Nice rundown. See a flexible starting lineup from among Askew or Cone at point, Kennedy or Cone at the 2, Kennedy or Tyson at the 3, Tyson, Newell, or Aimaq at the 4, and Aimaq or Okafor at the 5. If Celestine is fully healthy without limitations, I could see him in the starting mix as well.
There are some big frontlines in conference, and I think we'll see minutes with Aimaq and Okafor playing together. In those instances, Gus Larson may be the first big off the bench ahead of Curtis.
I'm working on my conference preview, and want to see a couple games before making any further predictions. But you're right, there are some talented frontlines in the conference. UCLA, Oregon, Utah, Zona...all with all conference frontline players. Newell at 6'9" is the swing spot when we go big. He is capable of guarding bigs like Carlson and Raynaud, but not Bona and Dante.
Tyson's eligibility is the key. If he's eligible and they remain healthy, 18-20 wins and NCAA Bubble is absolutely in play...sure, Arizona, UCLA, SC are the at the top, but on paper, Cal's roster matches up quite favorably with Oregon, ASU, Colorado, Utah, and Furd, all of whom are bringing in plenty of new additions and need to gel, just like the Bears. Wazzu lost a ton. UW is meh, OSU is bad.
While prognostications pegging Cal at 11 certainly make sense given last year's mess, they're also selling this roster short, IMO, given the track record of the players involved. Fardaws, Cone, Kennedy, Tyson are legit...Askew/Celestine bring plenty to the table, Newell is a potential breakout player that can play both F spots, ND is eligible to improve with better scheme and coaching, and the FR could all see some impactful minutes.
Tyson ineligible. Waiver denied.
I can't believe I get to say this, but I think I'll be seeing some games at Haas this year!
I splurged on courtside seats for a game in San Juan Capistrano around Thanksgiving....I should have my head examined.
Larson won't get Dwight Tarwater like playing time I presume (going Ivy v. Ivy transfer)?
No necessarily this year, but he's got 3 years. I would think he moves to scholarship at some point from PWO and earns rotation time.
Nice rundown. See a flexible starting lineup from among Askew or Cone at point, Kennedy or Cone at the 2, Kennedy or Tyson at the 3, Tyson, Newell, or Aimaq at the 4, and Aimaq or Okafor at the 5. If Celestine is fully healthy without limitations, I could see him in the starting mix as well.
There are some big frontlines in conference, and I think we'll see minutes with Aimaq and Okafor playing together. In those instances, Gus Larson may be the first big off the bench ahead of Curtis.
I'm working on my conference preview, and want to see a couple games before making any further predictions. But you're right, there are some talented frontlines in the conference. UCLA, Oregon, Utah, Zona...all with all conference frontline players. Newell at 6'9" is the swing spot when we go big. He is capable of guarding bigs like Carlson and Raynaud, but not Bona and Dante.
Thanks BP. Nice work.
Tyson's eligibility is the key. If he's eligible and they remain healthy, 18-20 wins and NCAA Bubble is absolutely in play...sure, Arizona, UCLA, SC are the at the top, but on paper, Cal's roster matches up quite favorably with Oregon, ASU, Colorado, Utah, and Furd, all of whom are bringing in plenty of new additions and need to gel, just like the Bears. Wazzu lost a ton. UW is meh, OSU is bad.
While prognostications pegging Cal at 11 certainly make sense given last year's mess, they're also selling this roster short, IMO, given the track record of the players involved. Fardaws, Cone, Kennedy, Tyson are legit...Askew/Celestine bring plenty to the table, Newell is a potential breakout player that can play both F spots, ND is eligible to improve with better scheme and coaching, and the FR could all see some impactful minutes.
I'm pumped.
Thank you Jimmy. I am pumped as well.
To me, the range is 7-9. May surprise and move up to 5 or 6. Maybe slightly underwhelm and slip to 10. there will be alot of jockeying in the middle.
USC, UCLA, Zona - tier 1
Colorado, Oregon tier 1.5 (though I think CU will end up winning the conference)
Utah - tier 2
Stanford, Cal, ASU - tier 2.25
UW - tier 2.75
OSU, WSU - Tier 3
Four 40% 3 point shooters, you say, combined with a possible all conference pivot!
Yeah this team, despite Newell, Okafor, Askew and Celestine coming back, in no way resembles last years. And for that I’m glad.
To be fair, that pivot is one of the 40% shooters (and I am rounding Kennedy's 38%)
Wonderful. Bring it on!