I had one overriding thought while watching Cal fall to Houston in Lake Tahoe: Lee Dort, get well soon.
Cal’s veteran center was in the arena but not dressed for the game as he continues to heal from an off-season injury. And against a team like top 10 Houston, with big strong athletes to spare, his absence was obvious.
When Houston was sending waves of athletic 6’8’’ bigs at the glass, his absence was obvious. When one of Cal’s guards penetrated into the lane and looked to dish to a big man inside, his absence was obvious. When Cal’s back-up bigs got into foul trouble, his absence was obvious.
This is not to suggest that, had Lee Dort been healthy, Cal would have beaten Houston. The Cougars are a top 10 team for a good reason, and Lee Dort would not have made up the 18 point difference between the teams. Houston’s 86-68 win was not in doubt based on one injury.
But the path was easier without Cal’s primary big man. Houston started the game red hot, scoring on 11 of their first 12 possessions. Many of those buckets were pretty easy finishes inside, or put backs from misses. Dort’s presence inside might well have led to a handful more stops early, delaying the inevitable that much longer.
And later in the season, when the Bears are playing other teams, Dort’s availability could indeed be the difference between wins and losses. Here’s to hoping that he’s back soon.
For the last six years, Kelvin Sampson and Houston have had approximately the best defense in college basketball. The Cougars have finished 9th or better in adjusted defensive efficiency in each of those six seasons, powered by brilliant shot contesting skills and the best 2 point defense anywhere in the country.
So I was actually pretty encouraged with Cal’s offensive effort on Sunday night. The Bears shot a solid 52% on their 2 point shots, 35% on their 3s, and weren’t horribly turnover prone against Houston’s relentless ball pressure and passing lane contests.
Most of Cal’s guards all flashed at times. Jordan Ross was a great creator off the dribble drive, going 7-10 on his 2s with 5 assists. Michael Cooper got hot from 3 and took care of the ball. Semetri Carr was composed and helped out on the glass. Jovani Ruff got downhill successfully in his limited minutes.
Against the best defense Cal will face all year long, the Bears had a solid all-around offensive performance, made all the more impressive that they were without their starting center. Mantas Kocanas and Dk Dut can contribute on the defensive end, but just aren’t yet ready to be consistent offensive contributors. That Cal’s guards could produce without an inside threat against a defense of this caliber is very encouraging.
Defensively . . . well, there’s work to be done. Houston’s one consistent weakness under Sampson has been shooting, and while there’s reason to think that this Cougar team might be more gifted offensively, allowing Houston to shoot 29-51 from 2 is a concern. It’s particularly a concern because at times it looked like Cal was sagging off and allowing Houston to attempt 3s, and yet the Cougars still managed to get the ball inside.
Some of this is Dort’s absence, some of this is probably related to a new group of players learning to play defense together, but there were some rough rotations and screen responses. We’re only two games in, but so far the offense has been well ahead of the defense in the early going.
If Cal had this exact same roster a decade ago, I’d be patiently excited to watch this team grow in anticipation of a big 2027-28 season, because every single player on the roster other than Lee Dort has another year of eligibility remaining. But because it’s 2026 and I’ve watched every single Mark Madsen team get ~80% turned over every off-season, it’s harder to get excited about the possibility that Cal can develop an intriguing roster through a rebuilding year.
Still, I’m curious to see how Mark Madsen handles his rotation this season, because Cal has a deeper roster than prior seasons. Against Houston, Cal gave 10 players at least 12 minutes, going two deep at basically every position on the floor.
Will Madsen look to whittle down the rotation as he assesses the roster? Will he try to play a deeper rotation and maybe play a higher intensity brand of basketball and attempt to wear the opponent down? All of the guards and wings who have seen the floor in meaningful action so far have looked like they belong, but what is the right combination to get Cal playing effective team defense?
Cal will be back in Berkeley for a two week homestand that starts with a tough game against USC on Wednesday before three games against smaller schools that will be expected wins.
Bears looked pretty good considering they were playing the 10th ranked team in the Nation.