Really good ones!

Point guard. Ideally a guy who can both distribute the rock and has an outside shot that he can hit if folks sag. Second would be a PF who can bang (though DJ's emergence at the end of the season makes that a little less critical). And we could ALWAYS use more shooters.

I'm looking forward to these players returning: Bradley, Antecevich, Kelly, Brown, K2, & Thorpe.

I'd also like to see Thiemann and Klonaris work on their games in the offseason and demonstrate pretty significant improvement, so that they can contribute more.

That means 5 spots, with two taken up by Celestine and Bowser, who don't sound like they will contribute much their freshman season. Therefore, I'd like three players that can contribute pretty quickly, either as a transfer or freshman (at least at the level of let's say Brown last season as a freshman).

For the three spots (in order): Second PG, a three point shooter, mobile big man. Ideally, every player would have a seven foot wingspan, great handles, elite defensive skills and dead eye shooting.

Is JHD returning??What are thge odds if you aren't certain?

BeachedBear said:

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I'm looking forward to these players returning: Bradley, Antecevich, Kelly, Brown, K2, & Thorpe.

I'd also like to see Thiemann and Klonaris work on their games in the offseason and demonstrate pretty significant improvement, so that they can contribute more.

That means 5 spots, with two taken up by Celestine and Bowser, who don't sound like they will contribute much their freshman season. Therefore, I'd like three players that can contribute pretty quickly, either as a transfer or freshman (at least at the level of let's say Brown last season as a freshman).

For the three spots (in order): Second PG, a three point shooter, mobile big man. Ideally, every player would have a seven foot wingspan, great handles, elite defensive skills and dead eye shooting.

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This sounds like we are almost right where we were at the end of the previous season, except maybe with a little more hope for the future. I think the big man of yours should be a center, allowing Kelly to move to PF and Grant moving to SF or splitting time with Kelly at PF. Of course, if Lars makes some big strides over the summer, that would throw a monkey wrench into that plan, and Cal might actually have a full complement of bigs in the front line for the first time in a while, including Thorpe and Kuany.

I presume that our only grad programs to which a grad transfer might reasonably seek admission are Education and Public Health. Might want to do some fundraising to endow some graduate student slots in those two programs on an on-going basis.

annarborbear said:

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I presume that our only grad programs to which a grad transfer might reasonably seek admission are Education and Public Health. Might want to do some fundraising to endow some graduate student slots in those two programs on an on-going basis.

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I BELIEVE that one of the Ivy league guys did a MA in Public Policy.

A nugget!

I definitely read this as "Chipotle PG." Teaches me for checking the board during the dinner window.

SFCityBear said:

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BeachedBear said:

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I'm looking forward to these players returning: Bradley, Antecevich, Kelly, Brown, K2, & Thorpe.

I'd also like to see Thiemann and Klonaris work on their games in the offseason and demonstrate pretty significant improvement, so that they can contribute more.

That means 5 spots, with two taken up by Celestine and Bowser, who don't sound like they will contribute much their freshman season. Therefore, I'd like three players that can contribute pretty quickly, either as a transfer or freshman (at least at the level of let's say Brown last season as a freshman).

For the three spots (in order): Second PG, a three point shooter, mobile big man. Ideally, every player would have a seven foot wingspan, great handles, elite defensive skills and dead eye shooting.

---

This sounds like we are almost right where we were at the end of the previous season, except maybe with a little more hope for the future. I think the big man of yours should be a center, allowing Kelly to move to PF and Grant moving to SF or splitting time with Kelly at PF. Of course, if Lars makes some big strides over the summer, that would throw a monkey wrench into that plan, and Cal might actually have a full complement of bigs in the front line for the first time in a while, including Thorpe and Kuany.

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I'd love to see Lars make big strides. In particular is catching up to the speed of the game and limiting unforced errors. Those are under his control, but also can be hard to change. If I had more confidence in that, then I would probably have added another strong shooter over a big man and here's why:

Most D1 teams are playing with one rim defender, one or two handers and two or three wings (that can go in and out - think Bradley or Kuany or Antecevich). The rules and emphasis have pushed the game that direction and Cal was playing a lot of 4 out last season as well. Lars can't step out and Thorpe and Kelly haven't shown much in that regard either, so we have three guys playing the '5'. Without Lars, we need a third, so that is why I used that as my third. If Grant can continue his trajectory and improve his consistency, he is a good '4' and Kuany can back him up there too (maybe even Kelly in a pinch).

However, I'm hoping Cal can become a team that can dictate style of play. They did a good job last season by slowing the game down and playing good defense. Problem with that method, is that if the shots aren't dropping, defense alone won't be enough. Preferably, you have a team with balance and depth and mastery of multiple styles of play - we're not there yet and will likely take a while.