The Benson Blog: Season Prediction

For the past couple of years, I’ve come into the Cal basketball season with a lot of hope. Madsen’s usually out and about connecting with fans, the new guys have started practicing, and the football team is feeding me their energy after a good start. What can I say? I’m a hopeful guy. 

Two years ago, Madsen’s first, we were coming off of the worst season in school history. I was optimistic that we’d finish around .500, and we went 13-19, which was relatively great all things considered. I was at the game at UCSD that felt like a gut punch. But I was also at Stanford, where I left so hyped that I did a whole video aimed at Casey Jacobsen. Last year, I thought we could ascend to a top 6 finish (akin to Stanford last season), but we found ourselves at 14-19, essentially the same record as before. I sat with Mendoza as we lost to Stanford. But I also watched us take Notre Dame to 4 overtimes. It was magical. 

So what about this season?

Well, it’s difficult to say. Most major media outlets have placed us around 14th out of the 18 team ACC conference. Without any preseason all conference players, I don’t think that number is unfair. But we haven’t seen them play yet. If there’s one thing I’ve learned the last couple of years, it's that someone always surprises us with their individual growth. If Jovani Ruff takes a big leap maybe we finish higher. If Justin Pippen brings big game energy, maybe we finish higher. 

But the biggest issue facing the team in recent years hasn’t been talent as much as team chemistry and our defensive schemes. Two years ago, it was plain as day that Askew wasn’t a good team fit, and by the end of the season, Aimac was playing so timidly that he looked like a different player. Last season, to add to the defensive issues, especially towards the end, guys were taking 1 on 1 opportunities like they were “limited-time-only.” They seemed to get along, but we certainly didn’t play together. There were so many times that I questioned if we weren’t running certain schemes simply because of personnel or if there was something deeper going on. There’s no way for me to know exactly. But I do like that I’m seeing guys mention that defense and “selling out Haas” are top priorities. 

My hope this season is that neither is an issue – that our team has the right mix of ego and teamwork to allow the players to shine their brightest. It feels possible, given that no one on the team has been given anything. We have a lot of guys with a lot to prove. To go to the next level, everyone’s gonna have to earn it. Scheme-wise, I expect to see some run and gun on offense, but I hope it can be done with solid, unselfish defense on the other end. Madsen made that exact promise when he said “we play fast and our defense will be much improved this season from last.”

IF we can come together and IF we can get our defense working consistently, we could finish 9th-12th in the conference. As the hopeful guy I am, what I really want is for them to prove me wrong and finish even higher. But nobody can guarantee that. All I can guarantee is that I’ll be watching as closely as ever.