mid-court celebration of Cal fans and players that quickly allowed the Bears to forget how depressing the whole evening could have ended.

And the 70-69 decision also served as a reminder of how much promise remains in Cal’s wildly inconsistent, up-and-down season entering the final stretch.

“The thing I tell our guys—even after an exhibition game—is that you have to enjoy the wins because you never know when the next one is coming,” winning coach Cuonzo Martin said.  “It’s always tough to play.  Injuries and key guys go down and stuff happens, so appreciate the wins, learn from them, enjoy them and don’t let them cripple you.  I think our guys understand the importance of winning games, appreciating the wins and moving forward.”

Wallace’s game winner came less than 10 seconds after he missed the front end of a one-and-one that would have evened the score at 68.  But after a quick foul, USC’s Jordan McLaughlin could only convert one of two free throw attempts allowing room for Wallace to redeem himself and snatch victory from the powerful jaws of defeat.

David Kravish grabbed McLaughlin’s miss and quickly unleashed an outlet pass to Wallace streaking up the left side of the floor with USC freshman Malik Marquetti in close pursuit.  Wallace’s clear release meant the Bears would eschew their remaining timeout and hopefully catch the Trojans napping, but Marquetti was in position to contest and he was joined by teammate Elijah Stewart when Wallace approached the three-point arc looking for an opening to release a shot.

So Wallace gave a quick pump fake and rose above both defenders who decided to stand, reach skyward and avoid a foul instead of aggressively contesting Wallace’s shot.  So Cal’s leading scorer went up and sank the game winner.

“The shot felt really good,” Wallace recounted.  “It felt it off my hands and I thought it was going in.  I followed it all the way through, it went in and everybody rushed the floor.”

Cal has won consecutive games with a 3-pointer at the buzzer and three straight overall after six straight losses.  The Bears (14-9, 4-6) remain stuck in the middle of the pack in the Pac-12 trailing seven conference foes with only two or three likely to gain NCAA bids.  So their path is an uphill one, but not an impossibility given the spark the mini win-streak has provided.

“There’s definitely still work to be done, but seeing things start to go our way is huge,” Kravish said.  “Guys are starting to hit shots.  Sam hit that game winner, came back out and hit another three today.  It’s really good.  It gets our confidence going.”

Youthful USC may have lost this one in the first ten minutes and not at the buzzer.  The Trojans needed more than 10 minutes to score 10 points, and their energy and attention to detail at both ends were clearly lacking.  Already, USC entered the game last in shooting percentage in conference from the field, the 3-point line and the charity stripe.  Along with missing shots, the Trojans also let too many Bears find their sweet spots offensively allowing Cal to lead by 14 at one point in the opening 20 minutes and by nine points at halftime.

But midway through the second half, USC caught fire behind herky-jerky freshman McLaughlin and led 66-61 with less than two minutes remaining.  But the Bears fought back and were poised to shock when the Trojans’ freshman was able to convert only one of two free throws with less than five seconds remaining.

Wallace led Cal with 18 points, including three of Cal’s nine made threes.  The Trojans got 20 from McLaughlin and 16 from Katin Reinhardt but couldn’t overcome 18 turnovers or nine missed free throws.

The Bears look to stretch their win streak on Saturday when UCLA visits Haas Pavilion at 5pm.  The Bruins held on to win at Stanford, 69-67, on Thursday.

Singer’s big shot carries Cal past Washington

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By Morris Phillips

After a rough January, the Cal Bears caught several breaks in Seattle on the first day of February.

Most noticeably, the television-centric scheduling of Pac-12 conference games finally played in Cal’s favor.  The Bears found themselves in a normally hostile Alaska Airlines Arena on a day where the entire Northwest region was preoccupied with the Super Bowl and their Seahawks, and all the empty seats clearly aided the Bears in their attempt to capture a rare, second consecutive road win.

That, and having point guard Sam Singer in his sweet spot against a hobbled defender with the game on the line in the final seconds.

