Andrej is our 4th starter, great get for Madsen. Now my kingdom for a 7-footer. Petraitis is OK (let's remember that Air Force had 9 wins last year, 7 against patsies), but he's not the new Fardaws.
Really underselling Petraitis. He put up incredible stats (counting and efficiency); that's not easy to do. We've had a lot of volume scorers on our bad teams and they've all had dog**** efficiency. His team being overmatched is not his fault. Petraitis is a huge floor raiser and his instinctive play (he's an opportunistic scorer, a good passer, and good on helpside D... he averaged 1.5 steals and a block a game while being a below average athlete) will make him an important contributor.
And he accomplished that while playing in the slowest, lowest scoring, most deliberate offense in the NCAA last season.
Added scholarship count at top. Don't want to try to project starters as that's above my pay grade. Armstrong listed as WO per Faraudo. Larson listed as WO per 4thGen.
I don't see what all the hoopla is about. The staff has managed to snag a lot of guards and wings, but where is the height? And where is the beef?
This team went no where except a little better than the previous year, maybe because they had fewer injured players. Now we have a team with serious deficiency up front. Teams with bigger taller players have an edge, most of the time.
The tallest talented big man we have is Mark Madsen, and his eligibility is all used up. Dort is projected as our center, and he is 6-10. But he has played in 18 games and averaged one point and two rebounds, or is it the other way around? I forget.
We have Curtis who is interesting, but do you think he is ready to start, or play major minutes? At least we had Daws last season, who could get rebounds and score well enough, even though his defense was not up to par. And you don't have Okafor, who might have helped.
I suggest you all stop dreaming about Mahaney. We have enough shooting guards, and we don't need another one, even though weeks ago, I would have loved it if we had signed him. What we need now is what we have always needed: tall and wide. Omot is 6-8, but he is skinny as a rail. 175 lbs. That is too skinny for a guard nowadays, and he is supposed to be a big on our roster, I think.
I don't understand it. Madsen was a terrific power forward, and played with one of themost dominant centers of all time in Shaquille, so he must know what a good big man player or a good big man recruit looks like. I would have thought he would have landed one by now, even though they are rare. End of rant, and I don't feel any better.
I don't see what all the hoopla is about. The staff has managed to snag a lot of guards and wings, but where is the height? And where is the beef?
This team went no where except a little better than the previous year, maybe because they had fewer injured players. Now we have a team with serious deficiency up front. Teams with bigger taller players have an edge, most of the time.
The tallest talented big man we have is Mark Madsen, and his eligibility is all used up. Dort is projected as our center, and he is 6-10. But he has played in 18 games and averaged one point and two rebounds, or is it the other way around? I forget.
We have Curtis who is interesting, but do you think he is ready to start, or play major minutes? At least we had Daws last season, who could get rebounds and score well enough, even though his defense was not up to par. And you don't have Okafor, who might have helped.
I suggest you all stop dreaming about Mahaney. We have enough shooting guards, and we don't need another one, even though weeks ago, I would have loved it if we had signed him. What we need now is what we have always needed: tall and wide. Omot is 6-8, but he is skinny as a rail. 175 lbs. That is too skinny for a guard nowadays, and he is supposed to be a big on our roster, I think.
I don't understand it. Madsen was a terrific power forward, and played with one of themost dominant centers of all time in Shaquille, so he must know what a good big man player or a good big man recruit looks like. I would have thought he would have landed one by now, even though they are rare. End of rant, and I don't feel any better.
Crystal Balled to Cal. Cal Sports said he's committing. Other Cal fans I've spoke to have told me that he will commit. Quite a bit of buzz to say the least.
I don't see what all the hoopla is about. The staff has managed to snag a lot of guards and wings, but where is the height? And where is the beef?
This team went no where except a little better than the previous year, maybe because they had fewer injured players. Now we have a team with serious deficiency up front. Teams with bigger taller players have an edge, most of the time.
The tallest talented big man we have is Mark Madsen, and his eligibility is all used up. Dort is projected as our center, and he is 6-10. But he has played in 18 games and averaged one point and two rebounds, or is it the other way around? I forget.
We have Curtis who is interesting, but do you think he is ready to start, or play major minutes? At least we had Daws last season, who could get rebounds and score well enough, even though his defense was not up to par. And you don't have Okafor, who might have helped.
