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Cal Basketball

Cal Offers JuCo Guard Malik Zachery

March 18, 2020
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Mark Fox and the Cal Golden Bears have sent out their most recent offer to 6-2 guard Malik Zachery, currently a player at Chipola College in Marianna, Florida.

Zachery, who is originally from Syracuse, New York took a medical redshirt this past season and will have three years of eligibility after graduating this spring. As a freshman, Zachery averaged 8.5 points, 5.8 assists, and 3.9 rebounds per game. He shot 45.6% from the field including 32.1% from three. Zachery also averaged 74.5% from the free throw line. His team finished 27-5 that season, earning a top-25 finish. Zachery played in every game as a freshman, averaging almost 22 minutes per game.

Coming out of high school, Zachery was a three-star recruit, according to 247Sports and held mainly mid-major offers. But as a junior college prospect, Zachery’s recruiting stock has boosted. According to 247Sports, Zachery currently holds offers from Nebraska, Ole Miss, and Massachusetts, along with Cal. Zachery also took an official visit to Fresno State in January. Nevada has also reportedly expressed interest.

According to a social media post, Zachery had surgery on a ligament in his finger in December. He’s set for a March return, according to the post.

Zachery looks like a pass-first lead guard with a solid handle and confidence. He appears to have a solid mid-range game, which is often not a thing in the modern college hoops game. Zachery had about a 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio as a freshman.

Besides Zachery, Cal seems to still be in on 2020 guards Tyrin Lawrence and Devin Carter. Lawrence has visited Cal, but has said he wants to take his time and make some other visits before making a college decision. With the coronavirus-induced recruiting dead-period, it seemed like Cal might have an advantage with Lawrence with recruits unable to schedule any visits through at least April 15. But it would also put Cal at a disadvantage with Carter, who has yet to officially visit Cal.

Senior guards Paris Austin and Kareem South are officially out of eligibility and forward Jacobi Gordon announced a transfer from the program earlier this month. With Monty Bowser and Jalen Celestine already signed, Fox has at least two scholarships still to fill assuming there are no more departures.

Discussion from...

Cal Offers JuCo Guard Malik Zachery

15,349 Views | 37 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by SFCityBear
RedlessWardrobe
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Being realistic about our current situation, this would be a solid signing based on our needs.
Intuit
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His age and post grad prep and juco experience would be a big plus for a team needing maturity at the lead guard position. .
bearchamp
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His need to go to prep school and JC calls into question his academic ability to stay.
Big C
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A concern I would have about this guy is that he is the same class as Joel Brown and also appears to have something of the same size and skill set. Granted, we need to upgrade the roster any way we can, especially at that position.
Intuit
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bearchamp said:

His need to go to prep school and JC calls into question his academic ability to stay.
He reported in his interviews that he was missing some prerequisite high school courses and therefore could not qualify for a scholarship at the university of his choice. Following the post grad year to make up that deficiency and choose to go to a juco in order to improve the competitive level of the basketball he would ultimately be able to access. He went to the juco program to improve and be recruited by high major programs. It was his goal to use the juco program as a stepping stone to increase his opportunity to play at the highest possible level.

He made no excuses for the path he has followed. He stated that he plans to make his living playing basketball. He understands that to succeed in that goal he needs to join a high major basketball program and distinguish himself among the best Div 1 competition.
Intuit
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SFCityBear
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Another recruit coming off injuries, following Gordon, Thorpe, Klonaris.
oskidunker
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SFCityBear said:

Another recruit coming off injuries, following Gordon, Thorpe, Klonaris.
Everyone is injured.
dimitrig
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bearchamp said:

His need to go to prep school and JC calls into question his academic ability to stay.
Agreed. Plus, he mentioned that the school in Florida allowed him to focus on basketball. The kid doesn't seem to be much of a student. I had a lot of red flags when I read the article. That said, the coaching staff knows him a lot better and knows what it takes to succeed here.
Intuit
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dimitrig said:

bearchamp said:

His need to go to prep school and JC calls into question his academic ability to stay.
Agreed. Plus, he mentioned that the school in Florida allowed him to focus on basketball. The kid doesn't seem to be much of a student. I had a lot of red flags when I read the article. That said, the coaching staff knows him a lot better and knows what it takes to succeed here.

