Bear Territory Thursday: Should Cal feel encouraged by close wins?

     Cal had a really close call on Wednesday night against Montana, winning 78-76 in double overtime. If it wasn't for a timely three by Jordan Mathews and a little bit of luck, Cal would have suffered an embarrassing home loss. The absence of Jabari Bird due to a foot injury didn't help, but even with him resting, Cal still should have defeated Montana by more than 2 points. Cal played sloppy basketball all night against the Grizzlies, turning the ball over at inopportune times while also finding ways to fall behind. But amid all these errors and mistakes, Cal still won the game, and that in and of itself is enough of a reason for Cal to feel encouraged.

     I don't doubt that Cal should feel like they have a lot to improve on after their close call against Montana as well as their single digit win over a mediocre Fresno State team on Sunday. Cal showed that when you don't make your free throws and in the process get careless with the ball, it's going to be hard to win games. If they continue to make those same mistakes, they will struggle once PAC-12 play begins.

     Fortunately, turnovers and foul shots are fixable mistakes. They are more mental errors than they are errors of being outplayed or outmatched. Tyrone Wallace for example repeatedly got to the foul line over these last two games and yet he really struggled to make his free throws. He can change that by practicing his foul shots and being more confident.

     The ability to correct these mistakes as well as the fact that they still found ways to win is why Cal should feel encouraged by these past couple of victories. They know that even when they have bad days and play poorly, they can still find ways to salvage the victory. I think experiencing wins like this will serve Cal well in the long-term provided they fix their mistakes and get better. It's never a bad thing to get tested early in the season. Especially when you still walk away with the win. Cal's next couple of games are Sunday at Nevada and Wednesday at home against Wyoming.

---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord