Week 2 PAC 10 Hoops Wrap: Fear the Bears

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The second week of conference play has come and gone in the PAC 10 with California making a statement with a rare roadtrip sweep of the Washington schools.  Arizona also got off the mat and got two much needed victories but alas, the Oregon Ducks have fallen on hard times and find themselves alone in last place in the conference.

Big Winners:  California, Arizona

California:  The Bears came into the state of Washington and got two big wins, propelling them to first place in the conference.  Getting a few road victories is always key come March and Cal did it’s part this weekend.  The way the Bears won the Husky game was especially impressive.  Down but not out on several occasions, the well coached Bears took advantage when the Huskies couldn’t close them out.  Add in a few gaffes by the Dawgs and the end result was a 3-OT thriller that is sure to increase Cal’s confidence moving forward.  Also of note, Cal’s duo of Jerome Randle and Patrick Christopher is as good as any two man combination in the conference.

Arizona: The Wildcats benefitted from having the Oregon schools come to town last week, but took advantage and got back to .500.  There wasn’t anything spectacular in the way that Arizona won either game, and Jordan Hill needs to assert himself as more of a force down low if this team is going to compete with the likes of UCLA, Cal, and ASU, but for now, the Cats did what they had to do and beat up on Oregon State and Oregon.  Now at 2-2, they have climbed back to 5th in the conference. 

Big Losers:  Washington, Oregon

Washington:  Well, the Huskies have no one to blame but themselves.  They were outcoached down the stretch, missed several big free throws that would have iced the game, and ultimately just let Cal hang around until eventually the Bears decided to go ahead and win the game.  The Dawgs were up 10 with 3 minutes to go in the game and couldn’t finish.  They were up 5 in the second OT with 30 seconds left and couldn’t close.  They were up 4 in the 3rd OT and squandered that lead, despite the fact that Cal’s point guard and floor leader had fouled out.  This loss could prove huge for the Huskies.  If they come up a little short in March – all fingers will be pointed to this game.  They now have to bounce back this week or face the prospect of another season where they are close, but just can’t quite get over the hump.

Oregon:  To be fair, the Ducks have started off PAC 10 play with a tough schedule.  The LA schools at home and then a trip to the Desert to play the Arizona schools means that Oregon has likely played 3 of the top 5 teams in the conference so far.  However, you gotta play who’s on the schedule and the Ducks have gotten swept now 2 weeks in a row.  Realistically, for this young team to have a chance in the conference, they needed to get some early momentum.  Falling into a 0-4 hole is really tough when you have so many young players.  There is talent on the team.  Crittle and Dunigan look like they will be good players down low, and Longmire and Garrett Sim seem like they will be legit PAC 10 players in the future as well.  The problem for this Duck team, is that none of these guys is ready to step up and lead the team.  They are too young. 

Tajuan Porter is really the only Duck with the experience to lead, but his style of play is phrenetic and he takes way to many dumb shots to set an example for the others.  It’s not that he doesn’t make some good plays, he does.  I just don’t think you want your floor leader to be molded in the style of play that Porter brings to the table.  He’s a good role player, an ‘instant spark’ kind of a guy.  He’s not the kind of guy who can settle a  team down and get them into good offensive sets, however.  His game is predicated on a certain amount of chaos and he appears most comfortable when bodies are flying around and the game is a race up and down the court.  Unless someone else on this team steps up, the Ducks are going to be out of this thing pretty early.

Biggest Surprise:  Stanford’s 1 point loss to WSU

It’s not that WSU beat Stanford that’s the big surprise.  The Cougs will probably get a couple of good home wins this season.  What is surprising is that the Stanford team that came into Seattle on Thursday was nowhere to be found on Saturday.  Now, a lot of this has to do with WSU’s style of play.  The change in pace from the UW game is going to be something that a lot of teams are going to have to adjust to when they play the Washington schools.  However, the core of Stanford’s team – Johnson, Hill, Goods, and Fields, all played on a Stanford team last year that was very methodical.  This year’s team that runs up and down the court is nothing like the Stanford team of the past few seasons.  These players should not have struggled so much in a slower game.   They did though, and the end result was two very disheartening losses for Stanford this weekend.  First losing to UW by 1 in a game that they probably should have won, and then not showing up in Pullman and getting handed another 1 point defeat to a Cougar team that is not as talented. 

Player of the Week:  Patrick Christopher, Cal

2 weeks of conference play, 2 California Bears win the Player of the Week honors.  Christopher went off this weekend in leading Cal to a 2-0 record against the Washington schools and propelling his team to first place in the conference at 4-0.  He averaged 24.5 points and 6 rebounds per game.  He also managed to play the last 3:51 of regulation and all 3 overtimes against UW with 4 fouls. 

Conference Standings: