My recap of Cal's victory over Notre Dame. It was fun watching Hannah Hidalgo struggle for 40 minutes against Mjracle Sheppard's exceptional defense. That's 3 wins in a row for Cal. A win against Louisville on Sunday opens up NCAA Tourney talk once again. writeforcalifornia.com/p/womens-bas...

My recap of Cal's victory today over Stanford. To quote Coach Smith, "’m just glad that we were able to have a moment to smile and feel good with a win today.” writeforcalifornia.com/p/womens-bas...

My recap of Cal's victory this afternoon over UNC. After a rough start to conference play, John Camden has been on fire for the Bears. It's a good sign for the rest of the season. writeforcalifornia.com/p/mens-baske...

This is the time of year where I consider sinuses to be an evolutionary mistake.

My recap of Cal's season opening win over CSU-Bakersfield. Pippen, Camden and Dort form an intriguing core for the Bears, with depth to mix and match around them. This may be a fun year. writeforcalifornia.com/p/cal-cal-st...

In which Coach Charmin Smith and I talk about Cal Women's Basketball, challenges both on and off the court for the coming season, her and the team's interaction with the WNBA Valkyries, and her favorite food spots near campus. @wgoldenstate.bsky.social writeforcalifornia.com/p/cal-womens...

Recapping a recent phone convo I had with Coach Madsen, where he calls his shot for the number of wins this year(plus other coach-speak and factoids). writeforcalifornia.com/p/cal-mens-b...

It's mid August, so let's take a look at the Cal Men's Basketball roster. I am weirdly optimistic about this season. writeforcalifornia.com/p/mens-baske...

Oh god the urge to go look at twitter is so strong right now...must resist.

Looking at the box score with no context, and see the 'B Hurley' 2 minutes for ASU. I'm imagining a very frustrated Coach Hurley in the last minutes just saying f*** it, grabbing a bench warmers jersey and subbing himself in.

Cal's worst game of the year comes at the worst time. Credit to MSU for making Cal uncomfortable all game. It will be a somber post game press session.

Credit to MSU's defense, making everything uncomfortable for Cal. MSU is leading 41-29 entering the 4Q. I've seen nothing so far that makes me think a comeback is possible. I hope they prove me wrong.

Marta Suarez maintained a meditative position for nearly 3 minutes at the halftime break.

The optimist in me sees Ioanna with a late 3-pointer and Michelle with a nice basket down low to end the half as signs of good things to come. The pessimist in me sees everything else.

26-19 Miss State lead at the half over Cal. Cal has not been able to make a shot (except for Lulu) and have already committed 12 TOs. Cal's defense is keeping them in the game, limiting MSU to 25% shooting. If Cal even shoots average in the second half and maintains the defense, they should win.

12-5 Miss St over Cal at the end of the first quarter. Cal's defense has been fine, winning the rebounding battle. Cal is taking good shots, but nothing is going in. Lulu is 2/2, rest of team is 0/11. If Cal just regresses to the mean on shooting, they'll be fine.

Ready to go!

SEC turned out well to root for MSU, but Bears fans are slightly louder, at least in the pregame.

Kayla Williams picture in the hallway between the Cal locker room and the playing floor. Awkward.

In which Coach Charmin Smith talks about "guarding biggies." writeforcalifornia.com/p/bears-prep...

The many faces of Coach Charmin Smith while watching the selection show. First two are early region 8/9 matchups, last one is when Cal finally appeared.

Cal has a lineup of Sissoko, Rytis, Tucker, Pavlovic, Campbell. Just like we thought back in November.

This game has everything. Tucker pick and rolls.Andrej going nuclear. Vladimir driving the lane. Proud of Cal for the fight they're showing despite the odds.

Cal survives to take on Stanford tomorrow. My recap, plus going in depth on the final play of regulation and Cal baiting VA Tech to make the bad decision. writeforcalifornia.com/p/acc-tourne...

My recap of Cal's win over Virginia in the second round of the ACC Tournament. One of these days, ACC coverage will not treat Cal like an OOC opponent. They mangle names, give unequal pregame "hype" time, and sometimes just get facts wrong. writeforcalifornia.com/p/cal-crushe...

Cal still haw a long way to become part of the ACC family. Watching the Cal/UVA game, play-by-play announcer Pam Ward says "Ioanna Krimili who started her career at SOUTH FLORIDA before continuing her career on the west coast" (Krimili started at Univ of San Francisco) Sigh.

TLDR; Coach Charmin Smith's team struggles more than average against high pressure defenses, and why to watch for the number 15 as Cal marches on in the ACC and NCAA Tournaments. writeforcalifornia.com/p/womens-bas...

I will raise a toast this evening to Coach Norman Dale. May he rest in peace.

