Observations from the Cal Game

Firstly,  Cal is for real, or at least they were on Friel Court tonight.  Jerome Randle looked like the POTY for the Pac. I watched him drain 3's from 30+ feet with a hand in his face FOUR TIMES. That is not an exaggeration, he was lights out and it didn't matter if he was open or if he was taking deep NBA shots. He was indefensible, and he was covered the whole night. The opening ten minutes was a clinic by Cal. They put up 28 in that time and rarely had an empty possession. It was ridiculous.

For the Cougs, something has to be done about Klay and Casto. Klay is in a slump and is trying to break it by forcing shots. It's not working. Bone had him on the bench for a long stretch in the second half, which was well deserved. His shooting was so poor it was almost like watching Nik circa 08-09. Every time he touched the ball I found myself praying he would pass.

Casto needs to finish stronger. His go to move is a spin to the outside and a jump hook. That also is not working. He needs to be able to go up strong with two hands and FINISH. Even if he can't connect there is a lot more foul potential when you go up strong. I understand that he is undersized but he needs to get inside or develop some type of jump shot.

There were a lot of bright spots in this game however. Xavier Thames comes to mind. 5-7 shooting off the bench is very good. Nik played well and was our only threat from behind the arc. 

And then, of course, is FOTY Reggie Moore. He does, and did, everything for the Cougs. 25 points, 5 assists, 2 steals and only one TO. He is becoming our most consistent offensive player and is the reason the Cougs hung with Cal tonight. 

Officiating towards the end of the game was pretty shady, getting all of Beasley Chanting "F*** THE REFS, F*** THE REFS!!" Nothing like the Oregon game, but down the stretch they definitely gave Cal the advantage. A terrible Goal tending call on a Casto block, two bad charge calls and not calling intentional fouls at the end of the game when the Cougs were trying to extend the game may not have won the game for Cal, but certainly gave the Cougs a tougher road to victory.

The Cougs were resilient tonight. They never gave up and kept coming back for more even when down 20 points. I have to say, I liked what I saw tonight even though we lost.

And now we will play (and hopefully dismantle) Stanford on Sunday. If that happens, I say it was a very good homestand.