dimitrig - The Perfect Candidate you might seek is not available to Cal or Mark Fox at this time. Be assured that he is trying diligently to find the best available willing candidate. I am impressed by the thoroughness of their recruiting effort. If M Zachery signed with Cal it is likely he'd make a significant contribution to the basketball program. Mark Fox would not have offered him if he didn't believe he could negotiate his way through the academic requirements Cal places upon their athletes..
dimitrig
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Intuit said:

dimitrig said:

bearchamp said:

His need to go to prep school and JC calls into question his academic ability to stay.
Agreed. Plus, he mentioned that the school in Florida allowed him to focus on basketball. The kid doesn't seem to be much of a student. I had a lot of red flags when I read the article. That said, the coaching staff knows him a lot better and knows what it takes to succeed here.

dimitrig - The Perfect Candidate you might seek is not available to Cal or Mark Fox at this time. Be assured that he is trying diligently to find the best available willing candidate. I am impressed by the thoroughness of their recruiting effort. If M Zachery signed with Cal it is likely he'd make a significant contribution to the basketball program. Mark Fox would not have offered him if he didn't believe he could negotiate his way through the academic requirements Cal places upon their athletes..

Hence, my last sentence.
calumnus
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Intuit said:

dimitrig said:

bearchamp said:

His need to go to prep school and JC calls into question his academic ability to stay.
Agreed. Plus, he mentioned that the school in Florida allowed him to focus on basketball. The kid doesn't seem to be much of a student. I had a lot of red flags when I read the article. That said, the coaching staff knows him a lot better and knows what it takes to succeed here.

dimitrig - The Perfect Candidate you might seek is not available to Cal or Mark Fox at this time. Be assured that he is trying diligently to find the best available willing candidate. I am impressed by the thoroughness of their recruiting effort. If M Zachery signed with Cal it is likely he'd make a significant contribution to the basketball program. Mark Fox would not have offered him if he didn't believe he could negotiate his way through the academic requirements Cal places upon their athletes..

Mark Fox is a graduate of Eastern New Mexico via Junior college and coached at Nevada and Georgia. He may not really know what it takes to succeed at Cal at this point, he is focused on improving the team and that is his professional expertise, what will ultimately determine if he is extended. Hopefully he is getting good advice, but I also think minimum academic requirements are not entirely at his discretion. If the kid qualifies and understands it will be work and commits to doing it, that is enough. Fox can't do the work for him.

It comes down to basketball. If there is a good chance the kid is better than Brown, or someone we might get next year, I'd go for it. If not, a grad transfer with a HS PG next year would be my preference.



KoreAmBear
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RedlessWardrobe said:

Being realistic about our current situation, this would be a solid signing based on our needs.
If he is as fast as he looks on video, I see him as being a Charlie Moore type, which would be a very good thing.
89Bear
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calumnus said:

Intuit said:

dimitrig said:

bearchamp said:

His need to go to prep school and JC calls into question his academic ability to stay.
Agreed. Plus, he mentioned that the school in Florida allowed him to focus on basketball. The kid doesn't seem to be much of a student. I had a lot of red flags when I read the article. That said, the coaching staff knows him a lot better and knows what it takes to succeed here.

dimitrig - The Perfect Candidate you might seek is not available to Cal or Mark Fox at this time. Be assured that he is trying diligently to find the best available willing candidate. I am impressed by the thoroughness of their recruiting effort. If M Zachery signed with Cal it is likely he'd make a significant contribution to the basketball program. Mark Fox would not have offered him if he didn't believe he could negotiate his way through the academic requirements Cal places upon their athletes..

Mark Fox is a graduate of Eastern New Mexico via Junior college and coached at Nevada and Georgia. He may not really know what it takes to succeed at Cal at this point, he is focused on improving the team and that is his professional expertise, what will ultimately determine if he is extended. Hopefully he is getting good advice, but I also think minimum academic requirements are not entirely at his discretion. If the kid qualifies and understands it will be work and commits to doing it, that is enough. Fox can't do the work for him.

It comes down to basketball. If there is a good chance the kid is better than Brown, or someone we might get next year, I'd go for it. If not, a grad transfer with a HS PG next year would be my preference.



