Tag: Ivan Rabb

Cal comes up short in Pac-12 semis; NIT bid likely after loss to top-seeded Oregon

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By Morris Phillips

In the estimation of all the NCAA tournament prognosticators, Cal needed to win Friday night against top-seeded Oregon to gain one of the 68 coveted invitations to March Madness.

Now that the Bears have dropped three straight to the Pac-12 regular season champs, and beaten just one Top 50 opponent in eight tries, Coach Cuonzo Martin and his Bears were reduced to their belief that they still belong despite their 11th loss of the season on Friday night.

“I think we’re an NCAA tournament team. Now it’s for them to decide,” coach Cuonzo Martin said.

“For me, I really don’t care what they say. I’m not going to assume what they say. For me, it’s a whole season, so it’s a body of work.  If that’s not good enough, that’s not good enough. I didn’t go into this game thinking we had to win to get into the NCAA tournament.”

If the Bears find the committee to be kind, then Cal’s ability to compete with the highly-ranked Ducks despite losing leading scorer Jabari Bird in the game’s first minute will be cited. Bird left the court holding his head after a hard fall, and was thought to have suffered a concussion.

In Bird’s absence, senior Grant Mullins contributed 23 points, and Charlie Moore continued his strong tournament with 15 points, three assists in 35 minutes of action. The Bears so-so 43 percent shooting as a team held up as they didn’t turn the ball over or lose Ivan Rabb to fouls (Rabb played 36 minutes, and committed just two fouls).

Tyler Dorsey led four Oregon double-figure scorers with 23 points, and came up with the critical three-point play in the final minute after Cal trimmed the Ducks’ lead to two.  Dylan Ennis scored 16 points, converting all nine of his free throw attempts.

The Bears qualified for the conference semifinals for the second year in a row, but failed to make it to the finals for only the fourth time in school history.

Cal gives a better showing in win over OSU, need to play even better against next opponent Utah

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By Morris Phillips

If the Cal Bears’ effort on Wednesday afternoon was akin to a roaring crowd trying to exhort their favorite band to leave their comfy, dressing room for one more encore, then the Bears prevented the house lights from being turned on–signaling the end of the concert–but weren’t nearly demonstrative enough to get the band back on stage for a couple more songs either.

After slipping past twelfth-seeded Oregon St. 67-62, the Bears could claim they were loud, but going forward, probably not loud enough.

Jabari Bird led Cal with 20 points, Ivan Rabb added 12 points,  13 rebounds and the Bears never trailed after the game’s first 10 minutes, but had their collective nerves exposed as the Beavers sliced their lead to four in the final minutes. The Bears held on, but a one-game win streak isn’t the three wins in three days they need to crash the NCAA tournament party.

On Thursday,  the Bears take on fourth-seeded Utah with the winner getting a shot at top-seeded Oregon on Friday.  In order to mask five losses in the previous six games, and only one win (at USC in January) against the Top 50, Cal will need to win at least twice more to entice the NCAA selection committee.

“We knew it would be tough just finding a way to win, get the rust off us,” coach Cuonzo Martin said.  “Felt like we were playing with a 15-pound vest on our backs.  We found a way to get the win, and now we can move forward.”

The Bears shot just 33 percent in their two, road losses last weekend, so 40 percent shooting against OSU wasn’t a sizeable improvement. But in this one the Bears had an offensive focal point in Bird, who hit three threes, including a critical one with 54 seconds remaining.

Bird’s offense and Cal’s huge advantage in rebounding were huge on a night when Grant Mullins (2 of 8 shooting) and Charlie Moore (3 of 12) couldn’t find the mark.  With Mullins and Moore struggling, Stephen Domingo stepped up with a couple of big buckets.  With Domingo adding 10 points,  the Bears had four, double-digit scorers in the game.

The Bears (20-11) are attempting to qualify for the Pac-12 tournament semifinals for the second straight year.

Cal beat up by Utah, NCAA aspirations take a major hit

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By Morris Phillips

How will the Cal Bears get past their worst loss in two years as their NCAA tournament aspirations hang in the balance?

They’ll have to win games, there’s no other alternative.

