Yeah. It’s not remotely close to what we grew to love in our lifetimes prior to NIL. On a somewhat happier, local note: today I am enjoying watching Money Williams compete for Montana (vs. Wisconsin) in the NCAA tournament. I got to see him play at Oakland HS down the street from my house. He led Oakland HS to a CA state championship a couple of years ago prior to his college career. He is now the leading scorer for the Grizzlies, who I believe were the only D1 program to recruit him. Ironically his name is not yet what it is about for him. However maybe next year he’ll be with a more monied squad; he’s bound to get offers.
I don’t know. Travis DeCuire may have something up his sleeve to keep him. Sadly, on another note, both of Williams’s parents have died since last autumn. He reportedly keeps them forefront in his mind/soul and communicates with them before every game. Hard not to root for this kid.
It won't be an issue until the blue bloods start having problems because they have to reload every year and can't get the top players. Which will never happen. So it's this way going forward.
Thankfully the reboot is in progress. 2 new 4 star freshmen guards. Tucker, Blacksher out of eligibility. I'm sure Campbell will be encouraged to move on too.
Counterpoint, and a little respectful pushback, BP…from both a statistical and eye-test perspective, he looked overmatched at the ACC level.
Barring massive improvement, it’s tough to see how Cal’s record improves next year without a major talent bump at that position…if Cal’s gonna make any type of a run at .500 and the postseason, they need more on both ends of the floor from a guy that played 26 mpg.
If he’s playing 10 mpg, absolutely we would be happy with what he gives you, and it would be awesome to see him return to his ‘23-‘24 line, especially from beyond the arc where he went 25-61 (41%). He’s really struggled with his shot the other 2 seasons, however. And as cp mentioned below, is that what he wants for his SR year, to return in a diminished role? Dunno.
Either way, the staff has to find a way to strengthen the entire backcourt, and with Omot leaving as expected, they’re pretty thin yet again across the board.
Sigh. Tough to rebuild a program when you’re replacing 8 scholarships every year.
43% TS% (team worst among rotation players besides Mahoney), worst 3 pt % on 4th most attempts, lowest winshare/40 among heavy rotation players, negative OBPM. He's like an AAAA player; he's (and has been) a very good mid-major player but is a 10 MPG player at this level. Is that what he wants for his final season?
I don't know how we're gonna break this cycle. Feels like the two paths to success are to build a program by getting kids just talented and committed enough to build a semi-consistent roster or throw bags at kids. We seem unable to do either.
Love Madsen but found this year very disappointing from a coaching staff standpoint….while you could argue that they took an incremental step forward from last year despite injuries because of the increased depth, they nonetheless finished 15th in a weak ACC. Sure, there’s only so much you can do with a rotation that consisted mostly of role players and mid-major guys that largely struggled v P5 competition, but at the end of day he had 2 NBA-caliber guys and they should have been better as a team.
If you’re gonna build a program with guys that are a notch below from a talent perspective, you have to execute much better than they did. And you have to shoot the ball just a helluva lot better.
I'm with you. I would have guessed we'd have been a few games ahead of where we were last year. And the team didn't improve over the course of the year. The program still doesn't really have an identity. Program building is not just on the head coach of course, but it's hard not to see what Dennis Gates and Todd Golden have done at their respective programs and wonder what might have been if we had pivoted from Fox earlier as we all begged of Knowlton.
I think Madsen can get us to be able to hang offensively with most P5 teams…hell one more shooter this year and we probably win a couple more games and that’s a .500 club and progress. Rytis and Campbell both taking major steps back in the shooting department with the jump up to the ACC was disappointing.
But if this program is gonna even sniff the Bubble, we gotta be physically and mentally tougher and simply have to defend better…and that’s the identity you’ve referenced. This program is going to have to hang its hat on something - it needs to be defense, IMO. You can count on one hand the amount of 2H stops this team got in crucial situations of L’s with the game on the line v Mizzou, Ga Tech, ND, etc.
