Cal Men's Basketball vs St. Thomas: Further Review

On the value of patience across multiple fronts

Photo courtesy Rob Hwang

Three years ago, the St. Thomas Tommies moved from Division III straight to Division I. They dominated DIII for nearly a decade, and is the first program ever to move from DIII to DI in one move. St. Thomas is an excellently coached team who executes their offense extremely well. This is the first game of the MadDog era, and they will need some time to become a cohesive unit. The fact that this was a close game should not have been a surprise to anyone. I’ve withheld making predictions, and will continue to do so through the non-conference schedule. Nothing has been eliminated from the range of potential outcomes. There are injuries to key players in Kennedy and Newell. Devin Curtis was a surprise inactive. Jaylon Tyson is still ineligible (but we may hear this week about his appeal). Mainly, the roster and staff will need some time to gel and work through their growing pains. In the immortal words of Axl Rose, “All we need is just a little patience.”

Game Summary

Cal and St.Thomas matched each other point-for-point all evening, as the game featured 15 lead changes and 7 ties. The biggest scoring run was 6 for Cal, 5 for the Tommies. The largest lead was 5 for Cal, 4 for St. Thomas.

Both teams started off well on offense. Jalen Celestine finished the first half with 10 points, including a couple 3-pointers. Fardaws Aimaq had 11 points and 9 rebounds at halftime. Cal tried to grab momentum, but St. Thomas responded each time. Each time Haas would start to come alive after an impressive Aimaq play down low or a Celestine 3-pointer, St. Thomas would come back down the floor and patiently execute their offense and finish with a good shot attempt. They finished the half 8-of-14 from 3-point range, with 6 different players hitting at least one long range shot.

In the second half, Cal switched from a mix of defenses to primarily man-to-man. While it helped lower the percentages, St. Thomas continued to show great discipline and execute their offense well. The true difference down the stretch was three factors;

Jalen Cone came alive. At the midway point of the second half, Jalen Cone was 0-5 shooting. Between the 9:02 and 5:56 mark, Crunchtime Cone scored 8 straight points on 3 baskets. Cone’s outburst woke up Haas, and his last basket at 5:56 cut St Thomas’ lead down to 1 point.

Cal attacked the basket more. Devin Askew, Jalen Celestine and Fardaws Aimaq forced the action inside, drawing fouls more often than not. Cal shot 14 free throws in the second half(making 10), compared to 8 in the first half. Devin especially had an impressive drive and off-hand finish at the :41 second mark to give Cal the lead for good.

St. Thomas ran out of patience. After Cal takes the lead on Askew’s bucket with :41 seconds remaining, St Thomas rushed the ball up the floor and took their next shot at the :35 mark. Here’s the shot;

All night up to that point, St Thomas was efficiently running their high motion offense and waiting for a good shot opportunity. This shot was well defended, well outside the arc, and very early in the shot clock. Down 2 with :40 seconds left is plenty of time to run their sets and look for a better opportunity.

As Edmund Burke once said, “Patience will achieve more than force.”

St. Thomas missed the shot. Cal would secure the rebound and add 5 more foul shots over the last 30 seconds of the game to secure the victory.

On Defensive Persistence

In my game preview, I said of the St. Thomas offense, “Multiple players will then cut across the lane, probing for an opening for the ball handler. This requires discipline on defense, making sure you stick to your assignment or have clean switches.” In the first half, Cal had some issues with St. Thomas’ constant screening action. In the clip below, keep an eye on Aimaq, at the free throw line at the beginning.

This was the typical St. Thomas motion. All players are extended with a lot of movement, screening, and handoffs. Cal as a team did a good job of going underneath the screens and sticking to their assignments. At the very end, Aimaq follows Celestine’s defensive assignment, instead of sticking with his man and rotating back to his assignment, #5 Parker Bjorklund. Bjorklund only needs that small opening to collect the pass and take a good shot.

Here’s one where the high screen defense goes better for the Golden Bears. Watch Aimaq (again at the free throw area) and Celestine on the switch at the end.

Cal does a good job of working through the screens. At the end, the high screen is effective, and the ballhandler has an edge on Celestine. Aimaq immediately commits to the driving ballhandler, PG Drake Dobbs. Celestine immediately steps back to pick up the original screener. Though Dobbs has half a step on Aimaq, Aimaq’s size keeps him in range and he gets the block.

Statesman John Quincy Adams once said, “Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.”

Aimaq And the Pick-and-Roll

The pick and roll is perfectly suited to the standard Cal lineup, and Aimaq is the key to it all. Watch this play, even if it does not end with Aimaq.

Aimaq gets the ball at the top, dribbles it over and hands off to Celestine. He sets a physical pick on Celestine’s defender, allowing Celestine to gain momentum as he turns the corner and drives the lane. Aimaq rolls to the basket. Look at the floor spacing when Celestine elects to kick it out to Newell for the open three.

Aimaq’s hard screen at the top then quick roll to the basket has effectively frozen two defenders, who both go back to Celestine. Celestine could’ve also had a soft over-the-top pass to Aimaq, who could’ve finished with a dunk. The pass out to an open Newell was a fine choice, as well.

What to Watch For, Revisited

1. Starting Lineup and Rotation

With Keonte Kennedy out, the starting lineup was Aimaq and Grant Newell at the forward spots, and Devin Askew, Jalen Cone and Jalen Celestine at the guard spots. Freshman Rodney Brown came in around 14 minutes as a sub for Jalen Cone. ND Okafor came in shortly thereafter as a sub for Aimaq. Vladimir Pavlovic made a brief first half appearance, but the 5 starters accounted for 84 of the 100 total minutes.

The starters similarly dominated the second half minutes, with a couple exceptions. Grant Newell was held out of the second half, with a lower leg injury. Monty Bowser came in and played 12 minutes. Though his box score does not reflect it (3 points and 3 defensive rebounds), Bowser was a catalyst for the team. Coach Madsen started his postgame comments with justified praise for Bowser’s play . Every rebound came at a critical point, and his made basket woke the Haas crowd as the game entered the final stretch (more on Haas below).

2. The return of Jalen Celestine

Celestine was the game MVP. He finished with a career high 21 points, and 4 rebounds. Any doubts on if he was in game shape were answered as he played 32 minutes, including all 20 minutes in the second half. May this be a beginning of a great season for him.

3. Point Guard Minutes

Devin Askew and Jalen Cone were on the court for most of the game. Vladimir Pavlovic contributed 18 minutes, mostly in the second half to give the other two a few minutes of rest. Askew handled the majority of ball-handling duties, with Cone playing off-ball.

During Cone’s hot streak in the second half, he was the primary ball-handler. His first three pointer was a pure pull-up shot as he brought the ball up the court. His layup was an unassisted drive from the top of the key. His second three pointer came off a drive where he stepped back and shot from long range.

It will be interesting to see how ball-handling duties are shared going forward. At least from this game, Cone appears to operate better with the ball in his hands.

4. How They Defend Bjorklund

Bjorklund was largely ineffective, scoring 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting. F Brooks Allen doubled up his career averages, scoring 17 points on 7-13 shooting. As a team, Cal struggled against the outside shooters. St. Thomas had 7 different players make at least one 3-point shot.

5. The Energy in Haas

This was a mild concern at the beginning of the game, as Haas was mostly empty right before tipoff. Soon Haas Pavilion filled in nicely, with an announced attendance of 3,005. Most importantly, Haas got very loud as the game went on. The noise was thunderous during the last 2 minutes as Cal closed the game out on a 7-2 run to earn the victory.

---

This was a fun game to watch in person, and then going back and finding a few clips to highlight. It was definitely a better fan and viewing experience than last year.

As I was walking into Haas Pavilion Monday evening, I struck up a conversation with an Old Blue. I asked him what his expectations were for the clash against the Tommies. His response; “I am excited and expect a win. But…you know….Cal.”

Sue Bender writes, “When it comes to patience, we don't have to change old habits; we can build better ones."

Let our better habit as Cal basketball fans be to wholly support this program, and leave behind the “you know…Cal” mindset as Coach Madsen builds the program back to respectability.