Let's hope Madsen finally gets a chance to build upon a team and not just rebuild yet again. I think we're only a few pieces away from being in the 2nd quartile of the ACC.
Of course this game is the one I didn't get to watch. And that might have been best for my mental health.
It’s essential. Gotta have at least some modicum of stability to build the program. Wholesale roster changes each year is such a challenge unless you’re stacked with 4-5 star recruits that can play…
Yup. A few player decisions here and there…definitely close, but also clearly not there yet. I understand getting the ball in Wilkinson’s hands late, and he’ll learn…but he really forced the issue at the end of road games at Ga Tech and ND where he was out of control with a chance to win it - then again, he was also responsible for the Bears being competitive in both games, so you take the bad with the good…..
Wilkinson is a huge litmus test for this program…the coaching staff found a gem of a recruit from the heart of SEC country…can Madsen and CALegends keep him in Berkeley another year so the program can benefit as he matures as a player? He’s going to get 7-figure offers from the blue bloods…it will be interesting to see, because a program like Cal simply can’t keep retooling it’s entire roster every season with players that are oftentimes overmatched at the Power 5 level.
I believe in Madsen and though the results are similar to many of the previous 6 years with Wyking and Fox, it just feels different. That said, I, and hopefully a lot of Cal fans will do their part and donate what they can to the MBB NIL but still don’t love Cal’s chances of holding onto JW given the insanity of the NIL/Portal madness. But it is probably essential they do so to get over the hump and push for .500…CALegends.com!
I don't know how you can say Madsen's results are similar to the previous 6 years. On percentage alone, winning 41% of your games is orders of magnitude better than Wyking's 25% and Fox's 30%. Then look at all of the dismal blowouts suffered during W and F years (WTF years?), compared to the mostly competitive games played by Madsen's teams. He inherited an ugly tire fire of a program after 6 years of futility, the last year of which the team went 3-29. He has at least brought things back to some respectability and so far has been able to recruit reasonably well both in the portal and high school.
Madsen has a tough task ahead of him to take things to the next level -- it's hard to build a strong team when your top 10 players weren't even on the roster last year -- but I think he can achieve that by bringing key players back from this year's roster, augmented by continued strong recruiting.
I dunno RBO and respectfully, I did say it feels different and that I was referring to many, not all, of the previous seasons…tho honestly take away the 3-29 disaster where they set a major conference record of futility and both Mark’s are on par, fwiw.
I won’t argue that the team is both more entertaining and competitive, but at the end of the day, Madsen is likely 13-19 in back-to-back seasons despite having had the benefit of multiple NBA players, something Fox never did. Unfortunately, L’s are still L’s, especially when the same issues plague the team for the better part of BOTH seasons, regardless of roster composition.
Also won’t argue that things look a helluva lot better next season if many of the current players return. However, in this day and age of the NIL/portal, especially with Cal’s modest donation-pool, the chances of that are slim, especially Wilkinson, so you’re more than likely looking at another rebuild of some kind.
This Cal team should have been better, and either their offense or defense were borderline unwatchable for large stretches of the year. They looked more like a solid mid-major team than a good P5 one. I’m still high on Madsen but he does have something to prove in year 3…
I saw the part about it feeling different. My point was that it feels different because it is different. 41% is a lot better than the 29% win rate (and blowout loss after blowout loss) of the prior six years. And, respectfully, you can't remove the 3-29 season from the equation, given the ugly downward trend during the Fox era.
I'm only aware of one NBA player (Tyson) on Madsen's teams. The jury is still out on JW and AS; let's see how they develop next season (and hopefully beyond). And the only reason Madsen has had these players is that he was able to recruit them -- unlike the prior two coaches -- and in Tyson's case, was able to coach him up to be a 1st round draft pick.
I agree with you: given the upgrade in talent, it seems that Cal should have had a better record this season; however, as I noted, it's really tough to improve as a team when the top 10 players to see the court this year weren't even on the roster last year.