Utah pounced on the Bears Thursday night, winning 74-44, the Utes’ biggest win ever in the series between the two schools.  On a night Cal needed to come up with a big win, they surprisingly played their worst game.  Offensively, they were present only in the game’s opening moments.  Defensively, the Bears never showed up.

“I don’t think we competed at the level we normally compete at,” Cal coach Cuonzo Martin said.  “You have to give Utah a lot of credit for making that happen.”

After the game was tied at six, the Utes scored 32 of the game’s next 42 points. Cal couldn’t defend the paint, allowing numerous drives to the bucket.  Utah’s Lorenzo Bonham and Sedrick Barefield hit key three-pointers as well.

Inexplicably, as the Bears fell down 20 at halftime, Ivan Rabb took only one shot. The Bears failed to get their preseason-All American the ball, and Rabb too easily slid into the background.

Rabb would finish with eight points, eight rebounds, but miss all three of his shot attempts.  Jabari Bird struggled too, scoring just six points while taking only seven shots.

The Bears have dropped four of five, and their desired fourth place finish in the Pac-12 regular season standings is in jeopardy.  The Bears (19-10, 10-7) will have to beat Colorado on Saturday to gain a bye in the Pac-12 tournament.

Most prognosticators have the Bears as one of the first four teams out as Cal has faltered, and a couple of other teams on the bubble, Illinois, Georgia and others have picked up key wins.  Consequently, the Bears may be NIT-bound if they can’t beat Colorado, then win their conference tournament opener, likely a rematch against Utah.

Senior night, undermanned Oregon State allow Cal to get back on track 76-46

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California’s Ivan Rabb, center, and Kameron Rooks, left, guard Oregon State’s Gligorije Rakocevic (23) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Friday, Feb. 24, 2017, in Berkeley, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–Ivan Rabb arrived in Berkeley two years ago amid great fanfare, the latest local phenom to sign with Cal, following Jason Kidd and Leon Powe before him.

After Cal’s much-needed Senior Night victory over Oregon State, Rabb lingered on the floor, acknowledged a few more people than normal, and shook a few more hands.

Could this have been Rabb’s swan song with the NBA beckoning? As always, the very mature Rabb chose his words carefully.

“No question, I think I have the opportunity to go or stay, and I don’t know what’s going to happen.  I did take time tonight to soak in the time on the court, slap fans hands, take pictures with people and really soak in the moment. Regardless, it was our last home game.  And I wanted to enjoy it,” Rabb said.

The 6’11” sophomore could have joined Jaylen Brown as an NBA draft entrant last year. And his decision to return to school may have been bigger than his decision to come in the first place.  By returning, Rabb allowed Coach Cuonzo Martin to avoid an immediate dip after the surge afforded his program with the signings of Rabb and Brown.  The Bears have continued to win, and the prospect of consecutive NCAA tournament appearances is within reach.

Rabb has seen his draft stock drop slightly under the weight of constant double teaming, but he couldn’t have been more consistent, with the clear majority of his 27 double-doubles coming this season.  The Oakland native will undoubtedly be choosen in the first round of the NBA draft if he chooses to leave.  And his contribution to the university and the athletic department can’t be questioned.

And the most gratifying part of Senior Night by far? That the speculation surrounding Rabb did not take away from the attention afforded seniors Sam Singer, Jabari Bird, Roger Moute A Bidias, Stephen Domingo and Grant Mullins.

Nor did the presence of OSU, a team with only one win since December, and with an unsightly RPI number of 293, giving them the ability to ruin Cal’s season if they could summon one unlikey, superior performance.

That slight possibility lasted only a few minutes, when OSU’s early seven-point lead was wiped out by Cal scoring 20 of the game’s next 23 points.  The Bears surged again at the beginning of the second half, and cruised to a 76-46 win.

At no point did the Bears let the emotionally-draining loss to Oregon on Wednesday affect them.  Their dismantling of injury-riddled Oregon State was clearly a focused effort, one Martin noticed.

“We didn’t let the atmosphere comsume us,” Martin said. “This time of the season it’s never too late and it’s a good sign for us.”

Rabb led Cal with 16 points, and just missed another double-double with nine rebounds. Singer added 14 points, making all seven of his shots in his Haas Pavilion finale.  And the Bears exploited their size and depth with significant edges in rebounds and points in the paint.