I think the one trend we've had over two years with Madsen that I desperately hope doesn't solidify in a 3rd year is a complete lack of guard play & recruitment. It hurt us last season when we didn't have a ball handler for have the year until Tyson learned the skill set. It hurt us this year because while Blacksher and Campbell have the skill set, they were both undersized and massive defensive liabilities. I think Madsen *can* teach defense. Outside of those two, the last 3 of our starting 5 were defensive standouts.
We desperately need our two commits from last year to pan out immediately so we can use Wilkinson's NIL to fill out the rest of the depth & roster.
Also, I really hope we get away from such heavy dependence on iso offenses.
Andrej won't be a lottery pick, but I think can be a solid NBA depth piece. He can score at all levels, and is athletic enough to defend NBA-caliber college players. And his defensive IQ is pretty damn high. If I were him, I might consider testing the draft this year because I'm not entirely sure how much more development Cal can offer him -- the faster he can get into an NBA level development program, the better...and I'm sure his dad makes it easier for some team to give him a shot. The only thing staying could really do is give him a shot at a full season without injury to increase his draft stock as much as possible.
Wilkinson's size is a problem. He's listed as 6-1, but I bet he's more like 5-10. There are a few miniature guys in the league like Skoot and Daveon Michell, but those guys are increasingly rare and seldom productive nowadays with so much size at every position. My guess is he makes most of his $ in college bouncing between programs and finds himself overseas eventually. But I can't see him getting anything other than a two-way deal in the NBA. Andrej has more potential, but he's in an odd spot in that he's probably not ready, but you also don't want to stick around too long. My guess is he makes himself eligible for the draft and sees where it goes. I don't think he has much to gain from jumping to another program, but I've been wrong before and will probably be proven wrong again given the luck of this program.
Boo! Cal will continue to be a mediocre team because they lose good players every year and only recruit average talent through the transfer portal. I feel for Coach Madsen; he is trying so hard to make Cal a great basketball team. I won't watch Wilkinson play for another team on TV.
Recruiting tactic needs to focus on west coast, California and local talent. There’s plenty up nearby talent. Chico State has an excellent guard from Bay Area that Bears should look into.
I’m just waiting for a transfer fee rule like in soccer. Since we aren’t going back to the old ways, let’s at least make these losses a little less painful for the non-blue blood programs that will get hit year after year with this situation.
Unfortunately this comes as no surprise. The most important offseason in Mark Madsen’s coaching career is off to a rough start.
This team needs to get drastically better at basically every position if they hope to beat good teams and even compete for a Tournament bid out of the ACC and this is just a huge blow. A program like Cal simply can’t reload an entire roster year in and year out, especially with mid-major players.
If Coach can keep Andrej and a few other current pieces in the fold, turn Wilkinson’s NIL $ into a legit, ACC-caliber big that can shoot and defend, while upgrading the backcourt even just slightly from 3 and on D, they could easily improve next year…
Really starting to hate this age of college sports.
Yeah. It’s not remotely close to what we grew to love in our lifetimes prior to NIL. On a somewhat happier, local note: today I am enjoying watching Money Williams compete for Montana (vs. Wisconsin) in the NCAA tournament. I got to see him play at Oakland HS down the street from my house. He led Oakland HS to a CA state championship a couple of years ago prior to his college career. He is now the leading scorer for the Grizzlies, who I believe were the only D1 program to recruit him. Ironically his name is not yet what it is about for him. However maybe next year he’ll be with a more monied squad; he’s bound to get offers.
Madsen ready to throw money his way.
Ideally you keep:
1.Andrej
2. Rytis
3. JOJ
4. Dort
5. Spencer Mahoney.
You add FR 6. Ruff & 7. Carr.
You grab from the portal:
8. An impact big
9. An impact PG
10. Shooter that can defend
11. Shooter that can defend
Omot.
He’s likely gone unfortunately
I'm hoping Andrej sticks around. He's the main guy in the offense and his dad can come watch him play every night.
