barsad said:

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I give Aimaq about as much love as a middle of the pack big man should get. There's literally no one else we have to bring down a rebound, so getting double-doubles is not that impressive to me. He had a great game today, but there are times when he can't hit a 5-foot shot in the paint.
Anyway, the worth of a 6th year player who is only going to play for another six weeks is kind of irrelevant. The more important question about minutes at center is:
Is it more important for Aimaq to collect a few more double-doubles so he gets a better offer in Europe, or is it more important to develop Larsen, the center for the next three years who will be leading Cal teams that might actually break .500? Seems like an obvious choice to me.

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To me it's more important to give the team the best chance to win now. Every win matters after the horrible recent seasons. It's about changing the culture and attitude of players and fans. I guessing not your intention but implying coaches are playing someone more so they get a better offer in Europe seems misguided.

Larson has been a nice surprise in spurts and I think he will continue to develop but he is not the centerpiece the next 3 years. In the portal era the answer is not to develop someone for the next couple years at the expense of putting the best team on the floor now.

Totally agree. I'll be there Friday night. Let's get everyone out there!

barsad said:

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We can nitpick all we want about the last seconds, the guy made a buzzer beater, it happens. The DIFFERENCE between those last seconds and Thursday's last seconds was Aimaq following some coaching on the Cal inbound play before the buzzer beater.
Instead of receiving an inbound, bricking a 1:1 and watching Cal lose at the buzzer (Thursday), he ran away from the inbound, ensuring that Cone gets the ball and hits two for the 3-point lead. Yes, we had to go to OT, but the Jaylon Show took care of business (30 points!)
Go Bears! Let's hope this gives some newfound confidence to the squad.
On Larsen, I would like to see him split time with Aimaq (10 min each, with flexibility for matchups). The kid does a lot of things better than Fardaws, some not better, but why not give him a chance to show it and improve?

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A few weeks ago, you suggested that I tone down my enthusiasm when I suggested that moving forward Cal's practical GOAL was to finish fourth in the Pac 12.

So let me make a suggestion to you. Time to stop your negative obsession with Fardaws Aimaq. It's really becoming ridiculous. There were several differences in the way those two games ended. Did not JT also miss the front end of a one and one in the Washington game? Do you know for sure that Daws was the only option on the inbound play? Why did Grant Newell play so far off of Moses Wood with three second left in the game when Brooks was at the top of the key and Grant was literally in no position to help on defense? Yep, take a double double guy and reduce his average playing time to half a game. Please, just let it go.

barsad said:

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I give Aimaq about as much love as a middle of the pack big man should get. There's literally no one else we have to bring down a rebound, so getting double-doubles is not that impressive to me. He had a great game today, but there are times when he can't hit a 5-foot shot in the paint.
Anyway, the worth of a 6th year player who is only going to play for another six weeks is kind of irrelevant. The more important question about minutes at center is:
Is it more important for Aimaq to collect a few more double-doubles so he gets a better offer in Europe, or is it more important to develop Larsen, the center for the next three years who will be leading Cal teams that might actually break .500? Seems like an obvious choice to me.

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more important to play Aimaq and win some games to build back the fan base and get better recruits; such as a center far better than Larsen. Not that Larsen hasn't done well for a walk on but he's not CAL's future at center.

I think some people forget okafor is still on this team. And if he weren't hurt, would probably have taken all of larson's minutes.

Madsen will definitely try to bring in an experienced centre next year. Pair that with okafor and Curtis (who both have high upside) and I'm not sure how much Larson sees the floor next year

barsad said:

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I give Aimaq about as much love as a middle of the pack big man should get. There's literally no one else we have to bring down a rebound, so getting double-doubles is not that impressive to me. He had a great game today, but there are times when he can't hit a 5-foot shot in the paint.
Anyway, the worth of a 6th year player who is only going to play for another six weeks is kind of irrelevant. The more important question about minutes at center is:
Is it more important for Aimaq to collect a few more double-doubles so he gets a better offer in Europe, or is it more important to develop Larsen, the center for the next three years who will be leading Cal teams that might actually break .500? Seems like an obvious choice to me.

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Obvious choice for me, too! I'd go with Aimaq...

1. I'm not at all sure Larson is the big man of our future. There's also Okafor, Curtis and the guy(s) we will surely be bringing in. Maybe Larson will get a scholarship and be able to stay in the rotation. Nice player: I root for him.

2. In college football and basketball, the future is always now. Success in the present helps in recruiting and playing to win now is owed to the current players and fans.