I suggest you all stop dreaming about Mahaney. We have enough shooting guards, and we don't need another one, even though weeks ago, I would have loved it if we had signed him. What we need now is what we have always needed: tall and wide. Omot is 6-8, but he is skinny as a rail. 175 lbs. That is too skinny for a guard nowadays, and he is supposed to be a big on our roster, I think.
I don't understand it. Madsen was a terrific power forward, and played with one of themost dominant centers of all time in Shaquille, so he must know what a good big man player or a good big man recruit looks like. I would have thought he would have landed one by now, even though they are rare. End of rant, and I don't feel any better.
Now we have Sissoko.
Came to say this.
That said, until the transfer players have signed their NLIs, enrolled in classes at Cal, and suited up for games, I'm hesitant to consider any of them as being a Cal basketball player.
How many times has a recruit committed to Cal only to flip later? Then there are the recruits who enroll but then more or less immediately request a transfer elsewhere.
This team went no where except a little better than the previous year . . .
2023: 13-19 overall, 9-11 in conference
2022: 3-29 overall, 2-18 in conference
Barely any improvement at all.
Don't you see? If Madsen didn't get Cal from the 3-29 Mark Fox dumpster fire to a 20-win season - minimum - in his first year, then any talk of second-year improvement be darned. "Mark Madsen sucks! And he can't recruit worth squat!" Jsyn.
I don't see what all the hoopla is about. The staff has managed to snag a lot of guards and wings, but where is the height? And where is the beef?
Our point guard is 6'3. Rest of the starting lineup is 6'7 and above.
The beef is there
How do you know what the starting lineup will be? These kids haven't even met each other yet. They haven't played a minute together. The coach has never seen them play a minute together in a scrimmage or a game. You must have a very good crystal ball.
I don't see what all the hoopla is about. The staff has managed to snag a lot of guards and wings, but where is the height? And where is the beef?
Our point guard is 6'3. Rest of the starting lineup is 6'7 and above.
The beef is there
And Ola-Joseph…
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And Dort (6'10", 245 lbs).
You really think Dort is in your starting lineup, or will get major playing time? He had nothing more than a cup of coffee at Vandy, averaging single digit minutes, and single digit points and rebounds. Curtis has better stats, but not much better. Either of them will have to make great strides to see major minutes. Maybe Dort was injured.
I don't see what all the hoopla is about. The staff has managed to snag a lot of guards and wings, but where is the height? And where is the beef?
Our point guard is 6'3. Rest of the starting lineup is 6'7 and above.
The beef is there
And Ola-Joseph…
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And Dort (6'10", 245 lbs).
So this year, so far you have in your starting front line, Dort, who has height and beef, but hardly any experience, and Petraitis, who at 6-7 and 210 is small for a power forward, and played in a much lesser league than the ACC, along with Omot, 6-8 and 175 at small forward, which is very light for a front line position. Everyone is different, but the athletes of today are race horses, and likely have very fast metabolisms, making it hard to put on weight. We have a lot of guards with good size, but not much size up front. I am thinking more about defense being our biggest need, and last season our defense was much weaker than the recent past. I don't see how we play consistently good defense without size in the front line. Last season, we had Daws, Larson at 6-10, Newell, a strong defender at 6-8, and Okafor, at 6-9, another decent front line defender. This year, I dunno.
I wasn't real happy with our defense last season. To me Kennedy looked like our only plus individual defender and the season was half gone before our team defense looked presentable.
I have no idea how the incoming players will defend but we seem to have enough reasonably long wings to switch a lot. I have no access to any defensive stats so the bigs are a total mystery. All I can hope is we start off well enough to beat the weak OOC teams then get it together in time for the tougher opponents.
I don't see what all the hoopla is about. The staff has managed to snag a lot of guards and wings, but where is the height? And where is the beef?
This team went no where except a little better than the previous year, maybe because they had fewer injured players. Now we have a team with serious deficiency up front. Teams with bigger taller players have an edge, most of the time.
The tallest talented big man we have is Mark Madsen, and his eligibility is all used up. Dort is projected as our center, and he is 6-10. But he has played in 18 games and averaged one point and two rebounds, or is it the other way around? I forget.
We have Curtis who is interesting, but do you think he is ready to start, or play major minutes? At least we had Daws last season, who could get rebounds and score well enough, even though his defense was not up to par. And you don't have Okafor, who might have helped.