If Andrej sticks there’s still a path to .500.
I don’t know. Travis DeCuire may have something up his sleeve to keep him. Sadly, on another note, both of Williams’s parents have died since last autumn. He reportedly keeps them forefront in his mind/soul and communicates with them before every game. Hard not to root for this kid.
It’s a total farce.
It won't be an issue until the blue bloods start having problems because they have to reload every year and can't get the top players. Which will never happen. So it's this way going forward.
Actually just had that thought after I posted. As long as it works for the Big 10 and SEC then we're stuck...until it does not.
Here’s hoping we don’t have another team reset which would probably mean another sub .500 season.
Stojacovich and Petraitus are key.
We need a full reset in the backcourt.
Thankfully the reboot is in progress. 2 new 4 star freshmen guards. Tucker, Blacksher out of eligibility. I'm sure Campbell will be encouraged to move on too.
I like Campbell. He stepped up when he needed to. He is best off the bench. I think he stays.
Counterpoint, and a little respectful pushback, BP…from both a statistical and eye-test perspective, he looked overmatched at the ACC level.
Barring massive improvement, it’s tough to see how Cal’s record improves next year without a major talent bump at that position…if Cal’s gonna make any type of a run at .500 and the postseason, they need more on both ends of the floor from a guy that played 26 mpg.
I think he plays a role more on the lines of what Tucker did this year, we would be really happy with him.
If he’s playing 10 mpg, absolutely we would be happy with what he gives you, and it would be awesome to see him return to his ‘23-‘24 line, especially from beyond the arc where he went 25-61 (41%). He’s really struggled with his shot the other 2 seasons, however. And as cp mentioned below, is that what he wants for his SR year, to return in a diminished role? Dunno.
Either way, the staff has to find a way to strengthen the entire backcourt, and with Omot leaving as expected, they’re pretty thin yet again across the board.
Sigh. Tough to rebuild a program when you’re replacing 8 scholarships every year.
43% TS% (team worst among rotation players besides Mahoney), worst 3 pt % on 4th most attempts, lowest winshare/40 among heavy rotation players, negative OBPM. He's like an AAAA player; he's (and has been) a very good mid-major player but is a 10 MPG player at this level. Is that what he wants for his final season?
I agree. He is a solid contributor; gives a spark most of the time.
I don't know how we're gonna break this cycle. Feels like the two paths to success are to build a program by getting kids just talented and committed enough to build a semi-consistent roster or throw bags at kids. We seem unable to do either.
Love Madsen but found this year very disappointing from a coaching staff standpoint….while you could argue that they took an incremental step forward from last year despite injuries because of the increased depth, they nonetheless finished 15th in a weak ACC. Sure, there’s only so much you can do with a rotation that consisted mostly of role players and mid-major guys that largely struggled v P5 competition, but at the end of day he had 2 NBA-caliber guys and they should have been better as a team.
If you’re gonna build a program with guys that are a notch below from a talent perspective, you have to execute much better than they did. And you have to shoot the ball just a helluva lot better.
I'm with you. I would have guessed we'd have been a few games ahead of where we were last year. And the team didn't improve over the course of the year. The program still doesn't really have an identity. Program building is not just on the head coach of course, but it's hard not to see what Dennis Gates and Todd Golden have done at their respective programs and wonder what might have been if we had pivoted from Fox earlier as we all begged of Knowlton.
Agree 100%.
I think Madsen can get us to be able to hang offensively with most P5 teams…hell one more shooter this year and we probably win a couple more games and that’s a .500 club and progress. Rytis and Campbell both taking major steps back in the shooting department with the jump up to the ACC was disappointing.
But if this program is gonna even sniff the Bubble, we gotta be physically and mentally tougher and simply have to defend better…and that’s the identity you’ve referenced. This program is going to have to hang its hat on something - it needs to be defense, IMO. You can count on one hand the amount of 2H stops this team got in crucial situations of L’s with the game on the line v Mizzou, Ga Tech, ND, etc.
