While last year was supposed to be "our year," it was pretty apparent early on that there was just something amiss with the team. And as the season progressed, while there were flashes of brilliance, you never felt comfortable saying that this was a "great" team. Several reasons have been bandied about as to why last years team failed to truly live up to its high expectations (our two most high volume players basically being the same player, lack of depth, lack of a true PG, poor perimeter defense from "certain" players, poor FT shooting, poor passing, etc). But for whatever reason, even if Cal had been 100% healthy during the tournament, I think most here would agree that our ceiling was probably at best a sweet 16 appearance (but most likely a one and done).
This season, in the words of one of Cal basketball's greatest thinkers, is 360 degrees different. (And yes, I know, small sample size, but some things you can just figure out fairly quickly).
- Last year, I believe the biggest problem was the lack of a playmaker. And by playmaker, I mean someone who can break down a defense and either pass or shoot once the opposing defense is in a leveraged position. Sure, Wallace/Brown could get to the paint, but they were often wild forays into the paint that would either result in a forced shot or a TO. Also, they were never in enough control where they could either pass or shoot once they penetrated the defense. This kind of playmaking really doesn't help, because you need to be able to pass once the defense converges around you. Moore, on the other hand, provides that threat. Albeit against UCI, he seemed to be able to get into the lane at will, and with enough control that he should be able to learn to either dish to an interior player or pass out to an open shooter. And my favorite stat from yesterday was 1 TO from Moore. ONE! How many times would you watch Wallace/Brown put their head down and drive into the lane only to turn the ball over. Someone who can actually break down a defense will create so much more room for players like Rabb, Bird and Mullins.
- Depth was also an issue last year. Matthews or/Bird coming off the bench was great, but after that? Last year Singer didn't really get his confidence until pretty late in the season. And there was Okoroh. But that's really it. We went maybe 7 deep with players that Cuonzo could really trust. This year, Singer can provide senior leadership off the bench. Okoroh seems improved. But the biggest difference I see is the play of RMB. He looks like a completely different player. All he needs to do is be respectable on the offensive end, because he does everything else very well. He's what I call a "possessions eater" because he creates so many extra possessions. Its only been two games, but how many times have you seen RMB get an offensive rebound, or go to the floor for a loose ball or get a steal? My favorite part of watching games is just watching RMB sky for offensive rebounds, its like out of nowhere you see this guy just flying over everyone else, its impressive. And then you have Domingo, who is a perfect 9th guy. He's someone that can play defense, and when he's making shots you give him more run, but when he's not, you can afford to sit him because you have enough depth around him.
- Another thing that drove me crazy last year was the poor FT shooting. Those 3-5 points that you give up can make a huge difference in close games. Thankfully, we lose our two biggest culprits from last year in Brown/Wallace (also our top two FTA guys) and replace them with Mullins and Moore. And it even looks like Rooks has improved his FT shooting dramatically, which is big since he should be getting to the line a ton. But the biggest thing here (as others have mentioned) is that we have two ballhandlers now who can close out games from the line (and not turn the ball over). Last year, we had none.
- While our defense was excellent last year, I think we could potentially be elite this year. Cuonzo's defensive strategy (which I love btw) is to run the opposing teams off the 3pt line and funnel them into our interior defenders. The key here, is that they need to be funneled into the right spots. Sometimes, the problem we had last year, is that some of our perimeter defenders just let people get by them, which opened huge seams and got our help defenders out of position. Those main culprits (we know who they are) have moved on. I think it may be too early to say how good Moore is defensively, but I'm pretty confident in saying that Mullins is an extremely fundamentally sound defensive player. He moves his feet extremely well, is rarely out of position and is an excellent help defender. He will probably have trouble with a few elite athletes (like Ball or Dillon), but overall he will be a huge improvement. I also expect to see RMB get a much larger run this year, so the perimeter defense should be improved. So couple that with possibly one of the top 5 interior defenses in the country, and you have the potential to be an elite defense.
- The last thing I will talk about is ball movement. Last year you had two guys who needed to dominate the ball to be effective. I mean, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that your team is going to rely more on one on one type play rather than moving and passing. Thankfully, I think we can move away from that type of offense and into a more ball movement oriented offense that will help create more space. We have already discussed how Moore's ballhandling ability will allow him to penetrate and pass more effectively than our playmakers from last year. But what really stands out to me is Mullins passing ability. He's not flashy like a Jason Kidd. But he's an extremely high IQ passer. He will make the hockey assist (the assist before the assist). Its like chess. You need to see the entire board and anticipate a couple moves ahead. Mullins can do that. Another thing I like is that this team seems to enjoy moving the ball around. Watch that 10 minute stretch when Cal went on a huge run against SDSU. It was like something out of Hoosiers. The ball never touched the ground, it just got passed from one player to another with very little dribbling. It was such a departure from what we saw last year.
