Cal thoughts

Stanford 67, Colorado 43

Nice dominant road win for the Red. Again, I haven't got a lot to say here, so more thoughts on Cal.

I did get a chance to watch last night's game against Missouri, and while it wasn't a classic finish, I have to say it was an exceptionally well-played game. It started out at a breakneck pace, and it looked like Cal might get run out of the building the way Stanford was in last year's NCAA tournament. But somehow they got things under control. Mizzou basically lost their shooting touch midway through the second half and never got it back, allowing Cal to roar from 13 points back to finish 12 points ahead and win going away.

In no particular order:

I wasn't real impressed with any of the individual Missouri players except for their guard Matt Lawrence, who swished something like 5 consecutive 3-pointers in the first half and clearly is a man who can't be left unguarded on the perimeter. They seem like a team that will give opponents fits and probably steal some wins over better teams, however. Lots of pressing, trapping and lunging for balls. It's a wild ride. Ultimately I think they'll lack the talent in a pretty potent Big 12 to make the NCAA tournament.

Patrick Christopher is an incredible finisher around the rim for a guard. He throws up some crazy layup attempt, and somehow it banks in off the glass and the front of the rim. He looks like the dynamic scoring guard that Cal's recent teams have mostly lacked (with apologies to Ayinde Ubaka, who was a little too unselfish to really fill this role).

Ryan Anderson-- quietest double-double I've seen in a while? I don't know. This was not a particularly good game for him, but the man gets his numbers come hell or high water. 15 points, 11 rebounds.

DeVon Hardin is an NBA player. He's looking like a finished product on the offensive end, and he's a rebounding machine. Probably the best rebounder in the conference. Might be the highest-picked college senior in the NBA draft, which is always something of an accomplishment. (Although Roy Hibbert might beat him out strictly on account of height.) He was rockin' the high socks last night, which was kind of cool. Looked like a young Elgin Baylor.

Jerome Randle still has work to do on his passing. Way too many semi-forced errors (yeah, the defense made a steal, but they wouldn't have been able to steal it if you hadn't thrown it there... that kind of thing). He's the same age and the same player type (quick little firebrand) as Tajuan Porter, but he doesn't have Porter's poise. (Or ability to throw up a fallaway 3-pointer from 30 feet with 3 seconds on the shot clock and bank it in off the ceiling of the arena. At least, that's what it seems like Porter is doing.)

Nikola Knezevic was a nice stabilizing influence. Against halfcourt defenses, I could see going with a more prominent scorer and having Randle run the point, but right now it looks like the clear best Cal lineup is:

PG: Knezevic
SG: Randle
SF: Christopher
PF: Anderson
C: Hardin

This may change once Jamal Boykin and Theo Robertson become eligible and/or healthy. For tonight's game, however, it's clear that Cal got the best results from this look. Eric Viernesal is simply in a catastrophic offensive funk, to the point that he's not even looking to shoot the ball anymore.

Up next for Stanford: exhibition against College of Idaho. Trent Johnson, if Peter Prowitt and Josh Owens aren't in the starting lineup, we have some things to discuss. I'm not sure if redshirt players are allowed to play in exhibitions, but if they are, Will Paul and Da'veed Dildy had better be in there as well.

In the meantime, we'll have an additional televised Cal game to chew over, as they play at Kansas State next Sunday. They'll be a substantial dog, but could really start laying the framework for a tourney bid with a win in Manhattan.