Singer’s 3-pointer propelled Cal past Washington, 90-88, reinforcing that despite a rough stretch, the Bears are far from giving up on the rest of their season.

“Even after losing six in a row, we never lost confidence,” Singer said.  “We got healthy when Jabari came back.  And so now, it’s just about getting on a roll and these two wins against Washington State and Washington were huge.  And now we’re going to look to keep going against the Los Angeles’ next week.”

After all of Cal’s offensive struggles which have been dissected again and again, the Bears found themselves in a game where neither team played much defense, and that allowed Cuonzo Martin’s group to gain confidence shooting the ball almost from the opening tip to the conclusion of the game.

One week after the Bears had only four guys score in a depressing loss to highly-ranked Arizona, all five of Cal’s most voluminous shooters converted more than half of their shot attempts with Jordan Mathews (23 points, 7 of 11 shooting) and Tyrone Wallace (21, 9 of 17) leading the way.  On the game’s final play, the Bears looked to Wallace first, but when the defense against Cal’s leading scorer slumped into the lane to prevent his drive, Wallace delivered the ball to Singer at the top of the key.

Normally, the pass-first Singer would have looked for a teammate, but with the clock about to expire and UW’s Andrew Andrews defending on an hobbled ankle he suffered early in the game, Singer looked to attack.  Andrews attempted to take away Singer’s drive when the big guard took a hard, jab step toward the paint, and that gave Singer an uncontested look from the top of the key which he drained with five seconds remaining.

With no time to celebrate prematurely the Cal defense retreated to contest UW’s Nigel Williams-Goss’s last ditch race up the floor.  And when his difficult, long range shot failed to draw iron, the Bears were winners with Martin in the middle of Cal’s celebratory huddle at mid-court.

“I was happy for our team because like I told the guys ‘we are right there.’  Sometimes in a loss you can’t see the progress that guys are making.  I’ve said that.  But those guys have made a tremendous amount of progress and I was happy to see in these two wins the progress that guys have made,” Martin said.

The pair of wins allowed Cal to escape the conference cellar and into a ninth-place tie at 3-6 with Washington and Arizona State.  The Bears host last place USC on Thursday with an opportunity to extend their win streak.

NCAA basketball commentary & podcast: Bears after winning two straight give credit to clawing and great offense

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by Morris Phillips

SEATTLE–Sunday was an interesting game for the Cal Bears and the Washington Huskies as both teams are struggling as they opened conference play back on January 2nd against each other and were flying high at that point and both teams had gone into the tank. There was not a lot of defense played in the Bears three point 90-88 win and that really played into Cal’s favor.

The Bears have struggled before and basically for a month and half now and for Sunday a win and a big shot with ten seconds left in the game by the Bears Sam Singer to get the gamer a three pointer to win it when they were in position to lose it. It was a good weekend for Cal as they beat Washington State Thursday and got the big win on Sunday against the Huskies.

This is further proof that this coaching change from former Cal coach Mike Montgomery to Cuonzo Martin looks to be really good going forward when a team can gather more talent and become a little bit more experienced the coaching change is really going to benefit the program. The Bears can’t help looking forward on building on two road victories in conference and they will.

Will it translate into a bunch of wins? Clearly the Bears are on the same page and their still fighting and the season is not over and they’ve got a lot to accomplish if they can continue to play good basketball. One thing for sure if you have to play in Seattle, Super Bowl Sunday with the Seahawks involved is the day to play in Seattle. The thing that really benefitted Cal was there just wasn’t a lot of fans there and their all at home in Seattle getting ready for the Super Bowl and not watching Washington basketball.

With the Seattle fans getting ready for the Super Bowl it took the crowd out of the game at Alaskan Airlines Arena and what is normally a very partisan and loud crowd really played into Cal’s factor and was more of a practice atmosphere inside the arena that really helped them. Can they build on this? Yes, because this team is together whether they struggle or not and you could see how happy they were after the game.