In the end, its too hard to tell where the ceiling is for this team. One thing that can be said about last year's team was that, while inconsistent, they had the raw talent to beat the #1 team in the country. I'm not sure you can necessarily say that about this year's team. However, I do think we will be much more consistent this year and, for sure, much more entertaining to watch. That I know for sure. And while I know its early, (but barring injury) I will be very disappointed if this team isn't playing the second week of the tournament.
I have never been as excited as I am now with the long term trajectory of this program.
This season, in the words of one of Cal basketball's greatest thinkers, is 360 degrees different. (And yes, I know, small sample size, but some things you can just figure out fairly quickly).
- Last year, I believe the biggest problem was the lack of a playmaker. And by playmaker, I mean someone who can break down a defense and either pass or shoot once the opposing defense is in a leveraged position. Sure, Wallace/Brown could get to the paint, but they were often wild forays into the paint that would either result in a forced shot or a TO. Also, they were never in enough control where they could either pass or shoot once they penetrated the defense. This kind of playmaking really doesn't help, because you need to be able to pass once the defense converges around you. Moore, on the other hand, provides that threat. Albeit against UCI, he seemed to be able to get into the lane at will, and with enough control that he should be able to learn to either dish to an interior player or pass out to an open shooter. And my favorite stat from yesterday was 1 TO from Moore. ONE! How many times would you watch Wallace/Brown put their head down and drive into the lane only to turn the ball over. Someone who can actually break down a defense will create so much more room for players like Rabb, Bird and Mullins.
- Depth was also an issue last year. Matthews or/Bird coming off the bench was great, but after that? Last year Singer didn't really get his confidence until pretty late in the season. And there was Okoroh. But that's really it. We went maybe 7 deep with players that Cuonzo could really trust. This year, Singer can provide senior leadership off the bench. Okoroh seems improved. But the biggest difference I see is the play of RMB. He looks like a completely different player. All he needs to do is be respectable on the offensive end, because he does everything else very well. He's what I call a "possessions eater" because he creates so many extra possessions. Its only been two games, but how many times have you seen RMB get an offensive rebound, or go to the floor for a loose ball or get a steal? My favorite part of watching games is just watching RMB sky for offensive rebounds, its like out of nowhere you see this guy just flying over everyone else, its impressive. And then you have Domingo, who is a perfect 9th guy. He's someone that can play defense, and when he's making shots you give him more run, but when he's not, you can afford to sit him because you have enough depth around him.
- Another thing that drove me crazy last year was the poor FT shooting. Those 3-5 points that you give up can make a huge difference in close games. Thankfully, we lose our two biggest culprits from last year in Brown/Wallace (also our top two FTA guys) and replace them with Mullins and Moore. And it even looks like Rooks has improved his FT shooting dramatically, which is big since he should be getting to the line a ton. But the biggest thing here (as others have mentioned) is that we have two ballhandlers now who can close out games from the line (and not turn the ball over). Last year, we had none.
- While our defense was excellent last year, I think we could potentially be elite this year. Cuonzo's defensive strategy (which I love btw) is to run the opposing teams off the 3pt line and funnel them into our interior defenders. The key here, is that they need to be funneled into the right spots. Sometimes, the problem we had last year, is that some of our perimeter defenders just let people get by them, which opened huge seams and got our help defenders out of position. Those main culprits (we know who they are) have moved on. I think it may be too early to say how good Moore is defensively, but I'm pretty confident in saying that Mullins is an extremely fundamentally sound defensive player. He moves his feet extremely well, is rarely out of position and is an excellent help defender. He will probably have trouble with a few elite athletes (like Ball or Dillon), but overall he will be a huge improvement. I also expect to see RMB get a much larger run this year, so the perimeter defense should be improved. So couple that with possibly one of the top 5 interior defenses in the country, and you have the potential to be an elite defense.
- The last thing I will talk about is ball movement. Last year you had two guys who needed to dominate the ball to be effective. I mean, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that your team is going to rely more on one on one type play rather than moving and passing. Thankfully, I think we can move away from that type of offense and into a more ball movement oriented offense that will help create more space. We have already discussed how Moore's ballhandling ability will allow him to penetrate and pass more effectively than our playmakers from last year. But what really stands out to me is Mullins passing ability. He's not flashy like a Jason Kidd. But he's an extremely high IQ passer. He will make the hockey assist (the assist before the assist). Its like chess. You need to see the entire board and anticipate a couple moves ahead. Mullins can do that. Another thing I like is that this team seems to enjoy moving the ball around. Watch that 10 minute stretch when Cal went on a huge run against SDSU. It was like something out of Hoosiers. The ball never touched the ground, it just got passed from one player to another with very little dribbling. It was such a departure from what we saw last year.
In the end, its too hard to tell where the ceiling is for this team. One thing that can be said about last year's team was that, while inconsistent, they had the raw talent to beat the #1 team in the country. I'm not sure you can necessarily say that about this year's team. However, I do think we will be much more consistent this year and, for sure, much more entertaining to watch. That I know for sure. And while I know its early, (but barring injury) I will be very disappointed if this team isn't playing the second week of the tournament.
I have never been as excited as I am now with the long term trajectory of this program.