ACC Men's Basketball Tournament: Cal's Defense Absent as Florida State Dominates, 95-89

Disappointing end to the season as FSU scored at will above the rim and from deep

If, before this game, I told you Cal would lose 95-89, you may think “Oh, it was a valiant fight, Cal just comes up short.” If I also told you that Florida State would shoot near 50% from threes, shoot nearly 60% overall, and have 14 dunks while committing only 6 turnovers, you’d think Florida State won by 20. The game flow played out closer to the latter.

Dai Dai Ames led Cal with 27 points in the losing effort. Photo courtesy Don Collier.

Cal displayed good ball movement early on, getting good looks and knocking down shots. Cal led 13-7 lead at the 14-minute mark with all five starters in the scoring column. Florida State rattled off a 15-2 scoring behind Robert McCray’s nine early points as FSU led 22-15 midway through the first half. Cal suffered through a 1-of-11 shooting streak against FSU’s zone defense, while FSU went 8-of-9 over that same stretch.

With FSU leading 30-16, Dai Da Ames connected on consecutive 3-pointers to stop the bleeding for the moment. The Seminoles’ zone defense continued to befuddle Cal’s offense, with very little motion through the zones and an overreliance on perimeter passing. FSU pushed their back up to fourteen, 46-32 at halftime. When the three point shots aren’t falling (3-of-11 for the half), Cal has problems creating 2-point opportunities. The dribble drives are loose or rushed. The simplest numbers for the first half;

Cal: 5 assists, 8 turnovers
Florida State: 10 assists, 0 turnovers

After Cal’s strong start, the ball stopped moving inside-out, while FSU was selfless with the ball. Cal’s defense was a step slow on the rotations as FSU swung the ball side to side, hitting on 7-of-14 3-pointers. Lee Dort was a monster on the boards, collecting 8 rebounds, but Cal couldn’t convert them to points.

The second half played out in a similar manner. Cal attempted to speed the game up, with Justin Pippen penetrating and scoring on Cal’s first two possessions. Any temporary momentum quickly vanished. Cal’s defense continued to be lacking, and the Bears continued to be reliant on heroball from Pippen or Ames to salvage offensive possessions. The Seminoles were able to push their lead to twenty near the fifteen minute mark, and kept it in that range for most of the rest of the game. There were several notably bad defensive missed rotations and turnover by the Bears in the second half, leading to thunderous dunks by the Seminoles as Cal could never gain any kind of offensive or defensive rhythm. The Bears had a garbage time scoring burst in the last three minutes, but the outcome was never in doubt. FSU is victorious 95-89.

Robert McCray V, late in the second half of today’s game after connecting on a jumpshot over Dai Dai Ames. Photo courtesy Don Collier

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The offense was not at fault this game. Yes, they were sluggish for a stretch in the first half. But they scored 57 second half points and ended up shooting 50%/40% on their two’s and three’s. Dai Dai Ames scored 27 points in a valiant effort. Lee Dort collected 18 rebounds, not far off Florida State’s 26 team total.

This was all about the defense. Just a few of the painful stats and facts;

• The 96 points is the most Cal has allowed in ACC play besides the 2OT loss to Syracuse.

• Cal’s defense missed the closeout as the Seminoles were able to beat Cal’s help/trap defense on the ball handler.. The Seminoles shot 13-of-28 on threes, many of them wide open and uncontested.

• Cal also missed the backside action when Robert McCray or other guards drove the basket. McCray finished with a game high 30 points and 8 assists. FSU scored on 14 dunks, 40% of all their made baskets.

• Combining the last two, Florida State’s offense was either draining a three, or slamming it home on 44% of their possessions. It was not fun to watch.

In the postgame, Coach Madsen talked about the defense;

“Well, we had a stretch in the first half where they ran something that we had worked on, we had prepared for, and we did not execute our game plan. It had to do with the pinning screens down on the baseline. I think they made probably three, maybe four open three-point shots because we did not execute that correctly. That's on me. That's on me. We repped it, we showed it, we walked it, but I didn't do obviously a good enough job because the result was not there.”

Madsen, as usual, took all the blame for the loss, saying he apologized to the team in the locker room.

Justin Pippen’s talked about the lack of execution by Cal;

“I feel like with our defense, our pressure, you know, it’s very easy to manipulate when you get to this stage. I feel like they did a great job of taking advantage of our mistakes and making the right read out of it.”

I asked Coach Madsen about the 3-2 finish to end the season and closing out down the stretch. He once again blamed himself for the losses;

“Yeah, I think obviously we finished out the regular season on the road in a Quad 1 opportunity against Wake Forest. We battled, fought. They got the better of us in that game. Again, a close game. I thought we battled and fought tonight, as well. So when it’s all said and done, we have to be better. I have to be better as the head coach. But the fight and how hard our guys play and the way that our guys never gave up is something that I’m incredibly proud of in terms of our group. “

Justin Pippen’s reflections on the season both for himself and for the team;

“For me personally, it’s been a great season for me to be able to showcase my abilities. You know, I’ve had a lot of fun with this group, this team. But as far as success and you know how far we came, you know, I did expect more. But I’m obviously proud of this team, but you know, we definitely had a couple letdowns and games that we should have won.”

Coach Mark Madsen imploring his team to play better. Photo courtesy Don Collier.

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There is no right or wrong way to feel after this loss. There is more to be written about this team in the NIT or whatever postseason event they are invited to. It’s not quite the right time to make definitive statements or conclusions about Madsen Year 3.

I started covering Cal Basketball near the end of Mark Fox’s tenure. For me, this is right now more painful than Fox’s last two years because we were so close to feeling the joy we felt last year when the Women’s Basketball Team broke through and made the NCAA Tournament. Fox’s last two seasons was just a dark void. I was full of apathy. This season was a shooting star that fizzled out. Right now, I am satisfied that Madsen has made me care again to the point that this game truly caused me anguish.