dimitrig said:

---

From the San Diego Union Tribune on Bradley's fast starts and disappearing act in the second half:

"Broken down by half this season: 10.5 points and 50.9 percent shooting in the first, 6.4 points and 34.6 percent shooting in the second. Over the last three games, it is even more pronounced: 12.6 points and 63.6 percent versus 6.0 and 35 percent.

One likely explanation is conditioning. Bradley has admitted the demands of SDSU's defensive rotations are far greater than at Cal, where the emphasis was on one-on-one defending while resting off ball, which is why you'll see him sub himself out sometimes. That should improve as he plays his way into "SDSU" shape (his 35 minutes Wednesday were a season high).

Another is tactical adjustments. Teams tweak their defenses at halftime to stop him, and Fullerton deployed full denial and even some double teams. Then Bradley and SDSU make adjustments to the adjustments, and he finds space again.

Another is selflessness. Bradley talks often about wanting to keep his teammates involved, and his 4.2 assists per 100 possessions this season are a career best, many coming when teams devote more defensive attention to him."

Playing into SDSU shape? Ouch!

---

CALiforniALUM said:

---

After the Santa Clara game I was thinking about how the team might be doing had Bradley stayed around. I'm actually of the mind that while Bradley is a very talented individual player, that he pretty much killed our team play. Even in his last year with us I thought we played better team basketball when he was injured. As soon as he came into the game everybody else stood around watching and waiting for him to do something. Now some of that might have been through coaches direction, but seeing us play a pretty good Santa Clara team our team basketball hasn't been this high in quite some time.

Bradley is only averaging 15 pts per game so far this season with SDSU, which might also be an indication that he doesn't have a green light on that team to just take over.

---

BeachedBear said:

---

CALiforniALUM said:

---

After the Santa Clara game I was thinking about how the team might be doing had Bradley stayed around. I'm actually of the mind that while Bradley is a very talented individual player, that he pretty much killed our team play. Even in his last year with us I thought we played better team basketball when he was injured. As soon as he came into the game everybody else stood around watching and waiting for him to do something. Now some of that might have been through coaches direction, but seeing us play a pretty good Santa Clara team our team basketball hasn't been this high in quite some time.

Bradley is only averaging 15 pts per game so far this season with SDSU, which might also be an indication that he doesn't have a green light on that team to just take over.

---

Agree that team contribution is better this year - as well as last season when Matt was out. My guess is that it had more to do with teammates subconsciously deferring to a more dynamic player. I don't think it was a reflection of Matt being too ball dominant or coaching scheme.

---

bearister said:

---

..only Cal player in hoop history that left the program that I have nothing but fondness for.

---

smh said:

---

bearister said:

---

..only Cal player in hoop history that left the program that I have nothing but fondness for.

---

^ consider maybe you're doing fandom wrong? (nice gif btw)
# gobears

---

dimitrig said:

---

From the San Diego Union Tribune on Bradley's fast starts and disappearing act in the second half:

"Broken down by half this season: 10.5 points and 50.9 percent shooting in the first, 6.4 points and 34.6 percent shooting in the second. Over the last three games, it is even more pronounced: 12.6 points and 63.6 percent versus 6.0 and 35 percent.

One likely explanation is conditioning. Bradley has admitted the demands of SDSU's defensive rotations are far greater than at Cal, where the emphasis was on one-on-one defending while resting off ball, which is why you'll see him sub himself out sometimes. That should improve as he plays his way into "SDSU" shape (his 35 minutes Wednesday were a season high).

Another is tactical adjustments. Teams tweak their defenses at halftime to stop him, and Fullerton deployed full denial and even some double teams. Then Bradley and SDSU make adjustments to the adjustments, and he finds space again.

Another is selflessness. Bradley talks often about wanting to keep his teammates involved, and his 4.2 assists per 100 possessions this season are a career best, many coming when teams devote more defensive attention to him."

Playing into SDSU shape? Ouch!

---

bearister said:

---

graguna said:

---

I've got a number of ex girl friends who are all attractive but I don't leave their pictures on my wall.

---

You realize that no one believes that, right?

---

calumnus said:

---

graguna said:

---

BeachedBear said:

---

CALiforniALUM said:

---

After the Santa Clara game I was thinking about how the team might be doing had Bradley stayed around. I'm actually of the mind that while Bradley is a very talented individual player, that he pretty much killed our team play. Even in his last year with us I thought we played better team basketball when he was injured. As soon as he came into the game everybody else stood around watching and waiting for him to do something. Now some of that might have been through coaches direction, but seeing us play a pretty good Santa Clara team our team basketball hasn't been this high in quite some time.

Bradley is only averaging 15 pts per game so far this season with SDSU, which might also be an indication that he doesn't have a green light on that team to just take over.

---

Agree that team contribution is better this year - as well as last season when Matt was out. My guess is that it had more to do with teammates subconsciously deferring to a more dynamic player. I don't think it was a reflection of Matt being too ball dominant or coaching scheme.

---

Is CAL better off as a team with Shephard essentially replacing Bradley?

---

Last year Cal was #114 in Ken Pom, this year we are #105.

Last year Cal was #125 in Sagarin, this year we are #112.

So a slight improvement so far. However, it wasn't just Shepherd for Bradley though. Betley lead the team in minutes played last year and is gone too. Kelly didn't start in 6 games last year, but is our MVP. Celestine averaged 12.8 minutes last year 21.6 this year. Alajiki is averaging 11.5 min and coming on strong. So the team is somewhat better this year, but Shepherd for Bradley is too simple and is not accurate. Our assists per game are down, for example. Our offense is less efficient, from #119 last year to #181 this year.

