California (#7, West, Kansas City pod)
vs. Maryland (#10)
Mar. 19 @ 2:55pm
Vegas Line: California -1
Thanks to Vegas Watch for providing these graphs that measure the moving average of a team’s spread (moving avg.) over time vs. the spread for each individual game (indiv). If a team’s moving average is higher than zero, then Vegas currently has a higher opinion of them than Pomeroy, and vice versa.
General Profile
Location: Berkeley, California
Conference: Pac-10, at-large
Coach: Mike Montgomery, 22-9
08-09 Record: 22-9, 11-7
Last 12 Games: 6-6
Best Win: 86-71, Washington, 2/5/2009
Worst Loss: 69-65, Oregon State, 1/22/2009
Off. Efficiency Rating: 117.4 [10]
Def. Efficiency Rating: 97.2 [87]
Nuts n Bolts
Star Player(s): Jerome Randle – 18.4 ppg/4.9 apg
Unsung Hero: Patrick Christopher – 14.6 ppg
Potential NBA Draft Pick(s): Patrick Christopher: 44th overall in 2010
Key Injuries: None to report
Depth: 27% (260)
Achilles Heel: Cal doesn’t have much going in the paint on offense or defense. Currently, they’re 89th in the nation in 2-point shooting percentage, and an appalling 324th when it comes to blocking opponents’ shots.
Will Make a Deep Run if…: The three point shot is working well and their opponent doesn’t have a powerful big man.
Will Make an Early Exit if…: Live by the three, die by the three. Cal shoots a higher percentage from behind the arc than anyone in the nation, but the regular season showed that if the three pointers aren’t going in (like when they shot 15% from three and lost to Oregon State) the Golden Bears are most likely going to lose.
NCAA History
Last Year Invited: 2006, Field of 64
Streak: This is Cal’s first year back.
Best NCAA Finish: 1959 National Champions
Historical Performance vs. Seed (1985-present): -0.13 wins per appearance
Other
Six Degrees to Detroit: In 1995, former Cal star Jason Kidd shared NBA Rookie of the Year honors with Grant Hill of the Detroit Pistons.
Distance to First Round Site: 1,802 miles.
School’s Claim to Fame: Besides once being the epicenter of collegiate activism and free thought, UC Berkeley is considered to be one of the top public universities in the United States.
School Wishes It Could Forget: Recently, UC Berkeley students who were camped out in campus trees to protest the building of new athletic facilities gained national media attention by biting and throwing their feces on university officials. Poop-throwing among the student body is generally not good for the school’s image.
Prediction: If Cal can keep Greivis Vasquez in check, they should win a tight game against Maryland. That theoretically puts them up against Memphis in the Round of 32, so the Golden Bears should be headed home after the first weekend.
Major RTC stories: n/a
Preview written by… Matt the Intern