HoopDreams said:

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If you want to add all bigs then we've actually had many good to great posts

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The OP specifically asked for bigs, not centers.

bearister said:

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oskidunker said:

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bearister said:

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"I knew Lars. Lars was a friend of mine. Connor Vanover is no Lars."

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Bad hands. End of story.

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List the Cal Big Men throughout history that were possessed of great hands and a good shooting touch around the basket. Admittedly, Lars fumbles passes he should handle.

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Imhoff
Pressley
Truitt
Kamp
MSF
Yogi Stewart
Karl Meier
Boomtho

It's not a huge list, but we had good play around the basket under Monty.

Jeff82 said:

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bearister said:

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oskidunker said:

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bearister said:

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"I knew Lars. Lars was a friend of mine. Connor Vanover is no Lars."

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Bad hands. End of story.

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List the Cal Big Men throughout history that were possessed of great hands and a good shooting touch around the basket. Admittedly, Lars fumbles passes he should handle.

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Imhoff
Pressley
Truitt
Kamp
MSF
Yogi Stewart
Karl Meier
Boomtho

It's not a huge list, but we had good play around the basket under Monty.

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Can't agree with Yogi being on that list. A defense force for sure, but offensively challenged.

HoopDreams said:

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back further was King and Rooks. Neither scored many points and had poor shooting percentages. King only shot 40% and scored 5 points his senior year. Rooks was worse. Lars was better than both.

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On offense sure but Kingsley and Rooks were better rim protectors. I wouldn't be surprised if advanced stats bear out the both Kingsley and Rooks were more productive overall.

southseasbear said:

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Big C said:

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Going back a-ways (like me!): the late Mark McNamara, low post scoring machine. Led the Pac 10 in scoring, rebounding and FG% his senior year.

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Darryl Imhoff and Mark McNamara were our best.

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C'mon youngsters, don't leave these two out.

concernedparent said:

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HoopDreams said:

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back further was King and Rooks. Neither scored many points and had poor shooting percentages. King only shot 40% and scored 5 points his senior year. Rooks was worse. Lars was better than both.

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On offense sure but Kingsley and Rooks were better rim protectors. I wouldn't be surprised if advanced stats bear out the both Kingsley and Rooks were more productive overall.

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Lars so far this season:
9.6 PTS; 5.6 REB; 49% FG

Kingsley Okoroh 4th year:
5.7 PTS; 5.4 REB; 40% FG


Kameron Rooks 3rd year (he transferred);
4.9 PTS; 4.5 REB; 54% FG


*Okoroh and Kameron were on better Cal squads than Lars and they were virtually never double teamed
*I do recall that Kameron had a good touch under the bucket, unlike most Cal centers throughout history.

King was certainly the better shot blocked compared to Lars, but not Rooks

bearister said:

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concernedparent said:

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HoopDreams said:

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back further was King and Rooks. Neither scored many points and had poor shooting percentages. King only shot 40% and scored 5 points his senior year. Rooks was worse. Lars was better than both.

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On offense sure but Kingsley and Rooks were better rim protectors. I wouldn't be surprised if advanced stats bear out the both Kingsley and Rooks were more productive overall.

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Lars so far this season:
9.6 PTS; 5.6 REB; 49% FG

Kingsley Okoroh 4th year:
5.7 PTS; 5.4 REB; 40% FG


Kameron Rooks 3rd year (he transferred);
4.9 PTS; 4.5 REB; 54% FG


*Okoroh and Kameron were on better Cal squads than Lars and they were virtually never double teamed
*I do recall that Kameron and good touch under the bucket, unlike most Cal centers throughout history.

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bearister said:

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concernedparent said:

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HoopDreams said:

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back further was King and Rooks. Neither scored many points and had poor shooting percentages. King only shot 40% and scored 5 points his senior year. Rooks was worse. Lars was better than both.

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On offense sure but Kingsley and Rooks were better rim protectors. I wouldn't be surprised if advanced stats bear out the both Kingsley and Rooks were more productive overall.

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Lars so far this season:
9.6 PTS; 5.6 REB; 49% FG

Kingsley Okoroh 4th year:
5.7 PTS; 5.4 REB; 40% FG


Kameron Rooks 3rd year (he transferred);
4.9 PTS; 4.5 REB; 54% FG


*Okoroh and Kameron were on better Cal squads than Lars and they were virtually never double teamed
*I do recall that Kameron and good touch under the bucket, unlike most Cal centers throughout history.

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Rooks and Okoroh also split time and so per game stats are not accurate measures of their productivity vis a vis Lars. I posted their advanced stats from their best years and both were significantly more productive than Lars', though it includes defense, which especially boosts Okoroh.

calumnus said:

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bearister said:

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concernedparent said:

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HoopDreams said:

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back further was King and Rooks. Neither scored many points and had poor shooting percentages. King only shot 40% and scored 5 points his senior year. Rooks was worse. Lars was better than both.

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On offense sure but Kingsley and Rooks were better rim protectors. I wouldn't be surprised if advanced stats bear out the both Kingsley and Rooks were more productive overall.

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Lars so far this season:
9.6 PTS; 5.6 REB; 49% FG

Kingsley Okoroh 4th year:
5.7 PTS; 5.4 REB; 40% FG


Kameron Rooks 3rd year (he transferred);
4.9 PTS; 4.5 REB; 54% FG


*Okoroh and Kameron were on better Cal squads than Lars and they were virtually never double teamed
*I do recall that Kameron and good touch under the bucket, unlike most Cal centers throughout history.

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Rooks and Okoroh also split time and so per game stats are not accurate measures of their productivity vis a vis Lars. I posted their advanced stats from their best years and both were significantly more productive than Lars', though it includes defense, which especially boosts Okoroh.