Trent Johnson is an integral part of the BB program. He probably has some good advice, don't you think?
calumnus
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89Bear said:

calumnus said:

Intuit said:

dimitrig said:

bearchamp said:

His need to go to prep school and JC calls into question his academic ability to stay.
Agreed. Plus, he mentioned that the school in Florida allowed him to focus on basketball. The kid doesn't seem to be much of a student. I had a lot of red flags when I read the article. That said, the coaching staff knows him a lot better and knows what it takes to succeed here.

dimitrig - The Perfect Candidate you might seek is not available to Cal or Mark Fox at this time. Be assured that he is trying diligently to find the best available willing candidate. I am impressed by the thoroughness of their recruiting effort. If M Zachery signed with Cal it is likely he'd make a significant contribution to the basketball program. Mark Fox would not have offered him if he didn't believe he could negotiate his way through the academic requirements Cal places upon their athletes..

Mark Fox is a graduate of Eastern New Mexico via Junior college and coached at Nevada and Georgia. He may not really know what it takes to succeed at Cal at this point, he is focused on improving the team and that is his professional expertise, what will ultimately determine if he is extended. Hopefully he is getting good advice, but I also think minimum academic requirements are not entirely at his discretion. If the kid qualifies and understands it will be work and commits to doing it, that is enough. Fox can't do the work for him.

It comes down to basketball. If there is a good chance the kid is better than Brown, or someone we might get next year, I'd go for it. If not, a grad transfer with a HS PG next year would be my preference.



Trent Johnson is an integral part of the BB program. He probably has some good advice, don't you think?



I assume you are referring to Trent's coaching days at Stanford as opposed to his time at LSU, Nevada, TCU and Louisville, or his experience as a student athlete at Boise State.

Stanford is very different than Cal, especially when Trent coached there. If you are admitted to Stanford, it is very difficult to flunk out. Stanford students consider Bs to be bad grades.

No, I am hoping the advice is from admissions and from within the athletic department, from academic advisors and people with long term experience working with student athletes at Cal.

That said, i am not worried about it, because I would take Jason Kidd, Leon Powe or even a Jorge again in a heartbeat. If the kid can be admitted and understands that he will need to work but has resources available, then It is up the the player to decide if he is willing to take on that challenge. At this point Fox should get players that can improve the team, can be admitted and understand the work load and he only needs to adjust that if it becomes a systemic problem that weakens the program. Obviously a player who can improve the team AND has strong academics is always preferable.



annarborbear
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We should probably only hire coaches who went to elite universities since only they can understand our academic standards. Although Pete Newell went to Loyola Marymount and Mike Montgomery went to Long Beach State and that worked out pretty well.
Civil Bear
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calumnus said:

89Bear said:

calumnus said:

Intuit said:

dimitrig said:

bearchamp said:

His need to go to prep school and JC calls into question his academic ability to stay.
Agreed. Plus, he mentioned that the school in Florida allowed him to focus on basketball. The kid doesn't seem to be much of a student. I had a lot of red flags when I read the article. That said, the coaching staff knows him a lot better and knows what it takes to succeed here.

dimitrig - The Perfect Candidate you might seek is not available to Cal or Mark Fox at this time. Be assured that he is trying diligently to find the best available willing candidate. I am impressed by the thoroughness of their recruiting effort. If M Zachery signed with Cal it is likely he'd make a significant contribution to the basketball program. Mark Fox would not have offered him if he didn't believe he could negotiate his way through the academic requirements Cal places upon their athletes..

Mark Fox is a graduate of Eastern New Mexico via Junior college and coached at Nevada and Georgia. He may not really know what it takes to succeed at Cal at this point, he is focused on improving the team and that is his professional expertise, what will ultimately determine if he is extended. Hopefully he is getting good advice, but I also think minimum academic requirements are not entirely at his discretion. If the kid qualifies and understands it will be work and commits to doing it, that is enough. Fox can't do the work for him.

It comes down to basketball. If there is a good chance the kid is better than Brown, or someone we might get next year, I'd go for it. If not, a grad transfer with a HS PG next year would be my preference.



Trent Johnson is an integral part of the BB program. He probably has some good advice, don't you think?



I assume you are referring to Trent's coaching days at Stanford as opposed to his time at LSU, Nevada, TCU and Louisville, or his experience as a student athlete at Boise State.