I think the one trend we've had over two years with Madsen that I desperately hope doesn't solidify in a 3rd year is a complete lack of guard play & recruitment. It hurt us last season when we didn't have a ball handler for have the year until Tyson learned the skill set. It hurt us this year because while Blacksher and Campbell have the skill set, they were both undersized and massive defensive liabilities. I think Madsen *can* teach defense. Outside of those two, the last 3 of our starting 5 were defensive standouts.
We desperately need our two commits from last year to pan out immediately so we can use Wilkinson's NIL to fill out the rest of the depth & roster.
Also, I really hope we get away from such heavy dependence on iso offenses.
I'm not sure Andrej is NBA caliber. Not sure Jeremiah is either, but may be closer than Andrej.
Andrej won't be a lottery pick, but I think can be a solid NBA depth piece. He can score at all levels, and is athletic enough to defend NBA-caliber college players. And his defensive IQ is pretty damn high. If I were him, I might consider testing the draft this year because I'm not entirely sure how much more development Cal can offer him -- the faster he can get into an NBA level development program, the better...and I'm sure his dad makes it easier for some team to give him a shot. The only thing staying could really do is give him a shot at a full season without injury to increase his draft stock as much as possible.
I’m betting both find a way onto an NBA roster at some point in their careers.
Regardless, teams with guys like that probably shouldn’t be losing at home to Cornell or bad Va Tech/Syracuse teams.
Wilkinson's size is a problem. He's listed as 6-1, but I bet he's more like 5-10. There are a few miniature guys in the league like Skoot and Daveon Michell, but those guys are increasingly rare and seldom productive nowadays with so much size at every position. My guess is he makes most of his $ in college bouncing between programs and finds himself overseas eventually. But I can't see him getting anything other than a two-way deal in the NBA. Andrej has more potential, but he's in an odd spot in that he's probably not ready, but you also don't want to stick around too long. My guess is he makes himself eligible for the draft and sees where it goes. I don't think he has much to gain from jumping to another program, but I've been wrong before and will probably be proven wrong again given the luck of this program.
Wilkinson’s athleticism is the key - he is just so raw. If he goes and establishes himself as a legit PG, things could get interesting.
Both he and Andrej are admittedly at best 2nd rounders tho.
Wilkinson has become an impactful player late in the season, and I felt strongly that he would not remain at Cal next year.
There was little chance he would - he’s from the south and SEC schools are offering 7-figures so he was always gonna be gone…
Boo! Cal will continue to be a mediocre team because they lose good players every year and only recruit average talent through the transfer portal. I feel for Coach Madsen; he is trying so hard to make Cal a great basketball team. I won't watch Wilkinson play for another team on TV.
Recruiting tactic needs to focus on west coast, California and local talent. There’s plenty up nearby talent. Chico State has an excellent guard from Bay Area that Bears should look into.
I’m just waiting for a transfer fee rule like in soccer. Since we aren’t going back to the old ways, let’s at least make these losses a little less painful for the non-blue blood programs that will get hit year after year with this situation.
Well this sucks.
Unfortunately this comes as no surprise. The most important offseason in Mark Madsen’s coaching career is off to a rough start.
This team needs to get drastically better at basically every position if they hope to beat good teams and even compete for a Tournament bid out of the ACC and this is just a huge blow. A program like Cal simply can’t reload an entire roster year in and year out, especially with mid-major players.
Expected. Frustrating. Can't do a full reset again. Rise to .500 was great. Can't plateau
That sucks!!!
If Coach can keep Andrej and a few other current pieces in the fold, turn Wilkinson’s NIL $ into a legit, ACC-caliber big that can shoot and defend, while upgrading the backcourt even just slightly from 3 and on D, they could easily improve next year…
It was pretty obvious that this would happen as the season progressed.
Is it time to hire Jason Kidd as GM?
Way past.
The portal giveth, the portal taketh away......
Shocking, but not surprising...