California's Theo Robertson Consistently Disappointing

I won't start this piece off with a complaint. Instead, I'll simply state that Theo Robertson is a solid defensive player for the California Golden Bears.

But lately, he just hasn't been playing smart on either side of the ball. Most of the issues have been on the offensive end; but in particular, one defensive play stick out. It hurt the Bears a lot and quite possibly cost them a second-place finish in the Pac-10.

The play is pretty well-known; it was the one that Bob Knight was incredulous about, as he'd never seen a call like that before and he probably never will again.

The play was just before the first half was over in Berkeley when the UCLA Bruins were visiting. Roberton was trying to keep a UCLA player from scoring an easy layup, so he attempted to grab him to prevent the layup.

Robertson's attempt to stop the layup didn't really do much; he did grab him, I'm not disputing that, but it wasn't flagrant and it wasn't the type of foul where he was trying to hurt anyone.

The UCLA player was able to make the layup because, unfortunately for the Golden Bears, Theo was a little too late in his effort. The officials determined it was an intentional foul, which meant that the layup counted. UCLA got two free throws and the ball.

The Bruins player made the two free throws. After the ball was passed in, the Bruins hit a three-pointer, and that meant on that one possession, UCLA was able to score seven points.

So, let's think about this: Because Robertson didn't let the UCLA player go and score two points, the Bruins got seven points instead.

Now, I'm of the belief that it was just a foul and it should have been a three-point play. And Cal eventually lost the game by four points.

Let's just say that the UCLA player made the free throw for the three-point play; that means four points gone from UCLA's final, meaning the game would have been tied at the end of regulation.

Of course, if the player had missed the free throw, Cal would have won by one, and if Robertson had just let him go for the layup, Cal would have won by two.

OK, Robertson is not the only one who deserves blame. Jamal Boykin also deserves some, as he missed an easy layup and later blew a chance to bring the lead down when he was fouled in a one-and-one situation but missed the first free throw. So, just like Robertson, he cost the Bears points as well.

Onto the offensive issues that have plagued Theo lately. They haven't hurt Cal to the point where they've lost games, but they have contributed to turnovers.

Robertson is one of the best three-point shooters in the country, and his job on the offensive end is to nail it from long range. But lately, Robertson has been trying to do a little too much on the offensive side and this is something he needs to work on so he can improve in his senior season.

Robertson is coming back from an injury, so I can't harp on him too much, but he has been trying to do too much with his dribble and  ends up getting the ball stolen away from him because he's not used to putting the ball on the floor. He did have a really nice drive against Arizona on Thursday, when he pump-faked and got himself an easy left-handed layup.

I wish that's what he did every time he put the ball on the floor: take advantage of it. I've noticed that recently he's been a little hesitant to take a three, so he'll pump-fake, try to drive, and get the ball stolen away. Instead he needs to take that shot or drive confidently.

For example, in today's game against Arizona State, Robertson had a chance to shoot a three with time winding down in the first half. But instead of taking the three, he didn't, and time expired before he could put up a jumper after deciding to put the ball on the floor. I realize Cal was struggling from long range at the time, but his choice was costly.

If Robertson had made the three, it would have gotten the Bears within 13 at halftime and could have taken a little bit of the momentum from the Arizona State team.