The Bears (19-9, 10-6) stopped a three-game losing streak with the win, and kept themselves on the good side of the NCAA tournament bubble with the win. They close the regular season at Utah, and at Colorado with the goal of finishing fourth in the Pac-12 standings and earning a first round bye in the conference tournament.

That and at least one win in Las Vegas should get the Bears into the NCAA field given their accomplishments to date.

 

 

 

Bears battle No. 9 Arizona to a standstill before falling 62-57 in Pac-12 showdown

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Arizona guard Allonzo Trier (35) drives between California guard Stephen Domingo (31) and Ivan Rabb (1) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017, in Tucson, Ariz. Arizona defeated California 62-57. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

By Morris Phillips

The intensity of the Pac-12 best homecourt environment was present as always on Saturday night at the McKale Center, but Coach Cuonzo Martin was more than capable as a counterpoint, stalking the sideline with an intent and proximity that the players–and referees–couldn’t help but notice.

This was a unmistakably, big game and likely the Cal Bears’ surest path to an NCAA tournament invite.  Martin’s team played as if their was something significant to gain, but this time, No. 9 Arizona was just as intent to send the Bears home empty-handed.

“They scored 57 points. Let’s start there,” Arizona coach Sean Miller recounted when asked if his Wildcats got his message regarding defensive intensity. “They had 11 turnovers. They shot 43 percent from the field, 31 percent from 3. Shot only 12 free throws against what I think is one of the best frontcourt players in the country in Ivan Rabb.  We did an excellent job of our post trap. Our effort level, our defensive rebounding–we gave Cal four, second shots so of course I’m very, very happy with our defense.”

What Miller aptly recalled may have been his Wildcats best defensive effort of the season.  But it was entirely needed against a Cal team that was as good at both ends minus a couple of timely made shots.  That Cal operated without foul-hampered Rabb for most of the first half, then without point guard Charlie Moore for the entire second half illustrated how close the Bears were to picking up their most significant win of the season.

In fact, the Bears may regret their slow start (three turnovers, one missed shot, scoreless over the game’s first three minutes) as much as their three consecutive missed shots after drawing within 55-51 with 2:22 remaining.  Rabb and Moore were on the floor for the initial minutes, and Rabb also at the conclusion where he missed a tough, contested shot that would have sliced Arizona’s lead to two.

“It was a chess match and a hard-fought game,” Martin said. “They did enough to win the ball game.”

 

Cal stays hot by taking advantage of suspension-hampered Colorado

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–As half of the final, televised sporting event leading up to the Super Bowl, the Cal Bears drew high ratings with skillful shot making, and dominant play early.

Then with viewers tuning out upon seeing the lopsided, halftime score, the Bears pulled ’em back in by allowing Colorado to make a game of it late.  That part was probably more Nielsen ratings-oriented than coach Cuonzo Martin would have preferred.

“Once (Colorado) settled in, they did something we didn’t want them to do, which was go with the smaller lineup,” Martin said after Cal’s 77-66 win.  “I felt like they would always have an advantage unless we played the zone, especially with George King at the four. If they went small, we had to put one of our bigs on the bench, which isn’t necessarily a strength for us. But when we went to the zone, it worked out for us.”

With freshman Charlie Moore enjoying his best half of basketball since his breakout against UC Irvine in November, the Bears surged on Sunday, hitting nine three-pointers to forge a huge lead. Moore contributed 5 of 7 shooting from three, and the Bears grabbed their biggest lead of the afternoon, 39-16 with 3:28 remaining.

But that deficit served as a wake-up call for the Buffs, who scored 20 of the next 24 points spanning halftime to make a game of it, then getting as close as 62-57 with 3:19 left.  Colorado came in riding a three-game win streak after losing its first seven Pac-12 contests, only to find out prior to the game that head coach Tad Boyle had suspended frontcourt tandem Xavier Johnson an Wesley Gordon for some poor, undisclosed decisions following their win over Stanford on Thursday.

“Two really good kids made a bad decision,” Boyle said without disclosing the specific transgression.  “We’re in the education business. These are lessons that go beyond basketball.”

