A TDCB Repeat: The Steve Victory Story

[aztarheel]

From the Laptop of Kyle Jacobson, Cal basketball player (and 3-point shooter!!)

Dec. 18, 2033

Yes folks, the great Jacobson family quest has ended. Yours truly hit his first career 3-point shot in a college game! Man, it was awesome. We were playing Notre Dame, no less, and I buried it with authority.

Here’s how it went down. I was having a pretty good game anyway, and we were leading the Irish 97-70 with about two minutes left. A lot of our subs were in, guys like Adam Dunn and Chris McCamey. We set up a high post offense, with me being the high post guy. I took a pass a little higher from the free-throw line than usual, and the Notre Dame defender backed way off me (as would any normal defender against a clumsy, white, 7-1 dude).

I heard Scott Ward on the bench yelling at me: “Gun it, Jakester. Gun it.” Before I knew it I was dribbling, taking a couple steps back and letting my first 3-pointer of the season fly. SWISH!! It was a thing of beauty. I’ve watched the game film a hundred times the past few days, and even Pat Matthew or Ward don’t hit them as sweetly. The fans at the Pavillion went nuts!

I don’t think Coach Victory was all that happy that his 7-1 center was shooting 3-pointers, but he gave me a sly grin afterward anyway. Then he reminded me I had to get back on defense, which I didn’t and Notre Dame scored on a dunk after my shot.

Anyway, in what has been a tough season for me personally, this was definitely the bright spot. We went on to win 109-76 and then topped Boise State 95-44 the following evening to improve to 10-1.

Both of these were my best games yet. Here are some details:

· Notre Dame: 28 minutes, 9 points, 3-of-3 from the field (1-of-1 from 3-point land!!), 2-of-4 from the line, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 8 rebounds. Of course, I had 4 fouls but that’s nothing new…

· Boise State: only 15 minutes but 12 points!! That’s my season and career highs!! I made 5-of-7 shots and a couple of free throws with 4 rebounds. No 3-pointers this time, though. Coach kept me on the bench in the final minutes, maybe because he was scared I was going to launch from downtown again...

The media says we’re playing now the best we ever have under Coach Victory. One ESPN guy already penciled us in as a Final Four team. “They have so many weapons, opponents just don’t know who to stop,” he said.

Especially that seven-footer Jacobson guy who can shoot the three…

Cheers,
KJ3

[aztarheel]

(At long last I recovered/found the last chapters of the Steve Victory story. Sorry to leave folks hanging for so long)....
_____________________

From the Laptop of Kyle Jacobson, Cal basketball player

While we’re in the midst of what we hope is a national championship season, a lot of folks have been asking about the future of the Bears program. We have four seniors graduating this season (including yours truly who is actually done with classes now), and we have another space to fill because junior SG Adam Dunn is testing the NBA waters early. He announced his intentions officially a few weeks ago.

Frankly I thought PFs Peter Madic and Othella Williams might jump to the NBA too, but both decided to finish out their college studies. That will help the program transition greatly I think. Anyway, here’s what I know about a class already being dubbed Cal’s “Fab Five” – one player at each position:

PG: Patrick Lenzley: He’s a California boy and a player Coach Victory said he went after right off the bat. Our scouting service considers him one of the top seven players in the country. He’s scoring something like 30 points a game and dishing out 10 assists for Tokay High in Lodi. The next Pat Matthew? Too bad he doesn’t have a year to learn under Pat.

SG: Cassidy Wagner: A scorer!! This kid from Cincinnati’s Turpin High averages 35 ppg right now. Victory thinks he’s a dark horse type of player, since our scouts only considered him a three-star guy. “Hey, the kid’s scoring 35 points a game. He’s doing something right,” Victory told us. “He makes 80 percent of his free throws and 47 percent of his threes. I’ll take him.”

SF: Damon Anderson: The next in line to inherit Coach Victory’s favorite position? Anderson fits the mold of a Scott Ward or Miran Lekivicius at least on paper. He’s tall at 6-8. He can score (21.2 ppg) and he can rebound (7 rpg). He’s from Dallas and is considered the 15th best player in the country by the boys over at Cole’s Scouting.

PF: Brad Sura: Coach Victory used his connections in Florida to nab this Ft. Lauderdale product. He’s a four-star guy (60th best in the country according to our scouting dudes). He’ll have a year to learn the ropes from Madic and Williams…

C: Larry Kraft: Coach likes to tell us of a center he once coached at Alabama. “He was just 6-6 but could outrebound anybody on the planet,” he would tell us over and over. I think the kid’s name was Adams something. Anyway, Victory thinks Kraft falls into this category. He’s only 6-6 but has excellent rebounding stats and scoring stats, too… He’s from somewhere in Montana and is listed as the 21st best prospect in the country…

The media has mused that this could be the class Victory rides out of coaching on. “It wouldn’t be surprising the see the coach hang up his whistle when the last of this Fab Five group leaves Berkeley,” one columnist wrote recently.

I hope coach stays on the bench until he’s about 90 personally… And let’s hope he doesn’t get any crazy ideas about leaving Cal and starting over somewhere else… Despite his announced intentions to retire here, his name always seems to surface when there is an opening…

[aztarheel]

From the Laptop of Kyle Jacobson, Cal basketball player (and 3-point shooter!)

Jan. 31, 2033

Standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona… such a fine sight to see…

OK, OK, we didn’t make it to Winslow, but we just got back from our annual trip to the Grand Canyon State. And things continue to be grand for the Cal Golden Bears basketball team.

We swept the Wildcats and Sun Devils on their home floors this week, improving our overall record to 21-1 and our Pac-10 mark to 11-0. It’s been awhile since I’ve written, so let me catch you up briefly on what has happened:

We finished out December with two convincing wins over our first two Pac-10 foes – Stanford (82-54) and Washington State (90-68). I only had 2 points in both of those games, but folks like Peter Madic, Othella Williams and Scott Ward reached double figures easily… We then played a New Year’s Day game at Washington State and beat the Cougars 100-61 (our fourth time scoring at least 100). Yours truly had 12 points in that rout. No 3-pointers, however, and no attempts from behind the arc for me.

We then swept our weekly home series with UCLA (93-61) and USC (103-41); Arizona (78-68) and Arizona State (106-47) and the rematches with Washington (78-65) and Washington State (97-42). Can you believe some of these scores? And these are conference teams we’re playing, not mid-majors or something.

In the USC pasting, we had six guys in double figures including James Bennett with 28. Matthew had 29 against Arizona State. What can I say? We’re on a mission right now. That Nebraska loss might have been the best thing for us.

Here’s an intriguing storyline. In that second Washington game, played on our home court, Huskies center Chris David set a national record for blocks. He rejected 13 of our shots, including a couple of mine (shame, shame – no 7-1 guy should have his shots blocked). I did have 10 points and two blocks of my own in that one, and all we had to do was point to the scoreboard afterward. But Davis had a stellar game – 17 rebounds also.
We cruised through Arizona with easy wins over the Wildcats (96-46) and Sun Devils (77-48). I had 8 in Tucson but got the big goose egg in Tempe. Ouch.

We’re ranked number one again in both polls. N.C. State, coached by our coach’s brother, is also in the top 12.

PG Pat Matthews and SG James Bennett have been named players of the week for our conference. Scott Ward, I think, should be the player of the year. He’s so smooth. The media seems to like Matthew however.

February will bring our first games against Oregon teams then some rematches with UCLA and USC. I really think we can sweep through the Pac-10 season unbeaten. Only Arizona has come close to beating us, and we still had them by 10…

Of course, a lot of folks are already talking about the big meeting between Cal and N.C. State. We visit Raleigh, N.C. on Feb. 19th. It’s bound to have a Final Four atmosphere… Maybe I can hit me a 3-pointer or two against Victory’s brother. Now, that would be storybook…

[Travis]

Good stuff, glad to see this back in action.

