Madsen had the big at Utah Valley and considering he played in the NBA is about the best coach imaginable for a big. I think that's helped him recruit quality bigs in each of his seasons at CalCNHTH said:CNHTH said:Calfan92 said:
Why will he attract talent?
The best barometer of that will be whether or not he can land Obinna Ekezie
I know for a fact we're being considered strongly and that Madsen has been to Napa Christian a few times and that's all I'll say about that.
The current state of Cal Men's Basketball
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Last: 14 days ago by RedlessWardrobe
The current state is not very good. They do very little well. They rebound (#102) the ball well And they get to the free throw line (#28).Johnfox said:
We had a somewhat disappointing year so far considering based on how we started. We had that Missouri game, we had the Cornell game, we had the Virginia Tech game. There were no expectations coming into the season and if you asked me now, I'd be content at where we're at. But it's how we lost some of the games that pains me. Who knows if you win those 3 games.
Going into next season, if you can retain Stojakovic, Wilkinson, Omot, Ola-Joseph, and Petraitis, there's a lot of hope and optimism. Maddog will attract talent.
Last year was a botched year because Madsen was hired late and had to scramble to get players - he was put in an awful position and did decently well. This year, everyone left and he has to scramble again to get players and did decently well. Closing out the season with 15-16 wins will be key. You get 15-16 wins and next year may be march madness.
But finish strong, retain the players, and we'll be in march madness next year.
But they are poor in many other areas.
Assist to turnovers #312
FG% #306
FG % defense #318
3 pt fg% #298
3 pf fg% defense #332
These numbers are very poor. They do not run strong offense nor play good defense. If you are going to play the style Madsen has installed you have to be able to score the ball. And shoot much better from 3 pt range.
There are 355 teams in D1 hoops.
As for finishing strong while anything is possible they play 5 of the last 7 on the road. Including an upcoming game vs Duke. Also Louisville and Stanford. The home games are SMU and BC.
While you can make an argument that 3, maybe 4 wins are possible, IMO 1 or 2 is much more probable.
That would leave Cal at 13 or 14 wins overall. And perhaps as poor as 6-14 in conference.
I would love to see what this team looks like with everyone healthy. BJ Omot is a nice player that has really not played all season. Front court scoring is lacking as well. What I am troubled by watching this team is that they do not seem particularly well coached. So adding talent to overcome that is crucial. Just not enough talent to play the style Madsen is playing.
The ACC other than Duke is down a bit. Some nice teams but only Duke is a monster. No home court advantage either. This team has lost 5 home games. Good teams are very good at home. Attendance and atmosphere are weak. Knowing how hard it is to win on the road you gotta hold serve at home. This team does not do that. Not against the P6 level programs.
Things can change quickly though. Bring back the keepers (Wilkinson, Andrej, JOJ, Omot, Petraitis and Dort) add the 2 frosh and a couple from the portal and the team could be a postseason team next year. Not sure about NCAA but NIT perhaps.
Somehow they need to engage the fanbase. The games are poorly attended. Haas was at one time a very hard venue for opponents. Not anymore.
Johnfox said:
Such a blessing having Aimaq as a scoring big because every time a team hedged the screen, it was an easy floater/layup for Aimaq
Too bad he could only catch a pass or hold a rebound in traffic less than 50% of the time.
Madsen needs a signature win. Tonight would be the time to do it. Unfortunately, just like the women's team, we're probably going to lay an egg. Would not be surprised if we lose by 30.
CNHTH said:CNHTH said:Calfan92 said:
Why will he attract talent?
The best barometer of that will be whether or not he can land Obinna Ekezie
I know for a fact we're being considered strongly and that Madsen has been to Napa Christian a few times and that's all I'll say about that.
Sounds like what you might hear on a job application rejection email: "You're a very qualified team and you were considered strongly for receiving a top recruit, but we must decline the possibility of you ever landing a top 50 at this time."
I'm kind of curious as to what type of senior year is Carr having? It's hard to find much info on him. Evidently he's a 4 star recruit. Anyone seen him play this year? Is he capable of having an immediate impact similiar to what Wilkinson was able to do? If anyone has some input, it would be appreciated.Calbear73 said:
I love the improvement I've seen in Cal Basketball over the last 2 years and believe that Madsen has the program headed in the right direction. The key to getting to the top half of the ACC next season will be to retain our best players from this year while adding help at key positions of need.
