My favorite play of the night wouldn’t have happened the last few years

[Jamal Mercer]

Robinson gets a rebound up 2 in OT….

Last year Cal would have had had his hands up screaming for our PG to slow it down and take his time getting the ball up the court.

This year: Beautiful full court pass to Amari for the layup.

So many other things that Pope did tonight that won the game for us. Glad to have him.

 

[the nail at the foul line]

Basketball IQ is much higher than Cal teams. Overall athletism is down.

 

[St.PatterSoN-54-]

Pope said it best in the postgame-

“We can live with OUR KIND of mistakes,” i.e. ones that we make from being aggressive at the right times. We just need to avoid the mistakes that other teams firce us to make. The play you describe is a good example.

 

[Rockfly78]

Reed made a bunch of plays like this last year. It takes 2 things to make that throw, vision and balls

 

[docholiday51]

Comparing this year to last year(or the last 2 or 3 years) is such a stark difference on so many levels. Coaching style, type of players, age/ experience of players have changed almost beyond recognition

It is probably safe to say we are all pleased with the transformation( all is a bold statement on this board though)

I submit that there is still work to be done. The first order of business, in my view, is when playing a quality team(we have played 3 so far this season) is to overcome having to play from behind for most of the game.
We fell behind vs Duke, Clemson and Gonzaga and trailed for 3/4 (or more) of the game. In 2 of 3 we were able to complete the come back. When we get to SEC play this won't be a recipe for success. I hope the team can improve in that are going forward.

 

[Ky_Bred_Cat]

I sometimes still can't believe I'm watching Mark Pope on the sideline coaching. Then I take a huge sigh of relief and then say to myself, how the hell did we get out from under that contract and finally get rid of that guy? I am so happy to be were we are now!