Probably the most satisfying loss I've seen in almost 50 years of watching Cal basketball. They could have folded their tents after a pretty dismal first half, but they refused to give up and scored a whopping 62 points in the second half. Kudos to the team and the coaching staff!
Going into the season, the single biggest factor in Cal showing any progress this year, at least from a win-loss perspective which right now is all that matters, was going to be improved defense. None of Madsen’s Cal teams have played anywhere close to well enough on the defensive end to win consistently, especially against P5 competition.
While the D was better the first 3 games, those came against mid major teams. Unfortunately, nothing we saw tonight says this team is all that much improved defensively against good offenses such as KSU, which poses a real issue when projecting the ceiling for this club.
This game started a lot like @ Vandy last year, but ended up looking a lot more like @ Mizzou (tip of the cap to @Take Off That Red Shirt). Now, both of those teams danced, and this K-State team likely will too. But until we stop allowing good teams to shoot 64% from the field, Cal’s probably going to struggle to win games consistently in the ACC.
Haha Appreciate it. Agreed, was rlly disappointed in the Dorsey petraitis duo tn, thought they could be our defensive anchors maybe they still can. Ya I think we're set up to have more wins than last year which even though isnt sayin much, will be cool to say that Madsen improves every year. Hopefully they prove me wrong, keep up that second half play, and end up being much more than that.
Agreed. But OTOH, K State is a legit offense. They’re no joke and are gonna score on good teams. Last year, the 88 spot Cornell put up was the big uh-oh, imo.
My buddy and I were talking non conference slate today - it’s very manageable other than the 3 games v P5 teams…@ KSU, v UCLA at Chase, and v Utah at Haas.
If you can go 1-1 v the former P12 schools, and avoid dropping one of the gimmes, that’s 11-2 non con, which is doable and would be fantastic, especially for confidence, heading into ACC play.
Once in ACC play, can you win games v the 2nd tier schools?
Top 15 L’ville/UNC/Duke, all at Haas, are gonna be tough. Get any one of those, and you have a signature W and Bubble watch talk is not out of the question.
Can you split with ‘Furd & Ga Tech (2 W’s).
Can you beat Notre Dame, Clemson, Pitt, & SMU at home? (4 W’s).
Can you steal at least one each in the state of Virginia or Florida, or in Winston Salem? (2 W).
Can you win 1 in the Northeast @ Carrier Dome or BC? (1 W).
7 or 8-wins in the ACC while avoiding bad losses would be big time progress and a real breakthrough for Madsen in Berkeley. And it’s not far fetched, especially IF they can play better D.
The Quad 1 wins would probably be the deciding factor, but 11-2 and maybe 8-10 in ACC play probably puts you in the Bubble discussion heading into the ACC Tourney...
K St is not just a legit offense, it is one of the best in the country. But that Cal came close on the road is both encouraging, and discouraging, as it was a chance to steal one they shouldn't have been able to and they didn't.
11-2 and maybe 8-10 in ACC would be the absolute best case, and that means winning ALL the coin flips. That is not reasonable for even the very best teams. But in the NIT/Crown conversation could be in the cards.
Yep. I was just laying out a best case path, not predicting what I thought was going to happen.
Personally, I do not think Madsen teams defend well enough schematically yet to consistently beat P5 teams, so more likely we’ll be closer to 5-6 ACC W’s rather than 8-9. But last night’s L at least offered enough glimpses to dream, though they can not continue to allow P5 opponents to shoot >60% from the floor, and 50% from 3, as they all too often do. IMO Utah is going to be the big litmus test…can we win that game, because honestly, MM has yet to win that kind of test.
That said, on paper you likely have 13 ACC coin flip games, so you don’t need to win all of them. Even winning half is not out of the question if the team is good enough and can improve even a little bit defensively.
I only saw the 1st half, which wasn't very good. Glad we came back strong. Our power forward, Camden, seemed good, with leadership qualities, too. We gotta cut down on the turnovers. K-State was shooting lights out early. Nice, we have more size. Roll on!
I choose to see this game as a good result. Previous Cal teams would have folded in the second half.
Lots to work on but it is really early in the season so let’s see some continued progression. We’ll have a couple more of these games against good teams before league play begins to prove ourselves.
If Pippin takes no shots in this game, and all else plays out the same, Cal wins by 5. He is a non-shooting point guard who thinks he can shoot. If he averages 4 points and 6 assists per game going forward, Cal will be a very good team. Our shooters shot lights out in the 2nd half. The term regressing to the mean comes to mind. This is unsustainable. Unless, of course, Ames and Bell are really that good. If Camden can have good nights exactly when when one of the other two have an off night, there might be some upsets. Google "cluster luck SF Giants".
Probably the most satisfying loss I've seen in almost 50 years of watching Cal basketball. They could have folded their tents after a pretty dismal first half, but they refused to give up and scored a whopping 62 points in the second half. Kudos to the team and the coaching staff!
We got a lot of upside....watch out!
Gotta defend better.
Still plenty to like from the film though.
Going into the season, the single biggest factor in Cal showing any progress this year, at least from a win-loss perspective which right now is all that matters, was going to be improved defense. None of Madsen’s Cal teams have played anywhere close to well enough on the defensive end to win consistently, especially against P5 competition.
