Cal @ Stanford 3/8/03
Tip-off: 7:00 pm (PST)
TV: KRON 4
Sponsored by the The
Cafe at the Arrillaga Alumni Center: Official Pre-Game Hangout of The Bootleg
Saturday's game between Stanford and Cal is the second half of a big
basketball rivalry, but coming this late in the season there are plenty of
non-rivalry factors in play. The winner of this game will lay claim to the
2nd seed in the upcoming Pac-10 tournament, which may or may not have an obvious
advantage. After Thursday night's topsy-turvy action around the
conference, as many as four teams could finish in 7th place (the first round
opponent for that 2nd seed), so it may be a question of picking your
poison. But the 2/7 game Thursday evening will come about 2 1/2 hours
earlier than the 3/6 game, which will give much needed rest for whichever team
wins the former game. The latter winner may conclude their game close to
midnight Thursday night.
This game is a very intriguing one, given the matchups and tendencies of
these two familiar teams. The two teams are one-tenth of one point apart
in scoring margin on the season, with Cal excelling on the offensive end (#2 in
FG%) and Stanford standing out on defense (#2 in FG% defense).Cal's offense has
ridden the "Big 3" of Joe Shipp, Brian Wethers and Amit Tamir all
season long. Any of them can go for 20 points on any given night, and all
of them can go for 20 at the same time. The Bears possess two of the
top four three-point shooters in the conference, but have shown some
lifelessness against zone defenses with player movement away from the ball at
times coming to a screeching halt.
Defensively, Cal conversely enjoys mixing things up defensively, and Stanford
will likely see several different looks. More important than any scheme,
though, is the intensity and toughness than their senior-led team has brought
this year. They are far from physically intimidating in their frontcourt
starters, but have more balanced rebounding than perhaps any team in the
conference. Against Stanford back at the beginning of Pac-10 play, a
Cardinal squad that had dominated opponents on the boards found themselves on
the losing end of the scoreboard and rebounding tally (by a 40-31 margin).
Afterward, several Cal players boasted that "if you beat Stanford on the
boards, you could beat them in the game." Conversely, the Bears have
been outrebounded by six per game in their six losses this year. Stanford
has to commit itself to not just box out the big guys, but also the wings and
guards, with an added emphasis on hard-nosed defense for this game...
The Starters
| #15 |
PG |
Richard Midgley |
Fr |
6-1 |
200 |
9.4 ppg |
3.1 apg |
44.7% 3FG |
| #25 |
SG |
Brian Wethers |
Sr |
6-5 |
215 |
15.3 ppg |
4.4 rpg |
50.0% FG |
| #34 |
SF |
Joe Shipp |
Sr |
6-5 |
220 |
21.0 ppg |
6.0 rpg |
52.3% FG |
| #24 |
PF |
Amit Tamir |
So |
6-11 |
260 |
16.7 ppg |
6.4 rpg |
44.7% 3FG |
| #33 |
C |
Gabriel Hughes |
Jr |
6-10 |
215 |
2.7 ppg |
3.4 rpg |
49.2% FG |
Midgley is the player who has improved the most during this season for the
Bears. He has become more aggressive offensively, and at some point
clicked with the idea that he is the legit 4th scoring option on a team known
for the "Big 3." Putting up double digit scoring in 11 games
this season, the Brit has scored from the outside and also driven to the
basket. Though as he has faced tougher competition in the form of Pac-10
point guards, his shooting percentages have dipped a little. Does a good
job scoring when the defense gives him opportunities, but he's not likely to
create opportunities against a sound defense. He's a reasonably good
passer and generally has a good head when running the offense. Still has
freshman moments, though.
Wethers is one of my least favorite players in the conference, going back to
his sophomore year when I dubbed him an "offensive black hole" for
Cal. When he touches the ball within 18 feet of the basket, he's almost
always going to find a way to take a shot. If tightly defended, he often
tries to pivot back and forth to shake the defender for a quick jumper, but much
less often will actually do something off the dribble. A key is to stay on
Wethers, because he'll take a shot whether a good one is there or not. The
only difference between him now and earlier in his career is that through
experience he has matured into a better shooter. His career averages over
his first three seasons were 47.6% from the field and 29.1% from three-point
range, and his respective percentages this season are 50.0% and 36.5%.
He's still a black hole, but he can hurt his team less now because he can score
better. Loves fallaway jumpers and using the glass. To his credit,
he has sought to master the midrange game, which is seldom embraced in college
basketball today. Also will cut to the basket and team up with Joe Shipp
in the two-man game.
