The Benson Blog: Cal Season in Review

It was this time last year that I asked everyone to have patience. Madsen was entering his second season, and I figured we’d do some great recruiting. This was confirmed by my guy Gus out in Sacramento (my old trainer and Arik Armstead’s father), who said not only was Cal getting active in the recruiting scene, but that they were “paying.”

After all was said and done, we finished with a pretty solid group of kids. In fact, various publications gave us praise for our recruiting efforts. Like SI:

Winner: Cal cleans up in the portal

Cal’s incoming transfer portal class is headlined by former McDonald's All-American Andrej Stojakovic, the son of former NBA star Peja Stojaković. After spending his freshman season across the Bay Area at Stanford, Stojaković committed to Mark Madsen and the Bears despite receiving interest from blue bloods like North Carolina and Kentucky. Stojaković is one of six incoming transfers with Air Force forward Rytis Petraitis, Michigan State center Mady Sissoko, Minnesota forward Josh Ola-Joseph, Vanderbilts’ Lee Dort and North Dakota’s BJ Omot being the others that will help the program transition from the Pac-12 to the ACC. 

We (I) took this great class and a plucky attitude into the 24/25 season with so much hope. From my end, after spending a year breaking down the rebound season that was 23/24, I felt like there actually wasn’t much to fix. As I saw it, we had a pretty solid inside/out offense that was at times limited by Aimac’s ability to score 1 on 1 with consistency. Defensively, we didn’t really seem to like playing zone, but whenever we did, we shined. So I was thinking that with athletic upgrades inside, a more balanced offensive roster, and a second year of the system in place that we couldn’t lose. 

Or I at least figured we’d finish 6th. 

Now it’s mid march and everyone’s at home. We finished with a 14-19 record, good for 15th in the 18 team ACC field. So, yea. Not exactly top 6. I’m here today to go deep and try to explain why. I might even offer some solutions. In fact, I’ll just make a list. We all like lists. That said, this is my 24/25 last will and testament. So it was written, or whatever they say…

The Portal

The transfer portal giveth and the portal taketh away. Nowadays, we can’t even make it halfway through a season without wondering who’s gonna stay and who’s gonna go. This is every team’s problem, so I get it. Where I’m starting to feel troubled is the fact that we didn’t become more cohesive after Madsen’s first season. A major reason I expected us to improve was that I expected the program would settle into a system. We largely didn’t do that. 

In fact, we may have regressed, systemically. Whereas last year I was very clear on what we were doing and what the goals were, this year I was far less clear. I wouldn’t call that a great thing. The only logical reason I can think of for this is that it’s just too hard to implement a system while we are actively signing 10 free agents every summer. I’m thinking about next season, and I’m already worried that our entire starting five will be portal signings once again. 

At that point we’ll have to ask some questions. Do we really not have a consistent system? Are we known for anything? I guess time will tell. 

The System/Coaching

I alluded to this a minute ago, but it’s important. Our system is hard to follow. It changes a lot. And it seems VERY personnel dependent. 

When I say personnel dependent I mean that we may run an entirely different scheme with different players in. That’s not naturally a bad thing. Every pro team I ever played on did this. But in college it’s a little different. 

Consider that for 30 years everyone on earth knew what Duke was bringing to the table because Coach K kept it tight. Same goes for Lute Olsen and the trap and press zone Arizona teams from my days. A lesser considered example may be Bennett at Washington State. No matter who was on that team, NO MATTER WHO, you were going to struggle to put up 50 points. That same run and gun Arizona team used to take L’s to the Cougars with regularity. And the score would be like 49-47. Not joking. 

I specifically remember one time we played UA right after they lost to WAZZU (or it was a close win). Braun and Pasternack informed us that we were going to play like WAZZU in the next game. We were going to hold the ball and shoot late in the clock, etc. All these things that were not US AT ALL. 

When game day came, we got smoked by Arizona and the plan didn’t work at all. Why? Because we were auditing a system, we didn’t know it. We certainly couldn’t understand it. 

There’s some congruence with that game and our entire 24/25 season. Outside of a pretty successful press defense towards the end, it seemed we just kept trying things. 

But beyond that, what would frustrate me the most were the adjustments we never made after something didn't work. It was wild that every single color commentator that watched us called out our drop defense on the pick and roll. I mean EVERY ONE. I'm over here screaming at the TV, desperately trying to understand why that one thing is the thing we do consistently. 

On the other side of the ball, it’s so much 1 on 1 that we may as well be playing pickup. That’s not to say that I didn’t see some great sets in the last few games. With guys injured, we ran plays that got more movement and it looked pretty good. But I would hardly call that a system. In a perfect world, when folks play Cal, the announcers say stuff like “The Golden Bears will hit you in the mouth” or “You're gonna have a hard time scoring at HAAS!” or something like that instead of “You know these kids are probably smart. I love the views from the Campanile!”

You feel me?

Talent

On paper, coming into the season, we had what looked to be a decent team. Andrej looked promising, but he’d only scored 8 ppg as a freshman, so there was no way to know what a second year would look like. 

With that said, that talent netted us a 16th place rating ahead of the ACC season. I saw that, knew what our coaching was capable of and decided we were closer to a top 6 team. What’s crazy is that Stanford, who was predicted to finish 17th, ended up 7th. So it’s not like it was impossible. I digress. 

