basketball
Best of 2011 Slideshow
Click here for my Best of 2011 slideshow. 125,000 pictures cut down to my favorite sports pictures of the year. Enjoy!
Cal vs Mississippi 3/16/11
Cal forward Richard Solomon pulls in a rebound.
A week after I thought Cal’s season was over, I found out that they had accepted a bid to play Ole Miss in the NIT (National Invitational Tournament). It was at that same time that I found out that there was still such a thing as the NIT. But coming during a relatively quiet week, I was actually looking forward to checking out how the young Bears team would react to tournament pressure. The answer was: just well enough.
Playing without lone senior Markhuri Sanders-Frison (shoulder injury) and with a hobbled Harper Kamp (flu), Cal played an even younger team than usual. Despite iffy rebounding and some poor free throw shooting down the stretch, Cal pulled out a 77-74 win and advanced to play top seed Colorado Friday in Boulder.
Two views of the same play:
Handheld from the baseline, 85mm:
Mississippi guard Chris Warren drives around a block set by Cal forward Richard Solomon.
Remote clamped to the support, 32mm:
Cal forward Richard Solomon pressures a shot from Mississippi guard Chris Warren.
Mississippi forward Steadman Short battles Cal forward Richard Solomon for a rebound.
Cal guard Jorge Gutierrez drives to the hoop.
Cal forward Richard Solomon goes up for a dunk.
Cal guard Brandon Smith guards Mississippi guard Zach Graham.
Mississippi forward Terrance Henry shoots around a block from Cal forward Richard Solomon.
Mississippi guard Zach Graham squeezes between two Cal defenders.
Cal vs Stanford 3/5/11
On senior day vs. rival Stanford, Cal’s only senior, Markhuri Sanders-Frison
takes the court with his parents before the game…
© Matt Cohen 2011
…and then huddles with teammates.
© Matt Cohen 2011
Allen Crabbe:
© Matt Cohen 2011
Brandon Smith and an interestingly placed shadow:
© Matt Cohen 2011
Jorge Gutierrez:
© Matt Cohen 2011
Harper Kamp:
© Matt Cohen 2011
Sanders-Frison:
© Matt Cohen 2011
Gutierrez forces Stanford guard Jeremy Green into a turnover:
© Matt Cohen 2011
Stanford Dwight Powell shoots over Cal forward Richard Solomon:
© Matt Cohen 2011
Kamp takes a charge from Stanford center Josh Owens:
© Matt Cohen 2011
Sanders-Frison battles for a rebound:
© Matt Cohen 2011
Crabbe shoots under pressure from Green:
© Matt Cohen 2011
Stanford forward Andrew Zimmermann takes a charge from Gutierrez:
© Matt Cohen 2011
Powell comes up with a loose ball after scrambling with Sanders-Frison:
© Matt Cohen 2011
With Cal running up the score, I started looking for some more abstract pictures.
Here Sanders-Frison is framed by a teammate’s jersey as he looks for a rebound:
© Matt Cohen 2011
Owens is framed by other players as he watches a shot:
© Matt Cohen 2011
Sanders-Frison celebrates with fans after the Cal’s 74-55 win:
© Matt Cohen 2011
Solomon reaches into the crowd as fans go crazy after the game:
© Matt Cohen 2011
Cal vs UCLA 2/20/11
UCLA visited Haas Pavilion on Sunday to face Cal, and the PAC-10 game
between the streaking Bruins and the slumping Bears did not play out exactly
the way the teams’ records would have suggested. Cal led most of the way and
held on for a 76-72 win in overtime.
© Matt Cohen 2011
Cal guard Brandon Smith squeezes through the UCLA defense for a layup.
© Matt Cohen 2011
Cal forward Richard Solomon shoots over UCLA forward Reeves Nelson.
© Matt Cohen 2011
Cal guard Jorge Gutierrez blocks a shot by UCLA guard Malcolm Lee.
© Matt Cohen 2011
Cal guard Jeff Powers and Nelson fight for a rebound.
© Matt Cohen 2011
UCLA center Anthony Stover puts back a rebound for a layup.
© Matt Cohen 2011
Brandon Smith loses the handle under pressure from Lazeric Jones.
© Matt Cohen 2011
Gutierrez took control of the game down the stretch, consistently finding a
path to the hoop, even through traffic.
