Dear ACC: please do not hire any P12 refs. They suck. They can go officiate in the B1G and WCC

Glad its over!
JK, next, renew coaches' contracts AFTER the tournament!!!

4 point lead and can't inbound was one of many mental disasters that were pretty inexcusable.

This is why you don't extend coaches until something tangible and sustainable has been proven. The fan base is so starving for a winner we extended a coach who had a losing record in his first year. SMH

It was still a big step for us this season. I'm glad that Madsen changed the culture, guys where high-giving fans courtside and staying late to show love to the student section after the games. There was energy, purpose, and excitement around the program this year and that's a great change of pace and atmosphere.

The FT and foul disparity tonight was disgusting. The way the offense just stagnated in the second half where guys weren't moving and running screens and weaves like the first was concerning like they just tried to dribble out 12 minutes of game time. That's something that happened a few times this year and needs to change moving forward. I need Madisen's squads to play full games no matter the score without letting up or playing the clock instead of the opponent.

This big question mark now is the talent on the team. Madsen did great in the portal last year but we're losing Tyson and Aimaq, at the very least, and he'll have to restock and improve through the portal again but I also need to see him pull in a high level HS player or two to prove that he can.

We'll see what he comes back with next year as a follow-up and how he does building a program instead of just pulling it out of the depths. I'm cautiously optimistic but the travel and quality of opponent means the next few years will bring bigger challenges ahead. I hope he's the savior we all hope he can be but there's still a lot of really big unanswered questions and a lot of uncertainty for next season

It's gonna be a bloodbath next year

Cal88 said:

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Loss of focus after building a big lead.

Tough way to end a pretty decent season.

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Losing record. Losing conference record. Losing an 18pt lead in the second half of a consolation bracket game. Decent?

And this season was a hell of a lot better than last season, and the previous seasons all combined. There is hope, and seems to be a vision and a purpose, and that Madsen is around and involved in every way possible. Jerk knowlton needs to go along with Christ, and hopefully a competent AD is hired. It would be nice for a change. Oh, BTW, NOW is the time. No more screwing around.

GO BEARS!!

I am confident Madsen will be able to get us even better players than this year. He knows what the needs are and he will fill it with the best out there. What we can do as fans is to donate to Cal Legends. Just imagine what he can cook up this offseason!

Like many of you I was at last night's game and had to suffer through the horrible collapse. Gonna try to keep this short. In a nutshell, last night's game was a summary of the entire season. Delete the overtime, the regulation session displayed the same strengths, weaknesses and inconsistencies that was on display all year. As I've mentioned before, by mid January, as fans, we all pretty much knew what this team was. Last night gave us more of the same.

My take, the Madsen extension was a good move. While I don't agree with some of the posts here that immediately linked last night's catastrophe to giving MM 2 more years, I understand that those responses had to be based more on emotion than objectively. The typical "prisoner of the moment" response.

Moving forward I'm cautiously optimistic that MM will move Cal basketball in the right direction. Although his immediate task of putting a roster together is similar to the one he faced last year, this time around it won't have that same "rush job" feel. Go Bears!

Tyson has been so clutch. It was strange his inability to take over or at least make a key basket or get fouled. I didn't count but there were numerous drives where he failed to score or draw a foul or lost the ball for no reason. His passes were risky and telegraphed. The last 10 minutes were far below his standard and that cost us the game. Not his fault, but a typical Tyosn makes the Furd comeback impossible. Of course, the refs did swallow their whistle on A LOT of contact he drew...but still.

I think Cal was worn down, the refs blew their whistles excessively and the players lost their poise. It is hard for me to fault Madsen for what happened last night. I knew once Aimaq fouled out that big trouble was brewing. I respect his decision to follow his religion but fasting until halftime had to affect his play. I have seen the same from Nurkic of the Phoenix Suns and formerly of the Portland Trailblazers.

All in all, the season was enjoyable to watch. Some good comeback wins, and it was great to beat UCLA at Pauley in Cal's last Pac-12 visit. The energy during the Stanford, USC and UCLA home games at Haas was awesome and something that has been missing for many years.

Better to keep Madsen in Berkeley via the extension than risk losing him to another team. Right now, I think the only team that he would 100% leave Berkeley for is the Lakers.

RedlessWardrobe said:

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Like many of you I was at last night's game and had to suffer through the horrible collapse. Gonna try to keep this short. In a nutshell, last night's game was a summary of the entire season. Delete the overtime, the regulation session displayed the same strengths, weaknesses and inconsistencies that was on display all year. As I've mentioned before, by mid January, as fans, we all pretty much knew what this team was. Last night gave us more of the same.

My take, the Madsen extension was a good move. While I don't agree with some of the posts here that immediately linked last night's catastrophe to giving MM 2 more years, I understand that those responses had to be based more on emotion than objectively. The typical "prisoner of the moment" response.

Moving forward I'm cautiously optimistic that MM will move Cal basketball in the right direction. Although his immediate task of putting a roster together is similar to the one he faced last year, this time around it won't have that same "rush job" feel. Go Bears!

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Lasy year Madsen faced the task of recruiting the portal while hiring a staff, re recruiting the current roster, trying to engage a donor group that had mix feelings regarding his hire. Some wanted Pasternak, some (including me) were in the Amir Abdur-Rahim camp. And yet he culled together a highly rated transfer group. On3 had them 9th and 24/7 had the transfer class at 21.

The team finished 13-19 (9-11) and lost in catastrophic fashion in the P12 tourney to arch rival and future conference mate Stanford. The transfer group he brought in had to mix with a very poor group of holdover players and 2 incoming frosh. It never worked as hoped. Askew was hurt, Kennedy was hurt and Tyson missed a game awaiting eligibility clarification.

IMO this next transfer window looks very similar as you say. Except he has his staff in place and has hopefully got most of the major donors on board. NIL is the driver. Is the pot big enough to lure top prospects to Cal? Madsen seems to be a coach players would like to play for. But they need a lot.

IMO they have few players that are really ACC level guys. Celestine is a nice complimentary piece. Newell is a maybe. Brown has a chance but seems a year away. Is Askew staying? Seems unlikely. He did walk on senior day. Same with Bowser who is clearly not good enough. Okafor is a maybe. Defensively and rebounding if healthy might be fine, but lacks an offensive game. Curtis is not ready either and may never be. Pavlovich and Larsen (walkon) are not what is needed even as depth pieces in a good league like the ACC. Wilkinson the incoming frosh is a good prospect but do you really want him running the point 30+ minutes a night in that league?

Madsen needs a lot of players. Not bodies. Players. I think he has a plan but does he have the funding to fully implement it? JMO but the 4 starters that are leaving will all need to be replaced and at least 2 prospects that can provide immediate quality minutes. The mix of portal and HS/International players will be interesting. And that group really needs to have some multi year eligible guys. It would not surprise me if one of the returning players that most seem to believe can help decides to test the portal.

I think Madsen has a strong idea of who may be available and what it will take to bring them aboard. The players that can make a difference likely have been using back channels to find their next home. There will be some surprises there always is, but I would be stunned if Mark does not have a target list already.