2008 California Golden Bears Hoops Preview

Mike Montgomery likes his big men. He had a bunch of good ones in his 18 years at Stanford, and they were the foundation for 10 consecutive teams that reached at least the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Now, four years removed from his tenure across the Bay and after an unsuccessful two-year stab at the NBA, Montgomery has landed at Cal. He replaces one-time rival Ben Braun, who was fired after 11 seasons, including only one in the past five years that produced an NCAA bid.

The folks in Berkeley have embraced Montgomery, who clearly relishes this new challenge. The arena and the fan base are larger than they were on The Farm, and recruiting will be somewhat easier without Stanford’s ultra-restrictive admissions office.

But Montgomery begins his Cal assignment without the big men to whom he’s accustomed. Center DeVon Hardin graduated, and 6'10" sophomore Ryan Anderson, the Pac-10’s leading scorer, bolted early.

“We’re not going to be as good as we would have been,” Montgomery says. “With the guys coming back, adding Theo (Robertson), Taylor Harrison and Omondi Amoke coming off injury, it looked like a pretty good roster. And it still does; we’re just not very big.”

Otherwise, Montgomery has been dealt a decent hand. Three starters return, along with Robertson, a regular in 2006-07 who missed last season after microfracture surgery on his hip. The Bears are two-deep everywhere but in the post. “We can’t worry about what we don’t have,’’ Montgomery says. “We’ve got to coach what we do have.”

Frontcourt

Forwards Jamal Boykin, a transfer from Duke, and Harper Kamp had promising first seasons for the Bears. Unfortunately, both are undersized, even for power forward, and it’s possible one will have to move into the low post until a big man emerges.

Sophomore center Taylor Harrison, a raw banger, sat out last season to let his left knee heal, then had it scoped again in late June. Junior Jordan Wilkes has skills, but not enough muscle. Max Zhang, a 7'2" prospect from China, remains a work in progress.

“I need two of them to come on,” Montgomery says of the big men. “We don’t have bigs that have had a lot of success. That would be an area of concern.”

Backcourt

Point guard Jerome Randle returns for his junior year, which some Cal fans might regard as a double-edged sword. Randle was the starter last season, but his decision-making, defense and 93 turnovers were sore spots. Montgomery is confident Randle will thrive under his tutelage. “I like Jerome,” he says. “The problem is Jerome is like a quarterback in football. When things go wrong, everybody blames the quarterback. He’s very skilled and very quick. We’re going to try to help him understand how he can most be effective.”

Junior shooting guard Patrick Christopher is the team’s top returning scorer, but Montgomery wants him to become a better defender. Freshman D.J. Seeley has good size (6'4") and has a knack for putting the ball in the basket. He will help right away.

Robertson will solidify a major weakness from a year ago, returning to give the Bears a versatile scorer and defender at small forward. “I haven’t seen anything I don’t like about him,” Montgomery says.

Final Anaylsis

Two key areas figure to improve with Montgomery’s arrival: The Bears should be substantially better on defense and more efficient at point guard. Still, there is no getting around the fact that Cal will miss its departed big men. The Pac-10 will be smaller up and down the conference this season (with the exit of Kevin Love, the Lopez twins, etc.), but the Bears face the real prospect of a starting lineup with no one taller than 6'8". And that will prove challenging.

Can the Bears rebound? Will they be able to defend the post? These are obstacles they must clear if they hope to challenge for an upper-division spot in the conference. Had Anderson opted to remain in college, Cal would have been an NCAA Tournament team. This club may have to be content with the NIT.