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		Michael Duca on Cal Men's basketball By Michael Duca March 20, 2009

	Sportstalk: I guess the odds were going for the Maryland Terps going in since they have won nine first round tournament games going into the first round and rather handily handled the Cal Bears 84-71 on Thursday in Kansas City. For the players it's tough knowing that this was the last game and they are one and done after a hard fought season. Of course, I can't really speak for the players, but I'm sure they hoped to get through to the second round. Maryland was a suspect team, and I'm sure the Bears wanted to show better than they did. Having said that, they were, I'm sure, honest about their chances of getting past Memphis and into the next weekend. Cal started four juniors this year, and if they all come back, this game will be the stepping stone, the seasoning, that was their first experience in the March dance. Sportstalk: The Bears finished up the season with the best three point record in the NCAA at 43% this didn't help any since the Terps applied a pressure defense and held the Bears from any kind of come back including the three point shot. As you mentioned in the question above, Maryland has a lot of experience in the tournament, and Cal does not. I'm certain that the experience will serve them well next year. It can be very tough to power a comeback in a tournament game when none of the players on your team have ever been there before. Sportstalk: Now that's it's all over just to reflect on the season that the Bears had can you tell us did coach Mike Montgomery have a good first year and did he exceed further than anyone thought with this team? Absolutely. This team was picked to finish eighth in the Pac-10. They didn't do that -- they beat the conference champions twice, including on their own floor in an incredible triple-overtime game. They got this far when nobody, except the players themselves, thought they would, and essentially with both a brand new coach and a brand new system, plus a coach who inherited a squad and was only able to bring in one recruit of his own. They learned the system well, played entertaining basketball, and showed a lot of heart all season. This is a year to build on, and I believe the Bears will be in the Pac-10's upper echelon for some time to come.