(Torrent is here; highlights of the final minutes of regulation and overtime are here, here, here, and here; video tribute by danzig is here)
Only watched the game on my Blackberry last Saturday, so didn’t get time to see it until an hour or so ago. Here are the notes I typed up while watching.
* One thing to note is how the Huskies gave Cal a taste of their own medicine. Instead of trudging up at a halfcourt pace like many of the other Pac-10 teams Cal has faced, they brought the game to the Bears and played at the fast pace that Cal’s smaller defense isn’t quite set to face.
The paint was open on multiple occasions as Thomas weaved his way in for numerous drives and layups in the first half. Once Washington slowed things down, Cal was able to make their comeback.
* There are bigger intricacies that are involved in the game, but basketball is mainly about playing at your tempo. Both teams had good point guard play, but Cal adjusted to theirs late by not only switching Gutierrez onto Thomas, who struggled to do anything in the overtimes, but also letting Gutierrez ball handle.
* Husky defense was very good, as they switched multiple players on Randle. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Stanford put multiple players on the point guard and force other players to beat them. Cal looked flustered for much of the game.
* I’m still not quite sure how they lost this game considering how quiet our point guard play was and how strong Washington’s point guard play was. The ball was moving much more fluidly for Washington. Sharp cuts, backdoor passes, breaking the zone, etc.
* Cal only utilized a little bit of their zone offense; there wasn’t a lot of ball movement, probably attributed to fatigue from the last leg of a road trip. Washington actually moved the ball much better for the majority of the game. I wouldn’t be surprised if they came to Haas and played another nail-biter with this experience under their belt.
* I was impressed by how well Cal rebounded as a team. Teamwise the Bears boxed out pretty well, and with only minimal help from Boykin or Wilkes. Christopher was a monster at following his own shots.
* Surprised Washington did not try once to go at Christopher defensively down the stretch when he had four fouls during the overtimes. You foul him once and it’s probably over for the Bears.
* It takes a lot to blow a nine-point lead with three-and-a-half minutes left in a college game at home, but Washington just tried to work the clock too much and couldn’t execute. Romar probably overcoached them by calling a half-dozen timeouts down the stretch, which really took the Huskies out of their rhythm when they had seemingly insurmountable leads and gave them a little too much time to think about it.
Only two points in the final four-and-a-half minutes of regulation at home? Cal’s defense was solid, but they weren’t exactly shutting down Washington’s driving lanes. Huskies just didn’t play well when they needed to close.
* Montgomery looked like the calmer coach down the stretch. Bears mentioning.
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