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Photo by Twitter / Cal basketball
Cal Basketball
Mark Fox, Bears Look For Big Step Forward
Late September, into October, is a sports fan’s dream season. Baseball heads to its playoffs. Football, both college and the NFL, are in full swing and seasons are beginning to take shape. And, hockey and basketball are beginning their camps, with all the hope that exists when every team is still undefeated. So many sports, so little time and attention to offer each.
The 2022-2023 Cal Men’s basketball squad began their regular-season practice sessions Monday. Everyone, in every program, is positive and confident in their prospects for the upcoming season, of course, but in the case of Golden Bears hoops, that confidence might just be well-placed.
Monday also featured a Zoom-only availability with head coach Mark Fox, now in his fourth year at Haas Pavilion, along with seniors Lars Thiemann and Kuany Kuany, known to his teammates as “2K”. All seemed genuinely excited for what their futures hold.
Thiemann spoke at some length about the team’s opportunity to play games in Europe this past summer. He was very pleased to show his teammates the culture, history and architecture of his home country and continent, but also happy to do some exploring on his own, as he had never been either to Paris, or to the part of Belgium the team visited.
“For me,” Thiemann said, “what was most exciting was to go to Düsseldorf, almost my home city, for the guys to see where I’m from, and then we had a game there and played against my old team. I thought it was a great trip for us, as teammates, to bond and to get closer – the shared experience I think will help us become closer, more of a brotherhood.”
Asked what new things he saw, Thiemann noted, “I’d never seen Paris, it was cool, such a beautiful city, even the touristy sights were cool to see.”
Kuany echoed those sentiments, with the additional note that it was ALL new for him: “The trip was a great experience because I’d never been to Europe, getting to bond with my teammates on a long flight. The coolest thing I saw was the PSG (Paris Saint-Germain) Stadium, (Les Parc des Princes), because I’m pretty big on soccer and just to see that stadium was really cool, especially for my teammates to be able to share the moment.”
2K went on to say that the experience of playing two games together in the summer would be very beneficial going forward, noting, “We’ve got a lot of new players.” That might be an understatement, actually.
Cal has four complete newcomers, plus a fifth player who redshirted last season, all of whom are expected to be contributors in Fox’s rotation, which he expects to be 9, but possibly 10 players once the season settles in. “I would like to be able to play nine,” Fox said, “can we get to 10? We’ll see. We’ve got a lot of competition for minutes right now – it’s kind of fun to see every day. We’ve got a lot of guys battling, and a month to figure it out.”
The four newcomers are Irishman ND Okafor (6’-9”, 235 lbs.); 6’-8”, 220 lb. freshman Grant Newell, from Chicago but with an extra year at IMG Academy in Brandenton, Florida; and transfers Devin Askew and DeJuan Clayton. Okafor, who has extensive international experience, is a “5”, like Thiemann, but both Thiemann and Fox think Okafor might see the floor with Thiemann at various times during the year. Fox actually said, “I can play ND at any position from the 2 up to the 5 if I need to,” although that’s no guarantee we will see the big man spotting up on the wing very often.
When asked who has surprised him the most so far this year, Fox immediately said, “there’s no doubt, it’s Grant Newell. He came in and, from Day 1, he’s been impressive with how he works, how he finishes, with how responsible he is. He just has a lot of positive traits on and off the court. I don’t think there’s anyone on our staff who would say differently; Grant has been a tremendous surprise out of the gate.”
Asked if the 2022-23 squad would play a quicker tempo than recent squads have, Fox said, “I think in the past we’ve played a slower tempo than we wanted to because of the talent. Now that we have more depth, I think you’ll see us play a faster pace and see more balance offensively. Obviously, it’s an area we have worked hard on this summer. I think the two transfer guards will impact that area immediately.”
We asked Coach Fox who would be able to lead the team when they really want to run the floor, and he said, “I’d say Joel (returning senior Joel Brown) and Devin (Askew) are the best in that area. They are really good on the open floor and are fast on the dribble.”
Askew left high school a year early and enrolled at Kentucky. He was projected as the #1 point guard in the nation with his graduating class, but experienced expected growing pains jumping to an elite program in Lexington. Fox was asked about his confidence level as he has transferred to now his third NCAA program: “I think that’s a good question. Obviously, he took on something that, when I recruited him, I recommended he NOT skip his senior year. But he’s a talented player. We’ve worked hard (for him) to regain his confidence and aggressiveness. I think he would admit he got a little heavy in those previous places, and we’ve trimmed him down. It starts with approach – he’s VERY coachable, and I think he’s got a lot of his confidence back, and it’s about getting him comfortable in a system of play that I think fits him better.
Fox admitted that prior seasons have not been the easiest to watch. “We’ve not had an athletic front line, and that’s hard to overcome in a game with 60+ possessions. Lars, I think, finally got comfortable last year and everyone was excited about how he finished last year. But, Sam Alajiki played really well last season and for his national team (Ireland) this summer. He’s got a strong and athletic body, and you combine him with Grant and we have length and a physicality in the paint that, quite honestly, we’ve not had (during my tenure).”
Fox noted that the program has been rebuilding, itself a hurdle, and also had to work through the challenges of the pandemic. He feels he’s now got a roster that can play aggressively, and hopes they can learn to do so while playing mistake-free basketball. He’s excited to go to practice because he “has been getting a ton of cooperation, and don’t have to fight them every day.”
The Golden Bears open the 2022-23 season with non-conference action against UC Davis, putting their 33-0 all-time record against the Aggies on the line at Haas Pavilion November 7.
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