While the D was better the first 3 games, those came against mid major teams. Unfortunately, nothing we saw tonight says this team is all that much improved defensively against good offenses such as KSU, which poses a real issue when projecting the ceiling for this club.
This game started a lot like @ Vandy last year, but ended up looking a lot more like @ Mizzou (tip of the cap to @Take Off That Red Shirt). Now, both of those teams danced, and this K-State team likely will too. But until we stop allowing good teams to shoot 64% from the field, Cal’s probably going to struggle to win games consistently in the ACC.
Haha Appreciate it. Agreed, was rlly disappointed in the Dorsey petraitis duo tn, thought they could be our defensive anchors maybe they still can. Ya I think we're set up to have more wins than last year which even though isnt sayin much, will be cool to say that Madsen improves every year. Hopefully they prove me wrong, keep up that second half play, and end up being much more than that.
Agreed. But OTOH, K State is a legit offense. They’re no joke and are gonna score on good teams. Last year, the 88 spot Cornell put up was the big uh-oh, imo.
My buddy and I were talking non conference slate today - it’s very manageable other than the 3 games v P5 teams…@ KSU, v UCLA at Chase, and v Utah at Haas.
If you can go 1-1 v the former P12 schools, and avoid dropping one of the gimmes, that’s 11-2 non con, which is doable and would be fantastic, especially for confidence, heading into ACC play.
Once in ACC play, can you win games v the 2nd tier schools?
Top 15 L’ville/UNC/Duke, all at Haas, are gonna be tough. Get any one of those, and you have a signature W and Bubble watch talk is not out of the question.
Can you split with ‘Furd & Ga Tech (2 W’s).
Can you beat Notre Dame, Clemson, Pitt, & SMU at home? (4 W’s).
Can you steal at least one each in the state of Virginia or Florida, or in Winston Salem? (2 W).
Can you win 1 in the Northeast @ Carrier Dome or BC? (1 W).
7 or 8-wins in the ACC while avoiding bad losses would be big time progress and a real breakthrough for Madsen in Berkeley. And it’s not far fetched, especially IF they can play better D.
The Quad 1 wins would probably be the deciding factor, but 11-2 and maybe 8-10 in ACC play probably puts you in the Bubble discussion heading into the ACC Tourney...
K St is not just a legit offense, it is one of the best in the country. But that Cal came close on the road is both encouraging, and discouraging, as it was a chance to steal one they shouldn't have been able to and they didn't.
11-2 and maybe 8-10 in ACC would be the absolute best case, and that means winning ALL the coin flips. That is not reasonable for even the very best teams. But in the NIT/Crown conversation could be in the cards.
Yep. I was just laying out a best case path, not predicting what I thought was going to happen.
Personally, I do not think Madsen teams defend well enough schematically yet to consistently beat P5 teams, so more likely we’ll be closer to 5-6 ACC W’s rather than 8-9. But last night’s L at least offered enough glimpses to dream, though they can not continue to allow P5 opponents to shoot >60% from the floor, and 50% from 3, as they all too often do. IMO Utah is going to be the big litmus test…can we win that game, because honestly, MM has yet to win that kind of test.
That said, on paper you likely have 13 ACC coin flip games, so you don’t need to win all of them. Even winning half is not out of the question if the team is good enough and can improve even a little bit defensively.
I only saw the 1st half, which wasn't very good. Glad we came back strong. Our power forward, Camden, seemed good, with leadership qualities, too. We gotta cut down on the turnovers. K-State was shooting lights out early. Nice, we have more size. Roll on!
i know it's not basketball... but wanted to share this. don't know where to share so posting in a recent articles.
JKS saying he wants to stay at CAL and get his degree.
https://footballscoop.com/2025/11/14/cal-star-freshman-jaron-keawe-sagapolutele-recommits-to-cal-transfer-portal
https://x.com/ciennapilotin/status/1989080856980513044?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1989080856980513044%7Ctwgr%5E919544e985e49d9568bfa43e56b79c93579167ea%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.footballscoop.com%2F2025%2F11%2F14%2Fcal-star-freshman-jaron-keawe-sagapolutele-recommits-to-cal-transfer-portal
MY VIDEO AGING LIKE WINE. THAT IS HYPE. LOCKEDONCALFOOTBALL.
WOW! I watched the the last 10 minutes of the first half and was ... dismayed!
I choose to see this game as a good result. Previous Cal teams would have folded in the second half.
Lots to work on but it is really early in the season so let’s see some continued progression. We’ll have a couple more of these games against good teams before league play begins to prove ourselves.
If Pippin takes no shots in this game, and all else plays out the same, Cal wins by 5. He is a non-shooting point guard who thinks he can shoot. If he averages 4 points and 6 assists per game going forward, Cal will be a very good team. Our shooters shot lights out in the 2nd half. The term regressing to the mean comes to mind. This is unsustainable. Unless, of course, Ames and Bell are really that good. If Camden can have good nights exactly when when one of the other two have an off night, there might be some upsets. Google "cluster luck SF Giants".