[aztarheel]

Originally Posted by Travis

Good stuff, glad to see this back in action.

no problem Travis, I'm just glad I found the ending to the story ... thanks for checking in ...

[aztarheel]

From the Laptop of Kyle Jacobson, Cal basketball player

Feb 18, 2033

It’s the eve of our big battle with N.C. State and we’re in the air on our way to Raleigh, N.C. Folks have been talking about this game much of the season, but the hype has been extra intense the past few weeks since it’s the big battle of the brothers and two programs in the top 15… We of course are ranked first in the nation, and even though we're on opposite coasts we're REALLY looking forward to it...

Here’s the tale of tape heading into the big battle:

Cal (26-1) at N.C. State (21-8)

Coaches: Steve Victory vs. Jeff “Sheriff” Wilt

Starting Lineups and Who has the Edge (according to .400)

PG: Pat Matthew (15.5 ppg, 6.9 apg) vs. Marvin Piatowski (10 ppg, 5 apg)
EDGE: Cal

SG: James Bennett (15.7 ppg, 3.5 apg) vs. Jim Kimbrough (13.3 ppg, 4 apg)
EDGE: NCSU

SF: Scott Ward (17.2 ppg, 11.3 rpg) vs. John Miller (16.9 ppg, 15 rpg)
EDGE: NCSU

PF: Peter Madic (12.1 ppg, 10.2 rpg) vs. Augustinas Zupic (8.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg)
EDGE: Cal

C: Othella Williams (10.6 ppg, 7 rpg) vs. Leonard Caskill (7.9 ppg, 8.8 rpg)
EDGE: Cal

Overall EDGE: Cal (yee-haw). Hey, we’ve won 25 straight since falling to Nebraska in our season opener…

The Sheriff is 1-0 in games against our coach. Of course that was Coach Victory’s first game here at Cal. A lot has changed since then… ??Tip-off is 8 p.m. EDT on ESPN.

[aztarheel]

From the Laptop of Kyle Jacobson, Cal basketball player

Feb 20, 2033

Cal 75, N.C. State 71

Man, what a war from Raleigh, N.C.! In a game that should have happened in mid-November at the Hawaii Classic, we managed to sneak out of Wolfpack country with a W. It was the closest game for us since the Nebraska loss. Every player and every coach on each team was exhausted when all was said and done. Coach Victory could barely speak to us in the locker room afterward.

It was interesting, he and Coach Wilt from State barely spoke after the game. It was like they didn't even know each other or something. I thought I heard Coach Victory say something to his brother about alcohol, but I'm not sure...

Of course, I had one of my worst games of the season – 0 points, 4 fouls, 1 steal, 0 rebounds, 0 blocks. But we came together as a team when we needed to. State did a great job on Scott Ward (13 points) and James Bennett (9 points). But we had Adam Dunn, who dropped in 15 points coming off the bench. He swished a trio of threes late in the game and grabbed four rebounds.

Jovan Vitas won most of my minutes on the floor, adding 7 important points in 14 minutes at center. Pat Matthew scored 9 points, and Peter Madic scored 13.

We just couldn’t stop State’s John Miller. He gunned us for 26, but didn’t really have anyone else step up around him. We were up 6 at halftime, lost out lead with 10 minutes left but retook control in the final few minutes – thanks mostly to Dunn's hot hand.

Well, we’ve got three more Pac-10 games left, then our conference tournament and then on to the NCTs. A lot of folks are saying we’re the team to beat again this year. Of course, that was us last year and we choked in the Final Four. I don’t know, but this year’s team feels much more invincible. We still need to get better every time out, especially yours truly who is going through another period of struggle.

Stay tuned…. March Madness is almost here again… The best time of the year!

[aztarheel]

From the Laptop of Kyle Jacobson, Cal basketball player

March 2, 2033

Greetings hoops fans from Golden Bears Country. Check out that date at the top of this post. You know what it means don’t you? Yes, yes, it is coach Victory’s birthday, his 60th believe it or not. But it’s also a sign that we’ve reached March Madness. And, folks, there is no greater time to be a basketball fan. Tons of games on TV. All of these teams pursuing their One Shining Moment.

This week, we’ve got the Pac-10 tournament (and a league title to defend). Then next week we’re off to do what we failed to last season – win that NCT trophy. It would be the first for Cal since the 1950s or something like that…

After the war in Raleigh, North Carolina, we finished up our regular season with a trip to the great Northwest. We beat a scrappy Oregon team (CRI 40) 83-69 then enjoyed a cakewalk over struggling Oregon State (CRI 246) by a 91-51 score… I felt real good about my performance against Oregon. I pumped in 8 points off the bench, made both of my free throws, swiped a steal and even blocked a shot. A nice way to rebound after the “oh-fer” against N.C. State.

Of course I put up zero points against OSU a couple of nights later, and that was frustrating. We’re in the midst of this magical season. I just wish I was contributing more. It’s a bittersweet thing. I’ve got to remember it’s about team glory more than my own, but I’m only human…

Anyway, we’re 29-1 heading into this weekend’s Pac-10 tournament – riding a 29-game win streak since that loss to Nebraska way back in November. We’re ranked first in the nation and picked as the team to beat in the NCT. Some folks have compared this season to coach Victory’s near perfect one while at N.C. State a few years back. In that season, Victory’s Wolfpack team won 40 straight games only to fall in the NCT title game to Illinois. “This could be a sweet reversal of that agonizing saga,” one sports writer wrote… It sure is better to lose the first game rather than the last…

I guess you guys have been reading about all the fallout at N.C. State following our hard-fought win there. Apparently an assistant coach resigned, accusing their coach (and coach V’s brother) of being a heavy drinker and a bad influence on the kids. The State athletic department has launched investigations. TV reporters have been swarming in trying to get some good tabloid-like material. Coach Victory has been VERY sensitive to the whole issue. He about bit the head off one of our beat reporters who probed a little too much, and coach really likes this guy most of the time…

Well, we can’t worry about that now. We’ve got nine more basketball games to win, followed by two cutting-down-the-nets ceremonies… Stay tuned for the Madness!!!!

[aztarheel]

From the Laptop of Kyle Jacobson, Cal basketball player

March 7, 2033

Greetings hoops fans from lovely Berkeley, Calif – home of the Pac-10 champion Cal Golden Bears. Yes, we cruised to a rather uneventful Pac-10 tournament title defense over the weekend, turning away Washington State, Arizona State and UCLA.

Here’s a quick report on the three games:
Cal 90, #8 Washington State 67: we raced out to a double digit lead early and avoided the upset. James Bennett, who would later be named the tournament MVP, led us with 21 points. Four others reached double figures. As for me, I played like crap – 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block…

Cal 92, #5 Arizona State 67: similar game, we led by 11 at the break. Big O (Othella Williams) led us with 22 points. Pat Matthew added 18. I scored the big 2 points in only 7 minutes of play. Coach V told me my minutes might decrease now that it’s the post-season. He was right… Of course I didn’t help my own cause by committing four fouls. It sucks to be 7-1 sometimes. You reach out for a ball and, boom, the whistle blows. I had to have committed a foul because my arms are so long, right? Ugg…

Cal 89, #3 UCLA 65: This was billed as the big showdown between Pac-10 Player of the Year (Chad Davis from UCLA) and the player we all believe should have been the MVP (Scott Ward from Cal). Actually, neither guy played a huge role in the points department. Both finished with 11. James Bennett and Adam Dunn both hit four three-pointers for us, and that was the big story line… As for me: 2 points, 2 rebounds, 4 fouls. I’m getting worse as our team is getting better…

