Nov. 11, 2012

CALIFORNIA HEAD COACH Mike Montgomery

On the game:
"There were some bright spots. The thing about Bakersfield is that they are all seniors. They did have a winning season in Division I last year and went on a summer tour. I felt like they would not be intimidated. They could potentially be physical and play hard. We were pretty efficient that first half and we moved the ball. Obviously Allen Crabbe had a great game. The ball was moving. We were finding the open guy and we were playing pretty efficient basketball. We tried to play guys to find out if we have depth and see who can do what. We tried to give guys opportunities to see what they could do. Not all of it is working right now. As the game went on, Brandon's shoulder started to stiffen up. It got pretty sore. He has a lot of courage; he got banged pretty good the other night. We thought it might be dislocated, it turned out not to be but it was a pretty good bruise. We were back to not having Brandon in the latter part of the game so we had some interesting combinations of players. We somehow, some way have to get the offensive rebounds limited. We've got to get people involved. We'll continue to work on blockoffs and continue on working on reacting to the ball. We've got some big guys who just stand and do not react off the floor. We've got to get that solved. I thought Kravish was working pretty hard but he was pretty much out there by himself. They had some kids who were pretty athletic and they were down 20 so they weren't really worried about anything. 18 Turnovers is obviously too many. We've got some press breaking stuff we would do differently. Some of our passes were not very intelligent. I think we'll get better at that as we get more experience. We know we have a long way to go. A lot of those things are intangibles, like defensive rebounding which will allow us to get out on the break which we can do pretty well. We want to get our depth situation solved so that we've got 7, 8, or 9 guys we can play and win with. This isn't an equal opportunity deal, you've got to go in and produce. We've got 48 hours and then we'll play again. I don't think 3 games in this first week is ideal for us given where we are injury wise, but at least we've got the first one out of the way. We're hoping that Ricky might be able to make an appearance on Tuesday if not Friday. We're hoping to get him back out here pretty quickly."

On Tyrone Wallace
"Tyrone is probably a little bit nervous. He's a smart player. I like that about him. He's figured out how to do some of the things we've talked about. He made a nice dropoff without charging and finished at the basket a couple of time. We're very encouraged with Tyrone. He's a little bit better with the ball in his hands, but we've got Brandon and Justin out there, so we'll have to figure that out. He's a little bit tentative. 23 minutes was a pretty good stretch for him. He didn't force anything. We had a discussion about the shot he took late on Sunday where maybe that wasn't the best time for it. Time and circumstance dictate a little different thought process. He's a fast learner and I like that."

On if Ricky Kreklow will become a scoring option or what that option will be
"We don't know. We haven't ever seen him in the game. He has some different skills. He's tough and he plays really hard. There were times when Allen was out and you weren't sure who was going to shoot it on the perimeter. We need to establish an inside game which we didn't do a very good job of. Kravish only took two shots and he has to get more touches than that in 27 minutes. I think Riachard had some stuff inside he should have finished and he didn't. There's a lot of things that we can work on."

On the impact of Justin Cobbs and Allen Crabbe
"I think they're two proven players. I don't think we can expect Allen to have that kind of half that often. He's certainly capable of it. If guys look for him and they're not defending him, he's a guy who can put numbers up. He did a good job at driving to the basket. I would like to see him stop and shoot the pull up more. Those guys are proven players. If they take those two guys out, we've got to find ways to get other people involved."

Allen Crabbe, JR. G

On the season opener:
"We came out hard on the defensive side, better than we did against San Francisco State. I feel we went hard through the whole game"

On the importance of finding a third/fourth option offensively:
"It definitely would help us out a lot, but it is still early in the season. We have guys who are capable of scoring, it's just going to take time for them to feel comfortable out there."

On teammate Tyrone Wallace (Fr. G):
"Tyrone played very well, you can tell sometimes he is still a little nervous when he gets out there but obviously you can expect that from a freshman. He is progressing very well, just learning the game early. Obviously he is in a good situation because he gets to play right away."

On his 27-point game and expectations for the season:
"It's nice, but I feel if it is going to help the team out, I am willing and love to do it. At the end of the night, I guess I just got going early and my teammates kept finding me and I was just knocking down shots. It's all my teammates, setting me up. I only had three rebounds, which I was disappointed in."

On his ankle after the fall in the first half:
"I guess I got tangled up in someone, but I am fine now."

Justin Cobbs, JR. G

On the combination of him and Crabbe on the court:
"I love playing with this man, we just feed off each other. We are both talented, we are both god-blessed with talent and I love having him out there with me. I am excited to play with this man, Allen Crabbe."

On teammate Tyrone Wallace not trying to force the ball places:
"That is just something good for a freshman, usually they are the opposite, they rush things and panic pass and panic shoot, but that's not Tyrone, he is under control. He is playing well for a freshman, we need him out there, and he did very well tonight."

On the fast break offense:
"Once we get started, it's hard to stop the team. We are just so quick and so athletic, we've got so many guards out there, so a lot of times we get that rebound and we get out on a break and make layups. Layups should be 100 percent, and that's what we are aiming for."

CSU BAKERSFIELD HEAD COACH ROD BARNES

On trying to slow Cal down in the beginning:
"Well, you just stay in there. They come out and it's their first game, they're all pumped up and excited, and they have to go out and just try to hang in there. Every shot they were taking they were pretty much going down. I thought out kids hung in there. To say we have a chance to win, they have dug themselves too big of a hole, and I thought that after we were done, I thought our guys hung in there, and we came into a place that has some character, they got courage. We never stop playing, we never folded up to ten, but I give them credit, they came out and shot the ball well, they ran some good stuff, and they're well-coached, and at the end of their plays, they have two best guards on the ball.

On the strong play the last couple minutes of the game and building on that for the season:
"Well our guys are going to keep their heads up. Last year we went to Oregon State, and we were down, and I thought we were down for 16 and it went to 25 and tonight showed that they have shown growth. We do have some things we need to correct. If you put yourself in a position, we cut it to 15, they would take it back to 20, and they kept it there, and we never stop fighting. Two or three minutes ago, we got 13, we got the rebound, we got a chance to make a difference, and then we turned the basketball over. So it's a learning thing for us, and those guys shot the balls and they had a good game, so we go back and hopefully we can defend better. But I like the courage our team played. We have to play a little bit better on the offensive end, but I'm confident as the season goes, were going to play well. I'd much rather play a team like this and see when you play a really good team, to see what place we are at. Even though we were down most of them game, this game helped us get better."