It’s certainly tough to draw any meaningful conclusions about this team without Keonte Kennedy. The 6’5” SG is their best perimeter defender, which would definitely help a team that struggles to defend from beyond the arc. On O, he hit 38% of his 3’s last year while his ability to get into the paint would also make the club more difficult to defend. Early practice reports indicated the offense was much more crisp and efficient with KK in the mix…he’s just a glue guy.
Toss in the injuries to starting PG Askew and 6th man Celestine, and it’s fair to say the club we’re seeing over Thanksgiving will likely look far different from the one we see on Valentine’s Day.
Not with standing our injuries, Cal's performance tonight was abysmal. It's not even fun watching them. Fortunately I have season tickets to the women's team as well.
Im surprised the commentary paid scant attention to Cal's defense. With far less talent, Mark Fox's team played more fundamental team and position defense. I understand the Bears are learning to play together, but their two losses were the result of poor defense.
Great article. Since this team is new and working around its floor, it's nice to see glimmers of its ceiling. Time will tell if Madsen can teach Aimaq his secrets of tough defense or if the team will find ways to ease his burden through scheme.
Great observations - and while mildly disappointed in results to date, one thing I’m super encouraged by is process. It’s early but I’m completely convinced we’re on the right road.
A question on some of the Bears defensive issues - Fardaws aside, we’ve been giving up above average 3 point shooting nights to opponents. Is this a structural issue with the D, personnel or just variance and catching teams on hot shooting nights?
In year's past when 3-point shooting has come up, it's usually been recency bias and variance. In the St Thomas game, the switching on the outside motion was not great, and St Thomas had too many clean looks. But they've maintained a 41% rate across their other games as well. UOP and Bakersfield are BAD 3-point teams, shooting under 30% (except against us).
Picking one thing - I think the inconsistency of lineup has been the single biggest factor, how to play team defense when you're still trying to figure out the optimal lineup for in-game situations. Kennedy's on-ball defense should make a HUGE difference for everyone.
1. The postgame press conferences are usually on youtube within a few hours, at worst by the next day. His words speak better than any paraphrasing I could do. I'll occasionally quote him when appropriate for the article. https://www.youtube.com/@calbears
2. Cal obviously could be 4-0 right now. It's hard to pin down any overarching themes across a sample size of 4 games with a totally new roster and coaching staff. In the last loss, I'd say it would be 14 turnovers and no answer for Brandon Walker (which I did say in the insta-recap). In the Pacific loss, not tight enough on 3-point defense. Let's see if either of these become a trend.
Catching up on my reading and top tier analysis as always from Don
Now this was a well thought out article. It made me enjoy cal basketball more than I was, and gave credit where credit was good for good play.
Great write-up with spot-on observations.
It’s certainly tough to draw any meaningful conclusions about this team without Keonte Kennedy. The 6’5” SG is their best perimeter defender, which would definitely help a team that struggles to defend from beyond the arc. On O, he hit 38% of his 3’s last year while his ability to get into the paint would also make the club more difficult to defend. Early practice reports indicated the offense was much more crisp and efficient with KK in the mix…he’s just a glue guy.
Toss in the injuries to starting PG Askew and 6th man Celestine, and it’s fair to say the club we’re seeing over Thanksgiving will likely look far different from the one we see on Valentine’s Day.
Not with standing our injuries, Cal's performance tonight was abysmal. It's not even fun watching them. Fortunately I have season tickets to the women's team as well.
Im surprised the commentary paid scant attention to Cal's defense. With far less talent, Mark Fox's team played more fundamental team and position defense. I understand the Bears are learning to play together, but their two losses were the result of poor defense.
Thanks BP
Great article. Since this team is new and working around its floor, it's nice to see glimmers of its ceiling. Time will tell if Madsen can teach Aimaq his secrets of tough defense or if the team will find ways to ease his burden through scheme.
Great observations - and while mildly disappointed in results to date, one thing I’m super encouraged by is process. It’s early but I’m completely convinced we’re on the right road.
A question on some of the Bears defensive issues - Fardaws aside, we’ve been giving up above average 3 point shooting nights to opponents. Is this a structural issue with the D, personnel or just variance and catching teams on hot shooting nights?
In year's past when 3-point shooting has come up, it's usually been recency bias and variance. In the St Thomas game, the switching on the outside motion was not great, and St Thomas had too many clean looks. But they've maintained a 41% rate across their other games as well. UOP and Bakersfield are BAD 3-point teams, shooting under 30% (except against us).
Picking one thing - I think the inconsistency of lineup has been the single biggest factor, how to play team defense when you're still trying to figure out the optimal lineup for in-game situations. Kennedy's on-ball defense should make a HUGE difference for everyone.
Already halfway to a better season than last!
This is a basketball article Bob.
Yes. We talk about that in the ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE in DBD every day.
1. The postgame press conferences are usually on youtube within a few hours, at worst by the next day. His words speak better than any paraphrasing I could do. I'll occasionally quote him when appropriate for the article. https://www.youtube.com/@calbears
2. Cal obviously could be 4-0 right now. It's hard to pin down any overarching themes across a sample size of 4 games with a totally new roster and coaching staff. In the last loss, I'd say it would be 14 turnovers and no answer for Brandon Walker (which I did say in the insta-recap). In the Pacific loss, not tight enough on 3-point defense. Let's see if either of these become a trend.