Cal coach Montgomery joins Calabro show

MyNorthwest.com staff

Cal head basketball coach Mike Montgomery joined the Calabro show on Tuesday, two days before the Golden Bears travel to Seattle to play the Huskies. Here are a few notable quotes:

On the overall strength of the Pac-10: “I think the league is better than people give it credit for. I do think Washington is a very good team, the fact that they went out on the road and got beat, I think it just points out that it’s tough. But once you get the reputation of not being very good, it’s hard to overcome that. Our preseason schedule was the toughest in the country and then we get in the league and it’s gone way down now – it’s no longer so tough. I thought UCLA beating St. John’s helped the league. We’ve got to do more of that.”

On how many conference wins it will take to make it in: “I’m thinking 12, 13. You know a 10-8 record in the league it’s probably gonna get you in the top three or four. I just think that the league is, again, how people perceive it right now that if you look at eight losses…three or four years ago, two or three years ago, yeah, it was a lock. But right now I think that it’d be tough.”

On the possibility of WSU making the tournament: “I think they have a real legitimate chance. I mean, they beat Gonzaga by 20, and I know Gonzaga has fallen on some hard times, but generally speaking, because Gonzaga has become such a darling of the media, that that win almost puts you in great company. But they’re pretty good and obviously they have to finish up strong, if they do that, I think they have a legitimate chance. Obviously Washington, Arizona, maybe UCLA has a chance. Who knows? Maybe ourselves. I think we’d have a legitimate argument too.”

On UW’s three-game losing streak: “A lot of what happens in this league is where you play people; who you play, where you play ’em. And, you know, Washington…everybody’s probably in a full-on panic, but the fact is they’ve been on the road and it’s hard.”