I hear ya, but that’s kinda the thing tho - sure, they’re closer, but many of the same mistakes and breakdowns we saw in the previous 6 years have affected both of his Cal teams - turnovers, missed assignments, a completely stagnant O, inefficiency on both sides of the ball, and brutal shooting. We finished 15th in a 3-bid ACC with 2 guys that will absolutely play professionally, most likely in the NBA, and while the games were more competitive, the team didn't really develop all that much over the course of the year.
This team was equal parts suspect on either O and D for large parts of the year…you wanna give Madsen a pass for the situation he inherited, totally fine, but there’s been a clear disconnect in his 2 seasons here on the X’s & O’s and finer points of the game, especially fundamentals and defense.
The question is whether Madsen can keep the roster intact and improve…there was arguably very little improvement from year 1 to year 2 with a deeper roster, and right now, expecting the stability that is needed for this program to take the next step is unfortunately maybe wishful/hopeful thinking given the madness of the NIL and portal - two things outside of Cal's control. My fingers are certainly crossed, but while I love Madsen’s recruiting potential, I guess I have more concerns about the coaching chops after watching this season's continued mistakes and lack of adjustments…but as always, Go Bears! I fully support Mark...just hope he can keep the roster together, supplement it and develop these pieces.
Once again the poor defense caused the Bears to loose . Several times players didn’t get back in transition and left guys wide open for easy scores. You just knew like always, CAL would find a way to get an L.
Andrej' shutdown defense of Burton in the second half of regulation was beautiful-- they can play defense, and are getting better at it. If not for that one failed switch at the end of one of the OTs this was a win.
Until Madsen-coached teams figure out how to play even average defense, 13-14 W’s is probably gonna be this program’s ceiling.
Allowing not 1 but 2 separate guys that see 33+ minutes per game to eclipse their season high in points scored in the same night is a recipe for disaster…how do you not switch on the screen for their best and hottest player? Brutal defensive fundamentals.
Let's hope Madsen finally gets a chance to build upon a team and not just rebuild yet again. I think we're only a few pieces away from being in the 2nd quartile of the ACC.
Of course this game is the one I didn't get to watch. And that might have been best for my mental health.
Who does Cal need beyond the obvious two to return?
If we can get a majority of Omot, JOJ, Rytis and Mahoney back, along with the obvious 2, they can contend for the Dance, provided they add:
*an ACC caliber PG that can defend…
plus
* an ACC caliber big that can defend…
More consistent shooters and another center to replace Sissoko.
Madsen has his work cut out for him to avoid another reset of the team next season.
We need some sort of core back to get over the .500 wall.
It’s essential. Gotta have at least some modicum of stability to build the program. Wholesale roster changes each year is such a challenge unless you’re stacked with 4-5 star recruits that can play…
Thanks Nick.
At least this team plays entertaining games.
Huge offseason for Mark.
Yes, they play hard and are competitive. It was a tough loss, but they didn't give up. Just a few more pieces.
Yup. A few player decisions here and there…definitely close, but also clearly not there yet. I understand getting the ball in Wilkinson’s hands late, and he’ll learn…but he really forced the issue at the end of road games at Ga Tech and ND where he was out of control with a chance to win it - then again, he was also responsible for the Bears being competitive in both games, so you take the bad with the good…..
Wilkinson is a huge litmus test for this program…the coaching staff found a gem of a recruit from the heart of SEC country…can Madsen and CALegends keep him in Berkeley another year so the program can benefit as he matures as a player? He’s going to get 7-figure offers from the blue bloods…it will be interesting to see, because a program like Cal simply can’t keep retooling it’s entire roster every season with players that are oftentimes overmatched at the Power 5 level.
I believe in Madsen and though the results are similar to many of the previous 6 years with Wyking and Fox, it just feels different. That said, I, and hopefully a lot of Cal fans will do their part and donate what they can to the MBB NIL but still don’t love Cal’s chances of holding onto JW given the insanity of the NIL/Portal madness. But it is probably essential they do so to get over the hump and push for .500…CALegends.com!
I don't know how you can say Madsen's results are similar to the previous 6 years. On percentage alone, winning 41% of your games is orders of magnitude better than Wyking's 25% and Fox's 30%. Then look at all of the dismal blowouts suffered during W and F years (WTF years?), compared to the mostly competitive games played by Madsen's teams. He inherited an ugly tire fire of a program after 6 years of futility, the last year of which the team went 3-29. He has at least brought things back to some respectability and so far has been able to recruit reasonably well both in the portal and high school.