In which I spent way too much time breaking down the ACC Tnmt seeding options for Cal Women's Basketball as they enter the last week of the regular season. They want 7. They could get to 6. They don't want to slip to 8/9. writeforcalifornia.com/p/womens-hoo...

At the half, Cal leads FSU 37-33. Jeremiah Wilkinson is fulfilling the volums dribble-drive finisher role of Andrej, and has 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting. Joshua Ola-Joseph is the spark plug tonight, with 11 points so far. He is 3-of-4 on 3 pointers, while the rest of the team is 0-for-10.

It's not secret I think Joshua Ola-Joseph has the ingredients to be a special player for Cal. He came in at the 16-minute timeout for the Bears, and in two minutes scored 5 points, had a highlight steal and long pass and lit a fire for the Bears to ignite a 9-0 run.

At the Cal vs FSU basketball game. No Andrej tonight(illness), so Jeremiah Wilkinson gets the start. It'll be interesting if he takes the majority of shots that Andrej would take, or if Madsen goes with a more spread approach.

Gunner Stockton passes to Cash Jones. I have nothing to add except the names are awesome.

Had a nice Q&A with Jaylon Tyson after last night's game, talking about Cal's impact on his NBA journey. Plus breaking down Madsen's 'drive-and-spray', and other nuggets. writeforcalifornia.com/p/mens-baske...

(1 of 2) Regarding Cal Men's Basketball. 7-4 nonconf, 1 inexplicable loss to Cornell. Last year, 4-7 nonconf record, 3 confounding losses. Last year the goal was to show competence with the brand new team and regime. This year, the goal is to start building the program with multi-year players.

At Chase Center, hoping to catch Jaylon Tyson for a few minutes after the GSW-Cavs game. Fingers crossed he gets some playing time tonight.

Having a hard time describing my feelings about tonight's loss. In my recap, I likened it to a shoving match where Missouri shoved first and Cal couldn't shove back. But that feels inadequate. I want Cal to change the narrative one of these seasons. writeforcalifornia.com/p/cal-mens-b...

ICYMI, Cal Women's basketball had a day game today against Michigan State, and another one tomorrow against Arizona. A close 78-72 loss today is not a moral victory. There's a couple troubling observations worth keeping an eye on writeforcalifornia.com/p/cal-womens...

My recap and a few comments from today's win over Sac St. Jeremiah Wilkinson continues his ascent, and Cal shows good discipline and execution in beating the zone. writeforcalifornia.com/p/the-bears-...

Cal Women's Basketball is 4-0, with a 33-pt avg margin of victory. They are on the 'Last 4 In' line on this week's ESPN Bracketology. This is a fun team that has multiple ways to beat their opponents. Tonight, they play the Grambling Tigers in Haas Pavilion at 7pm. I'm going, you should as well.

(1 of 3) I've watched the replay of Cal's win vs USC yesterday. A few more thoughts. 1. In crunch time, you're going to see a core 3 of Blacksher, Stojakovic and Sissoko. Then 2 flex spots based on the needs of the game. Last night, it was Omot and JOJ for their length against the taller USC guards.

A few thoughts. 1. Campbell struggled against the bigger USC guards. I love JOJ owning the defensive shutdown assignment down the stretch. He was clutch. 2. Andrej is farther along than I thought he would be. Was Haase really that bad of a development coach? 3. Dort and Sissoko are so fun to watch.

Cal holds on to beat USC 70-66. It is the first nonconf road win since 2017. Madsen leading the Bears out of the desert and into the land of milk and honey.

Even if Cal loses to USC, this has been a good response after the Vandy game. I'll stick to my prediction of an 18 win season.

Cal is flat in all aspects, loses 85-69 to Vanderbilt. 20 turnovers leading to 32 Vandy points. Minor flashes from Omot and Stojakovic don't offset the ugliness of this game the the Bears. I'll look for a solid bounceback against USC on Sunday before making any grand pronouncements .

Vandy leading Cal 17-14 at the 12-minute timeout. Not great team play on either end for the Bears, Vandy's transition is geeting easy shots. BJ Omot is carrying Cal right now, 7 points and a steal so far.

Rightful praise early on for Omot and Dort. I'm still a believer in a JOJ breakout.

Cal Basketball(1 of 2): Last year, Brandon Walker of Montana State dominated Cal. He is a 6' 7" PF who used his body to get to the basket whenever/however he wanted. Part of last year was scheme. They left Aimaq alone on him, and Walker's superior mobility proved too much.

Hello new friends. My real name is Don. A few of the truths I live by; 1. Smashing Pumpkins are/were better and more relevant than Nirvana. 2. Diablo2 is the best video game ever made. 3. Cactus Taqueria chicken crispy tacos is the perfect food item. 4. Corgis are the best dog breed.

Your last saved meme is your moral philosophy.