As HoopDreams indicated, we need better & more consistent outside shooting, especially from 3 pt range. If we are going to play an NBA style game we need players who can shoot an opposing team out of a zone defense. Cal is not a very consistent shooting team but I do think we will see growth from Wilkinson & Stojokavic not to mention it will be interesting to see if any of our returning forwards can shoot effectively from the outside & play well enough to stay on the floor.
Cal also needs to improve defensive play both on the perimeter and in the paint. Wake Forest really killed us with the 10-15 ft shot in or near the paint. Our centers couldn't get out fast enough to contest those shots. Not to mention it seems every team we play in the ACC has big men who are significantly taller than our guys.
If everyone returns Madsen will only have one scholarship to give as 12 our already accounted for.
Guards
Wilkinson - S0
Campbell - Sr
Pavlovic - Sr
Car - Fr
Ruff - Fr
Forwards
JOJ - Sr
Stajakovic - Jr
Mahoney - So
Omot - Jr (This year should be a redshirt year)
Petra its - Sr
Center
Dort - Sr
Curtis - So
Positions of Need in Priority Order
1. Center - Unless Curtis had made HUGE progress this year, I don't see him as a player who can be left on the floor for long stretches of time. We need a taller and more athletic center to share minutes with Dort and hope that Curtis develops. If we can't find one in the portal, I'm hoping we can bring a proven player in from overseas who is 6'10" or taller.
2. Point Guard - Would love to see a big (6'2" or taller) point guard who is a great outside shooter and ball distributor. A guard like like Stanfurd's Jalen Blakes who is a graduate transfer from Duke & shoots 45% from the field & 32% from the 3pt line.
3. Forward - It would be great to get a 6'9' or taller athletic forward who can knock down a 3 pt shot.and crash the boards when needed.
Madsen is establishing a foundation this year and if he can use NIL dollars to keep and recruit needed players, My hope is that Cal will make it to the top half of the ACC next year which won't be easy in the toughest basketball conference in the nation. If he can do that Cal will be in position to compete with the top 5 ACC schools in the next two years as our players develop & Cal's profile improves.
Go Bears!
upsetof86 said:
Yes to the talent question. Why did we think he was a recruiter? Because he's an ex Laker??
He has personality. That tends to correlate with recruiting, but is by no means perfect
This team does have some players on it though. Lot better than a few years ago
So are other the UCs: UCLA, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UC Davis, and UC Riverside. You See? Berkeley Inspire.bearister said:
St. Mary's, Santa Clara and USF are better than us. Why?
I don't ever recall Madsen hanging in there with a top team on the road. He absolutely needs to keep this game close if he wants to regain support or put the country on notice.
I hope the cal staff and players studied the NC State film vs Duke because if you watched that game, it's completely possible for history to be made tonight
I hope the cal staff and players studied the NC State film vs Duke because if you watched that game, it's completely possible for history to be made tonight
That NC State team (just last year) made the Final Four. They are one of the worst teams in the ACC this year, and we beat them twice (edited -- I thought you were talking about NC State beating them last season in the NCAAs, looks like they hung in there with Duke the other day -- good effort). I love our guys and Madsen, but it's likely going to be ugly. Madsen does not absolutely need to keep this game close per se. This is a rough assignment in another rough year (better than Fox years but still rough).Johnfox said:
I don't ever recall Madsen hanging in there with a top team on the road. He absolutely needs to keep this game close if he wants to regain support or put the country on notice.
I hope the cal staff and players studied the NC State film vs Duke because if you watched that game, it's completely possible for history to be made tonight
Redless: I saw Carr play once this year; he did not impress me as someone ready to be a big contributor at the next level. He did score 22 points and made a couple nice long shots but he had trouble trying to finish and looked like he needs to gain strength. Seemed like a quiet 22 in a loss. However, he is a four star and I have seen some impressive individual single game stats so I'm reluctant to judge him on the one game.
TWW, thanks for the info. It's interesting that you bring up the strength issue because it's exactly the issue that this year's team is having with Blacksher at the defensive end of the floor.TilWeWobble said:
Redless: I saw Carr play once this year; he did not impress me as someone ready to be a big contributor at the next level. He did score 22 points and made a couple nice long shots but he had trouble trying to finish and looked like he needs to gain strength. Seemed like a quiet 22 in a loss. However, he is a four star and I have seen some impressive individual single game stats so I'm reluctant to judge him on the one game.
If there are a couple of portal departures and it leaves us with three open spots, then a significant point guard would have to be one of the priorities. Three spots - point guard, center, PF. As of right now this team has plenty of wing players.
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