DEFENSE will be our Identity this year.

[JonathanW]

This team already looks like will be one of Cal’s top 3 defensive teams at UK (with 12 and 15, maybe 10 up there too), once we get at least one of our 3 7-footers.

We don’t need them to have the offense of 10,11,12,17. But if 5th or 6th best, then we could have a very good season.

Rebounding could be an issue. I don’t see Bradshaw helping a lot there, maybe not Ivisic either. Onyenso is our best rebounder, but may only play 15mpg.

 

[FinancialPlannerZac]

I agree, it really does look like our guards don't take any time off guarding on the defensive end. It was pretty glaring how much we need just ONE of these 7-footers to become a rebounding presence and someone that can take up space in the paint. I do like that this situation with all three 7-footers being out means Cal has to go small, so I'm hoping he keeps a lot of small ball elements moving forward surrounding an eventual big man. The backcourt looks like it's as good as anyone in the country... just give me a big man who can rebound and block a few shots, and I think this team is ready to roll.

 

[Dontworryboutit23]

Which one of the bigs has the best chance to develop into a good shot blocker, because on the perimeter those 3 guards can cause havoc

 

[IL Wildcat]

I completely agree. I think the defense is what excites me the most about this team. Once we get at least one of these 7 footers available, my biggest concern (rebounding) will be seriously addressed. Even without any of the 7 footers right now, I think this team's defense will suffice.

 

[KYCAT78]

I completely agree. I think the defense is what excites me the most about this team. Once we get at least one of these 7 footers available, my biggest concern (rebounding) will be seriously addressed. Even without any of the 7 footers right now, I think this team's defense will suffice.

Defense and Guard play win Championships. It appears we have both.

 

[ace on the river]

Absolutely need a rim protector or we're in trouble...

 

[MidseasonTweak]

Which one of the bigs has the best chance to develop into a good shot blocker, because on the perimeter those 3 guards can cause havoc

We know what Ugonna can do in his limited action from last season. He's the slower/bigger of the trio. Ivisic and Bradshaw seem to have more finesse to their game. Time will tell regardless.

 

[IL Wildcat]

Defense and Guard play win Championships. It appears we have both.

Yes, this is true. In the college game, guard play is key. And defense always wins championships.
I look at that game last night and we really didn't shoot the ball all that great (2nd half was better) but we ran away to a 40pt win and allowed only 46 points and allowed 32% shooting and 22% from 3. It's solid.

 

[WeWant9]

We need some help with shot blocking and rebounding, really hope we can get two of the bigs playing before SEC play.

Cal usually seems like he wants the defense to get set and grind the offense down for a bad shot at the end of the clock. I think he will open it up this year, and live with guys going for steals/deflections. We got the horses to really tire down an opponent’s guards for 40 minutes.

 

[Lukeslaw]

This team already looks like will be one of Cal’s top 3 defensive teams at UK (with 12 and 15, maybe 10 up there too), once we get at least one of our 3 7-footers.

We don’t need them to have the offense of 10,11,12,17. But if 5th or 6th best, then we could have a very good season.

Rebounding could be an issue. I don’t see Bradshaw helping a lot there, maybe not Ivisic either. Onyenso is our best rebounder, but may only play 15mpg.

If it isn't, it probably should be. Defense and on the other end, penetration. Our guards are the backbone of this team.
Rebounding is going to kill us this year. We need all 5 boxing out and firmly grabbing rebounds.

I like it. I liked what I saw last night.

 

[SemperFiCat]

Def is something that I don't think Cal has historically gotten enough credit for. He takes a lot of HS scorers and AAU stars, and usually gets them to play good Def. Sometimes for the first time. Cal's best teams have always been largely due to Def. These guys seem to have all the ingredients to be one of those teams. Especially if they can add two capable shot blocking threats.

 

[KYCAT78]

Yes, this is true. In the college game, guard play is key. And defense always wins championships.
I look at that game last night and we really didn't shoot the ball all that great (2nd half was better) but we ran away to a 40pt win and allowed only 46 points and allowed 32% shooting and 22% from 3. It's solid.

