California guard, Pac-12 Player of the Year Crabbe presents difficult challenge on perimeter
Allen Crabbe is California’s best shooter, a player who can deliver big shots from the arc with a shooting form that’s considered close to perfect.
He’s the Pac-12 Player of the Year for good reason. The junior swingman averages 18.7 points per game, and is shooting 46.2 percent from the field, 34.6 percent from the arc. He’s going to be the player Syracuse’s 2-3 zone defense places a lot of focus on when the Orange plays the Golden Bears in the third round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday at 9:40 p.m.
Crabbe scored at least 20 points in 14 of the Golden Bears’ games during the regular season.
Syracuse is going to have to close out on Crabbe to make sure he doesn’t any get any good looks. Once he starts knocking down shots, he’s capable to go on a roll and torment the Orange’s defense.
Crabbe is widely expected to declare for the NBA Draft once California’s season ends, so he’s certainly going to do everything he can to keep the Golden Bears alive in the NCAA Tournament.
Basically, he’s going to look to play like he did so often during the season.
Here’s a look at some of Crabbe’s best games this season:
Date Opponent FG-FGA 3FG-3FGA Pts.
11/13 Pepperdine 10-18 4-7 33
11/25 Pacific 9-16 1-4 24
12/2 Wisconsin 8-15 2-5 25
12/22 Prairie View A&M 8-11 3-4 23
1/5 USC 9-12 1-3 27
1/24 Utah 8-15 4-6 23
2/10 Arizona 12-15 4-7 31
2/17 USC 8-16 5-11 23
2/28 Utah 5-12 4-9 15
3/6 Stanford 8-15 2-5 24
3/21 UNLV 7-15 1-4 19
Published on March 22, 2013 at 5:02 pm
Contact Chris: cjiseman@syr.edu | @chris_iseman
