Now we're just being greedy haha ha. With a With a 7'3 wingspan, this guy, paired with the other bigs that we have, can be dominant. I'm willing to bet that he can probably score too, but he did not get it and I am a little surprised that michigan state didn't let him score. Thank you, Michigan state.
He had two others ahead of him in the MSU pecking order. Maybe Madsen will be able to better use Mady’s skills. He does up the physicality of the team though so this is good!
So much positive momentum. It feels foreign. Coach Madsen is working his magic. I'd like to see us add a point guard, ideally the guy from St. Mary's, but other will do. Someone who is an excellent ball handler and makes good decisions = doesn't turn it over a lot! ;-)
Ugh....thanks for sharing, this hurts, but there are others. Guard play is so critical. Oh and get someone who can hit their free throws too, always important.
A real indictment of how lazy/incompetent/ineffective Fox was on the recruiting trail. Madsen's personality & energy must be a big part of the unexpectedly great portal class he's bringing in. And it's not just a portal-era thing. There was a great article (bear insider maybe? can't find it now) where Ben Braun detailed all of the crazy (all legal) things at all hours of the day or night he did to get recruits in. I really like this new coach. His monumental task is getting this team to gel prior to game 1, and not mid-season.
He probably wasn’t lazy but ineffective…yes. The basic issue was the style of play. It was too slow and not very entertaining. Was it that way because of the players Fox was able to recruit or did he recruit for the style he wanted to play. I think it was the former.
I think the ACC is very top heavy - the Duke/UNC duo are elite but there’s like 8-10 schools in rhe 18-22 win range last season (including final four participant NC State) - we’ll need to do well to get into that middle but I don’t see it as impossible.
All depends on how quickly we gel, especially defensively. The team is deeper, longer and more athletic, but need to get more consistent stops. Even simply better D from the PG spot will be a major improvement. Last year was rough.
Right now, as we currently know based on last seasons performance on their original teams, we don’t have a “throw it to this guy and get a bucket” player either. JT became that for us last season - but we also didn’t know how good he’d be before the season - like we knew he would be our best but his ability to just take over games wasn’t known.
Are we looking at a top 25 transfer class again this year?
Top 5...
Check this out. #21 but without three of the new Bears. So likely Top 20.
https://247sports.com/college/california/season/2024-basketball/transferportal/?institutionkey=24089
Bears were already up to #19 without all of the new players accounted for.
Incredible run for coach Madsen. Almost unbelievable momentum.
Now we're just being greedy haha ha. With a With a 7'3 wingspan, this guy, paired with the other bigs that we have, can be dominant. I'm willing to bet that he can probably score too, but he did not get it and I am a little surprised that michigan state didn't let him score. Thank you, Michigan state.
I wouldn't say this is greed, we lost nearly our entire rotation. All players are needed to keep building back up.
You are correct. I was just being funny.😀😀😀😀
He had two others ahead of him in the MSU pecking order. Maybe Madsen will be able to better use Mady’s skills. He does up the physicality of the team though so this is good!
So much positive momentum. It feels foreign. Coach Madsen is working his magic. I'd like to see us add a point guard, ideally the guy from St. Mary's, but other will do. Someone who is an excellent ball handler and makes good decisions = doesn't turn it over a lot! ;-)
We have 3 on the roster already.
True, still like another
St. Mary's guy to Uconn. I was traumatized enough by last year's lack of PG to agree with you.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/40050751/uconn-lands-saint-mary-transfer-guard-aidan-mahaney
Ugh....thanks for sharing, this hurts, but there are others. Guard play is so critical. Oh and get someone who can hit their free throws too, always important.
Wow, that is optimism. Losing out on one guy who is going to freakin' UCONN hurts... my how the lowly have risen... but, yeah, it would have been nice
Aim high! 😎
So so exciting !
Next year is going to become legendary.
It will be so great to watch how Coach Madsen & staff can meld these diverse stars into a benevolent, helping-each-other, aggressive whole.
Big and BIG (but no longer B1G). Welcome and I have some sunshine to pump.
In related-ish news Mahaney to UConn. I can live with that.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/40050751/uconn-lands-saint-mary-transfer-guard-aidan-mahaney
YARRRRRRRR!
Big
Wingspan like a condor
Could fly like one in Madsen’s system too.
A real indictment of how lazy/incompetent/ineffective Fox was on the recruiting trail. Madsen's personality & energy must be a big part of the unexpectedly great portal class he's bringing in. And it's not just a portal-era thing. There was a great article (bear insider maybe? can't find it now) where Ben Braun detailed all of the crazy (all legal) things at all hours of the day or night he did to get recruits in. I really like this new coach. His monumental task is getting this team to gel prior to game 1, and not mid-season.
He probably wasn’t lazy but ineffective…yes. The basic issue was the style of play. It was too slow and not very entertaining. Was it that way because of the players Fox was able to recruit or did he recruit for the style he wanted to play. I think it was the former.
He was lazy AND ineffective. It was widely known that Cal had very little presence on the AAU circuit or with CA high school programs.
So at this point we are looking at potentially being competitive in the ACC now?
Madsen is fire on the recruiting trail.
I think the ACC is very top heavy - the Duke/UNC duo are elite but there’s like 8-10 schools in rhe 18-22 win range last season (including final four participant NC State) - we’ll need to do well to get into that middle but I don’t see it as impossible.
All depends on how quickly we gel, especially defensively. The team is deeper, longer and more athletic, but need to get more consistent stops. Even simply better D from the PG spot will be a major improvement. Last year was rough.
Right now, as we currently know based on last seasons performance on their original teams, we don’t have a “throw it to this guy and get a bucket” player either. JT became that for us last season - but we also didn’t know how good he’d be before the season - like we knew he would be our best but his ability to just take over games wasn’t known.
I think we assumed it would be Cone, but without a true PG it became Tyson.
askew getting hurt for the season really forced us to use three non natural point guards as ball handlers and offense initiators
Askew wasn’t going to make a difference anyway. His ball handling and decision making had some to be desired. He could’ve been an ok backup
building a whole arse avengers squad 😭
Excellent. So much good news feels so foreign.
An impressive string of accomplishments continues. Go Bears!