01-08-2023, 09:51 PM
Driving back to Palo Alto in a light rain after watching a very stressful game! Also reading the Board responses by those of you that enjoy following SWBB. It’s fun to go to the game, it’s fun to read your sometimes oppositional posts, and it’s fun to watch the TV replay when we get back home. I get to reconstruct my inner recording of the game — fouls I got wrong during the game, plays that were even more spectacular the second time through, or other strategic subtleties that got by me the first time through.
My wife and I saw the game a bit differently than some of you. We didn’t see our team come out flat or complacent, rather we saw a well coached cal team come out hungry and aggressive.
As I recall in our first game with CAL, we only outscored them by three points in the last two quarters of play. I’m sure that this was not lost on the cal players and coaches. That probably motivated them all the more for this game. They had a plan and it was well executed. I think that sometimes we, as fans, have an unrealistic expectation of our team. We expect them to be perfect when no team in the country, college or pro, is perfect.
After the initial ragged minutes of tonight’s game, when the score was still 3-3, both team seemed to settled into a very hard/fought defensive struggle. Both teams battled hard and didn’t give an inch. Both were stymied by the other. It was a great effort by both teams, and thanks to our All-American players and their first rate coaching staff, they won a squeaker against a very motivated and balanced team — on a very loud opponent’s home court.
Credit Charmaine’s coaching staff, their game plan, and the Cal team’s execution. But most of all credit Tara, her staff, and her gritty players for showing up ready to do battle for this tough game.
My wife and I saw the game a bit differently than some of you. We didn’t see our team come out flat or complacent, rather we saw a well coached cal team come out hungry and aggressive.
As I recall in our first game with CAL, we only outscored them by three points in the last two quarters of play. I’m sure that this was not lost on the cal players and coaches. That probably motivated them all the more for this game. They had a plan and it was well executed. I think that sometimes we, as fans, have an unrealistic expectation of our team. We expect them to be perfect when no team in the country, college or pro, is perfect.
After the initial ragged minutes of tonight’s game, when the score was still 3-3, both team seemed to settled into a very hard/fought defensive struggle. Both teams battled hard and didn’t give an inch. Both were stymied by the other. It was a great effort by both teams, and thanks to our All-American players and their first rate coaching staff, they won a squeaker against a very motivated and balanced team — on a very loud opponent’s home court.
Credit Charmaine’s coaching staff, their game plan, and the Cal team’s execution. But most of all credit Tara, her staff, and her gritty players for showing up ready to do battle for this tough game.