Despite kicking myself for not having a great weekend, we celebrated pretty good following the win over the Bruins. I can’t describe just how fun and satisfying it is to ascend a ladder, clip part of the net and then know that’s a momento of tons of hard work – we went 21-0 against Pac-10 foes this season. Then, they showered us with hats and T-shirts… We want more, though, and that’s our focus now…

The NCT pairings have been released and we’re a #1 in the West. We get to stay in-state, playing early games in Anaheim. Our first foe is Denver, which is cool since I followed them some growing up in Colorado…

Some other notables from the NCT:
• Indiana is the #2 seed in our region, and upstart Stephen F. Austin is the #3. Folks are calling #6 Auburn a team to watch out for.

• Guess who else is in our bracket? Nebraska – the team responsible for our one loss. The NCT folks have a good sense of humor. If we both win two games, we’ll be meeting the Big Red again. Can’t wait for that.

• Other Pac-10 teams in the tournament: Washington a #12 in the East and UCLA a #5 in the Midwest. The NCT committee was stingy with us, relegating Oregon and ASU to the ACT… Yikes…

• Other #1 seeds: Syracuse (East), UConn (Midwest), Mississippi State (South).

• N.C. State, for those still following the Tabloid Wolfpack coached by our coach’s brother, Jeff Wilt, is a #3 seed in the South. The Pack opens against Howard…

My goals: contribute in every game in any way coach Victory asks me. Secretly, I’d love to score at least 10 points a game, grab 6-8 rebounds and maybe hit one more 3-pointer just for fun (when we’re way ahead of course)…

Thanks for joining us. Will Cal win the NCT for the first time in nearly 80 years? Will Coach Victory get his fourth national title? Will seven-foot-one Kyle Jacobson make a 3 on national television… Stay tuned…

KJ

[aztarheel]

From the Laptop of Kyle Jacobson, Cal basketball player

Monday, March 14, 2033

Sixteen candles… do do do dube do…

Greetings hoops fans. Yes, that’s right. The Cal Bears made it through the first weekend of the NCT tournament with flying colors. We’re off to the Sweet 16, and hopefully the Elite Eight, Final Four and NCT championship game after that…

We weren’t really expected to struggle this weekend, and fortunately we took care of business. Here’s a brief report:

Round of 64
Cal 97, Denver 41: Poor Denver. They looked like deer caught in the headlights and only scored 11 points at halftime (while we scored 43). We kept rolling after the break, outscoring them 54-30. I really have to credit Coach Victory, who has suffered his share of tough losses in big tournaments. He had us so prepared and so up for this game.

“There is absolutely no room for overlooking anyone at this point in the season,” he kept saying. He made Denver out to sound like N.C. State or Illinois or something.

Scott Ward (31 points, 10 rebounds, 6-of-7 from three-point land) and Pat Matthew (27 points, 13-of-16 from FT line) absolutely went off. Yep, the best players in the nation I believe.

I played 20 minutes, scoring six points and ripping down eight rebounds. I felt pretty good about that. I even had a dunk late in the game on a breakaway. Well, of course I was tired and slow coming up court on defense. Reserve SG Adam Dunn made a steal and fed yours truly (Mr. Cherry-picker) for a nice jam. Mom’s sending me a copy of the tape!!

Round of 32
Cal 91, St. John’s 62: Again, Coach V had us so up for this game. He called eight and nine seeds some of the most dangerous in the tournament and told us of the time one of his ninth-seeded Alabama teams nearly upset a top-seeded Utah squad in the NCT.

“They will be so ready for you,” he said. “You had better be up for the challenge." Fortunately, we were, taking a 55-33 halftime lead…

Scoring: James Bennett 21, Scott Ward 17, Othella Williams 16, Pat Matthew 11. I had 4 points and 6 rebounds in my customary reserve role. But hey, only one foul!!

