Sports Radio Service


		Morris Phillips on the NCAA By Morris Phillips January 29, 2011

	Sportsradio: Morris, just wanted to start with your regular beat, the Cal Bears 11-9 (4-4), a team that has won three straight, including a win at USC 12-9 (4-4), the Bears have won the later two games at home against Oregon State 8-11 (3-5) and Oregon 10-10 (3-5) talk about some of those games, the win against SC was a two-pointer and the win over Oregon State was a wipe out. Would you agree that the SC game inspired the Bears to go on and do some good things? Winning for the first time in five opportunities in the Trojans’ new building, the Galen Center, was huge. The Bears beat a team expected to finish ahead of them in the standings in their building with a superior defensive effort. Winning on the road in the Pac-10 is an energizing experience for any team, and in this case, it proved to be just that for Cal. Sportsradio: The Cardinal 11-9 (4-5) beat Oregon State on Saturday, but they’ve dropped five of their last seven including a frustrating 67-59 loss to Oregon. The Ducks held Stanford to 41 percent shooting and you can't win a ball game if you’re not getting consistent scoring? In that one, the Cardinal had 18 turnovers, including at least one charged to all nine guys that saw action. Also, Stanford got outrebounded and their starters missed 21 of 35 shots attempted. Simply, they have to play better if they expect to win games in a tough league like the Pac-10. Sportsradio: Morris, by comparison, it would appear that Stanford’s offensive struggles are killing their season while Cal appears to be ascending, by playing better basketball in their last four games. Can you talk about the improvements of Cal and the needed improvements for Stanford? The Bears are really making strides on the offensive end. The ball movement has been crisp, and they’ve developed a real knack for scoring in the paint. The emergence of freshman Allen Crabbe has given the Bears a nice balance, inside and out. Stanford needs to develop confidence, but poor shooting has made them tentative. Both teams are young, but the Bears seem to be growing quicker. Still, we're talking about college basketball, and results and assessments can change in a heartbeat.