I suggest you all stop dreaming about Mahaney. We have enough shooting guards, and we don't need another one, even though weeks ago, I would have loved it if we had signed him. What we need now is what we have always needed: tall and wide. Omot is 6-8, but he is skinny as a rail. 175 lbs. That is too skinny for a guard nowadays, and he is supposed to be a big on our roster, I think.
I don't understand it. Madsen was a terrific power forward, and played with one of themost dominant centers of all time in Shaquille, so he must know what a good big man player or a good big man recruit looks like. I would have thought he would have landed one by now, even though they are rare. End of rant, and I don't feel any better.
Fortunately, unlike you, Mark Madsen realizes the game has changed since he played.
The Warriors revolutionized the game. Beef is a lot less important than it was 20 years ago. Welcome to 2024.
If you have a Shaq or Jokic, or Embiid - of course play them. But many of the tall guys play a finesse game - Porzingis and A Davis come to mind, not to mention all the stretch 4 type of guys. Most teams are running with shorter/lighter guys - Bam Adebayo, All Horford, are 6'9. Shooting is at a premium.
Madsen is being smart - designing a modern offense with balance and hopefully better shooting. The modern game is dominated by athletic wings and guards. Sissoko and Dort will allow Cal to match up with most teams they play,
I don't see what all the hoopla is about. The staff has managed to snag a lot of guards and wings, but where is the height? And where is the beef?
This team went no where except a little better than the previous year, maybe because they had fewer injured players. Now we have a team with serious deficiency up front. Teams with bigger taller players have an edge, most of the time.
The tallest talented big man we have is Mark Madsen, and his eligibility is all used up. Dort is projected as our center, and he is 6-10. But he has played in 18 games and averaged one point and two rebounds, or is it the other way around? I forget.
We have Curtis who is interesting, but do you think he is ready to start, or play major minutes? At least we had Daws last season, who could get rebounds and score well enough, even though his defense was not up to par. And you don't have Okafor, who might have helped.
I suggest you all stop dreaming about Mahaney. We have enough shooting guards, and we don't need another one, even though weeks ago, I would have loved it if we had signed him. What we need now is what we have always needed: tall and wide. Omot is 6-8, but he is skinny as a rail. 175 lbs. That is too skinny for a guard nowadays, and he is supposed to be a big on our roster, I think.
I don't understand it. Madsen was a terrific power forward, and played with one of themost dominant centers of all time in Shaquille, so he must know what a good big man player or a good big man recruit looks like. I would have thought he would have landed one by now, even though they are rare. End of rant, and I don't feel any better.
Fortunately, unlike you, Mark Madsen realizes the game has changed since he played.
The Warriors revolutionized the game. Beef is a lot less important than it was 20 years ago. Welcome to 2024.
If you have a Shaq or Jokic, or Embiid - of course play them. But many of the tall guys play a finesse game - Porzingis and A Davis come to mind, not to mention all the stretch 4 type of guys. Most teams are running with shorter/lighter guys - Bam Adebayo, All Horford, are 6'9. Shooting is at a premium.
Madsen is being smart - designing a modern offense with balance and hopefully better shooting. The modern game is dominated by athletic wings and guards. Sissoko and Dort will allow Cal to match up with most teams they play,
From what I've read on them, it seems like Dort (and especially) Sissoko are more interior bangers than perimeter threats. Maybe they are more finesse guys than true bruisers, but I doubt they're floor spacers in the mode of Porzingis. Personally, I prefer having bigs who can and will physically impose their will in the paint. Not only does it all but guarantee a bucket whenever you want, but it also creates a psychological advantage (akin to repeatedly running the ball up the middle at will in football). I hope Cal's incoming transfer big men can fulfill that role.
I don't see what all the hoopla is about. The staff has managed to snag a lot of guards and wings, but where is the height? And where is the beef?
Our point guard is 6'3. Rest of the starting lineup is 6'7 and above.
The beef is there
How do you know what the starting lineup will be? These kids haven't even met each other yet. They haven't played a minute together. The coach has never seen them play a minute together in a scrimmage or a game. You must have a very good crystal ball.