I say all that to say that I don’t think our talent was much of an issue at all. Maybe injuries were, but every team deals with those. I don’t think we’re particularly unlucky. There was talk about us being undersized, yet we grabbed 20 offensive rebounds a couple days ago. Andrej and Jeremiah both became nationally recognized scorers, and among the best in the ACC. We have multiple guys who can create their own shots. We have big men who can score, block shots, and rebound. IMO, even in the end, we still had the talent to have finished top 6. 

The Culture

If a dead horse could be beaten, revived, and beaten to death again, that would be me SHOUTING ABOUT THE CULTURE OVER AND OVER. That was dark, but you get it. I just know that I must sound crazy at this point, repeating myself on this topic. But this season it stood out to me even more. 

For me this starts at the very top. I don’t know these people personally, so I have to work with a series of assumptions. I ASSUME that the brass, starting with the Regents, the school president, and Knolwton all have a very specific agenda: raising capital and running the business of UC Berkeley. Everything athletic be damned. But this isn’t just a sports problem. This whole enterprise has led Cal to having one of the worst alumni networks in the nation. The school grades on curves and prioritizes competition over collaboration. It is known. That’s cool. It’s needed and I respect it. This is why US NEws and other magazines I have never opened rate us #1 every year. However, that seems to come directly at the cost of our sports programs growing in any meaningful way. Like ANY meaningful way. 

For the people who really do care, the solution to all of our problems always seems to be more money. I’m going to double down here, and beat that horse again. Let me repeat for the 20th time: we will never raise more money than UCLA. USC. Houston. Duke. Michigan. Oregon. If we’re waiting for that day to start competing, we’ll be waiting forever. I mean I’ve only been around Cal since 2002 and I can say this has never changed. 

“So then how do we compete and win games? We just are what we are, Rod.”

Disagree.  St Mary’s seemed to figure it out. SDSU figured it out. And I don’t think either has some secret fund. For real, I was at the game we lost to UCSD last season and they were BAD. THIS YEAR they made the leap and became a tournament team. I ask again. HOW?

I really can’t answer for each program because I don’t know each of their individual situations. But I can say that it’s clearly possible to do better and, in my experience, the programs with a strong culture are the ones that seem to be successful year in and year out. A better question may be, what exactly is OUR culture?

I’m unsure. I think it goes something like... 

*The program occasionally invites prominent alumni back into town for events they believe will sell tickets. There’s very little outreach to anyone else, and when there is there’s always a cost attached. There’s so little turnover past the coaching staff, that the people above really don’t participate in any meaningful culture building at all besides Knowltons notes and fundraisers. When there is turnover, it’s always to hire someone who didn’t go to Cal. This applies to coaches, assistants, cameron institute, student services, the coddamn PR team. Name a position and there’s a great chance someone who went to Michigan State is working it. 

As a result, the basketball alumni don’t want anything to do with this place. It’s not just players. It’s former staff, prominent alumni, etc. There are SO MANY people who would bleed for Cal and have decided never to spill another drop of blood for the Golden Bears again. For shame. They all say the same thing when you press them as to why you don't see them: A there are human obstacles.* 

Let me catch my breath. This isn’t an indictment on Madsen. In fact, the first time we spoke, I started by mentioning the disconnection between the people who care and the university. He seemed taken aback (I still think this is why I can’t get a good interview), but finally acknowledged that he was going to work on it. And for his part, I can say that he has tried. Man’s is out there handing out pizza slices like he works at Sal’s. He’s hosting halftime shows at women's games and all sorts of things. I can’t fault that.

But what I have to keep reminding people is that at other schools, none of this functions the same way. Sure, some of it does, but not the things that build culture. Consider that, I was in high school when Steve Fisher took over at SDSU. He brought a Michigan culture with him to San Diego and they played the long game. It took like 7 years before they were good, and then all of a sudden, boom. And now his successor made the national championship. 

I went down there when Kawhi was still in school. They were LOCKED IN. Top to bottom. Everyone was bought in. If you were going to choose SDSU, you knew exactly what you were getting, complete with constant visits from all the players. They have a culture for sure.

How does that contrast with Cal? I think we, like most corporations, are always looking for both the quickest and biggest solve. At the same time. “There has to be a home run we can hit. Someone is going to hit it. It could be us. And then all is fixed.” 

Except it hasn't been fixed. 20 years (of my own time investment) and I personally don’t feel this has gotten any better at all. If anything, it’s gotten more selective. Bigger swings mean the same people are contacted for everything. Jaylen Brown! Come on down. Ayinde Ubaka? Who’s that again? 

I’ve realized that I sit closer to Ayinde in this scenario. And that’s ok. Some of you guys have reached out and we’re building different things. And that’s great. But it’ll always hurt seeing The Hoop Bus pull up to USC to do a special Juju Watkins day in collaboration with Nike, when their first idea was to do something with Cal during all star. But Ayinde and I don’t get our calls answered. How can I tell anyone to care more when I have so little to work with?

This is all part of the missing culture. And it’ll only get worse until real decisions are made. We can have a good season here and there. It’ll feel real. But HAAS will never sell out again like that. We need an energy that sells itself.

Alright that’s all for now. I think you deserve a break if you read all 2300 words. I’m sure the recruiting trail is already hot, so I’m staying locked in. Thanks for tapping in this season. Go Bears!

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The Benson Blog: Cal Basketball GM