Stanford is very different than Cal, especially when Trent coached there. If you are admitted to Stanford, it is very difficult to flunk out. Stanford students consider Bs to be bad grades.

No, I am hoping the advice is from admissions and from within the athletic department, from academic advisors and people with long term experience working with student athletes at Cal.

That said, i am not worried about it, because I would take Jason Kidd, Leon Powe or even a Jorge again in a heartbeat. If the kid can be admitted and understands that he will need to work but has resources available, then It is up the the player to decide if he is willing to take on that challenge. At this point Fox should get players that can improve the team, can be admitted and understand the work load and he only needs to adjust that if it becomes a systemic problem that weakens the program. Obviously a player who can improve the team AND has strong academics is always preferable.




In fact, one of the reasons Trent left the 'furd was because he felt he couldn't recruit the players he wanted. He basically said as much after losing to Texas in the Sweet 16.
SFCityBear
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calumnus said:

89Bear said:

calumnus said:

Intuit said:

dimitrig said:

bearchamp said:

His need to go to prep school and JC calls into question his academic ability to stay.
Agreed. Plus, he mentioned that the school in Florida allowed him to focus on basketball. The kid doesn't seem to be much of a student. I had a lot of red flags when I read the article. That said, the coaching staff knows him a lot better and knows what it takes to succeed here.

dimitrig - The Perfect Candidate you might seek is not available to Cal or Mark Fox at this time. Be assured that he is trying diligently to find the best available willing candidate. I am impressed by the thoroughness of their recruiting effort. If M Zachery signed with Cal it is likely he'd make a significant contribution to the basketball program. Mark Fox would not have offered him if he didn't believe he could negotiate his way through the academic requirements Cal places upon their athletes..

Mark Fox is a graduate of Eastern New Mexico via Junior college and coached at Nevada and Georgia. He may not really know what it takes to succeed at Cal at this point, he is focused on improving the team and that is his professional expertise, what will ultimately determine if he is extended. Hopefully he is getting good advice, but I also think minimum academic requirements are not entirely at his discretion. If the kid qualifies and understands it will be work and commits to doing it, that is enough. Fox can't do the work for him.

It comes down to basketball. If there is a good chance the kid is better than Brown, or someone we might get next year, I'd go for it. If not, a grad transfer with a HS PG next year would be my preference.



Trent Johnson is an integral part of the BB program. He probably has some good advice, don't you think?



I assume you are referring to Trent's coaching days at Stanford as opposed to his time at LSU, Nevada, TCU and Louisville, or his experience as a student athlete at Boise State.

Stanford is very different than Cal, especially when Trent coached there. If you are admitted to Stanford, it is very difficult to flunk out. Stanford students consider Bs to be bad grades.

No, I am hoping the advice is from admissions and from within the athletic department, from academic advisors and people with long term experience working with student athletes at Cal.

That said, i am not worried about it, because I would take Jason Kidd, Leon Powe or even a Jorge again in a heartbeat. If the kid can be admitted and understands that he will need to work but has resources available, then It is up the the player to decide if he is willing to take on that challenge. At this point Fox should get players that can improve the team, can be admitted and understand the work load and he only needs to adjust that if it becomes a systemic problem that weakens the program. Obviously a player who can improve the team AND has strong academics is always preferable.




It is good to know that they are giving out grades again at Stanford. For a while there, they were not getting letter grades, I believe. I guess it didn't work out.
calpoly
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SFCityBear said:

calumnus said:

89Bear said:

calumnus said:

Intuit said:

dimitrig said:

bearchamp said:

His need to go to prep school and JC calls into question his academic ability to stay.
Agreed. Plus, he mentioned that the school in Florida allowed him to focus on basketball. The kid doesn't seem to be much of a student. I had a lot of red flags when I read the article. That said, the coaching staff knows him a lot better and knows what it takes to succeed here.

dimitrig - The Perfect Candidate you might seek is not available to Cal or Mark Fox at this time. Be assured that he is trying diligently to find the best available willing candidate. I am impressed by the thoroughness of their recruiting effort. If M Zachery signed with Cal it is likely he'd make a significant contribution to the basketball program. Mark Fox would not have offered him if he didn't believe he could negotiate his way through the academic requirements Cal places upon their athletes..

