eastcoastcal said:
I'm sorry, Cone is such a liability. When he's on a cold streak (often) he is just such a huge detriment on the floor. Very undersized for defense and doesn't bring nearly enough in terms of facilitation or anything else to justify his atrocious shooting. He's shooting 33% from the field and 32% from 3 this season. I know we don't have many other options but we have to talk about his performance. 2/9 from the field today and 1/8 from beyond the arc. For a supposed 3 point specialist on such big volume, shooting 32% from 3 on the season is unacceptable. It would be different if he was a streaky PG who could distribute or a streaky 3&D guy, but his only major skillset is shooting which has been bad this season.
Absolutely not my intention to rag on a guy but at some point we need to get better efficiency or selectively use him in specific scenarios. I know he has the talent to knock them down but I've been disappointed with his shot selection at times- I'd expect more from a veteran player.
Not even making this post because I'm mad about the Oregon loss- they're a good team and I liked that we made it pretty close. But if we want to win more games down the stretch, we simply can't give Cone this many minutes with such bad efficiency.
There have been a lot of good posts in this thread, but I'd like to bring this thread back on topic for a moment and answer the original post.
I think you are being too harsh on Jalen Cone.
First, while he is shooting 31.7% from threes, that is not "atrocious". I calculated the 3P% for the entire PAC12 conference, and the PAC12 shooters average 35.3% on threes. Cone is only about 3% below that at 31.7%
And then there is this: Cone is second in the PAC12 in three point baskets made.
Obviously, it has not been a good year for Cone and for Cal. Cone has not shot well. In fact, this is the worst season shooting the ball that Cone has ever had in college. His worst FG%, his 2nd worst 2P%, his worst 3P%, and his worst FT%. He shot threes at 45.7% as a freshman at VA Tech in the ACC, 34.9% as a soph (injured and played only 15 games), 35.2% as a junior at N. Arizona, and 40.0% as a senior.
Looking at the schedule for the pre-conference season, Cone had 4 very good games so far shooting the 3 ball (shooting 26/53) and three games when he did not shoot well (4-29). In PAC12 play, Cone has not shot threes well (8/40). This is expected, as defenses and defenders in the PAC12 are better than most of the pre-conference opponents we faced.
I think Cone is being asked to do too much at Cal. He has played more minutes per game (36.3) than in any other season. Madsen has been handicapped by not having anyone who could play the shooting guard position with Askew injured, and for several games, he did not even have Kennedy. Brown is coming along, but was very raw to start with.
It is interesting to look at Cone's free throw shooting. He has a history of very good to excellent free throw shooting: 89% as a freshman, 85% as a soph, 83% as a junior, 86% as a senior, and now 81% at Cal. It may mean nothing, but the drop in his percentage this season could very well be some fatigue, from playing so many minutes and having to take so many shots.
I am also wondering if Madsen and his staff have tried to get Cone to put on more bulk and muscle, as he weighs only 165. Coaches need to be careful how they work to build up strength or bulk in a player, since some of that work can affect a player's shooting accuracy in a negative way.
Finally, in my opinion, Madsen should spread the 3 point shooting load out more to more players. Both Tyson and Aimaq should be shooting more threes, as both are capable. And Celestine, who is basically a catch and shoot player when it comes to perimeter shooting, but he has a very good 3P% of 44.4%, on few attempts, and they need to run plays for him to get open for these threes. Brown is finally capable of playing more of a role, IMO. He is a decent ball handler, and he has a very good 3P% so far, and he could be given more minutes to give Cone some rest. Most perimeter players, even the good shooters, can go into slumps, where they can't hit much more than the rim. Cone taking 10 or 15 threes, if he is not feeling hot, is not smart. I'd like to see Madsen distribute the shooting chores better. Maybe cut Cone's attempts from 10 a game to 7, and cut his minutes from 36 per game to 30 or less. Maybe Madsen has done this already, as Cone has averaged only 8 attempts per game in the PAC12.
Cone has good form,a good stroke, and a good release. He can shoot. I think he just needs some rest and some help from his teammates to take some of his load.