[aztarheel]

From the Laptop of Kyle Jacobson, Cal Basketball Player

March 14, 2033 continued...

We thought it was going to be goodbye Red Storm and hello Big Red (Nebraska) as we cruised through our first weekend of NCT play. But Nebraska got upset in the opening round of the tournament, falling to 12th-seeded St. Francis (NY). So that’s who we play in the Sweet 16. We don’t know much about them, but I’m sure Coach Victory will scout them out and have us ready. “We want it to be midnight for these Cinderellas,” he said. "DO NOT let your guard down..."

Indiana (2) and Auburn (6) are the other teams remaining in our bracket. I’d love to play Indiana since they are such a storied program. Of course, no looking ahead…

Other teams remaining in the Sweet 16: Mississippi State (1), Evansville (12), N.C. State (3) and Penn State (7) in the South; Connecticut (1), UCLA (5), Cincy (3) and Illinois (2) in the Midwest and Syracuse (1), Washington (12), Albany (6) and Fordham (2) in the East.

It’s been a good tournament for 12th seeds (three are still kicking) and for our conference (all three Pac-10 teams invited are still alive). UCLA looked really good in its two wins. Will we see them again? Only if we both make the Final Four…

Coach Victory was pleased that his brother’s Wolfpack team is still alive. “Gosh, part of me would love for him to win it all or at least make the Final Four,” he told me candidly on the way home for our Sunday game. “He needs something positive to happen, even though he has done a great job with the Pack in his few years there…”

No offense to The Sheriff, but I'd love to see Cal obliterate everyone on its way to a national championship. I think 12 other guys in Golden Bears uniforms feel the same...

Cheers and see you this weekend in Tucson, home of the West Region semis and finals...

[aztarheel]

From the Laptop of Kyle Jacobson, Cal Basketball Player

March 19, 2033

Greetings from lovely (and very warm) Tucson, Ariz. Just wanted to report in on our latest basketball triumph. We stopped one Cinderella story cold yesterday evening, drubbing 12th seeded St. Francis (NY) 81-52 in the West Regional semifinals. I’ve got to hand it to them. They were pretty scrappy for about 15 minutes. Then, we just proved too much for them and pulled away for an easy triumph…

Pat Matthew had an awesome game for us and finished with 22 points. Othella “Big O” Williams added 20 points and 11 rebounds. Yours truly, Mr. 7-1 Back-up Center, scored just 2 points in reserve work but had a couple of nice blocks. On this one play their point guard drove the lane and I rejected his shot into the seats. Don’t bring that stuff into my house! Of course, coach got upset with me because he said the best blocks send the ball to a waiting teammate for a fastbreak. Oh well.

Next up for us tomorrow afternoon here in Tucson: a date with the Auburn Tigers, the sixth seed in our region. The Tigers knocked off Indiana yesterday 83-66. We thought we had the Hoosiers up next so this has changed our plans a little, but we’ll take on anyone… What’s at stake: The Final Four, baby!

On Thursday night, after a hard practice here, we all went out to a cool restaurant called Chuey’s, where we ate awesome Mexican food and watched coach’s brother, Sheriff Jeff Wilt, lead N.C. State to a 94-61 walloping of Penn State in the South Region semis. Man, the Pack looked sharp in that one. I’ll predict it here and now: Cal vs. N.C. State in the championship game. The Brothers’ Duel, Part II. The first game was a war. The second would be even more so…

Of course, both of us have a few more games to take care of. Here are the match-ups in the regional finals:

West: Cal (1) vs. Auburn (6)
South: N.C. State (3) vs. Evansville (12)
East: Syracuse (1) vs. Albany (6)
Midwest: UCLA (5) vs. Illinois (2)

You’ve got to like State’s chances, but then again the Flying Aces did take out the number one seed in the South, longtime power Mississippi State. Kudos to UCLA, at least for propping up the honor of the Pac-10. We’re the only conference with two teams left. We would play UCLA if we both win our next games…

[aztarheel]

From the Laptop of Kyle Jacobson, Cal Basketball Player

March 22, 2033

Let’s see. Peaches? Check. Peanuts? Check. Sweet ice tea? Check. Atlanta Braves sweatshirt? Change for the MARTA? Check. Southern drawl? Check, check, check.