Mark Fox is a graduate of Eastern New Mexico via Junior college and coached at Nevada and Georgia. He may not really know what it takes to succeed at Cal at this point, he is focused on improving the team and that is his professional expertise, what will ultimately determine if he is extended. Hopefully he is getting good advice, but I also think minimum academic requirements are not entirely at his discretion. If the kid qualifies and understands it will be work and commits to doing it, that is enough. Fox can't do the work for him.

It comes down to basketball. If there is a good chance the kid is better than Brown, or someone we might get next year, I'd go for it. If not, a grad transfer with a HS PG next year would be my preference.



Trent Johnson is an integral part of the BB program. He probably has some good advice, don't you think?



I assume you are referring to Trent's coaching days at Stanford as opposed to his time at LSU, Nevada, TCU and Louisville, or his experience as a student athlete at Boise State.

Stanford is very different than Cal, especially when Trent coached there. If you are admitted to Stanford, it is very difficult to flunk out. Stanford students consider Bs to be bad grades.

No, I am hoping the advice is from admissions and from within the athletic department, from academic advisors and people with long term experience working with student athletes at Cal.

That said, i am not worried about it, because I would take Jason Kidd, Leon Powe or even a Jorge again in a heartbeat. If the kid can be admitted and understands that he will need to work but has resources available, then It is up the the player to decide if he is willing to take on that challenge. At this point Fox should get players that can improve the team, can be admitted and understand the work load and he only needs to adjust that if it becomes a systemic problem that weakens the program. Obviously a player who can improve the team AND has strong academics is always preferable.




It is good to know that they are giving out grades again at Stanford. For a while there, they were not getting letter grades, I believe. I guess it didn't work out.
When I was a graduate student at furd they did a study about grade distributions in undergraduate classes and found that the average grade was an A-. When they interviewed one prof. about the study and asked him if they should bring back the F grade he said "I hope they just bring back the C!".
tequila4kapp
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Seems to me if you are going to reach on a kid with potential academic red flags you do it for clear cut big time difference makers.
calumnus
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tequila4kapp said:

Seems to me if you are going to reach on a kid with potential academic red flags you do it for clear cut big time difference makers.


Generally, as for Jason Kidd or Leon Powe, but people thought that Jorge was marginal in basketball and in academics. He turned out great on both counts. A smart kid who is going to give it his all in everything he does.

For me the issue is if he greatly improves the team, if he is an improvement over Brown since they will be in the same class for the next three years. Otherwise, I'd lean toward a grad transfer PG and recruit a freshman PG for the 2021 class.

It will be interesting to see how Fox fills out this class.
Intuit
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The coaches need to improve the offense immediately. Class balance is not as important as eliminating the enormous talent gaps between the existing squad's players so apparent with substitution during the game.


In order for Cal to succeed in the Pac-12 the coaches must raise the offensive firepower at every position and every player on the depth chart 1 through 10. Recruits or transfers need to be added that will challenge or win immediate court time. Simultaneously, the coaches must continue to exert their maximum effort to improve the skills of the existing players.

SFCityBear
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Intuit said:

The coaches need to improve the offense immediately. Class balance is not as important as eliminating the enormous talent gaps between the existing squad's players so apparent with substitution during the game.


In order for Cal to succeed in the Pac-12 the coaches must raise the offensive firepower at every position and every player on the depth chart 1 through 10. Recruits or transfers need to be added that will challenge or win immediate court time. Simultaneously, the coaches must continue to exert their maximum effort to improve the skills of the existing players.


It's a nice idea, but not too realistic, in terms of who we are, and not too necessary, as I don't think any team in the Pac12 has 10 players with offensive firepower. Looking at scoring and shooting percentages, Oregon has maybe 7 players with firepower, USC maybe 5 or 6, Arizona 3, and UCLA maybe only one. If Cal's problem was firepower alone, and counting Bradley as one with firepower, we'd only have to add 2 or 3 firepower guys to be competitive.