The big improvement is in our defensive efficiency, from #115 last year to #56 this year. Bradley, Betley and Shepherd are all equally poor defenders, so it is not the substitution of Shepherd that has has helped, but the increased minutes for good defenders like Kelly, Kuany, Celestine and Alajiki.

---

bearister said:

---

I have been thinking same. It is not debatable that more players have opportunity to develop without him. Whether this team is better without him is a tougher sell.

With that said, I hope Matt drops 40 on the Australian National Team of Moraga next Friday.

---

OMG. MITCH CREEK DUNKS ALL OVER DELLY AND THE THROWDOWN IS ALIVE! 🤯🤯🤯

Watch live and free on @10PeachAu + @kayosports #NBL22 pic.twitter.com/yAzdr9gYHa

— The NBL (@NBL) December 12, 2021

bearister said:

---

"I hope they all eat their pencils and pads."
- Joe Namath on media skeptics after the Jets beat the Colts in Super Bowl III

---

RedlessWardrobe said:

---

bearister said:

---

"I hope they all eat their pencils and pads."
- Joe Namath on media skeptics after the Jets beat the Colts in Super Bowl III

---

One thing for sure, Oregon State is not finishing 4th.

---

KoreAmBear said:

---

RedlessWardrobe said:

---

bearister said:

---

"I hope they all eat their pencils and pads."
- Joe Namath on media skeptics after the Jets beat the Colts in Super Bowl III

---

One thing for sure, Oregon State is not finishing 4th.

---

Oregon is not finishing 2nd.

---

BeastBear69 said:

---

You don't know basketball if you didn't see the Bears being better without Bradley. He went out there on a solo mission to score each game and that will never be successful at the college level. Part of that is on coaching.

For those who don't know, he's doing the same thing at SDSU. Very inefficient most games with some very good games sprinkled in. Some SDSU fans have shared their frustrations with Bradley when he's out there.

Nothing against the kid, he's very talented. But his style of play makes it so much harder for his teammates to get going, and for those who don't know: basketball is a team game.

---

calumnus said:

---

CALiforniALUM said:

---

PtownBear1 said:

---

Is this team better than least season's team? Certainly appears so.

Is the team better than it would have been this year with Bradley? Impossible to know with all the other variables, but I highly doubt it, no matter how you want to spin the "they're playing better team ball" narrative.

Last year, he was the only potential all conference player. This year, we would likely have two with Kelly.

---

Kind of hard to say we would have two all conference players this year without actually having Bradley around. My theory is that with Bradley we wouldn't nearly see the same level of play from Kelly. Bradley sucked the air out of the gym. It wasn't pleasant to even watch last year's team play because it was hero ball every time on offense. This year we actually look like a real team where as many as 2-3 players could put the ball in the net each time down the floor. The product is much better to watch even if the wins and losses aren't all that much better.

---

Bradley didn't play that way under Wyking (he was 4th in scoring?) and he doesn't play that way at San Diego State. It was Fox's strategy to milk the clock and have Bradley play hero ball. It was the same at Georgia with Caldwell-Pope making SEC POY while Georgia had a losing conference record (and got demolished by Cal in a preseason tournament). We often saw the same with Braun and Cuonzo. All three are of the Midwestern, defense first, plodding style. Braun and especially Cuonzo are just better recruiters.

---

KoreAmBear said:

---

calumnus said:

---

CALiforniALUM said:

---

PtownBear1 said:

---

Is this team better than least season's team? Certainly appears so.

Is the team better than it would have been this year with Bradley? Impossible to know with all the other variables, but I highly doubt it, no matter how you want to spin the "they're playing better team ball" narrative.

Last year, he was the only potential all conference player. This year, we would likely have two with Kelly.

---

Kind of hard to say we would have two all conference players this year without actually having Bradley around. My theory is that with Bradley we wouldn't nearly see the same level of play from Kelly. Bradley sucked the air out of the gym. It wasn't pleasant to even watch last year's team play because it was hero ball every time on offense. This year we actually look like a real team where as many as 2-3 players could put the ball in the net each time down the floor. The product is much better to watch even if the wins and losses aren't all that much better.

---

Bradley didn't play that way under Wyking (he was 4th in scoring?) and he doesn't play that way at San Diego State. It was Fox's strategy to milk the clock and have Bradley play hero ball. It was the same at Georgia with Caldwell-Pope making SEC POY while Georgia had a losing conference record (and got demolished by Cal in a preseason tournament). We often saw the same with Braun and Cuonzo. All three are of the Midwestern, defense first, plodding style. Braun and especially Cuonzo are just better recruiters.

---

Basically Bradley must have felt it was his responsibility (yes volume shooting could actually be in the interest of the team depending on which team) to carry the load. Fox probably encouraged him to do it to a certain extent. But a disconnect happened between them, and I think we saw that in the @UCLA game last year when he didn't play in the second half at all, then Fox called him a "good player" at the post-game presser as if he wasn't the best player on the team. I think Fox is a decent enough coach with low upside, but he really is rough with his approach to kids. The other day v. Idaho State I saw him demonstrably ripping Jalen C a new one after he initiated a charge going 1 v 1 out of the flow of the offense. Yes, it was a poor play, but was still kind of cringy in this day and age as fewer coaches do that sort of thing (unless you are a legend like Huggy Bear).

---

BeastBear69 said:

---

If you guys want the full story about what happened with Bradley and Fox / the team I will tell.

---

calumnus said:

---

BeastBear69 said:

---

If you guys want the full story about what happened with Bradley and Fox / the team I will tell.

---

I'll bite.

---