I got an invite from an old high school teammate, and was able to go to the game in Haas on Monday night.
We both came away impressed, and we both felt this was perhaps the best roster Madsen has recruited at Cal. Of the players who got to play in the game, they all seemed to be very solid fundamental basketball players. They all seemed to move well, find the open man, pass well, and defend well. They all know how to play basketball. If there are projects on this team, they did not play in this game.
Ames was as I expected. Marvelous. Previously, he had started as a freshman for Kansas State, and as a soph, he started for Virginia, both legendary basketball programs. He has all the tools. Camden played very well, as did Pippen, Dorsey, Bell, Petraitis, Dort and several others. I apologize if I left anyone out.
What I really liked was Cal's defense, which looked to me to be a man-to-man defense, featuring players in a crouching stance, with the side-to-side slide steps, characteristic of the toughest man defenses for almost a century. I hated help defense with players standing up straight and always running to catch up to help a teammate who was losing his man, and too often losing his own man in the process.
I felt Cal's free-throw shooting was outstanding. That is something that can keep you in a game, even against the best teams. These players may not all be great 3-point shooters, but overall, it looks like they can all shoot from their spots and put the ball in the basket.
The only thing I was disappointed with was the low fan turnout. We figured it was less than 1000. This a very enjoyable team to watch, and they might just be pretty good, if we get out and help cheer them on.
Go Bears!