Cal v. UDub Basketball
Most folk’ll predicted we’d lose this game. And then again, some folk’ll like Ryan Appleby, the slack jawed yokel (by).
"Perhaps he’ll lose a toe."
What a fun time out Saturday afternoon. I just got back from the Clippers-Warriors game and I can personally tell you how much more fun college basketball is than pro. At the pro game, there is so much silence. It makes it hard to really get into the game. But the atmosphere is so much different at the college game. A specific rooting section, even weakened at the winter break UDub game, created a lot of noise and focus towards the game. No pre-recorded "DE-FENSE" chants in the collegiate game. No rap songs blared in the middle of the game. Just the game and the fans who loved to see it.
Plus, thanks to the California Marching Band’s need for alums during the winter break, Ragnarok and I were certainly quite a bit closer than most fans are at pro games. Right courtside, the game is amazing. But forget the game, more important than that is the first thing to write about.
JEFF TEDFORD WAS THERE! RAGNAROK AND I WERE ABOUT 20 FEET AWAY FROM YOUR LORD AND SAVIOUR, JEFF TEDFORD. IT WAS THE GREATEST HOUR OF MY LIFE SINCE THE LAST TIME I WAS NEAR TEDFORD, BACK IN 2003.
I took about 35 photos of him.
That’s his wife to his right. She is truly living the dream. I have no idea if any of those kids to the right of his wife are their own. I also took photos of Tedford in B/W, because I wanted to see what would look like in a film noir drama. Or, at the very least, neo-noir.
Hmmm, I have a bad feeling he’s gonna solve the crime of the murdered Ohio State Football team! I also took some sepia-toned photos, because I wanted to see what Tedford looked like as part of the King Marshawn Dixieland Seven.
Even though we’ve never had a hint of a thought that Tedford can play the clarinet or soprano sax, I’m going to assume he is as masterful as those popular early 20th century instruments as he is with the Xs and Os. He only stayed until half when they gave him (and "The Hardest Working Assistants In The NCAAs" who were scattered throughout the stands) a standing O. Several students behind Tedford started to bow down to him Wayne and Garth style. Clearly, few, if any, are worthy.
At half, I followed/stalked Tedford to some sort of football party in a VIP room. I thought about trying to talk my way in, but there wouldn’t have been much to do save for eat the free food and stand a few feet behind Tedford and stare at him. Then, I would have been the slack jawed Appleby. So, I decided not to do that. I’m sure our paths will pass again. I just hope a restraining order never becomes involved.
But let’s get to the game. We present to you, your 2006-2007 California Golden Bears:
Before we get to the nitty gritty, first, let’s all wish good health to Patrick Christopher. He suffered a terrible spill during the game. While going up for a rebound, he got caught up with other players and lost his balance. He landed flat on his back, smacking the back of his head in the process. He stayed down for a few minutes there. It was a bad scene. Shantay Legans-esque. Which, by the way, Matt Barnes, noted Legans-killer, now plays for the Dubs and is not doing that bad. Tough to root for him, though. Christopher was able to walk off under his own power. Hopefully, he will be fine and the thoughts of the writers at The California Golden Blogs are with him.
This was not Ubaka’s greatest offensive game. He only scored 13 points, most of those in the Overtime. The offensive engines here were Theo Robertson and Ryan Anderson. Roberston was killer from beyond the arc, going 3-6. Anderson was terrible from behind the arc (going 0-6), but went 8-10 on Free Throws, so that made up for it. Plus, he is our best rebounder with Hardin out. He had 14 on the day, 6 more than the 2nd best (Robertson). Anderson is truly UNSTOPPABLE (or at least makes the facial expression as if he is).
But even without a strong offensive presence, Ubaka was able to affect the matchup. Ragnarok turned to me late in the 1st half and noted how poorly the Huskies were shooting FTs. They had shot under 50% on the day to that point (though with a stronger 2nd half, they would end at about 55%). This made him happy, because if it did come down to free throws, it would bode well for our beloved Golden Bears. And so much of this game was about free throws.
"One!"
