[GBMARIN]

Watched the replay of the UNM game. Smith had long minutes at point and acquitted himself very well. It is time to stop treating him like Sarah Palin and to actually pay attention to his play which I believe will really help the Bears this year. The work he has done in the off season looks to have really have paid off.

[Civil Bear]

Depends on which game you just finished watching. Against Sacto State and UNM I agree, against Northridge, notsomuch.

[puget sound cal fan]

Monty has acknowledged Smith's work on his game in the off-season, and the resulting improvement in his game. Smith is being rewarded with more minutes than most on this board projected before the season started. As Monty helps Franklin better discipline his game, I expect Gary will see more time at PG, too, in his role as a combo guard. The net result will be Monty being able to free-up Guti to be the designated assassin.

[KoreAmBear]

Ya looks like he put in Jorge-like work in the offseason and came back a better player.

[OzoneTheCat]

After our exhibition game I was a little concerned that Smith was going to struggle running the point as he did last year. He looked like a completely different player against New Mexico. He played smart, strong and fast. If he can put this together all season, we'll place much higher than the bottom third of the Pac-10

[NVBear78]

How did you watch a Replay of the New Mexico Game, I didn't think it was on Television?

Can you run a replay of the Cal Computer broadcast at the Cal site?

Thanks

[seattlebear02]

Yeah, seriously, where's the replay? I was at the game but had to leave with 10 mins to go and would like to watch what I missed.

[berkeleyhigh91]

It's available on YouTube.

[seattlebear02]

Direct link? I seriously have searched for it on youtube and cannot find it. Thanks in advance.

Edit: Nevermind....found it! Search for "cal nm" on youtube...

[RicoRico]

>As Monty helps Franklin better discipline his game, I expect Gary will see more time at PG, too

Yes, Franklin was very quick to pull the trigger. (as has been noted elsewhere he will likely suffer some horrendous box-scores with that attitude but) this team needs a confident permiter shooter like that and so far he is hitting his contested jumpers at a respectable rate. Anyway he didn't look like a point guard out there but I did see at least one assist.

[GBMARIN]

I found the replay at Golden Blogs.
Roxie in full throat: "Hammertime!"

[GldnBear71]

In the New Mexico game I thought Brandon sometimes dribbled too much when he should have been looking to pass. That said, I like that he is playing with much more condfidence this season.

[Big C_Cal]

It's still early yet, but if Brandon were to turn out to be the pleasant surprise of the season, that'd be HUGE. We would have a "true" point guard, for one... and we could allow Jorge to split time at the two guard spots and shut down the opponent's best wing.

Monty continues his history of outstanding PG development!

[HoopDreams]

Originally Posted by Big C_Cal

It's still early yet, but if Brandon were to turn out to be the pleasant surprise of the season, that'd be HUGE. We would have a "true" point guard, for one... and we could allow Jorge to split time at the two guard spots and shut down the oponent's best wing.

Monty continues his history of outstanding PG development!

Smith might be one of the most important players on the team. If he is solid at the 1 that enables Jorge to get some rest and/or go to the 2 where we need him for his defense and rebounding....PGs can't crash the boards

One thing that I noticed about Smith is he snatched a couple long rebounds and started the fast break....reminds me a little of AJ Diggs who despite being the smallest player on the court had an uncanny ability to grab long rebounds...

[south bender]

I saw where Smith said that he hurt both ankles last year and it made him more tentative. Monty has said that Smith worked hard on his shot in the off season and has improved it considerably.

This year he is healthy and it shows.

It is especially gratifying after reading many Bear fans diss the lad and even claim he was not a Division I player.

In fact, he has a superior sense of passing, is handling the ball pretty well, and will only get better. He is hardly a lot more experienced, other than in practice at Cal, than the freshmen.

For me, this year bodes well, as we have two guys playing at the point who would rather set up their teammates than look for their own shot. Moreover, I think it may be the case that we have improved ourselves at that position, with Jorge and Smith, rather than Randle. After all, Jerome was really a tiny shooting guard whose size dicated that he play the point.

Certainly both Jorge and Brandon will defend better by a mile than Jerome. And let's remember that defense wins games.