The Bears now have something to play for whether it’s an NCAA Tournament or just respectability this season in a winning manner. The Bears got off to a great start in this game and they shot over 60 percent in the first ten minutes of the game. The Huskies were missing shots and Washington’s best stretch of the game was right before half time when they closed a 14 point deficit to two. Cal gets ready to face USC on Thursday at Haas Pavilion.

Morris Phillips does the NCAA commentary for http://www.sportsradioservice.com hear the rest of the podcast below

Cal Bears basketball commentary & podcast: Singer’s favorite song the game winning sound of “swish”

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by Michael Duca

BERKELEY–My guess the folks who are coming home from that Cal Bears(13-9)-Washington Huskies(14-7) game on Sunday were probably the only people on the streets in Seattle at the time of the game during Super Bowl Sunday. There were only 6,300 in attendance at Alaskan Airlines Arena which is half the capacity but a decent crowd all things being considered.

Cal’s Tyrone Wallace who finished with 21 points hits some important baskets he had seven rebounds in the first half but couldn’t manage the double double had nine rebounds and four assists in the Bears second straight victory 90-88. He had an all around solid game he was the only one of the Cal scoring players that finished the game up to his neck in foul trouble with two personal fouls.

This was an interesting game after the Huskies had dismissed one of their star players Robert Upshaw who is now in the D League earlier this week. Upshaw averaged nine rebounds a game and was leading the nation in shots and was an aircraft carrier in the paint. With Upshaw out Shawn Kemp Jr is the only big man that the Huskies had left. Washington challenged the rim a little bit and Washington was already a small team to begin with.

The announcers were joking in the game at some point they might introduce five on five with ten guards on the floor the way the two teams are constructed and the Huskies took the ball inside a lot and they challenged a lot. Cal finished the game with Jabari Bird with four personal fouls coming off the bench. Jordan Matthews had four fouls on the floor, David Kravish had three fouls.

Sam Singer had four fouls, and Singer played the last nine minutes with four fouls and Singer was the key to this game and hit the game winning three pointer for the gamer to get Cal the three point win. It was by far Singer’s best game as a Cal player. The Bears have got more timely with Bird on the floor, his foot is now healthy they can give him significant minutes. Bird is back in game shape and he’s able to give them better spacing and give them more spacing on the floor a little bit.

Once again going back to Singer without him they don’t win the game and because of what he does he allows Wallace to not have to be a point guard on the floor Wallace is a lot better creating without the ball, working off ball screens, and using his height advantage down low and posting up smaller players. If your distributing your starting out on the top of the key and you can’t always do that you got to pass and cut, pick and roll and it’s not that difficult to defend that if your the only guy out there doing that.

Michael Duca does commentary on the Cal Bears each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com catch his podcast below

Cal gets big boost from Tyrone Wallace and wins at Washington State

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Cal back on top

By Morris Phillips

When you haven’t won in nearly a month, you’ll go anywhere—even to Pullman, WA—to get a much-needed victory.

That’s where the Cal Bears went, and after some tense moments down the stretch, were able to end a six-game losing streak with a 76-67 win over host Washington State.

The Bears appeared to re-establish their relationship with the rim in the win, shooting 55 percent from the field and scoring 10 more points than they did in any of their six losses in January.  Tyrone Wallace discovered the basket first, scoring 21 of Cal’s initial 39 points in a 26-point, seven-rebound performance that paced the Bears.

While Wallace soared, Cal’s second-leading scorer, Jordan Mathews flatlined, drawing a pair of personal fouls in the game’s first minute.  Mathews finished the first half scoreless and played just four minutes.  But with the game on the line, and WSU holding their only lead of the game’s final 20 minutes, Mathews strung together all nine of his points in the game in Cal’s closing run that turned a 65-64 deficit into a 73-67 lead with 51 seconds remaining.

The Bears improved to 12-9, 2-6 in Pac-12 play and moved out the conference basement with the win while USC fell at home in triple overtime to Colorado.  The Bears will attempt to string together wins for the first time since December 19 on Sunday when they visit Washington in Seattle.

