Splurged and got good seats today, front row near the Cal bench.
In Rytis, Dort, Yeanay, and Ruff, you have 4 key pieces of the pre-season playing rotation in street clothes. Meanwhile, Clemson has massive NIL support and goes 9-deep, including bringing a 2nd team all MWC performer last year in as their 2nd guy off the bench.
Cal’s lack of depth is striking. The fact that they are 17-7 and even in the mix for the NCAAT is pretty impressive, IMO.
Here on out:
@ SYR - L
@ BC - MUST WIN
v Furd - W
v. SMU - W
v Pitt - W
@Ga Tech - MUST WIN
@ Wake - L
That’s 10-8 in the ACC, with good W’s v UCLA, UNC, @ Miami, and then v SMU…should get them in, tho maybe in the play-in game…
Watching the game, I thought Clemson was the best coached team I'd seen in Haas all season - every defensive roation was crispy, every Cal shot was challenged - or for 13 long minutes, blocked, deflected or intimiated, and on offense every rotation was the right one to a really good shot.
But then I take a look at their results and see they only beat Stanford by 2.
So sometimes teams get on a heater - and aside from getting Leon Powe out of the stands, there was just no way we were winning tonight. When Chris Bell got his three pointer blocked from a guy closing out from one step outside the key, I could see Clemson's defense was just locked in.
Brownell acknowledged that’s as well as they’ve played all year. Horrible matchup for this Cal roster, especially down Dort, though not sure we’re ever winning that game with Lee…Clemson’s perimeter D is as good as it gets, and with no interior threat whatsoever they could extend out and suffocated the Bears shooters.
This reminded me of the Tourney game in San Jose against Syracuse a number of years back. Clemson didn't run that Boeheim zone, but the defense was just as suffocating. Don't need to be flashy on offense when the defense is good enough that your opponent defeats themselves in frustration.
Madsen honestly has this team playing above their level, but there are going to be some matchups and injuries that will be disastrous when you're not truly on equal footing. Sometimes you just don't have an advantage to press.
I was at that game against the Orange. Another similar game was against UNLV in tourney but with a different result because Bears had Kravish, Solomon and Thurman inside.
This is not no news: without Dort, our front court is weak offensively and defensively and that impacts everything… I’ve said Dort is our MVP. Not because he’s our best player. Because he’s our most essential player, made worse once Rytis went down (and Sammie out)
Without Dort we have no post defense, rim protection and rebounding. Milos is solid but he has to play so conservatively to avoid fouling out.
Mantas is very poor defensively as he’s often out of position or too slow to react or move. He is not a rim protector with good size but no quickness or jumping ability. He has poor hands for rebounds and catching passes. I would say this was the first game I saw some progress. He rebounded fairly well and was quicker and more decisive off his feet with scoring opportunities.
Dut has shown flashes as a rim protector and can move quicker, but he is often in the wrong place.
Both are probably two years away from being solid D1 centers.
Offensively without Dort the main issue is not missing his scoring (he averages 8.3 points), it’s missing his threat of scoring. Teams have to play him straight up, develop the ally oop, double him in the post, etc.
Without that threat defenses can extend their defense and stay on our shooters.
Now even with Dort I don’t think we win this game but we would have beat FSU and would have been favored in most of our remaining games, with a good chance to make the Dance.
Without Dort every game will be a challenge even against BC on the road
Ouch… no contest. Mark needs to go back to the drawing board when it comes to his offense. Good defenses shut that offense down every time. Lots of one on one, players get very stagnant, the offense isn’t creating shots for players. I have watched this all year, not good.
Yeah, good defensive teams who do good video review can shut down the Bears’ action pretty consistently, stemming from the lack of adaptability of Cal’s playbook. Cal often telegraphs its intentions. Though occasionally Ilic may find the back door cutter from the top of the key, well coached teams can see the plan developing and shut it down, as well as the other go-to move of the screen and handoff. If they’re going to run offense through the center, it has diminishing returns unless the center can occasionally change it up and hit a short jumper or drive a few steps down the lane. Right now, the scheme is too predictable. So is dribbling and handing off around the perimeter against close guarding, athletic opponents. I agree with coach Madsen that improved ball movement is needed, but so is improved play calling.
Thanks BP.
Splurged and got good seats today, front row near the Cal bench.
In Rytis, Dort, Yeanay, and Ruff, you have 4 key pieces of the pre-season playing rotation in street clothes. Meanwhile, Clemson has massive NIL support and goes 9-deep, including bringing a 2nd team all MWC performer last year in as their 2nd guy off the bench.
Cal’s lack of depth is striking. The fact that they are 17-7 and even in the mix for the NCAAT is pretty impressive, IMO.