Oh, howdy y’all. Just sitting here on the computer practicing my Southern accent and picking out all the things I’m going to need to take to Atlanta!! Yes sir, that’s right. We’ve got Georgia on our minds this week – home of the 2033 Final Four!

Man, this magical tale just keeps getting better for the Cal Golden Bears. We beat Auburn on Sunday 90-64 to punch our ticket to the Big Dance’s final weekend. We are TWO STEPS away from that magical moment when we get to cut down the nets and celebrate a national championship. We were denied last year, and that has been driving us hard this year. We won’t be denied again!

We’ve got ol’ conference rival UCLA as our first opponent. Then after we beat them (yes, I’m totally confident we will), we’ll face the winner of the Evansville-Syracuse match-up. Yes, that’s right. The Flying Aces will be the Cinderella story of this Final Four, after taking out N.C. State in the South Regional finals on Sunday by an 80-66 score. Man, that was a bummer watching coach’s brother suffer through a loss to a team with so little pedigree. But hey, Evansville is for real, bringing a lot of pride back to the Hoosier state this year. Eat your heart out IU!

We’re flying out Wednesday. Reportedly, thousands and thousands of Cal Bears fans have bought tickets to follow us already. We plan to pack the Georgia Dome with plenty of blue and gold…

As for the Auburn game, let’s just say that the Tigers couldn’t tame Scotty Ward – 25 points and nine rebounds. James Bennett (15 points) and Pat Matthew (14) took their guards to task. Big O added 13 points in the paint. Yours truly: 6 points and 3 rebounds. Not bad…

Well, gotta run. We’ve got a film session to study up on UCLA. We know plenty about them, but we’ll know them even better after today… See ya’ in Hot Lanta!

Cheers!

KJ

PS: The guys have been ribbing me since the Denver game about why I didn’t post about my failed 3-point attempt in that first-round contest. Let’s just say it was brick city (bouncing off the rim and over the back of the backboard into the seats). Hey, at least we were way ahead at the time. I couldn’t resist. Don’t worry the gun will remain in the holster the rest of the season… unless we’re up 40 and coach gives me the green light…

[aztarheel]

From the Laptop of Kyle Jacobson, Cal Basketball Player

Sunday, March 27, 2033


Oh man, that was embarrassing. In a Final Four game, too. A 38-point margin of defeat? Ugg…

Of course, we Cal Bears aren’t the team feeling too bad right now. We were on the winning end of yesterday’s 98-60 NCT “debacle” as the LA Times put it. It’s UCLA players and fans sagging their heads right now after pretty much getting blown off the court. We beat them by 25 or so in the Pac-10 championship a few weeks ago, but they keep going on about how much better they were now and how they had the hot hand, they were ready for us, etc. We chilled them pretty good I’d say…

We totally took them out of their game-plan to slow us down, building a 53-30 halftime lead. Then, they had to play catch-up and we just kept running. It was a thing of beauty to watch our starting five. Everyone reached double figures. SG James Bennett scorched the nets for 32 points (six three-pointers). C Othella Williams pounded the paint for 18. PG Pat Matthew added 16, PF Peter Madic scored 14 (including a monster ally-oop dunk) and SF Scott Ward pumped in 10. I had a put-back late for my only points…

So here we are: 37-1 and one win away from our school’s first national title in forever (and coach Victory’s fourth in a 30-year career). Our final obstacle: The ‘Cuse. Syracuse (36-4) took care of Evansville pretty easily 89-61, turning a would-be Cinderella story into a battle of the top two ranked teams in the nation. Monday night should be fun. I can pretty much guarantee we won’t be winning by 40 but crazier things have happened.