It was encouraging to me as well, we played 40 minutes of defense and this team has multiple shooters which will make our spacing better this year.

 

[LukaszObrzut]

I disagree. Offense is our identity- play fast and use the many guard options we have to be like the UNC or Baylor teams that had success.

Defense will be tough in the half court.

 

[bucsrule8872]

We are strong on the perimeter, especially defensively. We can score in transition by forcing turnovers. We haven’t seen that in a long, long time.

Once we get Ivisic cleared, and Bradshaw healthy, we will add that shot blocking element to the equation and we are going to be even better defensively.

With those two back, I think the rotation is set.

Starters

G Wagner
G Reeves
G Edwards
F Mitchell
F Bradshaw or Ivisic

Reserves

G Sheppard
G Dillingham
G Thiero
F Ivisic or Bradshaw

Burks and Hart won’t see the floor.

Onyenso may end up being a medical redshirt. He is so far behind and not even close to being ready. Get the other two back and he won’t really be needed. He should take the year and get back to 100% for next season.

I am excited to see that rotation. That should be a dangerous team come March. I don’t see a lot of weaknesses, maybe interior scoring since all our big men are more finesse than muscle. We might struggle against physical teams, especially inside.

 

[WeWant9]

We are strong on the perimeter, especially defensively. We can score in transition by forcing turnovers. We haven’t seen that in a long, long time.

Once we get Ivisic cleared, and Bradshaw healthy, we will add that shot blocking element to the equation and we are going to be even better defensively.

With those two back, I think the rotation is set.

Starters

G Wagner
G Reeves
G Edwards
F Mitchell
F Bradshaw or Ivisic

Reserves

G Sheppard
G Dillingham
G Thiero
F Ivisic or Bradshaw

Burks and Hart won’t see the floor.

Onyenso may end up being a medical redshirt. He is so far behind and not even close to being ready. Get the other two back and he won’t really be needed. He should take the year and get back to 100% for next season.

I am excited to see that rotation. That should be a dangerous team come March. I don’t see a lot of weaknesses, maybe interior scoring since all our big men are more finesse than muscle. We might struggle against physical teams, especially inside.

I hope Burks can get some run this season. I don’t think he’s ready to be a full on contributor, but I’ve liked the little I’ve seen from him. Would hate for him to be completely buried on the bench and then transfer.

 

[HagginHall1999]

From what I've seen of Bradshaw (limited), he appears to be a very aggressive rebounder... especially on offensive glass.

 

[LukaszObrzut]

What's the hold up on Ivisic- not confident he'll play any meaningful minutes this year if his eligibility isnt resolved soon-

A lot of pressure has been put on him to play right away when very few highly rated recruits even do that/

 

[IL Wildcat]

I disagree. Offense is our identity- play fast and use the many guard options we have to be like the UNC or Baylor teams that had success.

Defense will be tough in the half court.

I think they can work together. Doesn't have to be either/or. Fast offense is what the team is best from what I see but getting us to wins is gonna a function of that high level defense.

 

[LukaszObrzut]

I think they can work together. Doesn't have to be either/or. Fast offense is what the team is best from what I see but getting us to wins is gonna a function of that high level defense.

Certainly- most importantly Cats need to not have the shot clock mentality- i just do worry on how the lack of size, development and experience match top tier talent.

imo means we need to create matchup nightmares on offense by exposing the players that will cause us issues on defense.

 

[NociHTTP]

If these bigs refuse to play (I no longer believe Cal is interested in making guys play), then teams are going to foul out Mitchell and make our guards score from deep. I don't think our 3 point shooting is very good.

 

[LukaszObrzut]

If these bigs refuse to play (I no longer believe Cal is interested in making guys play), then teams are going to foul out Mitchell and make our guards score from deep. I don't think our 3 point shooting is very good.

It should be when 6 guards are getting most minutes.