So while Martin feared King and a smaller Buffs lineup, without Gordon and Johnson, King found himself matched with 6’11” Ivan Rabb, an assignment so consuming it left King with little energy on offense.  Also, Cal’s zone proved effective early, causing seven of the Buffs’ nine turnovers in the first 17 minutes alone.

King finished with just seven points, and guard Dominique Collier five as Colorado failed to cover offensively for their two missing starters despite forging a huge comeback.

“We made shots to get ourselves back into it, but at certain times we had some really good looks that didn’t go in, and to come back from where we were, you really have to play a flawless second half.”

While Cal allowed Colorado’s comeback, they showed growth offensively by sharing the ball with each other, especially early.  The Bears took a page out of the Warriors’ playbook with 11 assists on their first 12 made baskets. When it was over, six Bears scored at least 9 points, and none more than 17, perhaps their most, balanced effort all season.

“We expect all of our guys to play and be very effective,  but it definitely helps us when everyone is able to score with the way teams defend Ivan,” Martin said. “The way teams defend against Ivan, really corralling around him, you have to be ready to step up and make a shot.”

The Bears (17-6, 8-3) remained tied with UCLA for third place in the Pac-12 with the win, their fourth straight. If their NCAA tournament strategy is to win the ones their supposed to, they did that this weekend at home against Utah and Colorado.  If their more sound strategy is to pull a noteable upset, then that opportunity comes next in Tucson on Saturday against first-place Arizona.

Either way the Bears are in the tourney mix, precariously one bad loss from being left out, or one big win from being invited.

Next up, the Bears attempt a season sweep of Arizona State on Thursday evening in Tempe.

Cal climbing in the Pac-12 standings after home win over Stanford

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–So what did first-year Stanford head coach Jerod Haase most desire on the occasion of his return to Berkeley, two decades after he was a freshman starter on one of Cal’s most memorable teams?

Certainly not the opportunity to reminisce.   For Haase, a few more made baskets would have been more like it.

Haase’s Cardinal survived a cold-shooting first half, but when their accuracy numbers grew worse after halftime, Cal ran away from Stanford for a 66-55 win at sold out Haas Pavilion.

“I think we are improving on our process and implementing our gameplan. I really do,” Haase said after his Cardinal shot 39 percent against Cal, below their 42 percent shooting on the season, which ranks last in the Pac-12.

“I really do think we are making progress, I just wished we played a little more efficiently and knocked some more shots down and all that progress will lead to success and success on offense for sure.”

So long ago was Haase’s brief career at Cal, he didn’t play at Haas.  Back then, the building was far cozier and named Harmon Gym.  Haase was spurned by Mike Montgomery at Stanford, but revered by Lou Campanelli’s staff at Cal. The whirlwind recruiting process brought Haase from his home in South Lake Tahoe to Berkeley in the same class as local star/legend Jason Kidd.

Haase’s response to being teamed with Kidd?

“I just want to know: If I beat him out, will I get to start over him?” Haase recalled.

Haase settled for a starting role opposite Kidd, just one of the things that wasn’t as he expected in his season as a Bear. Campanelli was fired half way through that season, felled by the caustic language he used to address his players. Two weeks prior to the coaching change, Haase’s father Gary passed away after a sudden illness.

And after just one season at Cal, Haase transferred to Kansas.  The now 42-year old coach has yet to speak publicly about the circumstances of his departure, and that stance didn’t change on Sunday night.

When asked if this was his first return visit to Cal since his days in a Bears’ uniform, Haase’s questioner, KRON sportsreporter Vern Glenn in his signature, upbeat style, offered the coach a path to say a few, positive words. But Haase didn’t bite, pausing briefly before simply saying “yes” to Glenn, and moving on to the next question.

Both Cal and Stanford are moving on as well, now halfway through the conference season.  The Bears improved to 6-3 in Pac-12 play, moving into a three-way tie with UCLA and Utah for third place behind conference leaders Oregon and 9-0 Arizona.

Ivan Rabb led the Bears with 25 points and 13 rebounds, his sixth, consecutive double-double at home.  Jabari Bird added 17, including back-to-back threes late that allowed Cal to increase its lead to 15.

After shooting just 37 percent in the first half, Cal’s accuracy sharpened dramatically as the Bears missed only six times (11 for 17) the remainder of the game.