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…but Okoroh and Rooks can't touch this:

I don't think either we double/tripled teamed. Defenses had others to worry about, like the 4 NBA players and sixth man Mathews

And no one who saw both Rooks and Lars play can honestly say Rooks > Lars

calumnus said:

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bearister said:

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concernedparent said:

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HoopDreams said:

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back further was King and Rooks. Neither scored many points and had poor shooting percentages. King only shot 40% and scored 5 points his senior year. Rooks was worse. Lars was better than both.

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On offense sure but Kingsley and Rooks were better rim protectors. I wouldn't be surprised if advanced stats bear out the both Kingsley and Rooks were more productive overall.

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Lars so far this season:
9.6 PTS; 5.6 REB; 49% FG

Kingsley Okoroh 4th year:
5.7 PTS; 5.4 REB; 40% FG


Kameron Rooks 3rd year (he transferred);
4.9 PTS; 4.5 REB; 54% FG


*Okoroh and Kameron were on better Cal squads than Lars and they were virtually never double teamed
*I do recall that Kameron and good touch under the bucket, unlike most Cal centers throughout history.

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Rooks and Okoroh also split time and so per game stats are not accurate measures of their productivity vis a vis Lars. I posted their advanced stats from their best years and both were significantly more productive than Lars', though it includes defense, which especially boosts Okoroh.

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Cal Best FG% seasons since 66
1. McNamera 81-82 .702
2. McNamera 80-81 .617
3. Hendrick 89-90 .593
4. Boykin 09-10 .584
5. Hendrick 90-91 .556
6. Butler 85-86 .545
7. Benson 04-05 .543
8. Kravish 13-14 .543
9. Taylor 88-89 .539
10. K. Smith 89-90 .539

calumnus said:

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Cal Best FG% seasons since 66
1. McNamera 81-82 .702
2. McNamera 80-81 .617
3. Hendrick 89-90 .593
4. Boykin 09-10 .584
5. Hendrick 90-91 .556
6. Butler 85-86 .545
7. Benson 04-05 .543
8. Kravish 13-14 .543
9. Taylor 88-89 .539
10. K. Smith 89-90 .539

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if the question is who were the best bigs, as opposed to best centers, Cal has had a ton of very good/great bigs

I don't know what position McNamera played, but the only Center on the list is Taylor.

Any of these bigs would be the by far the best big on this Cal team, and there are many other PFs not on the list that would also be by far the best big on this Cal team. Powe, Rabb, Kelly just to name a few

True very good centers are a rare commodity (although Oregon has 3 of them on this year's team), and it's been tough to recruit them to Cal. Even with Monty's reputation for big men, he never successfully recruited a good center (although rumor was the Utah 7 footer was a silent).

HoopDreams said:

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calumnus said:

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Cal Best FG% seasons since 66
1. McNamera 81-82 .702
2. McNamera 80-81 .617
3. Hendrick 89-90 .593
4. Boykin 09-10 .584
5. Hendrick 90-91 .556
6. Butler 85-86 .545
7. Benson 04-05 .543
8. Kravish 13-14 .543
9. Taylor 88-89 .539
10. K. Smith 89-90 .539

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if the question is who were the best bigs, as opposed to best centers, Cal has had a ton of very good/great bigs

I don't know what position McNamera played, but the only Center on the list is Taylor.

Any of these bigs would be the by far the best big on this Cal team, and there are many other PFs not on the list that would also be by far the best big on this Cal team. Powe, Rabb, Kelly just to name a few

True very good centers are a rare commodity (although Oregon has 3 of them on this year's team), and it's been tough to recruit them to Cal. Even with Monty's reputation for big men, he never successfully recruited a good center (although rumor was the Utah 7 footer was a silent).

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McNamera played center at Cal and in the NBA and Benson played the 5 in 04-05. I'd say Solomon was a center and statistically was the best rebounder in Cal history.

Agree Solomon is a center

Also there are many team's including Cal who don't even play a center, because they play better with a PF or 2 in the post

Cal has done that many times, including most of the last several years when we played Kelly and no 5

Kravish, a 4 played with Solomon a 5, the traditional 2 big lineup, but when Solo graduated Kravish didn't play with a center and did much worst

But if you don't have a solid C then I think you need some strong 4s who can defend the post and rebound, otherwise it hurts your team (see women's team who lack a C except for a little-used player who hasn't been healthy)

McNamara and Boykin should have been on my list. Solomon Hughes is a good example of a player developing under Monty. As a freshman, his handle was almost as bad as Lars, but Monty taught him to catch the ball high in the post, and keep it there, so defenders couldn't get to it, and he became a more effective offensive player, albeit on teams where the 5 didn't really need to score a lot.

Jeff82 said:

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McNamara and Boykin should have been on my list. Solomon Hughes is a good example of a player developing under Monty. As a freshman, his handle was almost as bad as Lars, but Monty taught him to catch the ball high in the post, and keep it there, so defenders couldn't get to it, and he became a more effective offensive player, albeit on teams where the 5 didn't really need to score a lot.

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Solomon Hughes played for Braun. Had a fantastic junior year before getting injured his senior year. Similar trajectory to Benson, although Rod was even rawer as an underclassman.

Civil Bear said:

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Jeff82 said:

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McNamara and Boykin should have been on my list. Solomon Hughes is a good example of a player developing under Monty. As a freshman, his handle was almost as bad as Lars, but Monty taught him to catch the ball high in the post, and keep it there, so defenders couldn't get to it, and he became a more effective offensive player, albeit on teams where the 5 didn't really need to score a lot.

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Solomon Hughes played for Braun. Had a fantastic junior year before getting injured his senior year. Similar trajectory to Benson, although Rod was even rawer as an underclassman.

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I stand corrected.