Dec 18 2008
Long layoff could give Bears rust
Christopher could be better
after long layoff
By the time that the Bears’ men’s basketball team takes the court again, they will have been without game-action for 10 consecutive days. That could be a cause for concern to head coach Mike Montgomery going into action against the Nevada Wolf Pack this Saturday at Haas Pavilion.
Some are of the belief that an early season break is a good time to reinforce all of the fundamentals that have been preached since the beginning of camp, while others believe that it is a good way to destroy the momentum that a team has built up from the start of the season.
Whatever affect that it has on the Bears, we’ll find out soon enough in the coming days. After facing Nevada, the Bears will then host the Colgate Raiders and while the Raiders are not on the level of a Florida State or Missouri, struggling against them could indicate a sign of things to come.
Those things, the Bears are trying to avoid. Last year, the Bears motored through their non-conference schedule, finishing 9-2 overall, only to end up finishing the season at 15-14 with a 6-12 record in the Pac-10. Montgomery and company have much bigger plans this season, and it doesn’t include an NIT invitation to finish the season.
In order for the Bears to make it to the NCAA Tournament, otherwise known as March Madness, they’ll have to finish at least .500 within the Pac-10 and get a few ‘quality’ wins along the way. A ‘quality’ win is winning against an opponent like Stanford or UCLA. In other words, beating top-40 teams and on their home court would even be better.
The Bears (7-2) should finish their non-conference schedule with at least 10 wins if they play as they’ve started the season. By doing that, they’ll need to finish in the Pac-10 with a 10-8 record to win 20 games on the year. While we won’t find out how good this Bears team is until they are facing the likes of UCLA, Stanford, or Washington, for now we can at least dream they are that good…unless they have a bad weekend.
Rob Calonge writes about the Cal Bears at the Cal Bears Examiner.
UPCOMING GAMES
Nevada Wolf Pack (6-4) at California Golden Bears (7-2)
Saturday, Dec. 20, 3 p.m. / Haas Pavilion, Berkeley, Calif.
Radio: KYOU (1550 AM)
TV: Nevada Sports Network
Colgate Raiders (3-6) at California Golden Bears
Monday, Dec. 22, 8 p.m. / Haas Pavilion, Berkeley, Calif.
Radio: KYOU (1550 AM)
TV: none
