Post by mhbruin on May 9, 2022 9:59:50 GMT -8
Next are the 10th place California Golden Bears. Going into the season, everyone predicted they would finish in last place. Oregon State made sure that wouldn't happen.
Cal returned almost everyone from a bad team and managed to improve from 3 conference wins to 5, in spite of losing their best player to the transfer portal.
That worked so well for them, they apparently decided to have their best player transfer out again after this season. It's a strange strategy, but most things are strange in Berkeley.
Certainly the Bears need lots of help. Cal has had five consecutive losing seasons -- unprecedented in program history -- and have lost 20 games or more four of the past five.
Coach Fox may have exceeded expectations last season, but if he has another crappy season, we may read some sad Fox news.
GRADUATING
These are their #1 and #3 scorers? Who's #2? Why it's ...
IN THE DRAFT OR TURNING PRO
#2 scorer is Andre Kelly. So the Bears are losing their top 3 scorers. Also, Kelly and Anticevich are their top 2 rebounders.
Kelly is likely going through the draft process for the experience and instead will be transferring.
TRANSFERRING OUT
Going from UC to UCSB seems like a strange choice. It wasn't as if Kelly was going to be struggling to find PT at Cal. However, maybe he got tired of playing for a LOOOSING TEAM.
RETURNING
California returns a lot of experience, but not a lot of production. And there are real questions about this roster.
Who's on first? Or who plays the 1? Joel Brown has an OK A/TO ratio of 1.7, but his shooting is questionable. Jarred Hyder has a better 2.0 ratio, but he can't shoot at all.
What about center? Lars Thiemann is 7'1", and is a serviceable backup center. However, he needs to be that starter, because is no one for him to back up, and there is no one to back up him.
They could go without a real center, but they will need to match up with guys like Oumar Ballo and Adem Bona (or Mac Etienne).
They have a bunch of wings, but the only one who shoots well is Sam Alajiki. Maybe he can take all their shots.
Then there is Obinna Anyanwu, who is most notable for my thinking of him as Obinna AnyWayYouWantIt (from the old Dave Clark Five song).
These are not bad players, but I find it hard to identify anyone on this roster who would start at any of the better teams in the Pac-12.
(#94 class, #10 in Pac-12)
How do you follow up a 10th-place finish in the Pac-12? With the 10th-best recruiting class in the league.
Okafor may be a decent player, based on his list of offers. There isn't much to get excited about in this class.
Devin Askew was recruited by everyone out of Mater Dei. He chose to go the Johnny Juzang route and graduate early to go to Kentucky. He started 20 games as a freshman there, but wasn't exactly lighting it up. When they recruited over him, he decided to try his luck in Austin, TX. Apparently Coach Beard wasn't that impressed, so he is moving on again.
At Cal he won't get recruited over. He should get lots of PT. Maybe he can get his NBA dreams on tracks in Berkeley. I hope he enjoys playing for a LOOOSING TEAM. (Actually, he had some experience of that at Kentucky.)
That is, assuming he gets to play. With this being his second transfer, he will need a waiver from the NCAA, or he will have to sit out a year.
When I saw Akew play for Mater Dei, I was very impressed. However, his college career hasn't lived up to anyone's expectations. I think he still has the potential to be an elite college player, if and when he ever plays for California.
CONCLUSION
Cal returned almost everyone from a bad team and managed to improve from 3 conference wins to 5, in spite of losing their best player to the transfer portal.
That worked so well for them, they apparently decided to have their best player transfer out again after this season. It's a strange strategy, but most things are strange in Berkeley.
Certainly the Bears need lots of help. Cal has had five consecutive losing seasons -- unprecedented in program history -- and have lost 20 games or more four of the past five.
Coach Fox may have exceeded expectations last season, but if he has another crappy season, we may read some sad Fox news.
GRADUATING
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Jordan Shepherd | 32 | 32 | 33 | 15 | 3 | 2 |
| Grant Anticevich | 32 | 29 | 32 | 10 | 7 | 1 |
| Makale Foreman | 31 | 4 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
These are their #1 and #3 scorers? Who's #2? Why it's ...
IN THE DRAFT OR TURNING PRO
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Andre Kelly | 21 | 21 | 30 | 13 | 8 | 1 |
#2 scorer is Andre Kelly. So the Bears are losing their top 3 scorers. Also, Kelly and Anticevich are their top 2 rebounders.
