Can a player head to the NBA in mid-season?  I think we are about to find out.  Ryan Anderson is clearly a great talent.  He is nearly averaging a double double.  He leads the team in both points and boards.  He is currently in the Top 20 of the nation in points average and the Top 20 of the nation in rebounds average.  ESPN.com is having trouble with the 2005-2006 season stats, but if my math is accurate, Anderson is higher in the nation than Powe was that season for boards (although Powe averaged 10.0 boards a game to Anderson’s 9.9).   Regarding points, Anderson is again higher in the national rankings for points than Powe and is averaging .7 more points a game than Powe did.

Of course, it is stil pretty early in the season and things could change (like Anderson joining the Timberwolves).  Then again, the #1 thing that could change would be the season (which started with such hope) disappearing into the abyss.   We have an opportunity to have a solid to great season here.  We don’t have a player like Ubaka 05-06 to complement Anderson.  But Devon was supposed to be the guy.  Now, my understanding is that his game is in shambles and he disappears for key stretches.

Here is the Chron recap and here is the ESPN recap.   I, of course, failed to watch the game due to sheer idiocy.  I checked ESPN this morning to see the time.  Read 8:00 PM and, even though I wasn’t doing all that much at 5 PM, I didn’t realize the game was going.  Looking at the play by play, this seems to be a key stretch:

Keep in mind that by this point Cal had already pretty much blown a 7 point lead.  But from the 4:30 mark when Anderson scored a basket, they scored 4 more points until :17 second were left.  By then, it seemed to be too late to do anything.  And if you go back a little further, it looks bleaker:

They basically scored 8 points in 7 minutes at the end there. This might really be a microcosm of Braun’s coaching term at Cal.  When they can play great defense, they can win.  In that 7 minute span (from 7:07-:17), Arizona went from 55-75.  Cal went from 62-70.  When Cal’s D suffers (and I didn’t see the game, so I’m not sure exactly how the D breakdowns transpired), they can’t create sufficient offense to keep up.  How many times have we seen Braun draw up a play and it is "AJ Diggs holds the ball for 95% of the shot clock and then bricks a NBA 3"? 

Sure, AJ Diggs is off assissting mall santas during the busy holiday season and killing men with his bare hands.   But we have a new undersized point guard to take his place.  Can we get Earl Boykins to play point? 

I feel like this team has a lot of talent on it, led by one of the most talented young players we’ve seen since Powe.  I feel like going forward this team is going to be a very talented team.  And I fear that this talent is not going to be used to its full potential by the admittedly very nice Braun.  As a man, I have nothing but nice things to say regarding Braun.  He used to come speak to the band in various settings and seemed extraordinarily nice.  But I don’t judge my b-ball coaches the same way I judge my presidential candidates.  It’s not about who can bomb Iran the quickest! 

It’s about winning games.  Sure, Braun seems able to recruit well (though after seeing him run, we should probably check Max Zhang for dangerous levels of lead).  But that’s not going to win games.  And I feel the talent level on this team should have at least won one of Oregon, ASU, Zona.  Upcoming, we have Stanford (who just knocked off ASU), Wazzu (who are one of the best teams in the country), and UDub (who have Lorenzo’s Oil!). 

Blech, it’s late.  Time for bed.  This basketball season seemed like it might offer a respite from the frustrating football season.  But it might prove equally if frustrating.  Ai!  GO BEARS! 

I’ll be honest, I couldn’t care less about Cal basketball. Are we playing Arizona tonight or something? Probably. Anyway, while flipping through some channels tonight, I came across the East-West Shrine Game. A few thoughts:

• What the? Dick Vermeil is coaching the East? The only guy who could have surprised me more is Buddy Ryan. Seriously, what the hell? And hey, Mike White. He was pretty good at Cal.

• Mike Gibson seems to be doing all right; at least, I haven’t heard his name called. Which is usually a good sign, since the only time TV announcers seem to say anything about offensive linemen anymore is when they screw up. So he’s got that going for him. Anonymity.
• Josh Johnson is ALSO a cousin of Marshawn’s. Probably should have seen that coming when they listed his hometown as Oakland. Is there a single big time NFL prospect/player from Oakland who isn’t a cousin of Marshawn’s? I’m just saying.
• 7:27 left in the second, a pass goes in Craig Stevens’ direction. Shockingly, it’s a drop. To paraphrase Todd McShay, Stevens is a great blocker, with inconsistent hands. I’m surprised he didn’t follow that up by saying that Cal finished on a bit of a down note.