I think he'll be in a better offense, and be relied upon more. He's a very efficient shooter, so yeah I think he'll be a legitimate scorer. I have a feeling I'm going to eat crow.
Sources Say (5/16/24)
- Thread starter mcwildcats04
- Start date
The danger with having the dude is that if he gets hurt the team falls apart because they don't believe they can win without the dude. I think I will take a pass on having the dude for a well-balanced team of sound players who make it hard for a defense to focus on anyone player. When all 5 players are capable of scoring, that is when teams are at their best.
The sum of the whole is greater than any individual parts. Pope knows what he is doing. He didn't have a dominant scorer at BYU either. This team is much better offensively and defensively than that team imho.
UConn’s leading scorer averaged 15 a game. But they had 5 guys average double figures. I don’t know how good we’ll be but doubt scoring will be the biggest problem. If we mix up defenses some and keep the opponent guessing a little, it will help us immensely. One of Cals many weaknesses was they were so easy to prepare for.
That's the thing, I believe we have 6 or 7 guys who are capable of being "the scorer" (sick of hearing "dude") on any given night depending on matchups and who has a hot hand. We had 3 of those guys last year. When they were on, we were a great team. 2 of the 3 were terrible in our final game and we lost to an inferior team. It's a lot less likely for that to happen to a balanced team full of guys who can put the ball in the hoop.
I think at times fans forget that basketball is a team sport. I don't want 5 guys on the court, one or two looking to score while the others watch.
Think another problem with their show is it’s like reading the Sunday paper but on the following Thursday. News occurs in real time now. A revamping of discussion topics that don’t easily get so dated would help them.
All on their own? We’ve had 2 guys average 20 points a game the last 15 years. Jamal Murray and Antonio Reeves.
That is the entire show. I mean I guess they have to stretch some stuff otherwise it would be over in 10:00 minutes.
But I can’t watch more than 5-7 minutes so dry and boring
You will notice that those 2 guys played on 2 of the highest scoring teams Cal had here. Both those teams were in the tops of Cal teams here in possessions per game. And both played with other great passing guards.
Now imagine how many those 2 would have averaged if Cal had actually tried to get them shots.
need some big time talent mixed in with this group. As is it will be a fight to get into the ncaa. The conference will be very tough.
Look at ANY top team, not just Cal teams, and they all have 2-3 top options. I’m not convinced we don’t have 3 who could be that (Brea, Oweh, Carr). But yeah, I would like at least 1 more certain than those 3.
2020: Won the SEC finished 7th in the country
2021: Didn’t have a legitimate scorer
2022: Didn’t have a legitimate scorer
2023: Didn’t have a legitimate scorer, Reeves just shot a bunch of 3’s
2024: 2nd in the SEC lost to Oakland in the first round finished 20th in the country.
So apparently IQ at 16 ppg was a legitimate scorer but Oscar at 17 PPG wasn't? Also, I don't really care where we are ranked at the end of the season, since the 2 seasons you insinuated we had a legit scorer ended well because of our rankings, if it ends in first round losses in the SEC and NCAA tournament.
I don't agree with this. Mostly because you seem to claim that we don't have a legitimate scorer in the years that weren't great, without giving any context.
The issue our last 4 years or so has nothing really to do with scoring the ball, the issue has been we have been pathetic on defense. Not being able to stop anybody is a problem we have had.
Defense was a problem last year. I’m not sure how that gets lumped in with every other year. The 21 team was obviously bad at every aspect of the game, the other teams didn’t have the same defensive problems. Offense with poor spacing, non shooters, and a reliance on the worst shot in basketball was more of an issue previos teams.
Being a scorer doesn’t have to do with points per game necessarily. Oscar averaged 17 a game because of offensive rebounds and put backs primarily. A scorer is a guy you can give the ball to when the offense breaks down, you’re at the end of the shot clock and you need a bucket. A scorer is someone you rely on when at the end of games when you need a bucket. Quickley and Maxey were those guys, Oscar was not. No one who knows basketball would refer to Oscar as a scorer.
The rankings of how we finished with a scorer is answering the question of the OP. Being ranked 20th isn’t a flex or insinuating we finished well, it’s just a fact of where we finished.
And you have watched all these guys play multiple games and know they aren't a scorer in those situations? Or are just assuming because they weren't burger boys or may have played for non power 5 teams that they aren't?
We have 7 guys that shoot 35 percent or better from 3. But nope, we don't have anyone that can score!
OK, you decide where people are getting it from, here is the data from KenPom:
Year - Defensive Eff - Offensive Eff - Finish
24 - 109 - 7 - 1st round
23 - 68 - 17 - 2nd Round
22 - 36 - 5 - 1st Round
21 - 35 - 68 - Missed Tournament
20 - 52 - 24 - No Tournament Played
19 - 8 - 14 - EE
18 - 22 - 24 - S16
17 - 7 - 12 - EE
16 - 39 - 5 - 2nd Round
15 - 1 - 6 - F4
14 - 32 - 14 - CG
13 - 88 - 38 - Missed Tournament
12 - 7 - 2 - Championship
11 - 16 - 8 - F4
10 - 6 - 22 - EE
Only 3 times in the first 10 years did we not have a top 25 defense, and only the 14 team made it past the 2nd round. We haven't had a top 25 defense since 19, and coincidentally, or maybe not, we have a grand total of a single NCAA tournament win (yes I know one of those years there wasn't a tournament). Conversely, only twice in the last 15 years have we not had a top 25 offense, and we missed the tournament both times. Just in the last 3 years, we have had 2 top 10 offensive effeciency teams, and neither of them won a game in the NCAA tournament, despite both being top 4 seeds. But you can't look at those numbers and not realize that the defense has been the major problem in the last 5 years. Of course, you could also watch the games, and even without the data to back it up, know that defense was the problem.
Ironic that the one year (2021) he says we were bad all the way around was the highest rated defense over the last 5 seasons. I'm not sure what he watches or if he understands it when he does watch.
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