On Friday at 8:30 PM PST on Fox Sports 1, #24 Cal men's basketball will take on #12 Utah in the semifinals of the Pac-12 tournament. I will get this game hub rolling with 5 things to look for going into this game.
#1. Ivan Rabb vs. Jakob Pöltl: Watching Ivan Rabb and Jakob Pöltl battle inside for a third time this season will be a real treat to watch. Both guys are expected to be lottery picks in the upcoming NBA draft due to their strong post presence. Whichever one of these two guys has a better night has good odds of being on the winning team.
#2. Look for Jaylen Brown to bounce back: Jaylen Brown had a very quiet outing against Oregon State last night, scoring just 8 points on 1-6 shooting from the field. Jaylen Brown is bound to have another explosive game in the near future and I feel like this semifinal game against Utah just might be that game. Jaylen knows he didn't deliver like he would have wanted to on Thursday night and I expect that to motivate him to play better tonight against the Utes.
#3. Cal has to do a better job at the foul line: Cal got to the foul line 32 times against Oregon State, but only made 19 of those 32 foul shots (59.4%). If Cal wants to beat a Utah team that is one of the best teams in the country, Cal has to do a better job at the foul line. The foul shot attempts were perfect, but the percentage was terrible. As reason for optimism, Ivan Rabb isn't nearly as bad of a foul shooter as he shot on Thursday. He'll be much better from the line tonight.
#4. Cal could use more scoring from Tyrone Wallace: I thought that Tyrone Wallace played the perfect "off night" game on Thursday against Oregon State. What I mean by that is that if he's going to have an off night, what we saw from him against Oregon State is what we should hope to see from him, which is getting other guys easy looks and taking care of the ball. That being said, Cal still needs Tyrone Wallace to be the slashing/scoring guard that he is. 6 points against Utah probably isn't going to cut it for Tyrone Wallace if he wants his team to advance to the Pac-12 tournament championship game.
#5. Cal should play more relaxed: The game against Oregon State was a quasi "must-win" game for Cal. They didn't have to win it, but winning it guarantees them a spot in the NCAA tournament. With that being the case, the pressure is off for Cal in terms of getting to the dance. They know they'll be dancing in the field of 68, but it's only a question of what seed and what region. Cal still wants to do all they can to improve their seeding in the NCAA tournament, but that pressure pales in comparison to the pressure of needing a win to guarantee themselves a spot in the tournament.
While I do believe that Cal had an NCAA tournament spot locked up before the Pac-12 tournament started, I do think that a loss in their first game of the Pac-12 tournament would have made things a little uneasy going into Selection Sunday. With this win over Oregon State, Cal can now breathe and more than anything view the remainder of the Pac-12 tournament as practice games for the NCAA tournament with a chance to boost their seeding.
Prediction: Cal struggled against Oregon State, but Utah didn't exactly blow the doors off of USC, defeating the Trojans by only 8 points (80-72) and tying them in the second half. This one really could go either way since Cal won in Berkeley and Utah won in Salt Lake City. Given that Utah is a higher seed and is coming in on an 8 game winning streak, I'm picking Utah to win this game 74-72. This one is going to be close and it really could go either way, so I will not at all be surprised if Cal wins. Still, that being said, Utah is playing better basketball as of late and Cal still has a hard time getting wins away from Haas Pavilion, though they are getting better in this department. Look for this to be a good one that goes down to the wire.
#1. Ivan Rabb vs. Jakob Pöltl: Watching Ivan Rabb and Jakob Pöltl battle inside for a third time this season will be a real treat to watch. Both guys are expected to be lottery picks in the upcoming NBA draft due to their strong post presence. Whichever one of these two guys has a better night has good odds of being on the winning team.
#2. Look for Jaylen Brown to bounce back: Jaylen Brown had a very quiet outing against Oregon State last night, scoring just 8 points on 1-6 shooting from the field. Jaylen Brown is bound to have another explosive game in the near future and I feel like this semifinal game against Utah just might be that game. Jaylen knows he didn't deliver like he would have wanted to on Thursday night and I expect that to motivate him to play better tonight against the Utes.
#3. Cal has to do a better job at the foul line: Cal got to the foul line 32 times against Oregon State, but only made 19 of those 32 foul shots (59.4%). If Cal wants to beat a Utah team that is one of the best teams in the country, Cal has to do a better job at the foul line. The foul shot attempts were perfect, but the percentage was terrible. As reason for optimism, Ivan Rabb isn't nearly as bad of a foul shooter as he shot on Thursday. He'll be much better from the line tonight.
#4. Cal could use more scoring from Tyrone Wallace: I thought that Tyrone Wallace played the perfect "off night" game on Thursday against Oregon State. What I mean by that is that if he's going to have an off night, what we saw from him against Oregon State is what we should hope to see from him, which is getting other guys easy looks and taking care of the ball. That being said, Cal still needs Tyrone Wallace to be the slashing/scoring guard that he is. 6 points against Utah probably isn't going to cut it for Tyrone Wallace if he wants his team to advance to the Pac-12 tournament championship game.
#5. Cal should play more relaxed: The game against Oregon State was a quasi "must-win" game for Cal. They didn't have to win it, but winning it guarantees them a spot in the NCAA tournament. With that being the case, the pressure is off for Cal in terms of getting to the dance. They know they'll be dancing in the field of 68, but it's only a question of what seed and what region. Cal still wants to do all they can to improve their seeding in the NCAA tournament, but that pressure pales in comparison to the pressure of needing a win to guarantee themselves a spot in the tournament.
While I do believe that Cal had an NCAA tournament spot locked up before the Pac-12 tournament started, I do think that a loss in their first game of the Pac-12 tournament would have made things a little uneasy going into Selection Sunday. With this win over Oregon State, Cal can now breathe and more than anything view the remainder of the Pac-12 tournament as practice games for the NCAA tournament with a chance to boost their seeding.
Prediction: Cal struggled against Oregon State, but Utah didn't exactly blow the doors off of USC, defeating the Trojans by only 8 points (80-72) and tying them in the second half. This one really could go either way since Cal won in Berkeley and Utah won in Salt Lake City. Given that Utah is a higher seed and is coming in on an 8 game winning streak, I'm picking Utah to win this game 74-72. This one is going to be close and it really could go either way, so I will not at all be surprised if Cal wins. Still, that being said, Utah is playing better basketball as of late and Cal still has a hard time getting wins away from Haas Pavilion, though they are getting better in this department. Look for this to be a good one that goes down to the wire.