Cal was doing far better than UDub on FTs, especially in the first half (when they hit 75%). They hit shot
after shot
As anybody who watched the game on Comcast Sportsnet (and, embarassingly enough, had the privilege of seeing me twice on the TV) or read a recap knows, it came down to 2 free throws at the end of the game. With big V’s shocking 3 pointer with about 8 seconds left (more on that later), Cal had a 1 point lead. It looked like we were going to win when UDub failed to score a basket with its first shot. However, in the ensuing scrum, Anderson somehow managed to foul Husky player #5, who is apparently named Justin Dentmon. Some very tense minutes there (and I mean minutes, because Cal must have taken every time out they had left) as Dentmon stared down 2 free throw shots. He makes two, they win it all. Makes none, we win it all. Makes one, we go to an uncertain OT.
Students streamed over to our section to pack the area behind the basket. Waving around our arms and various instruments around as much as possible, we hoped to affect the FT attempts. But we weren’t alone in that. I watched as Ubaka stood right behind Dentmon and kept chirping into his ear. Over and over and over and over. I really wish I knew what he said. Perhaps he was asking if Dentmon had naked photos of his wife and, if not, whether he wanted to see some. Ah, early 90s Tom Selleck movie references. How hilarious! I think I’ll stick to the Simpsons.
We all know how it turned out. Dentmon missed the first (yay!), made the second (boo!) and we dominated overtime for the exciting win. Dan Buollimi or however you spell his last name mentioned that we deserved an assist for the missed Dentmon FT as he walked by at the end of the game. And if its good enough for Comcast Sportsnet’s announcers, it should be good enough for the official scorer of the NCAA. I want my assist! Or at least give another to Ubaka, who actually might have helped spook out Dentmon.
Other thoughts about the game:
Pribble looks like a smaller, uglier version of Boller. Ok, he basically has a rectangular face. IT’S PRIBBLE TIME!
Vierneisel was an inevitable disaster for most of the game. In 19 minutes, he scored 6 points with 3 boards. He took 4 (4!) 3 pointers, airballing at least 2 of them. He continued to be the goat of the game, as per usual. And then something crazy happened. He made one. I swear when he let that ball go with 8 seconds left, I screamed "nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo" all slow motion like. I really wish they had it in slow motion, too. I swear that the defender tipped the ball as it left his hand, because the trajectory seemed to change during flight. Or perhaps it was the invisible hand of Tedford (Peace Be Upon Him). All I know is that stunningly, amazingly, incomprehensibly, unbelievably, incomprelievably the ball went in. And not just in, but swish. Do you believe in miracles??????? Still, I don’t trust the guy.
I think UDub must lead the league in oddly hilarious last names. Brockman. Brumeister. Gasser. Pondexter. And, then, of course, Appleby. How could I forget him? His Eckstein-esque apperance, matched by his Eckstein-esque hustle, led to much mocking. At least I felt more comfortable yelling things at him than say, Spencer Hawes, who could probably kill me with his bare hands Brian Weathers-style.
I like Jerome Randle. They did a run down of him during the game and he kept saying how much he loved Martin Lawrence. What was his favorite movie? Blue Streak. What was his favorite TV show? Martin. They even had a photo of Randle’s body with Martin’s head. Hilarious stuff. If only I could remember funny things from the show to yell out during games. Yknow, if there had been funny things from that show.
Some action shots:
Wilkes gets this Alley Oop.
But misses this dunk. 
!
Anderson is in the middle of it all and is really our only dependable threat inside now.
Longer shutter speed creates images as ghastly as UDub’s FT shooting.
All in all another great game for the California Golden Bears. Any game that ends like this is great:
And any game that ends like THIS can never truly be THAT bad:
That was a glorious view to emerge from Haas to. I’m still not sure our team is Tournament Bound. But getting an opportunity to beat a #1 seed from the year before is always exciting. They might be just 1-5 or whatever, but many of those losses were EXTREMELY close.
The football game this year against UDub was extraordinarily exciting. There was not as much at stake in the basketball game, but it was still very exciting. Hopefully, our team can build off of victories like this to make way towards the Tournament. It’s heartening to see that this team can win without Ubaka having an amazing game. I predict that’ll require a)Anderson dominating the inside more with Hardin out, b)Robertson developing as a shooter more, and c)Vierniesel touching the ball as little as humanly possible. GO BEARS!