“It hit us in the mouth early on, but we just were missing good shots, Bird said. “We kept feeding down low, Ivan got going, I got going.  It wasn’t too difficult, we really just needed to start making shots.”

The Bears (15-6, 6-3) continue their three-game homestand on Thursday when the Utah Utes visit Haas. If any two remaining games possess a swing effect for Cal, it’s the home-and-home with the Utes, who have the same record as Cal, and like the Bears, lack marquee wins, and currently project to miss the NCAA tournament.

Bounce back on the Oregon trail: Cal rebounds against outmanned OSU

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Oregon State’s Drew Eubanks (12) get his shot blocked by California’s Kingsley Okoroh (22) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Corvallis, Ore., Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017. California won 69-58. (AP Photo/Timothy J. Gonzalez)

Oregon State’s Drew Eubanks (12) get his shot blocked by California’s Kingsley Okoroh (22) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Corvallis, Ore., Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017. California won 69-58. (AP Photo/Timothy J. Gonzalez)

By Morris Phillips

The two-tiered nature of the Cal Bears’ season continued at Corvallis on Saturday night.

After getting blown out at Oregon by the hyper-speed Ducks on Thursday,  the Bears found the pace more to their liking against Oregon State in a 69-58 victory. The Bears improved to 9-1 when they hold their opponent to 60 points or fewer.

While the Bears haven’t had any success against their four, highest-rated opponents, they have had success against everyone else, going 14-2 against anyone not named Arizona, Oregon, UCLA or Virginia.  Unfortunately,  the NCAA tournament committee won’t take notice unless there’s a breakthrough, and the Bears have just two scheduled opportunities remaining: February 11 at Arizona, and the February 22 rematch with the Ducks in Berkeley.

If there’s a Bears’ barometer for success than it would have to be sophomore Ivan Rabb, who missed his first eight shots against the Ducks, but was far more settled against the Beavers with a team-best 18 points, eight rebounds.

“Shots weren’t dropping and I wasn’t getting to the free-throw line.  But tonight I made an effort to get to the line, knock down shots, and just be more patient on the block. Overall, my teammates played better, I played better and we were way better as a team,” Rabb said.

The injury-riddled Beavers dropped their seventh in a row, losing to Cal, while the Ducks extended their school-record win streak to 15 in their win over Cal on Thursday.  So the contrast between the two challenges couldn’t be more extreme.  But the pace of the two games was probably more telling, as the Bears aren’t ideally suited for transition basketball, and benefitted from being matched with the more deliberate Beavers.

Cal got little resistance from OSU after the game was tied at 9 with seven minutes elapsed.   Cal scored the next basket and led for the final 33 minutes without enduring as much as one Oregon State run.  OSU shot just 40 percent from the field, and missed 24 of their 40 shots inside the three-point arc.

“I just think we have more bodies with more experience. Not that they didn’t play hard. They have a lot of talent, they have young talent,” coach Cuonzo Martin said.

“We just had to utilize our experience, our older guys and also our bodies, try to run in transition and ultimately get to Ivan Rabb to make plays.”

Charlie Moore added 15 for Cal (14-6, 5-3), and Jabari Bird  finished with 12.

Drew Eubanks led Oregon State with 22 points, and sophomore Stevie Thompson Jr. added 19 points, six rebounds.  The Beavers were without leading scorer Tres Tinkle, who has missed the last 14 games with a broken wrist.

The Bears have a week to prepare for rival Stanford,  who visits Haas Pavilion on Sunday. If the Bears win, they’ll post a respectable 6-3 record at the Pac-12 schedule’s halfway point.  And projecting forward, the Bears could win 21 or 22 games, without pulling an eye-opening upset.

Unfortunately, that might not be enough for the NCAA selection committe, and far more palatable for the NIT.

Locked in: Defensive-minded Cal holds UW to season-low 59 points, picks up critical conference win

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–Markelle Fultz, the fabulous freshman for Washington, is plenty familiar to the Cal Bears’ coaching staff.

Coach Cuonzo Martin recruited the Washington D.C. metro product only to see the 6’4″ guard land in Seattle with conference foe Washington.  Since joining the Huskies, a very curious, but telling pattern has emerged.