 

[davekersey]

Agree that defense is going to be key. In my opinion we are an average team on half Court offense, but defense leads to breakaways and we are good at that. And of course there is always rebounding and that needs to improve and it will.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

Gonna give this some time before we crown the team. I loved watching Shep last night, but there were times when it appeared he was given permission to guard everyone. I started thinking the defense is “random.” Not sure that scramble mentality will work against good teams. On the ball, we were harassing last night. Hope that can continue against more talented teams.

 

[JonathanW]

The key will be getting the 7-foot shot blockers on the court (1 at a time).
They will allow our guards to take even more risks, play tighter D, knowing if they get beat the guys shot if not blocked may at least be altered.

As for rebounding, thst may be a concern all year. Theiro may be our best rebounder, followed by Onyenso and then Mitchell.

 

[cats2010]

Absolutely need a rim protector or we're in trouble...

Rim protector is always nice and welcomed but disagree we would be in trouble. This is probably the best on ball defensive team we have had under Cal. I say that with minimal sample size but don’t recall any team looking as good this early in the season that we saw last night. 15 probably only because we kept throwing fresh bodies on the floor every TV timeout.

 

[nickhorvathsuxazz]

We are strong on the perimeter, especially defensively. We can score in transition by forcing turnovers. We haven’t seen that in a long, long time.

Once we get Ivisic cleared, and Bradshaw healthy, we will add that shot blocking element to the equation and we are going to be even better defensively.

With those two back, I think the rotation is set.

Starters

G Wagner
G Reeves
G Edwards
F Mitchell
F Bradshaw or Ivisic

Reserves

G Sheppard
G Dillingham
G Thiero
F Ivisic or Bradshaw

Burks and Hart won’t see the floor.

Onyenso may end up being a medical redshirt. He is so far behind and not even close to being ready. Get the other two back and he won’t really be needed. He should take the year and get back to 100% for next season.

I am excited to see that rotation. That should be a dangerous team come March. I don’t see a lot of weaknesses, maybe interior scoring since all our big men are more finesse than muscle. We might struggle against physical teams, especially inside.

When the 2 bigs get back, I'd slide Burks in with the 2nd group and platoon for the first 30 minutes of the game and close out the last 10 w/ the hot hands. Fully take advantage of how deep we are this year.

 

[runt#69]

Not having much size inside is our Achilles heel at this point. A good team with capable bigs will expose it.

That said, overall athleticism and team speed, on ball pressure, all these things can help overcome that. We need these guys to be looking to mass crash the glass once a team with some bugs challenge is inside.

With cal being forced to go with this 8 man lineup, it's afforded the team to gel a bit, get some good chemistry to start the season, and create the kind of spacing offensively this teams needs to be it's best.

Interior size will be exposed though as a weakness they will have to learn to adapt to for the time being.

I can live with it. For now. Just want to see them develop good team grit and out hustle the other squad. When they play harder than the other team, this squad is gonna win a lot of games

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Kind of wish offense would be our identity for once. I'd love to see what these talented teams could do if we focused on offensive sets, shooting, temp, etc... and kind of treated defense secondary. A bend-but-don't-break mindset, where we put effort in on defense, but don't kill our bodies chasing players around and going for half court steals.

 

[Cats192]

IF you had to choose an elite offensive team or an elite defensive team--I prefer the elite defensive team. Good defense is a constant.

Offense can falter. Guys have off-night. Sometimes the calls don't go your way.

 

[JonathanW]

Kind of wish offense would be our identity for once. I'd love to see what these talented teams could do if we focused on offensive sets, shooting, temp, etc... and kind of treated defense secondary. A bend-but-don't-break mindset, where we put effort in on defense, but don't kill our bodies chasing players around and going for half court steals.

It was (Offense our focus) in 2017 and 2011. Could argue that in 2020 also.
2011 made F4
2017 we were robbed by the rooferee of a F4
2020 we were robbed of F4 chance by COVID

But generally, in any sport, OFFENSE is more fun for fans to watch, but DEFENSE wins more.