© Matt Cohen 2011
© Matt Cohen 2011
UCLA guard Malcolm Lee celebrates after tying the game with a three-point
shot as time expired in regulation. I don’t ordinarily have a rooting interest in
the games I shoot, but after this picture, I was really hoping that UCLA would
win.
© Matt Cohen 2011
But Gutierrez’s hot hand continued in overtime, as he scored nine of his
career-high 34 points.
© Matt Cohen 2011
Bak Bak, Robert Thurman, and Jeff Powers celebrate as time runs out in overtime.
© Matt Cohen 2011
Cal vs Arizona/Arizona State
Cal guard Jorge Gutierrez lets go of the ball after drawing a foul against Arizona
State.
© Matt Cohen 2011
The Arizona schools visited Cal this week, both sporting head coaches from…
Pittsburgh, PA. 412 Represent!
Cal guard Alan Crabbe takes the court before the Arizona State game.
© Matt Cohen 2011
Arizona State guard Trent Lockett shoots around Cal center Markhuri Sanders-Frison.
© Matt Cohen 2011
Arizona State guard Keala King pulls up for a shot over Cal guard Allen Crabbe.
© Matt Cohen 2011
Cal center Markhuri Sanders-Frison reaches for the slam…
© Matt Cohen 2011
…and battles for a rebound with Arizona State forward Kyle Cain.
© Matt Cohen 2011
Cal guard Jorge Gutierrez drives to the hoop and draws a foul from Arizona State
guard Rihards Kuksiks.
© Matt Cohen 2011
Cal guard Brandon Smith races Arizona State guard Carrick Felix to the hoop.
© Matt Cohen 2011
© Matt Cohen 2011
© Matt Cohen 2011
Felix had the last laugh, swatting Smith’s shot against the glass and away from
the hoop. Unfortunately, he got just a little too close to the camera and out of
the zone where I was focusing.
© Matt Cohen 2011
After going up big, then down, Cal pulled out a 66-62 win.
After beating Arizona State, Arizona was next up for Cal. A 5pm start meant
that I needed to be at Haas by 1pm to set up and test my remotes. A triple
overtime game won by Arizona 107-105 meant that I didn’t leave until 9pm,
altogether way too much time to invest in a regular season basketball game.
Arizona guard Lamont Jones loses the ball after running into Cal center Markhuri
Sanders-Frison and guard Jorge Gutierrez.
© Matt Cohen 2011
Arizona Wildcats forward Derrick Williams (23) dunks during the NCAA basketball
game between the Arizona Wildcats and the California Golden Bears at Haas
Pavilion. Arizona survived three overtimes to beat Cal 107-105.
© Matt Cohen 2011
Cal guard Jorge Gutierrez drives for a layup.
© Matt Cohen 2011
Cal center Markhuri Sanders-Frison celebrates after scoring and drawing a foul.
© Matt Cohen 2011
Arizona forward Solomon Hill drives for the basket.
© Matt Cohen 2011
Arizona guard Kevin Parrom puts up a shot.
© Matt Cohen 2011
Cal head coach Mike Montgomery argues a call…
© Matt Cohen 2011
…and then does the twist?
© Matt Cohen 2011
Sean Miller was a freshman at Pitt when I was a freshman in high school. Miller’s
Pitt teams with Charles Smith, Jerome Lane, Demetrius Gore, Jason Matthers,
Bobby Martin, and Darelle Porter were a whole lot of fun to watch, especially this
Miller pass to Lane who shattered the backboard with a monster dunk.
Miller was the calm point guard, but he’s grown into a fiery coach. Here Miller
argues a call, not as well as Montgomery, but he’s still young.
© Matt Cohen 2011
Cal forward Richard Solomon beats Arizona forward Jamelle Horne to a rebound.
© Matt Cohen 2011
Arizona forward Jamelle Horne tries to get over a block from Cal forward Richard
Solomon. No ball in the frame, but Solomon’s expression makes it a picture,
I think.
© Matt Cohen 2011
File under: something you don’t see every day:
An actual credentialed photographer, sitting two spots away from me on the
baseline, checking and applying makeup during a time out. Sorry to pull your
card, hun, but better you learn now than when you get caught doing it on TV.