SFCB, I always respect your posts. But in this case, cmon man, this is a Cal Basketball site. We're Cal fans. After this current season ended, Tyson went pro, and all the others entered the portal, it left us with basically no team. So the "hoopla" that you're referring to is the fact that it appears at the very least MM is bringing in some decent players. Nobody said they were going to win a championship - I'll be extremely happy if they can even play .500 ball. But after sufferring through the lousy Wyking Jones era, and then the Mark Fox era - which to me is the worst four years of Cal basketball I can ever remember, its only natural that the posters here are going to get a little excited. It will be interesting to see how well Madsen can coordinate these guys to play together. I can guarantee you that it will be a work in progress, but as fans we shouldn't feel bad if we get a little excited about it. And if the team falls short of expectations, we'll still all be okay, we're a bit immune to that - its certainly has happened before, but considering the cupboard was basically bare a month ago, there's no reason not to raise a little "hoopla."
I don't see what all the hoopla is about. The staff has managed to snag a lot of guards and wings, but where is the height? And where is the beef?
Our point guard is 6'3. Rest of the starting lineup is 6'7 and above.
The beef is there
How do you know what the starting lineup will be? These kids haven't even met each other yet. They haven't played a minute together. The coach has never seen them play a minute together in a scrimmage or a game. You must have a very good crystal ball.
SFCB, I always respect your posts. But in this case, cmon man, this is a Cal Basketball site. We're Cal fans. After this current season ended, Tyson went pro, and all the others entered the portal, it left us with basically no team. So the "hoopla" that you're referring to is the fact that it appears at the very least MM is bringing in some decent players. Nobody said they were going to win a championship - I'll be extremely happy if they can even play .500 ball. But after sufferring through the lousy Wyking Jones era, and then the Mark Fox era - which to me is the worst four years of Cal basketball I can ever remember, its only natural that the posters here are going to get a little excited. It will be interesting to see how well Madsen can coordinate these guys to play together. I can guarantee you that it will be a work in progress, but as fans we shouldn't feel bad if we get a little excited about it. And if the team falls short of expectations, we'll still all be okay, we're a bit immune to that - its certainly has happened before, but considering the cupboard was basically bare a month ago, there's no reason not to raise a little "hoopla."
Word. The internet has fueled a type of modern fandom that is so frustratingly grounded in the imagining of something mediocre. Coach Madsen and the collective is having a massively successful off season. We went toe to toe with some deep pocket blue bloods and recruited some exceptional players. They gave us lots of reasons to feel good. No reason to come back to earth before even a game is played. Have fun imaging what these young men can do tossing the round ball for the blue and gold!
Is this the "travel international as a team" summer coming up? Would be a fantastic way to gel and I think it's every 4 years. Last time half their games got canceled and it feels like it was ages ago.
Is this the "travel international as a team" summer coming up? Would be a fantastic way to gel and I think it's every 4 years. Last time half their games got canceled and it feels like it was ages ago.
Not anytime soon, I'd imagine. The California men's basketball team took a trip to France, Belgium, and Germany in August 2022. They played 2 out of 3 scheduled games:
France: Cal vs. Vanves GPSO Chinese National Team (cancelled for roof leak at venue; article) Belgium: Cal 92, Spirou Basket 62 (article) Germany: Bayer Giants Leverkusen 85, Cal 59 (article)
As far as I know, the NCAA still has its 4-year rule for international team trips, but there is one loophole: if the team represents the USA in an international competition, then the 4-year rule doesn't apply.
I can think of a couple of recent examples. John Calipari, no stranger to a loophole, was able to take Kentucky on a standard team trip to the Dominican Republic in 2022, and then participate as the American representative in Toronto's GLOBL JAM in 2023. Similarly, Ron Hunter took Tulane to Costa Rica in 2022 and the FISU World University Games in China in 2023.
The FISU event is every other year, so it won't return until 2025. GLOBL JAM will return this summer, but no teams, dates, or other details have been announced. There's also the World University Basketball Series, an annual event that took place in Tokyo last year (Radford represented the US and finished in 3rd place) and the William Jones Cup in Taiwan (UC Irvine won the 2023 tournament).
Finally, the NCAA can't stop a team from taking a domestic retreat, and that's exactly what Mark Madsen did last summer. He took his new team on a day trip to Muir Woods on July 20 for some team building. They posted photos and a video.
How many times have you seen a kid flip after announcing to Joe Tipton. They will silent commit at first, then flip later. This is there official announcement.
