Patience will be a true virtue when the Cal Bears meet Washington State Cougars

It's difficult to point to a game and decide that it's critical to the success of a season.  Sure, you can always look at a team's main rival and call that a key to success, but true success of the season normally rides wins and losses overall - and critical game outcomes can determine the amount of success a team ends up having.  That's why saying that the trip to the state of Washington for the Bears (13-2, 2-0 Pac-10) is 'critical' can sound a little outrageous, but in some respects it is.

Winning on the road is all about maintaining confidence and executing as you would at home.  The Bears face a difficult task of doing that in some of the more raucous environments of the Pac-10 and against two opponents that know how to win, especially at home.  Thursday night, the Bears will face a tough Washington State Cougars team that plays a slow, methodical game that forces their opponents to remain patient and make low percentage shots.

You could make the conclusion that it's all about defense in Pullman.  In fact, for the Bears, it'll be more about offensive accuracy than defensive prowess.  They can't expect to get a lot of second-chance shots and they can't expect to get a bunch of opportunities to score, so they'll have to make the best of what they do get.

The Cougars (8-5, 0-1 Pac-10) will come into the game, ranked 303 out of 330 teams in scoring offense.  That stat taken alone rings, "easy win," but as Paul Harvey normally says, here's "the rest of the story."  The Cougars are tops in the NCAA's in scoring defense and number one in field goal percentage defense.  That's out of the same 330 teams ranked!

You have to be patient. There are not going to be as many possessions. They're very tempo oriented. If you get impatient, you're going to have to wait and play defense for 30 seconds until they get what they want. And then you're going to go down, and if you shoot it early, then you're going to have to go back and play for 30 more seconds. It's frustrating. They want low-scoring games, so there's not as much margin for error.
- Mike Montgomery on the Cougars style of play

Many times you'll hear the term, "disciplined."  The term is used to describe how a team plays by the rules and stays within their own game.  You can't get much more disciplined than the Cougars.  They rank sixth in personal fouls per game, 41st in turnovers per game, 39th in blocked shots, and 28th in free throw percentage.

Jerome Randle hates playing the Cougars because of the slow tempo.  He had many complimentary things to say about how they wear down teams at the Tuesday press conference, but finished by making sure to note, "They're beatable."  Harper Kamp noted their post presence and tempo as well, but when he was asked about how well Cal has started the season, he had a similar response to Randle's:

No, it’s expected.  When we go out there, we expect to win every time and that’s the mentality that you have to have.  There’s still a lot of basketball left, so we still have a lot to prove to ourselves and to others.

That confidence is what the Bears will need to rely on when they are playing a slow paced game in a hostile environment.  Kamp and Randle both pointed out that their victories against Utah and UNLV on the road were more to do with sticking to their game plan, remaining confident, and trusting their teammates.

Randle is right about the Cougars being beatable.  They've lost five games this season, but they haven't lost to poor opposition.  Their losses consist of losses to #4 Pitt (now #1), Baylor (now #23), #4 Gonzaga (now unranked), at LSU, and last week against Washington.  Cal brings something that none of those teams can match them in right now, three-point accuracy.

The Bears are the top team in three-point percentage, draining them at a clip of 50.5% on the season.  Cal also brings the 40th ranked scoring offense in the country to face the top scoring defense and while they won't expect to score as much as they normally do, they'll be attempting to take advantage of more scoring opportunites than the Cougars.  Along with their three-point accuracy, their field goal accuracy is also outstanding as they rank 12th in the nation with a 49.9% rating on the season.

Baynes has become more of a go-to guy, where in the past he has been a drop-off guy who went in to finish what the others started. And now he is a first/second option along with Rochestie. He's big and strong and takes up space.
- Montgomery on Cougars' senior center Aron Baynes' post presence

Baynes leads the Cougars in scoring and rebounds on the season with 11.4 ppg and 5.8 rpg.  Despite being the fifth on his team in minutes-per-game with 24.5, he's been able to be more efficient than some of his teammates.  Senior point guard, Taylor Rochestie, leads the team in assists (4.5 apg), steals (1.1 spg), and is third on the team in scoring (10.3 ppg).  Second in scoring (10.8 ppg), rebounds (4.9 rpg), and steals (1.0 spg), is freshman off-guard, Klay Thompson.  Thompson, a true freshman, poses some problems with his size at 6'6" and 187 lbs.

While they won't have the comfort or confidence that they'd have playing on their home court, both of those feelings will be coming to town in the form of Montgomery.  Randle leads the nation (with a minimum of 2.5 3pt field goals per game) in three point accuracy, shooting 55.9% from beyond the arc.  He attributes his play to his head coach in many ways - especially comfort during the game.

The difference he makes, is being a great teacher, you know, he’s a great teacher.  We have asked a lot of questions, and I think that’s important in practice, you know, if we don’t know what’s going on, you know, he’s willing to just give us the answer that, you know, will be the best thing for the team.  I think that’s been working so far, and with my game, you know, I feel like he should take some of the credit because, you know he’s just putting the ball in my hands and just telling me to run the team.  I know exactly what he wants me to do out on the floor, and it makes me, you know, feel comfortable out there.
- Randle on the difference Montgomery has made to his game

Kamp attributed the 'Montgomery effect' as something that has made the team more confident overall.  That could all be due to the great teaching that Randle spoke of, his success he's had in the past, or the comfort the team has in him running the show.

I said this once before.  He brings us a lot of confidence, I mean, we just have a lot of faith in him.  He’s just been around a long time and he’s been around a successful program for a long time and that just…when we’re out there in the huddles and on the court and practice, you know, it just gives us that little edge, that little confidence that we need.
- Kamp on the difference Montgomery has made

If the Bears can stay comfortable, maintain their confidence through the tough stretches, and stay patient, they could be on their way to making more believers out of the folks watching.  It will be key that they continue to play solid defense, as they did against both Arizona schools, and maintain the focus that they've been able to in every game this season, but one.  There's no way that they'll be blown out as they were in Missouri, but if they aren't able to follow their game plan, the Cougars will make them pay.

In the end, it should come down to who can be the most disciplined.  While Washington State has proven to be just that, the Bears have become more the team that Montgomery was hoping for in a short amount of time.  It should be a good one.

Cal Bears Examiner prediction: California Golden Bears 61 - Washington State Cougars 56

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