It’s been a couple days since our latest excruciating loss, and ordinarily I’d be progressing fairly well (past fetal position cuddling with my blankey and on to random muttering, say), but I still can’t shake the fact that without atrocious officiating (21 fouls in the second half….21 fouls…21…), Cal would have won the game.  I understand getting hosed in an out of conference road game (Kansas State, for example), but when it happens at home, to your arch rival…frustrating.  I think one of the great draws of sports is absolution of responsibility; we fans can root and criticize without any accountability or duty.  If Cal wins, we feel great and connected to something bigger than ourselves; if Cal loses, we probably still feel awful, but at least it wasn’t our fault.  The flip side to the coin is that you’re completely and utterly helpless, and it’s all the worse when it’s the refs, and not the opposing team, deciding the game.  Anyways, there was more to the game than the refs (still - 21 fouls!!!), so lets take a look back.

I walked in as Randle drained a deep three to make it 14-13 Cal - a good sign!  Over the next several minutes Stanford outscored Cal 11-1 - not so good.  Cal and Stanford traded similar possessions (working the shot clock for quality shots, few turnovers and fast breaks), but Stanford’s shots rimmed in while Cal’s rimmed out.  To slow down Stanford, BRAUN MADE A SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIC DECISION (emphasized due to rarity) by switching to a 3-2 zone.  The 3-2 (3 perimeter defenders, 2 inside defenders) takes away the outside shot at the expense of defensive rebounding.  Using the 3-2 for the remainder of the half, Cal closed to within one at 31-30 and left the floor to resounding applause.

The elephant in the room was Brook Lopez.  As Cal successfully forced Stanford into contested outside shots and secured defensive boards, you couldn’t help glance over at Lopez, sitting on the bench with two fouls, and fear what was coming in the second half.

We didn’t have to wait very long.  In what would be a persistent theme, Lopez scored 6 quick points and drew a foul on DeVon to open the second half.  After being held scoreless in less than 5 first half minutes, Lopez finished with 23 points and fouled out Kamp and Hardin in the process.  It was frustrating to watch seemingly every Stanford possession unfold exactly as the previous iteration: Johnson holds the ball on the right wing, who passes to Lopez on the right block, who sinks a four footer or lays it in.  If he misses, a foul is called.  If he misses the second free throw, his poofy-haired brother retrieves the ball (Robin Lopez had 10 offensive rebounds) and the cycle repeats.

Buzz cut for smooth offensive moves, Poofy hair for Eurotrash rebounding intimidation.

Stanford’s offensive strategy certainly wasn’t ingenious or tricky, but Cal (with, yes, a big assist from Mr. Libbey) seemed helpless to stop it.  A little ball pressure on the entry pass would have helped a lot - Braun’s great decision to go to the 3-2 zone with Brook on the bench kept Cal in the game, but the lack of ball pressure he ordered in the second half probably sealed it for Stanford.  The way Cal’s guards were playing off Stanford’s wings, I could have had half a dozen assists feeding Brook in the low post.  It also didn’t help that Cal could not prevent Brook from setting up shop 4 feet from the rim.  Hardin has an upper body that would make triangle man jealous, but it’s readily apparent that his lower body leaves a lot to be desired (see, isn’t being a sports fan fun?  I can leg press about 30 pounds and here I am criticizing Hardin’s physique).  After having Hardin play Brook straight up for the first couple possessions of the half and watching Brook practically waltz to the rim, Braun had to order double teams for the rest of the game.  It helped, but wasn’t enough as Stanford scored 51 points in the half.

On the other end of the floor, Randle did a great job beating whatever body Stanford tried at point guard (he drew four fouls on some scrawny back-up in less than 10 minutes), but as usual, it wasn’t the offense that cost Cal the game.  When you let Mitch Johson, perhaps the worst starter in the conference (I’d take Vierneisel over him in a heartbeat), go for 16 points and 7 assists, you’re doing something wrong.  The most cathartic activity I found in the aftermath of the game was debating unconvincing Stanford fans on the merits of Johnson and Randle (for the bear insider thread, click here.  A summary so you don’t have to: Johnson sucks and has inflated statistics because of the 7′0 moster with a shaved head).

Mitch Johson: terrible player, uglier than Sam Cassell.

Cal plays at the Washington schools this week.  You could take the positive approach, and conclude that the odds will catch up to Cal and they’ll be forced, seemingly against their will, to win a damn game.  Or you could take the negative approach, and conclude that if you can’t win at home in the Pac, how are you going to win on the road?  In Braun we trust…