Rumor has it our coach likes to climb on the backboards after national championship wins (I know he did it at N.C. State – I’ve seen film on it). Being over seven feet tall, I’m the perfect person to put him up there if he so desires another visit. At age 60, he may be too old for that. But them again, maybe not… We may win the NCT just to see him do it again…

See you Monday night… Go Bears!!!!!

KJ

PS: This could be the year of a double sweep for the Pac-10. While we go for the NCT title, the Oregon Ducks are celebrating their ACT crown. They demolished Chicago State in the ACT final earlier this week. Man, the Ducks were steamed at not making the NCT (and for good reason) and rather than roll over, they took it out on their ACT foes. Good job, Big O.

[aztarheel]

From the Laptop of Kyle Jacobson, Cal Basketball Player

Tuesday, March 29, 2033 • 4 a.m.

It was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. A 60-year-old man with bad knees and wearing a sleek $600 suit, trying to climb up onto the top of a basketball backboard. It would have won $10,000 easily on that old TV show America’s Funniest Home Videos. It was better than grown men getting hit in the crotch with baseballs…

Howdy, folks, KJ here and yes the Cal Bears are celebrating a national basketball championship here in the wee hours from Atlanta, Ga. And yes that was our “distinguished” coach Steve Victory dancing up and down (or trying to) on the South backboard of the Georgia Dome after we beat Syracuse 83-72 for the 2033 NCT trophy. I’ve never laughed so hard in all my days. It’s a good thing I caught coach on his way down or he might be sipping his champagne from a hospital bed…

Wow, what a night. We’re national champions. We did it. We climbed the highest mountain. We clipped the nets. We all hugged the trophy (Scotty Ward gave it a big smooch in front of the TV cameras). We achieved our ultimate goal. It’s still sinking in, even for this reserve player who spent most of the season out of the limelight, trying to contribute in little ways…

The game was the battle everyone billed it to be. Syracuse has a solid team, no doubt. But we just did tonight what we did so often in the post-season – put our opponent in an early hole and broke their spirits. We led 45-32 at the half, held off the expected Syracuse run midway through the second and hung on for our sixth-consecutive NCT double-digits victory…

Scotty Ward may not be an All-American (which is a joke as I’ve discussed earlier) but he’ll go down as the 2033 NCT Finals MVP. Man, what a way to go out. Scotty scored 21 points, had 16 rebounds, made 2 steals (including a big one when the Orangemen had a chance to cut our lead to 8 with five minutes left) and even had a block. Look out NBA!

Peter Madic and Othella Williams, our monster post players (and the Cal Bears stars of the future since they will be the returning seniors), scored 11 and 10 points respectively and combined for 14 rebounds. Pat Matthew added 16 points.

Yours truly played 15 minutes in the championship game (and was nervous as heck at first – my knees were shaking like a schoolboy on his first date). I scored 5 important points, had 7 rebounds and 2 blocks. It was touching to hear Coach V single me out in the post-game press conference. Something like “He’s been our heart and soul all year, a true behind the scenes leader, etc.” Wow, and here I’ve been beating myself up about not being the star all year. I about cried right there in the locker room. OK, I did cry, but hey it was an emotional evening. Tears of joy…

So what now? Well, we go back to Cali on Tuesday afternoon, and the school has some stuff planned for us later in the week. Of course, coach wants the guys to go back to classes immediately after we return. That’s one thing I haven’t talked much about this year, but we all have GPAs above 3.25 except for our redshirt player (sorry Cy), who is carrying a 2.66. “I will not recruit a dumb player” is something we’ve heard a lot from Coach Victory in our careers, but I digress…

Come on out to the parade if you can, and we’ll be signing autographs during an appreciation night in our gym I think this Thursday. And thanks for supporting our NCT run – it’s been a blast being your Cal Bears “reporter” along the way…

Cheers!

KJ