There is no question Cal needs scoring, and no question Cal's rotation includes guys who don't score much, or don't score consistently. But Rome was not built in a day. Most recruits don't hit their stride until they are juniors, and it is unusual to see players who are capable of delivering a major contribution as freshmen. Cal is very young as a team, and I would expect some or most of the young players will improve over a year or two more. The last Cal team to compete well in the PAC12 was 2016, and that team was built on Montgomery's first signing Wallace, and then later adding Bird, Mathews, and Rooks. When Cuonzo signed Rabb and Brown in his second year, that gave the team enough firepower to overcome the lack of a good offensive plan, five players who had some firepower,

One problem with recruiting players for firepower, is they most often are not very good defensive players, because they have neglected that phase of the game, to concentrate on scoring the ball. Cal's defense greatly improved last year due to Mark Fox's teaching and coaching, but it still is not very good, ranked 8th in the PAC12 (and #169 in the country) in points allowed. He needs to get some rim protection, and also some rebounding.

Another big problem is turnovers. Cal is very weak in protecting the ball, and makes way too many turnovers. Whether this is due to facing good defenses, or due to Fox's offensive plan, or players having trouble executing it, or just having players taking too many chances with the ball or just daydreaming and not focusing, I don't know. Maybe a combination of these. Cal needs to reduce their turnovers by 5-10 per game, and that may be hard to do. While it is good to have firepower on offense, firepower is not effective, if the shooter loses the ball, or the dribblers and passers lose the ball before the shooter even gets it. Cal needs firepower, yes, but we need well-rounded players, both offense and defense, and players who don't make many mistakes.
bearchamp
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Cal's statistics last year,, both for offense and defense, are not proper reflections of the quality of play of the team by the end of the season. I haven't done the analysis, but I imagine that the the stats for the last five games are much better than the average for the season. I also imagine that the last five games are when Fox's coaching was finally getting through to the team.
SFCityBear
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bearchamp said:

Cal's statistics last year,, both for offense and defense, are not proper reflections of the quality of play of the team by the end of the season. I haven't done the analysis, but I imagine that the the stats for the last five games are much better than the average for the season. I also imagine that the last five games are when Fox's coaching was finally getting through to the team.
I agree with your points, except that the team played decently prior to the conference season. It was the first 3/4 of the conference season, especially the road games, where we faltered a bit. I hope the play in the last few games carries over to the next season, and I hope the new players on the roster will be quicker to grasp the concepts.
SFCityBear
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oskidunker said:

SFCityBear said:

Another recruit coming off injuries, following Gordon, Thorpe, Klonaris.
Everyone is injured.
I forgot to mention Celestine who is recovering from a stress fracture, I believe.
calumnus
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bearchamp said:

Cal's statistics last year,, both for offense and defense, are not proper reflections of the quality of play of the team by the end of the season. I haven't done the analysis, but I imagine that the the stats for the last five games are much better than the average for the season. I also imagine that the last five games are when Fox's coaching was finally getting through to the team.


Sagarin's algorithms had us at #164 in PREDICTOR with equal weight on the entire season and #91 in RECENT which weights later games more heavily. This would support your hypothesis that the team improved (relative to the field, since they all may have been improving) and was a better team at the end.
KoreAmBear
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SFCityBear said:

Intuit said:

The coaches need to improve the offense immediately. Class balance is not as important as eliminating the enormous talent gaps between the existing squad's players so apparent with substitution during the game.


In order for Cal to succeed in the Pac-12 the coaches must raise the offensive firepower at every position and every player on the depth chart 1 through 10. Recruits or transfers need to be added that will challenge or win immediate court time. Simultaneously, the coaches must continue to exert their maximum effort to improve the skills of the existing players.


It's a nice idea, but not too realistic, in terms of who we are, and not too necessary, as I don't think any team in the Pac12 has 10 players with offensive firepower. Looking at scoring and shooting percentages, Oregon has maybe 7 players with firepower, USC maybe 5 or 6, Arizona 3, and UCLA maybe only one. If Cal's problem was firepower alone, and counting Bradley as one with firepower, we'd only have to add 2 or 3 firepower guys to be competitive.