Please moderate your skepticism about Lee Dort. California's announced Portal Transfers warrants universal optimism. This optimistic view should include L Dort as his contributions can be expected to be positive and important.
Dort was very highly rated as a prep. Unfortunately he was, prevented from fulfilling his lofty prep expectations at Vanderbilt. Nonetheless. Adam Mazarei, California's Associate Head Coach, has intimate 1st person experience with Dort as the Vanderbilt Associate Head Coach. We should place high value on his experience and opinion about L Dort potential contributions. Mazarei is in a unique, highly qualified, position to have made a positive judgement on the addition of Dort.
Mazarei leveraged his personal coaching experience to make Dort's portal recruitment a priority for the Madson 2024-25 team. On reflection I expect you will conclude that Mazarei's belief in L Dort was warranted.
Dort's a wildcard, but he's a wildcard with talent.
Madsen has done a good job of filling the roster with athletic, talented players. We have the #35 overall prospect from the '21 class, the #59 overall prospect from the '22 class, and the #17 overall prospect from the '23 class. We also have several guys from smaller programs who have solid production now and the potential to improve.
The downside is we don't have any dominating guys who have proven results in ACC-level play. Some guys will need to play up to their talent level or it could be a long season. A lot of that's on the staff - coaching them, evaluating them, and building a system to accentuate their strengths. But it seems clear Madsen has a plan, he's being intentional in executing it, and he's getting the most out of the NIL money he has.
With 1 spot available, I think our biggest need is a PG or PF. We are deep on the wings, deep on centers, deep on SG's, but only have 2 PG's. I say we get Saran or Sharavjamts. Or, a guy named Luke Bamgboye wants to come to Cal.
With 1 spot available, I think our biggest need is a PG or PF. We are deep on the wings, deep on centers, deep on SG's, but only have 2 PG's. I say we get Saran or Sharavjamts. Or, a guy named Luke Bamgboye wants to come to Cal.
A PF preferably. We already have 3 PGs on the roster, Tucker, Wilkinson and Vlad.
"I say we get Saran or Sharavjamts" quote represents either of two great ways to round up the recruiting class. I can envision either being California Basketball fan favorites.
With 1 spot available, I think our biggest need is a PG or PF. We are deep on the wings, deep on centers, deep on SG's, but only have 2 PG's. I say we get Saran or Sharavjamts. Or, a guy named Luke Bamgboye wants to come to Cal.
A PF preferably. We already have 3 PGs on the roster, Tucker, Wilkinson and Vlad.
I'm more concerned with quality than quantity. Not sure any of those are ACC ready - and we need 2 ACC ready distributors if we are going to play 3 wings.
Omot is 185. Get it right. Cody Mauch gained 85 pounds in a year or 2.
OK, Newbie. What is your source for Omot at 185?
You need to know that our most accurate poster on the usual stats was Tsubamoto, and he schooled us on the fact that team websites often exaggerate players' weights and heights, while sports-reference.com is not biased and much more accurate. North Dakota website has Omot at 185, and sports-reference.com has him at 175. And at 6-8 and 185, he would still be skinny as a rail, which was my point. He may be a helluva talent, but he is skinny.
Omot is 185. Get it right. Cody Mauch gained 85 pounds in a year or 2.
OK, Newbie. What is your source for Omot at 185?
You need to know that our most accurate poster on the usual stats was Tsubamoto, and he schooled us on the fact that team websites often exaggerate players' weights and heights, while sports-reference.com is not biased and much more accurate. North Dakota website has Omot at 185, and sports-reference.com has him at 175. And at 6-8 and 185, he would still be skinny as a rail, which was my point. He may be a helluva talent, but he is skinny.
Omot, a 6-foot-8, 185-pound forward from Mankato, Minnesota, has averaged 14.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists in his career while starting all 65 possible games played in two seasons with the Fighting Hawks. He earned the All-Summit League first-team honor and a spot on the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District 12 second-team following a breakout sophomore year that saw him average 16.7 PPG & 4.2 RPG in a team-leading 35.2 minutes per game.
Sports reference ain't updated. Still got his freshman year flic. Try again. Everywhere else, he's 185. Even 247. Again, how does sport reference know his exact unbiased weight as you say? Did they speak to him directly. Probably not. Omot told the school + 247.
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