Nine Bears scored on the evening, including all four that played off Coach Cuonzo Martin’s bench one game after only four scored in the dismal loss to No. 7 Arizona at Haas Pavilion.  Brandon Chauca was the big surprise with a career-best 10 points off the bench on 4 of 7 shooting.

Washington State was led by DaVonte Lacy and Josh Hawkinson who combined for 42 points but missed 22 of their combined 34 shots.  The Cougars have lost four straight after opening Pac-12 play 3-1.

NCAA Basketball commentary & podcast: Coach K picking up win 1K; Kentucky and Virginia lighting up the polls

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by Michelle Richardson

Duke head coach Mike Kryzewski on his 1000th career win: Coach K was committed to being a teacher to these young players at Duke University (17-2) he was responsible for putting a lot of players in the pros. Kryzewski was like a second father, he was a mentor to these student athletes and he’s been a great role model. Kryzewski has been a great role model himself he played basketball at West Point and he was coached by former Indiana coach Bobby Knight when Knight was coaching at West Point.

Kryzweski comes from a very esteemed background L.A. Lakers star Kobe Bryant played under Kryzweski as an Olympian. Coach K played basketball and his students realized he’s not just a coach he’s a teacher and he picked up 1,000 wins for the national championship with 17 conference championships. He doesn’t have to worry about making the Hall of Fame he’s already in the Hall of Fame.

Kentucky (19-0) ranked at number one in the AP and USA Today/ESPN Polls, the Wildcats are one of those teams that can get into championship games and that’s okay the Wildcats are playing really well and they have some really good players and they’re being challenged, their learning, their working and they’ll win. I’m not all the way impressed by the way Kentucky is playing now but I have to know that Kentucky is going to do this all the way through the season.

There are some sleeper cell teams out there and the ACC always has got somebody that’s bound to tip the scales and there are teams always willing to take the air out of the tires. Wisconsin is playing very well (18-2) but for the most part Kentucky is the front runner they are the team to beat I can definitely let you know their not the only kid on the block.

Virginia Cavaliers (19-0) also giving chase in the in the Atlantic coast standings: It’s exciting to see the Cavaliers playing at a high level they are just playing out of this world basketball. They keep it dialed in on the court and their just a joy to watch. I can’t explain to you how much they are to watch. You know the Charlottesville fans are loving it and you got to watch out for Virginia.

You got to watch out for the ACC, Virginia is (7-0) in the conference and their (19-0) overall and the closest behind them is Notre Dame (18-2) and North Carolina (16-4). Carolina is one of those schools that can sneak up on anybody Louisville (16-3) and Duke (17-2) are still in contention. It could come down to Louisville and Syracuse (14-6).

Louisville could end up doing just as well in the ACC Tournament and this is something that can be maintained.

Michelle Richardson covers the NCAA for http://www.sportsradioservice.com hear the podcast below

No. 7 Arizona blows past Cal after a slow start

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Cats too tough

By Morris Phillips

As much as the Cal Bears needed it to not be the case, Saturday night’s Pac-12 showdown was undoubtedly all about the Arizona Wildcats.

No. 7 Arizona didn’t play well early, and the meeting between league rivals headed in opposite directions carried some intrigue approaching halftime.  But once the Cats started to look like the Cats, Cal was outclassed as Arizona cruised to a 73-50 victory.

The Bears wanted things to be about them as they were in last season’s big upset of Arizona at Haas Pavilion, but this time Cal offered little other than an inspired defensive effort in the game’s early stages.

Upon closer inspection, what better explained why the game was close early–the last tie score came with 3:23 remaining at 17 apiece—was Arizona’s mistakes and tentative play.  The Wildcats had six turnovers in the game’s first 11 minutes, and nine for the half.  Also, Arizona went more than five minutes scoreless, allowing the Bears to erase an early double-digit deficit.  Granted an opening, the Bears again struggled to make shots.  Cal needed almost 10 minutes to compile three made baskets and finished the opening half with just 19 points.

