Sports Radio Service


		Michael Duca on Cal basketball By Michael Duca February 14, 2010

	Sportsradio: Miguel, down 11 points against the Washington State Cougers 15-10 (5-8) at Berkeley on Saturday the Cal Bears 17-8 (9-4) came back and won it 86-70. How concerned does coach Mike Montgomery have to be when your at home, your in first and you have to come back to a team like the Cougars? I guarantee you Monty would have been much more concerned if they didn't come back. WSU is a young team that will contend for the Pac-10 title next year, unless Klay Thompson declares for the NBA draft this year. Cal played the "matador" defense in the first half, but Monty kind of expected a letdown after the emotional "revenge" game against the Huskies Thursday. What's important is that the Bears played lock-down defense in the second half, holding WSU to 25 points and scoring 52 on their own. Thompson didn't score in the final almost 13 minutes of the game, only had 3 shots in that time, and probably only six-to-eight touches. Cal produced defensive stops on 10 of the final 12 possessions of the Cougars, who shot 1-for-13 in the final 8 minutes of play. What Cal now knows is, they CAN play that kind of defense, and they've set their own bar higher as a result. Sportsradio: The Bears are closer to getting their first Pac Ten title in 50 years, it's been a long time coming, who do you credit most if they accomplish it, head coach Mike Montgomery who put together a roster of players who came back and finished a lot of the games this season, Jerome Randall whose been key on offense leading the Bears in scoring, Patrick Christopher has been also a big help with his scoring and passing and Theo Robertson who has led the team in those mostly needed three pointers. Whose your guy for the team if you had to pick someone right now? I was wavering until this weekend, but for my money (and for the vote I won't get to cast), Jerome Randle is the Player of the Year in the Pac-10. He will finish the season as the all-time leading scorer in Cal history -- he's just 96 points away, with a minimum of six, and more likely as many as 10, games remaining. It's a team game, and he certainly couldn't do it alone, but he simply makes his teammates better. Yesterday, trailing by 11 at the start of the second half, he gathered the entire team onto the court and told them "this is our championship on the line here. We can't play the second half like we did the first, or we will lose this game." You can't teach that kind of leadership, that kind of determination. He's not Monty's "type" of player, and we probably won't see one like him again at Cal for a long time, but there's no denying that he is the emotional heart and soul of this team. Sportsradio: Miguel this will be your last question on the Cal Bears as your leaving this assignment until football this fall, most of the key guys like Robertson, Christopher, and Randall will not be coming back. With the graduations in mind and some of the players leaving for the NBA do you have the confidence that Monty can get a team recruited in the off season and ready for the next school year and do you see him getting this program competitive again? The Pac-10, much like all conferences now, is a complete crapshoot from year to year. His recruiting class for next year was highly rated. His first-ever recruit to Cal, Jorge Gutierrez, will be the team's leader the next two seasons, and ther's not a doubt in my mind that Cal will remain competitive -- it may not be able to win a championship next year, but they will be a very good basketball team.