The youthful Huskies have struggled, Fultz has played well, not great, and the youngster’s draft prospects have climbed through the roof, with almost all projections seeing him as the first overall pick in the June NBA draft.

That incongruous combination of fortunes–along with the broken finger suffered by UW’s Malik Dime in their previous game against Oregon State–put the Huskies in a precarious spot for their visit to Berkeley,  where they haven’t won since 2013.

Martin’s defensive strategy for Washington, in particular Fultz, took it from there.

“We just felt like we should do everything in our power to hold him 10 points under his average, and that was our focus,” Martin recounted.  “We talked to our guards about this, and I think between Dontae, Charlie, Ivan and Stephen, they did a great job of blanking him.  Our bigs had to corral him and do their job, because one guy just can’t stand in front of him.  He’s too big of a guy.”

Fultz, harassed into missing 12 of his 15 shots from the field, finished with 12 points–10 points below his average of 22–and the Bears held on for a 69-59 victory Wednesday at Haas Pavilion.

Washington (8-8, 1-3) came in averaging 83 points a game and was held to as few as 59 for the first time this season. Throughout, the bigger Bears bothered Fultz and his teammates, who were further hampered by the absence of the 6’10” Dime, their one inside scoring presence.

“We were not patient enough to attack that type of defense tonight,” UW coach Lorenzo Romar conceded.  “They had a lot to do with that.”

The Bears improved to 3-2 in conference play, keeping them within hailing distance of undefeated, conference leaders Arizona and Oregon.  Ivan Rabb led Cal with 20 points, 14 rebounds, and Jabari Bird added 16, including four made threes.

Cal enjoyed a 45-40 edge in rebounds, and supported that with seven blocked shots and four steals.  Those numbers helped the Bears offset their poor shooting, which saw them miss 25 of their 39 shots in the first half.

“At the end of the day, in the moment, as long as we win, I’m happy,” Bird said.  “The next day we will look at film and see where we can do better, but as of right now, the W is the biggest thing for me.”

The Bears led at halftime by six, and maintained that lead until Washington surged to tie the score at 40 with 11:48 remaining.  Down the stretch, Cal’s defense imposed its will as they broke open a close game, forcing the Huskies to miss six of their final seven shots.

On Saturday,  the Bears (12-5, 3-2) host Washington State at Haas Pavilion starting at 1pm.

Cal beats No. 25 USC at the buzzer on Rabb’s blocked shot

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By Morris Phillips

Desperate for a win, the Cal Bears turned to Ivan Rabb with the game on the line Sunday night. 

With five seconds remaining,  Rabb calmly drained a pair of free throws, then as USC’s Jordan McLaughlin drove the length of the floor looking for a game-winner, Rabb came up with the saving block at the buzzer.

“I’m just glad nobody fouled,” Rabb said, noting that two of his teammates had swipes at McLaughlin immediately preceding his block.  “They just funneled him to the basket where I could make something happen.”

“I tried to get a layup and hoped to get a basket or a foul,” McLaughlin said of the final play.  “I saw a wide open lane.  They closed it at the end.”

Big? Indeed. With the narrow win, the Bears avoided a 1-3 start to Pac-12 conference play, and bagged their initial win over a ranked opponent after dropping their first three such contests. Cal last defeated a ranked opponent on the road in November 2014 when they got past Syracuse at Madison Square Garden. 

This game was especially tight in the second half where USC relied heavily on their high percentage shooting, while the Bears had an edge on the glass, and second chance points.  Cal benefitted from the return of 7’0″ Kameron Rooks who hadn’t played in more than a month, and contributed 6 rebounds in 14 minutes on the floor.

Rabb led Cal with 17 points, eight rebounds while Jabari Bird and Don Coleman had 12 points each.  Charlie Moore had his best showing in the past five games with 16 points on 6 of 8 shooting.

McLaughlin and Chimezie Metu had 20 points a piece for the Trojans (15-2, 2-2). USC coach Andy Enfield expressed disappointment with McLaughlin’s critical, missed free throws.

“When you have a guy shooting 80 percent from the foul line and he shoots 3 for 8, you can’t explain it,” Enfield said.

The Bears (11-5, 2-2) return to Haas Pavilion on Thursday to face Washington at 6pm.