The Cal men’s basketball team opened up the last half hour of practice to local media and head coach Mark Madsen, forward John Camden and guards Justin Pippen and Semetri Carr fielded questions after practice.
"We've had an impressive summer with this outstanding group of athletes," Madsen said. "We have some key returners, some guys that really logged significant minutes in key roles - DJ Campbell, Rytis Petraitis and Lee Dort. We've also supplemented the team and added some outstanding players and some really athletic freshmen. So I'm excited about our group. We had a spirited practice today."
The portion of the practice involved a series of 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 possessions which stopped as soon as the offensive team either scored or lost possession of the ball or ran out of time. There was a constant rotation of players in and out, with significant defensive intensity.
Madsen was asked about some of the areas that has him most excited about his team this season - a team that features ten new scholarship players, with eight portal transfers and two new freshman guards.
"I would say a number of things there," Madsen noted. "First of all, this is an extremely unselfish team that loves each other and to have that, it makes everyone's job as a coach so much easier, because the ball naturally moves. That's very easy. The guys have really bought in defensively and really committed defensively to improvement, to self improvement so that's very encouraging. We'll do some different things defensively this year than we've done in the past. They've learned those concepts.
“On the offensive side of the ball, we're drastically improved as a shooting team. We were near the bottom of the ACC Conference last year in three-point percentage. That will not be the case this year. We have an outstanding shooting team so all those things will be pertinent."
Combo guard Justin Pippen is eager to show what he can do after getting limited minutes in his freshman season at Michigan where he averaged 6.7 minutes per game, coming off the bench in 28 games. As a senior at Sierra Canyon in Chatsworth, CA, Pippen averaged 16.5 PPG, 4.9 APG & 4.5 RPG as a senior before heading east to Ann Arbor.
"My freshman year was very tough," Pippen said of his time at Michigan. "I went into a situation that I wasn't really expecting. To deal with that and to overcome that has gone really well for me. I came here, they prepared me for this. They gave me a lot of confidence. So right now, I feel really good about myself.
“It's been great here. It's a great city. I'm close to home. All the people are really cool, all the teammates live like in the same area. So we're always sticking together, building really good chemistry together.”
As for his goals this season?
“I want to be a leader,” Pippen said. “I know I'm only a sophomore guard, but I want to be a leader. I want to be the voice of the team. I want to be a playmaker and a facilitator and also one of the best defenders.”
Frosh point guard TT Carr has gotten off to a strong start, playing his way into the rotation so far and contributing in several facets to the team.
"I would say over the summer, just getting used to the physicality, the new coaching style, the new practice format, it's been an adjustment," Carr said. "It's very differet from high school. Everyone on the court can play. Everyone's more physical. It's a big transition but I feel like over the last few weeks, last few months, I've made good progress."
The Redwood City native has the opportunity to play right across the bay -something he relishes being so close to home.
"That's definitely one of the perks, coming to a local school,” Carr said. “Close to home, 45 minutes away from here. So a bunch of family, a bunch of friends can see me play."
