Cal’s problem this season is playing 40 minutes, but they’re almost there. The Golden Bears were the equal of the Powder Blue Bears last week for three quarters, then vanished. (For one, senior guard Kemery Martin made her first eight shots — a few in a spectacular fashion I didn’t know she had in her — but 0-for-3 in the 4th quarter.)
Two nights ago, Cal vs. #24 Colorado was a 2-point game with 5 minutes left. A week ago, they were 10 minutes away from getting it all together. Two nights ago, it was 5.
For athletes in team sports, there’s nothing like joining a new team, then playing against the previous team.
Cal senior Sirena Tuitele — call her Peanut if you must — was an exceptional glue component for Colorado last year, receiving a team award for intangibles (while contributing on the court to that NCAA tournament team).
Tuitele shot 0-for-4 and committed three fouls in 13 minutes. The Pac-12 Network talk was that neither the Buffaloes nor Tuitele relished the thought of playing against each other Friday, but I have a feeling that Utah transfer Martin could have a monster game today. Cal has three scoring guards — Curry, McIntosh, Martin — capable of lighting it up, but I expect Martin will most want the ball.
Then she might press too hard and shoot an ohfer like Tuitele, or the first one might hit net, and look out. (That’s the thing about shooters. If they hit the first one, they’re emboldened for the second. A shooter-turned-NBA analyst said that making the first one assures you that you’re still shooting a splendid .500 after missing the next one, but the feeling of assurance means you won’t miss it, and so on.)
In 2011, Pacific coach Roberts was part of this associated story:
The San Francisco Academy of Art — I expect SFAA teams to suck like CalTech teams always do, but sometimes the art kids surprise — visited Pacific, and they arrived with Pacific transfer Jordan Rogers.
Before tipoff of Pacific vs. Art Academy, it was announced that Pacific was assessed ‘an administrative technical foul’ — for what, they never tell you — and a free throw. Rogers went to the line to shoot it.
I thought: “Roberts orchestrated this.”
I believed Coach intentionally committed the ‘administrative technical foul’, banking on the SFAA coach in turn to rely on the ‘playing against your old team’ principle, and send Jordan to shoot it.
I don’t think the SFAA coach gave it enough thought. The Pacific crowd — who loved Rogers a few months before — completely turned on her. The free throw bounced off the side of the rim.
I was wrong about Jordan Rogers, I admit. I thought she’d stand out among a trio of Pacific freshmen, but it was she who transferred out — on very bad terms — while Erica McKenzie and Kendall Rodriguez captained Pacific’s championship team in 2013.
Rodriguez flattened Rogers later. It was a clean play, though Kendall might have been appreciative of that opportunity to send Jordan to the floor. The crowd loved it, which was in poor taste, I thought.
The key difference between this bit of Pacific history and today’s game at Haas Pavilion is that Jordan Rogers returned to a crowd-turned-hostile, whereas Kemery Martin will be on her home floor.
One measure of a competitor, or team of competitors, is the ability to bounce back after a loss.
Stanford lost to USC, recovered to beat a very good Utah. Utah lost to Stanford, and for what it’s worth, they had an excellent practice Saturday afternoon in preparation for Cal Sunday.
I don’t have that ability. After I lose a chess game, it affects my next chess game and my whole life. I’ll make mistakes in a chess game that lasts four hours, then question 60 years of life decisions.
I’m getting better at that, though, because there’s no choice, really. My skill diminishes with age while my opponents get younger and better, and I figure to lose more and more games.
I didn’t handle Utah’s loss to Stanford well. I wasn’t even involved, right? but I wondered why I was waiting for hundreds of other cars to exit the garage across the street from Maples, writing basketball opinion on my phone that few read and fewer agree with.
Coach Roberts recruits basketball players with stronger mental makeup than mine, and the Utes looked sharp in practice. (In particular, in a set labeled Power Push — I was griping about the shelving of Utah’s weave, but Power Push moves just as much.)
On Utah’s depth chart, junior forwards Kelsey Rees and Payton McFarland both fell behind Alissa Pili and her player of the year potential. Their diminished roles have not affected their mood in practice, it seems. To Pili’s credit, she doesn’t look like she feels the weight of the team on her shoulders.