Kelly is likely going through the draft process for the experience and instead will be transferring.
TRANSFERRING OUT
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Destination |
| Andre Kelly | 21 | 21 | 30 | 13 | 8 | 1 | UC Santa Barbara |
Going from UC to UCSB seems like a strange choice. It wasn't as if Kelly was going to be struggling to find PT at Cal. However, maybe he got tired of playing for a LOOOSING TEAM.
RETURNING
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | FG% | 3Pt% | Class | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank |
| Joel Brown | 30 | 24 | 27 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 41% | 23% | Jr 4 | 3 | 191 |
| Lars Thiemann | 32 | 11 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 52% | Jr 4 | Unranked | ||
| Jalen Celestine | 31 | 16 | 25 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 42% | 34% | So 3 | 3 | 402 |
| Kuany Kuany | 30 | 16 | 17 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 42% | 32% | Jr 4 | 3 | 354 |
| Sam Alajiki | 30 | 4 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 47% | 50% | So | Unranked | |
| Obinna Anyanwu | 24 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 39% | 0% | So | 3 | 192 |
| Marsalis Roberson | 17 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 32% | 0% | So | 3 | 156 |
| Jarred Hyder | 22 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 24% | 19% | Jr 4 | Unranked |
California returns a lot of experience, but not a lot of production. And there are real questions about this roster.
Who's on first? Or who plays the 1? Joel Brown has an OK A/TO ratio of 1.7, but his shooting is questionable. Jarred Hyder has a better 2.0 ratio, but he can't shoot at all.
What about center? Lars Thiemann is 7'1", and is a serviceable backup center. However, he needs to be that starter, because is no one for him to back up, and there is no one to back up him.
They could go without a real center, but they will need to match up with guys like Oumar Ballo and Adem Bona (or Mac Etienne).
They have a bunch of wings, but the only one who shoots well is Sam Alajiki. Maybe he can take all their shots.
Then there is Obinna Anyanwu, who is most notable for my thinking of him as Obinna AnyWayYouWantIt (from the old Dave Clark Five song).
These are not bad players, but I find it hard to identify anyone on this roster who would start at any of the better teams in the Pac-12.
RECRUITS
(#94 class, #10 in Pac-12)
How do you follow up a 10th-place finish in the Pac-12? With the 10th-best recruiting class in the league.
| Player | Size | Position | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank | Offers |
| ND Okafor | 6-9 210 | PF | 3 | 187 | Arizona, Baylor, Georgia, Creighton |
| Grant Newell | 6-5 200 | SF | 3 | 299 | DePaul |
Okafor may be a decent player, based on his list of offers. There isn't much to get excited about in this class.
TRANSFERRING IN
| Player | Size | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | FG % | 3-Pt % | From | Class | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank |
| Devin Askew | 6-3 195 | 34 | 3 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 40% | 32% | Texas | So 3 | 4 | 32 |
Devin Askew was recruited by everyone out of Mater Dei. He chose to go the Johnny Juzang route and graduate early to go to Kentucky. He started 20 games as a freshman there, but wasn't exactly lighting it up. When they recruited over him, he decided to try his luck in Austin, TX. Apparently Coach Beard wasn't that impressed, so he is moving on again.
At Cal he won't get recruited over. He should get lots of PT. Maybe he can get his NBA dreams on tracks in Berkeley. I hope he enjoys playing for a LOOOSING TEAM. (Actually, he had some experience of that at Kentucky.)
That is, assuming he gets to play. With this being his second transfer, he will need a waiver from the NCAA, or he will have to sit out a year.
When I saw Akew play for Mater Dei, I was very impressed. However, his college career hasn't lived up to anyone's expectations. I think he still has the potential to be an elite college player, if and when he ever plays for California.
CONCLUSION
There should be a lot of excitement in Berkeley about this team. Not because they will be a good team. The real suspense is whether they can stay our of last place and whether this is Mark Fox's last season.
Then again, they could shock the world and finish 10th again. Actually most of the world wouldn't be shocked. They wouldn't notice. It's been a while since anyone noticed that Cal has a basketball team. The coming season won't change that.
Then again, they could shock the world and finish 10th again. Actually most of the world wouldn't be shocked. They wouldn't notice. It's been a while since anyone noticed that Cal has a basketball team. The coming season won't change that.