“It’s easy to say what you’d like to do, but sometimes there is a reality to what we are doing,” Coach Cuonzo Martin said in an attempt to explain his team’s offensive shortcomings.  “Scorers score the ball.  Some guys aren’t built to do it. We will get them better.  We will continue to get them better.”

The box score illustrated how deep Cal’s issue are.  Only four Bears scored, and the other six that saw action took just one shot, Christian Behrens’ point blank miss after an offensive rebound in the first half.  Cal’s bench went scoreless and the team attempted just four free throws while the Cats converted 23 of 26.  Only two Bears, Jordan Mathews and Jabari Bird, are legitimate shooters from distance, and Bird continues to work himself back after an extended absence due to injury.

So from Arizona’s perspective–given Cal’s lack of firepower—the Cats merely needed to weather the early storm, not get rattled or draw upon the experience of last season’s upset in a negative way.  Brandon Ashley, the San Francisco native who was lost for the season in last season’s meeting, said he thought little of the experience during Saturday’s game.  And his teammates may not have played their best games, but their effort was consistent from Coach Sean Miller’s perspective.

“I was excited about our effort level.  We were really a team that gave everything we had,” Miller said.

Cal has dropped eight of nine, and remain in last place in conference play at 1-6 along with USC.  Arizona has won four straight after a two-point loss at surprising Oregon State.  The Wildcats claimed first place in the Pac-12 to themselves with 5-1 Utah idle on Saturday.

The Bears will attempt to regroup at Washington and at Washington State next weekend with the trip to Pullman up first on Thursday night.

Cal Bears basketball commentary & podcast: Cal hopes to snap five game losing streak against tough Arizona Saturday

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by Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–For the Cal Bears (11-8) head coach Cuonzo Martin the experience of coaching in non-conference in November and December is much different than coaching Pac 12 Conference for January. The Bears were winning in non conference and got up to 10-1 and the Bears at that time were on the verge of being ranked in the top 25. This team this month on a five game losing streak has gone through some struggles during this period, their young, their undersized and inexperienced and Martin is a first year coach.

In terms of what their facing in the Pac 12 it doesn’t get any easier. The Arizona Wildcats are coming in at 17-2 who had a nice win over Gonzaga at home the Wildcats are a powerhouse out west. This is a big physical minded team they are what Kentucky would like to be on defense first. One of the things that Cal will see on Saturday night is that Arizona’s very capable point guard T.J. McConnell will not play as much.

McConnell won’t play as much due to the fact they want him to match up with the Bears Tyrone Wallace which is Cal’s top scorer a 6’5 point guard and the Wildcats will have their top guards going against Wallace. The Wildcat guards will test Wallace’s ability to see if he can continue to keep up his scoring and distributing. You can expect it to be a difficult battle for him because he’s used to going against smaller players.

The Bears on Saturday night won’t see any small physical players the Wildcats are all about a big physical defense who will come right after Wallace and company. The Wildcats Kaleb Tarczewski is a legitimate seven footer in the middle and he’s very blessed to have a front line that has size around him. A seven footer in Tarczewski and then you have Brandon Ashley at 6’9.

Arizona’s Stanley Johnson is at guard for the Wildcats at 6’7 and he really takes the pressure off Kaleb in the middle and you could see whey he’s able to shoot such a high percentage. Opponents are not just going to be able to double team him or even put too much focus on him and they have to have the success of the defensive attack first and that really would loosen up things inside for a team like Cal.

Johnson is a big physical guy for the Wildcats he can play guard, he can play forward, he can handle the ball, he’s a great team player. He’s a guy who has struggled being around other good players. He’s your prototypical one and done type player although Arizona has had some success in keeping their guys in character unlike some other places.

Hear the rest of Morris Phillips podcast with his weekly commentary on Cal Bears basketball below on http://www.sportsradioservice.com