Injuries slowing Cal Bears' progress

October 23, 2:37 AMCal Bears ExaminerRob Calonge

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(AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

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Mike Montgomery started his Q&A at Cal's basketball media day by explaining that the team is making progress through their first eight practices.

He followed that up with, "Unfortunately, we've had some injuries that have slowed us down a little bit, not giving us a clear picture of what we're going to be able to do, or what we'd like to do." So far, none of the injuries are serious, but not having a healthy team to prepare with never helps with cohesion.

Players injured are Jorge Gutierrez (foot), who hasn't practiced yet after injuring the foot the day before practices started and Harper Kamp (knee), who has been limited to varying degrees on a day to day basis. Other players that Montgomery said missed time were Markhuri Sanders-Frison (hard fall) and Patrick Christopher (hyper-extension) both missed time.

According to Montgomery, Kamp's injury presents an issue for the offense since most of it runs through the post position. "A lot of our passes are thrown to the high post, and that's been a little bit of a problem in terms of footwork and just the thought process," said the coach, who is in his second season at Cal. "Again, without Harper, who is probably our smartest post player, it causes us a little bit of problem that way."

Being that it's Montgomery's second season at the helm, 'improvement' is the expectation on this team--especially with all of their key players returning. "This year's practices have been a lot smoother since we remember the plays from last year and he doesn't have to teach us as much," said Jamal Boykin.

Christopher is excited to see how much he improves this year. "I consider last year like another freshman year," said the senior guard. "This would be my sophomore year. I think I had a pretty big jump from my real freshman to my real sophomore year, so I am looking forward to seeing that jump again."

Bear Backers are too.

For more quotes from today's media day, go to calbears.com by clicking here.