Joe Shipp is frankly the best player in the conference, period. Make a
case for Ike Diogu if you will, the best frontcourt presence in the Pac-10, or
perhaps somebody for Arizona, the best team out West and maybe the
country. But Shipp is so freakin' impressive with his ability to hit shots
from every spot on the floor that it's ridiculous. I'm not in the business
of throwing out kudos to Cal players, but this guy is having a phenomenal
year. A defensive gameplan often looks at where on the floor a given
player tends to score, and then pester him into uncomfortable positions of lower
scoring probability, but the only place Shipp can't score is on the bench.
You might think on his backside he couldn't score, but he's already proven that
he can hit the twine from his behind when he did it last week against
Arizona. Undersized as a forward, Shipp looks like a third guard but he
has filled out his frame over the years and plays big and physical. He was
the one, despite standing at just 6'5", who killed Stanford on the boards
with 10 rebounds in their January meeting.
Tamir can shoot - there's no question about that. But he has to be one
of the most non-physical 6'11" players you can find in America. If
you want to attach stereotypes, he fits the "Euro" mode of pro
basketball players seen today that excel in the high post game better than many
smaller forwards and wings. Tamir loves to camp outside and wait for
outlet passes to find him open. Very much a catch-and-shoot player, he
gets the ball up in a hurry after receiving the pass. Almost never puts
the ball on the floor, and his shooting percentage drops when he is forced to
move with the ball. That all being said, he can absolutely kill you when
he gets going, and ironically Shipp & Wethers make up for much of his
missing physicality down low. Good perimeter passer, too.
Hughes is the weakest link on this starting roster, playing well below the
talent level you might expect for his size and length. Ben Braun says he's
improving, though he has hit a grand total of 19 baskets through 17 games of
conference play. He is tall and has long arms that can pose a defensive
problem in the paint, but Hughes is also pretty foul prone. Expect Justin
Davis and Rob Little to put Hughes on the bench with a few pump fakes, which
will pull Hughes off his feet in a jiffy.
The Reserves
Diggs is Stanford's nemesis. He continually plays his best games
against the Cardinal, pestering Stanford ballhandlers into turnovers and Cal
transition buckets. He started the year as the starting point guard after
the transfer of Shantay Legans to Fresno State, but was eventually passed by
freshman Richard Midgley. Now back to his old role of defensive specialist
and reserve ballhandler, he's usually a non-threatening player. Shoots
very poorly and is a complete non-threat on offense, unless he gets on the break
off a steal. May come in to play the point and move Midgley to the
off-guard.
Don't let Donte Smith's shooting percentage fool you. He has hit just
seven shots all year, and three of those came last Saturday on Senior Night
versus Arizona State. Truly plays in spot duty to spell Midgley or Wethers.
When he does shoot, he'll try a little pull-up shot from midrange off the
dribble. Julius Barnes
Stanford fans remember Erik Bond from the recruiting wars a few years ago
when he vied with Josh Childress for the small forward spot in the 2001 Cardinal
class. Bond was told by Stanford to wait and see if Childress came, and
when the Southern California phenom made the move to Palo Alto, Bond verbally
committed to Cal. Took a medical redshirt his first season, and is playing
this year in limited minutes behind Shipp and Wethers. I think he's a
great pure shooter (despite his percentage this year) who will find a solid
niche at Cal in his remaining years, and he already hit one big trey against
Stanford this year. His seven points in that game remain unsurpassed in
his first year of play.
Famulener gives quite a few minutes to spell Hughes or Tamir, and though a
smaller forward he plays a pretty good game inside and outside. He'll mix
it up inside, but also will play on the perimeter and pass or shoot. But
against Stanford, he has one identity: the clumsy dolt who stumbled his way to
Justin Davis' MCL injury back in January. It will be interesting to see
what happens when Davis and Famulener line up on the court together again
Saturday.
David Paris is the son of former San Francisco 49ers all-pro tackle Bubba
Paris, and like his old man is a big body who likes physical play. The
younger Paris has one good go-to move with his back to the basket, and decent
touch from the high post. But more important than the minute details of
his game is the overall physical presence in the low post he brings to a team
that doesn't like to bang. He'll be very good down the road in the
conference, and he already showed once this year that he can hurt
Stanford. His seven points in that game still stand as high season high.
Are you fully subscribed to The Bootleg? If not, then you
are missing out on all the top Cardinal coverage we provide daily on our
website, as well as our full-length feature articles in our glossy magazine.
Sign up today for the biggest and best in Stanford sports coverage with TheBootleg.com
(sign-up)
and The Bootleg Magazine (sign-up)!
Please make sure you support The
Cafe at the Arrillaga Alumni Center
the next time you are on campus!
