The California Golden Bears look to improve upon a season-opening victory against UC Irvine when they face a more intimidating foe in Haas Pavilion, the George Washington Colonials. GWU is one of the better teams Cal has on their non-conference schedule, and they play the 1-3-1 defense that Cal has faced before when they play Oregon State in-conference. Keeping the ball moving while moving with the basketball to break the zone will be crucial to opening the floodgates for Cal.
What the Bears will be looking for is better play from their bench in this one. The starting unit played solidly in its first game of the season, but the younger bench struggled in the minutes they were on the floor and generally deferred to the leading five. Mike Montgomery would like to see more aggressiveness from his players throughout the game and not become too passive when dealing with this defense. It'll be important to get Justin Cobbs (key to Cal's success this season) to start becoming more confident in taking his shots within the flow of the game, and try and get more out of backups like Emerson Murray, Jeff Powers, David Kravish and Robert Thurman. Depth production will be absolutely critical.
George Washington is a young group, so expect Cal to continue to play their man-to-man defense.
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