There is no question Cal needs scoring, and no question Cal's rotation includes guys who don't score much, or don't score consistently. But Rome was not built in a day. Most recruits don't hit their stride until they are juniors, and it is unusual to see players who are capable of delivering a major contribution as freshmen. Cal is very young as a team, and I would expect some or most of the young players will improve over a year or two more. The last Cal team to compete well in the PAC12 was 2016, and that team was built on Montgomery's first signing Wallace, and then later adding Bird, Mathews, and Rooks. When Cuonzo signed Rabb and Brown in his second year, that gave the team enough firepower to overcome the lack of a good offensive plan, five players who had some firepower,

One problem with recruiting players for firepower, is they most often are not very good defensive players, because they have neglected that phase of the game, to concentrate on scoring the ball. Cal's defense greatly improved last year due to Mark Fox's teaching and coaching, but it still is not very good, ranked 8th in the PAC12 (and #169 in the country) in points allowed. He needs to get some rim protection, and also some rebounding.

Another big problem is turnovers. Cal is very weak in protecting the ball, and makes way too many turnovers. Whether this is due to facing good defenses, or due to Fox's offensive plan, or players having trouble executing it, or just having players taking too many chances with the ball or just daydreaming and not focusing, I don't know. Maybe a combination of these. Cal needs to reduce their turnovers by 5-10 per game, and that may be hard to do. While it is good to have firepower on offense, firepower is not effective, if the shooter loses the ball, or the dribblers and passers lose the ball before the shooter even gets it. Cal needs firepower, yes, but we need well-rounded players, both offense and defense, and players who don't make many mistakes.
We were actually really good at protecting the ball by the end of the season.
91Cal
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calumnus said:

bearchamp said:

Cal's statistics last year,, both for offense and defense, are not proper reflections of the quality of play of the team by the end of the season. I haven't done the analysis, but I imagine that the the stats for the last five games are much better than the average for the season. I also imagine that the last five games are when Fox's coaching was finally getting through to the team.


Sagarin's algorithms had us at #164 in PREDICTOR with equal weight on the entire season and #91 in RECENT which weights later games more heavily. This would support your hypothesis that the team improved (relative to the field, since they all may have been improving) and was a better team at the end.
This makes a lot of sense...the only anomaly in the last ~10 games was the game @UW.

And that includes the eye test. There was much more patience on O towards the end of the season compared to the deer in the headlights reluctance and desperation there was earlier in the conference season.
tequila4kapp
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calumnus said:

tequila4kapp said:

ASeems to me if you are going to reach on a kid with potential academic red flags you do it for clear cut big time difference makers.
Generally, as for Jason Kidd or Leon Powe, but people thought that Jorge was marginal in basketball and in academics. He turned out great on both counts. A smart kid who is going to give it his all in everything he does.

For me the issue is if he greatly improves the team, if he is an improvement over Brown since they will be in the same class for the next three years. Otherwise, I'd lean toward a grad transfer PG and recruit a freshman PG for the 2021 class.

It will be interesting to see how Fox fills out this class.
If memory serves Jorge played 4 years and maximized his educational opportunities. This kid is already talking about how he's only prepping for the NBA. 5 star recruits who talk openly about leaving early is one thing. JUCO transfers who went to 3 HS with offers from Fresno State, Nebraska, Iowa State Ole Miss is something else.
TheSouseFamily
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This is from a couple of days ago but hadn't seen his final 5 posted here: Cal, Ole Miss, Fresno State, Buffalo and Southern Illinois.

BC Calfan
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JC Point Guard Dealing With Challenges of COVID-19 Recruiting Realities

Jeff Faraudo interviews Zachery and his coach.
oskidunker
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I think Cal gives him the most exposer. I guess Fresno would be second. They were 11-19. Ole miss had a losing record. buffalo was 20-12, but who wants to go to New York since its the hot bed of the virus and may be under quarantine longer. Southern illini 16-16

There is only one choice. GO BEARS!
SFCityBear
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oskidunker said:

I think Cal gives him the most exposer. I guess Fresno would be second. They were 11-19. Ole miss had a losing record. buffalo was 20-12, but who wants to go to New York since its the hot bed of the virus and may be under quarantine longer. Southern illini 16-16

There is only one choice. GO BEARS!
I would think he would give a strong consideration as to which schools might not have a point guard, or where he might at least be able to compete for the job, and have a chance of winning it.
Go!Bears
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SFCityBear said:


I would think he would give a strong consideration as to which schools might not have a point guard, or where he might at least be able to compete for the job, and have a chance of winning it.
He might also consider a school where he might be able to compete for a job - after graduation.
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