Here on out:
@ SYR - L
@ BC - MUST WIN
v Furd - W
v. SMU - W
v Pitt - W
@Ga Tech - MUST WIN
@ Wake - L
That’s 10-8 in the ACC, with good W’s v UCLA, UNC, @ Miami, and then v SMU…should get them in, tho maybe in the play-in game…
Watching the game, I thought Clemson was the best coached team I'd seen in Haas all season - every defensive roation was crispy, every Cal shot was challenged - or for 13 long minutes, blocked, deflected or intimiated, and on offense every rotation was the right one to a really good shot.
But then I take a look at their results and see they only beat Stanford by 2.
So sometimes teams get on a heater - and aside from getting Leon Powe out of the stands, there was just no way we were winning tonight. When Chris Bell got his three pointer blocked from a guy closing out from one step outside the key, I could see Clemson's defense was just locked in.
Brownell acknowledged that’s as well as they’ve played all year. Horrible matchup for this Cal roster, especially down Dort, though not sure we’re ever winning that game with Lee…Clemson’s perimeter D is as good as it gets, and with no interior threat whatsoever they could extend out and suffocated the Bears shooters.
Interior threat is what Bears need to get before next year to balance out their offense.
This reminded me of the Tourney game in San Jose against Syracuse a number of years back. Clemson didn't run that Boeheim zone, but the defense was just as suffocating. Don't need to be flashy on offense when the defense is good enough that your opponent defeats themselves in frustration.
Madsen honestly has this team playing above their level, but there are going to be some matchups and injuries that will be disastrous when you're not truly on equal footing. Sometimes you just don't have an advantage to press.
I was at that game against the Orange. Another similar game was against UNLV in tourney but with a different result because Bears had Kravish, Solomon and Thurman inside.
I was at the SJ game too. Arena staff weren't let us hold signs or banners and they were being jerks about it. Boo
Cal Women’s BB won today, 95-80 over Pitt
So all is not lost! Go Bears!
And women’s gymnastics got some measure of revenge with a 196.95 to 196.90 win over Clemson!
This is not no news: without Dort, our front court is weak offensively and defensively and that impacts everything… I’ve said Dort is our MVP. Not because he’s our best player. Because he’s our most essential player, made worse once Rytis went down (and Sammie out)
Without Dort we have no post defense, rim protection and rebounding. Milos is solid but he has to play so conservatively to avoid fouling out.
Mantas is very poor defensively as he’s often out of position or too slow to react or move. He is not a rim protector with good size but no quickness or jumping ability. He has poor hands for rebounds and catching passes. I would say this was the first game I saw some progress. He rebounded fairly well and was quicker and more decisive off his feet with scoring opportunities.
Dut has shown flashes as a rim protector and can move quicker, but he is often in the wrong place.
Both are probably two years away from being solid D1 centers.
Offensively without Dort the main issue is not missing his scoring (he averages 8.3 points), it’s missing his threat of scoring. Teams have to play him straight up, develop the ally oop, double him in the post, etc.
Without that threat defenses can extend their defense and stay on our shooters.
Now even with Dort I don’t think we win this game but we would have beat FSU and would have been favored in most of our remaining games, with a good chance to make the Dance.
Without Dort every game will be a challenge even against BC on the road
Dut inadvertently set good picks for Clemson a couple of times last night.
Dut flashes a talent for shot blocking and his length and presence alters shots. He is also quick on his feet.
He needs more experience within our offense and defense schemes but he has potential
True, and can he develop the needed court awareness and put on some weight.
Bears got absolutely worked tonight. Probably need to win 5 of their last 7 and a game or two in the conf tourney to make MM.
Would help for them to finish ahead of SMU and Va Tech in the ACC standings.
Ouch… no contest. Mark needs to go back to the drawing board when it comes to his offense. Good defenses shut that offense down every time. Lots of one on one, players get very stagnant, the offense isn’t creating shots for players. I have watched this all year, not good.
Clemson knew how to D up the Bears and on offense they made the cross court pass over and over for open shots. Bears did not adjust fast enough.
Yeah, good defensive teams who do good video review can shut down the Bears’ action pretty consistently, stemming from the lack of adaptability of Cal’s playbook. Cal often telegraphs its intentions. Though occasionally Ilic may find the back door cutter from the top of the key, well coached teams can see the plan developing and shut it down, as well as the other go-to move of the screen and handoff. If they’re going to run offense through the center, it has diminishing returns unless the center can occasionally change it up and hit a short jumper or drive a few steps down the lane. Right now, the scheme is too predictable. So is dribbling and handing off around the perimeter against close guarding, athletic opponents. I agree with coach Madsen that improved ball movement is needed, but so is improved play calling.