Montgomery's Bears ready to take their show on the road

January 7, 5:23 PMCal Bears ExaminerRob Calonge

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California coach Mike Montgomery, right, has words
with referee Bobby McRoy during the first half of an
NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Jan. 4, 2009,
in Berkeley, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Bear Backers are reveling in the biggest free-agent find to hit California (the state) since USC hired Pete Carroll.  That hire would be men's basketball head coach, Mike Montgomery.  To think back to the Bears getting his services with under a month before Stanford would need a new coach, is downright fortuitous - in other words, just plain lucky.

How lucky?  13-2 and 2-0 in the Pac-10 lucky.  That's not to say that those records are due to luck directly.  Make no mistake about it, the Bears have earned those records while being guided by Montgomery.  When you stop and consider that no other Bears' team has won double-digit (11 games this season) pre-New Year's games since the 1947-'08 teams did (10 games), you have to wonder, "Why was this guy not given Fort Knox to coach somewhere during the '07-'08 season?"  The fact that he was available and willing to come over and coach his formal rival is a tale of luck for Cal and the hire is an amazing achievement for Athletic Director Sandy Barbour.

They've come this far and achieved this much with what is arguably a weaker team than they had last season.  Maybe "weaker team" isn't the correct term, maybe we should say, "less talented individually."  We bring that up, because this is the best 'team' that Cal has put on the floor in years - maybe ever.

All of this hoopla means nothing really.  The season has only just begun, even though the Bears are nearly half-way through it already.  What will determine how good this team is will be their conference play.  In particular, their conference play on the road.

Another week, and once again, another test.  Just how good are these Bears?  So far, they are the feel-good story of the Pac-10...so far.  Examiner.com's National Sports Examiner, Paula Duffy, called Cal's defeat of ASU, "the big story in the Pac-10," next to the USC loss to Oregon State last weekend.

There's a recognition that we can play a little bit.
- Montgomery on wins over both Arizona schools

If they can go on the road and beat both Washington State and then Washington, and follow that up with a win in Maples Arena against Stanford, it may be time to start buying tickets to the NCAA Tournament.  Cal has lost 14 of the last 15 times they've played at Maples Arena, so that would definitely be the final sign needed for all Cal fans to start boasting.

While Montgomery's Bears aren't boasting or getting overly-confident, they have begun to steal a little of the 2007 'We Believe' Warriors magic; ironically it was the season after Montgomery was fired from Golden State, running an eerily similar style to this year's Bears.

The system is not the same. It's kind of been based on the fact that we are pretty skilled on the perimeter and not quite as established on the inside, which is the opposite of what we used to have. Patrick [Christopher], Theo [Robertson] and obviously Jerome [Randle], these guys are good shooters, so you try to find ways to get them shots off of screens and that's what we did, but its just basketball. It's the break that we're trying to run with moderate success and we're trying to defend the other teams the best that we can. It's just basketball.
- Montgomery on the team picking up his system and if it's the same system from his Stanford teams

Going on the road in the Pac-10 is not an ideal way to win games, but as with any school, the Bears will have to find a way to win (or steal wins) while visiting their rivals.  While it won't be easy to do, Cal is fortunate to have a coach with a track record of being successful on the road.

It's way harder because you're not as confident, potentially, you're not in a comfort zone, your positives are not reinforced by the crowds and your negatives are reinforced by the crowd. It takes a takes a pretty good mental set and toughness to just play your game and win consistently on the road. We haven't played a lot of road games. We've played three games with mixed success. But we haven't been away from here a whole bunch.
- Montgomery on what it takes to be successful on the road

Having played, and won, against stiff competition such as UNLV and Utah, on the road doesn't give Montgomery any assurance that his team will be able to do that in conference play.  That's not to say that Montgomery discounts those victories completely, he's willing to give the past any value towards the future.

I think you have to say that they jury is out. I think that people understand the value of winning at home and they are ready to play. They know that they have to win at home to compete in the conference. So you have that aspect of it. I think we've proven that we can play on the road.
- Montgomery on the benefitting for this next road trip from beating UNLV and Utah on the road

If one thing is certain about Cal's road trip this weekend, they have to win if they expect to fight for a seat at the table of the Pac-10's finest basketball programs.

If you are going to get up and compete for the top three spots in your conference then you are going to have to win on the road. And no matter how important the game is you are going to have to win it. You do whatever you have to do in order to win on the road.
- Montgomery

With how the season has started, there's no reason to doubt that Montgomery and his Bears will do whatever they can to win - and it all starts in the state of Washington.

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