Patrick Christopher again named Pac-10 Player of the Week - Bears in polls

Two weeks and counting:
Can he do it again?

The reigning Pac-10 player of the week has been named to reign again this week after 'raining' buckets in Washington this weekend.

Patrick Christopher was named for the second consecutive week, U.S. Bank Pac-10 Men's Basketball Player of the Week, this time for the week of Jan. 5-11.  This is the first time that a Cal men's basketball player has won back-to-back Pac-10 player of the week awards since Joe Shipp did it in January of 2003.

For the weekend, Christopher averaged 24.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists while shooting 53.3 percent from three-point range.

He's definitely been Cal's hottest hand the last two games.  Unfortunately, it's his defense during conference play that has been the most impressive.  Despite no clear statistical proof to point to such as steals or blocks, he has blanketed his man throughout conference play and at the very minimum made it harder for his opponent to score.  In a game where you often defend different players during the course of competition, it's difficult to relate how good he's been.

The Bears have been able to get key performances from everyone on the court this season.  Christopher has done a great job of filling in where Cal has needed it most.  Against Washington State, he played a nearly flawless game when he shot 9-14 from the floor and 4-6 from beyond the arc.  He only had two assists, but he also had no turnovers and a block.  Against the Huskies, the Bears needed him on the boards more, and he came through with 11 rebounds and 27 points on a tough night for Bears' shooting.

Cal breaks through in the polls!

The Bears are finally being recognized, as they should, for being one of the top teams in the country.  The AP Top 25 has them ranked 22nd, the USA Today / ESPN Coaches' Poll has them ranked 23rd, they are ranked seventh in the CBS Sports RPI, and Gary Parrish of CBS Sports has them ranked 22nd in his Top 25 (and one) poll.

ESPN's Andy Katz has the Bears as this week's team of the week in his Weekly Watch column.

In the column, Katz states the following:

If coach of the year were a midseason award, Mike Montgomery would get the honor. The former Stanford and Golden State Warriors coach is doing one of his best coaching jobs ever and has the Bears in position to legitimately challenge for the Pac-10 title.

The Bears have already won as many games as they did in the regular season last year.  Here are the polls:

Dropped out:  No. 22 West Virginia, No. 24 Boston College, No. 25 Tennessee.

Others receiving votes:  Arkansas (12-2) 51; Illinois (14-2) 47; Memphis (12-3) 42; Brigham Young (13-2) 37; Gonzaga (10-4) 17; Dayton (14-2) 14; Tennessee (10-4) 11; Utah State (15-1) 11; Wisconsin (12-4) 10; Florida (14-2) 9; Illinois State (14-2) 9; West Virginia (11-4) 7; Boston College (13-4) 6; Davidson (11-3) 6; Ohio State (11-3) 5; Miami (Fla.) (12-3) 4; Washington (11-4) 3; Missouri (13-3) 2; Texas A&M (14-2) 1; UNLV (13-3) 1.