Madsen has a tough task ahead of him to take things to the next level -- it's hard to build a strong team when your top 10 players weren't even on the roster last year -- but I think he can achieve that by bringing key players back from this year's roster, augmented by continued strong recruiting.
I dunno RBO and respectfully, I did say it feels different and that I was referring to many, not all, of the previous seasons…tho honestly take away the 3-29 disaster where they set a major conference record of futility and both Mark’s are on par, fwiw.
I won’t argue that the team is both more entertaining and competitive, but at the end of the day, Madsen is likely 13-19 in back-to-back seasons despite having had the benefit of multiple NBA players, something Fox never did. Unfortunately, L’s are still L’s, especially when the same issues plague the team for the better part of BOTH seasons, regardless of roster composition.
Also won’t argue that things look a helluva lot better next season if many of the current players return. However, in this day and age of the NIL/portal, especially with Cal’s modest donation-pool, the chances of that are slim, especially Wilkinson, so you’re more than likely looking at another rebuild of some kind.
This Cal team should have been better, and either their offense or defense were borderline unwatchable for large stretches of the year. They looked more like a solid mid-major team than a good P5 one. I’m still high on Madsen but he does have something to prove in year 3…
I saw the part about it feeling different. My point was that it feels different because it is different. 41% is a lot better than the 29% win rate (and blowout loss after blowout loss) of the prior six years. And, respectfully, you can't remove the 3-29 season from the equation, given the ugly downward trend during the Fox era.
I'm only aware of one NBA player (Tyson) on Madsen's teams. The jury is still out on JW and AS; let's see how they develop next season (and hopefully beyond). And the only reason Madsen has had these players is that he was able to recruit them -- unlike the prior two coaches -- and in Tyson's case, was able to coach him up to be a 1st round draft pick.
I agree with you: given the upgrade in talent, it seems that Cal should have had a better record this season; however, as I noted, it's really tough to improve as a team when the top 10 players to see the court this year weren't even on the roster last year.
I hear ya, but that’s kinda the thing tho - sure, they’re closer, but many of the same mistakes and breakdowns we saw in the previous 6 years have affected both of his Cal teams - turnovers, missed assignments, a completely stagnant O, inefficiency on both sides of the ball, and brutal shooting. We finished 15th in a 3-bid ACC with 2 guys that will absolutely play professionally, most likely in the NBA, and while the games were more competitive, the team didn't really develop all that much over the course of the year.
This team was equal parts suspect on either O and D for large parts of the year…you wanna give Madsen a pass for the situation he inherited, totally fine, but there’s been a clear disconnect in his 2 seasons here on the X’s & O’s and finer points of the game, especially fundamentals and defense.
The question is whether Madsen can keep the roster intact and improve…there was arguably very little improvement from year 1 to year 2 with a deeper roster, and right now, expecting the stability that is needed for this program to take the next step is unfortunately maybe wishful/hopeful thinking given the madness of the NIL and portal - two things outside of Cal's control. My fingers are certainly crossed, but while I love Madsen’s recruiting potential, I guess I have more concerns about the coaching chops after watching this season's continued mistakes and lack of adjustments…but as always, Go Bears! I fully support Mark...just hope he can keep the roster together, supplement it and develop these pieces.
A tough loss
Once again the poor defense caused the Bears to loose . Several times players didn’t get back in transition and left guys wide open for easy scores. You just knew like always, CAL would find a way to get an L.
Andrej' shutdown defense of Burton in the second half of regulation was beautiful-- they can play defense, and are getting better at it. If not for that one failed switch at the end of one of the OTs this was a win.
Until Madsen-coached teams figure out how to play even average defense, 13-14 W’s is probably gonna be this program’s ceiling.
Allowing not 1 but 2 separate guys that see 33+ minutes per game to eclipse their season high in points scored in the same night is a recipe for disaster…how do you not switch on the screen for their best and hottest player? Brutal defensive fundamentals.