I believe I have a solution which would make us a winner and it's fairly simple...

Rytis Petraitis? Make it so he's fraternal twins. (How hard can that be when you have Prof. Jennifer Doudna on campus?)

Now, here's why I say fraternal and not identical:

a) make one twin a lights-out shooter from beyond the arc, like, say, Klay Thompson.
b) make the other twin 3 inches taller, giving us some more rim protection and just general "oomph" on defense

Okay, and while she's stuffing players into the CRISPR machine, she can put in Madsen and make him halfway to Mike Montgomery, in terms of scheme, in-game strategy and player development. (The reason I say "halfway" is that you can't expect miracles with this stuff.)

We wouldn't win the ACC (unless she can turn Devin Curtis into Cooper Flagg), but we'd be in the top half and for sure make March Madness... maybe make it to the second weekend.

You're welcome.

RedlessWardrobe said:

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This team's biggest issue isn't about playmaking and assists, it's
about stopping the opponent from scoring. I honestly can't remember tonight when we had two consecutive stops playing half court defense

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This. We can not force teams out of what they are comfortable running.

barsad said:

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Sissoko and Dort are such a liability on offense. Never thought I would say this because I was not a fan of Daws' hands of stone, but can someone call Hungary and get him back for a grad year? He's got 12.9 PPG for the mighty Szolnok Whatevers.
Sorry the Szolnok Oil Miners, I love Google Translate.

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I hate to say it, but I always felt fans didn't give Daws a fair shake, and they would find out the next season

while the next season is here

I think Sissoko is a good player and we're fortunate to have him, but unfortunately this is his last year of eligibility. I'm less impressed with Dort

HoopDreams said:

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barsad said:

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Sissoko and Dort are such a liability on offense. Never thought I would say this because I was not a fan of Daws' hands of stone, but can someone call Hungary and get him back for a grad year? He's got 12.9 PPG for the mighty Szolnok Whatevers.
Sorry the Szolnok Oil Miners, I love Google Translate.

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I hate to say it, but I always felt fans didn't give Daws a fair shake, and they would find out the next season

while the next season is here

I think Sissoko is a good player and we're fortunate to have him, but unfortunately this is his last year of eligibility. I'm less impressed with Dort

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Indeed, I posted this sentiment (^) probably multiple times last season. Daws was a so-so defender... but everybody on this team, save Petraitis and maybe Campbell, are so-so defenders... at best. (Some are striving to get to the so-so level. (At least I hope they are striving). Meanwhile, Daws was racking up double-doubles.

Big C said:

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HoopDreams said:

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barsad said:

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Sissoko and Dort are such a liability on offense. Never thought I would say this because I was not a fan of Daws' hands of stone, but can someone call Hungary and get him back for a grad year? He's got 12.9 PPG for the mighty Szolnok Whatevers.
Sorry the Szolnok Oil Miners, I love Google Translate.

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I hate to say it, but I always felt fans didn't give Daws a fair shake, and they would find out the next season

while the next season is here

I think Sissoko is a good player and we're fortunate to have him, but unfortunately this is his last year of eligibility. I'm less impressed with Dort

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Indeed, I posted this sentiment (^) probably multiple times last season. Daws was a so-so defender... but everybody on this team, save Petraitis and maybe Campbell, are so-so defenders... at best. (Some are striving to get to the so-so level. (At least I hope they are striving). Meanwhile, Daws was racking up double-doubles.

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Two things stood out for me regarding Cal's offense:

• Cal's centers are the only players who set screens. Meanwhile, a variety of Clemson players were setting screens for each other, creating multiple mismatches. If more Cal players screened for each other or, God forbid, there were some off-ball screens, there would be more open shots.

• Sissoko sets good screens and knows how to roll to the hoop, but the ball-handler never looks for him. Sissoko also runs well for a big guy but when he got down into the offensive key on a fast-break, with only a Clemson guard on him, once again, the Cal ball-handler never even looked at him.

