Jan 18 2009
Is Randle’s slump hurting the Bears?
Jerome Randle began the season on fire. He single-handedly kept Cal in games and oftentimes played a big part in their victorious start to the season. His shooting touch elevated his status as one of the best three-point shooters in Div I college basketball and his ability to run the floor put the Bears on the national map last week.
His shooting decline started with the Washington State game. He was still able to aid in other ways, but shooting 3-9 from the floor and 0-5 from beyond the arc was a detriment to the cause. Against the Washington Huskies, he scored 23 points on 7-16 shooting from the field and 1-6 from three-point range. Again, he shot below 50%. Last night, against rival Stanford, the junior point guard scored 13 points on 6-14 shooting and 1-5 from beyond the arc.
Prior to these three games, Randle was shooting well above 50% on three-point tries and consistently shoot at 50% or more from the field. Take for example, the win over Arizona State. Against the Sun Devils, Randle scored 26 points on 7-10 shooting and 4-7 from the three.
Granted, the three performances in question were on the road. Also, Randle has still played well enough to lead the Bears to two of three wins in a tough Pac-10. His play will probably be much better next weekend while playing poor Oregon teams at home, but going forward he’s going to have to get his game together on the road.
Randle will play a pivotal role on the Bears’ success this season, but he’s also going to need a little more help from the rest of the roster when he’s not at his normal best. If his performance of late is hurting the Bears, it’s only because their reliance on their smallest player is very large.