 

[nickhorvathsuxazz]

It was (Offense our focus) in 2017 and 2011. Could argue that in 2020 also.
2011 made F4
2017 we were robbed by the rooferee of a F4
2020 we were robbed of F4 chance by COVID

But generally, in any sport, OFFENSE is more fun for fans to watch, but DEFENSE wins more.

It takes both to win at the levels we want to be at

 

[Skyguyb27]

Absolutely need a rim protector or we're in trouble...

I agree, but 7 footers don’t matter if you can’t get the ball across half court in time to run a play. I’m really hoping with the personnel UK has this year we see a lot of full court pressure and helter shelter to get a shot off once they do before the shot clock.

 

[bucsrule8872]

It was (Offense our focus) in 2017 and 2011. Could argue that in 2020 also.
2011 made F4
2017 we were robbed by the rooferee of a F4
2020 we were robbed of F4 chance by COVID

But generally, in any sport, OFFENSE is more fun for fans to watch, but DEFENSE wins more.

I agree, but it is also a lot of fun to watch a team apply ball pressure and turn teams over and score in transition. To me, that’s more fun to watch. Layups, dunks, and transition 3’s off turnovers. Great defense can lead to great offense.

 

[UKBB4Ever]

Defense doesn’t really win championships. Coaches and talking heads like to say that.

Basketball at its very essence is an offensive game.

Defense is important but teams that can’t score don’t win titles.

Of course you can’t average 80 points a game and give up 85.

Great teams hold opponents in the 60’s and score in the 80 range.

 

[lsb34m3]

Defensively we are much better this year. We have 3 new guards 6’3” who attack defensively. Reeves has improved with effort. I see him running through screens and being much more active on the defensive end. Then you add in Edwards and an extremely active Adou and a savvy veteran in Mitchell with a high IQ you can’t help but be better. Burks has great energy and hops. So he’s giving some good back up minutes. Waiting on the big guys to see their ability but gotta hope they will add to it instead of being a liability. We just haven’t seen this type of defensive ability in a while. Our defense will win us some games but our offense that will have so many options and ways to score will make the defense look even better. Extremely excited to see how this team grows and improves. Could be a special year.

 

[Big Cat fan]

The defense is nice so far and I think it will continue. If we force ku into turnovers we will beat them.

 

[BigRedMachineBigBlueNation]

I ho

This team already looks like will be one of Cal’s top 3 defensive teams at UK (with 12 and 15, maybe 10 up there too), once we get at least one of our 3 7-footers.

We don’t need them to have the offense of 10,11,12,17. But if 5th or 6th best, then we could have a very good season.

Rebounding could be an issue. I don’t see Bradshaw helping a lot there, maybe not Ivisic either. Onyenso is our best rebounder, but may only play 15mpg.

I hope so. we’ve been been lacking it lately, and frankly I miss the stifling defense of Cal’s older teams.

 

[bluebornwildcat]

It's possible to have a great offense and have a great defense. All it takes it's motivation and effort. We already have offense.

 

[CincyUKFan]

This team already looks like will be one of Cal’s top 3 defensive teams at UK (with 12 and 15, maybe 10 up there too), once we get at least one of our 3 7-footers.

We don’t need them to have the offense of 10,11,12,17. But if 5th or 6th best, then we could have a very good season.

Rebounding could be an issue. I don’t see Bradshaw helping a lot there, maybe not Ivisic either. Onyenso is our best rebounder, but may only play 15mpg.

Dilly, Wagner, Shepherd, and Thiero will stay on the court, at times, because they defend. Conversely, Reeves and Mitchell will come off the court because they don’t.

 

[jauk11]

I hope Burks can get some run this season. I don’t think he’s ready to be a full on contributor, but I’ve liked the little I’ve seen from him. Would hate for him to be completely buried on the bench and then transfer.

There are lot of really good players that have to wait their turn. Not very likely he is going to be a big time player this year, but if he has the talent staying here would probably be his best bet down the road.

And of course being a big UK fan I may be a little prejudiced, but I can't imagine a lot of places better to spend my time than on a UK basketball team.

Unless it was on a UK football team, of course.