Both Pitt and Clemson are going to make the tournament and Cal covered the spread in both games, meaning it played better than Vegas expected. But you also see the difference between legit ACC teams and Cal with the skill level, a point guard who is quick and gets into the paint and the supporting cast players who all do one thing well. Cal can't defend well without fouling. The two bigs (Dort and Sissoko) are stiffs, bringing very little post presence and limited rim protection. They can dunk at the rim but can't score outside 4 feet. That's an issue. Blacksher doesn't consistently score enough to make up for his lack of defense because he can't keep quick guards in front of him. The hope is Cal gains some roster consistency in coming years instead of these revolving door method over the past few years. And maybe Madsen can dig deeper into his bench and give some other guys minutes and a chance. Wilkinson is only playing 21 minutes per game. He needs to play more.

oskidunker said:

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gwashburn14 said:

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Both Pitt and Clemson are going to make the tournament and Cal covered the spread in both games, meaning it played better than Vegas expected. But you also see the difference between legit ACC teams and Cal with the skill level, a point guard who is quick and gets into the paint and the supporting cast players who all do one thing well. Cal can't defend well without fouling. The two bigs (Dort and Sissoko) are stiffs, bringing very little post presence and limited rim protection. They can dunk at the rim but can't score outside 4 feet. That's an issue. Blacksher doesn't consistently score enough to make up for his lack of defense because he can't keep quick guards in front of him. The hope is Cal gains some roster consistency in coming years instead of these revolving door method over the past few years. And maybe Madsen can dig deeper into his bench and give some other guys minutes and a chance. Wilkinson is only playing 21 minutes per game. He needs to play more.

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We never were in the game no defense=No chance of winning

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Nowhere in GW14's post does he ever imply that. Irrelevant response.

I'm at a loss to figure out this team, I see no easy fixes.
I do know that we can put about 25 consecutive minutes of decent playing together… then something happens in the early to mid 2nd half when it all falls apart. Is that lack of conditioning? Lack of coaching? Lack of confidence?
I have no idea. Here's what I think might help:
- Wilkinson minutes, 30-plus if he can do it.
- Stoja scoring partner, for dishing off or perimeter outlet. If he can score 30, he and someone else with a scoring mentality can help each other score 50 per game combined. We can't just let him "be Jaylon" for the whole year. Peja is probably not helping, telling him to be selfish, get his stats fluffed for the NBA, but who knows.
- Bench Blacksher… for now, maybe he bteaks out of the funk later in the season, but no room for him as a floor general (more like a private first class).
- Big man strategy… God help us. Teach them how to get fouled.

gwashburn14 said:

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The hope is Cal gains some roster consistency in coming years instead of these revolving door method over the past few years.

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I agreed with everything else in your post except for this. The revolving door is exactly what we should expect to see as a lower to mid-tier team in Div I. Roster consistency in the NIL era is a luxury enjoyed only by the blueblood teams that are March Madness regulars (i.e., not us). We are a waystation for now, that's what the courts and a week-kneed NCAA organization have given us. The trick for Madsen is this: how do you pick well when the roulette wheel turns in the offseason? Madsen got a pass on Season 1 (stuck with Fox stink on the roster), but he clearly made a few missteps in Season 2. His summer of 2025 picks will have to improve if he's going to keep his job. Period.

barsad said:

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gwashburn14 said:

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The hope is Cal gains some roster consistency in coming years instead of these revolving door method over the past few years.

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I agreed with everything else in your post except for this. The revolving door is exactly what we should expect to see as a lower to mid-tier team in Div I. Roster consistency in the NIL era is a luxury enjoyed only by the blueblood teams that are March Madness regulars (i.e., not us). We are a waystation for now, that's what the courts and a week-kneed NCAA organization have given us. The trick for Madsen is this: how do you pick well when the roulette wheel turns in the offseason? Madsen got a pass on Season 1 (stuck with Fox stink on the roster), but he clearly made a few missteps in Season 2. His summer of 2025 picks will have to improve if he's going to keep his job. Period.

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Your points are all good ones. I'll add that Madsen needs to figure out how to get players mastering his defensive and offensive schemes earlier in the season. The team can't take 15 games to "gel".