UNC and MD both looking pretty tough...

[HexxenHammer]

Cal's teams never rely on threes.

We need to shoot a better percentage for sure, but a measly 4 more makes from outside the arc and we are on pace with last years team through. And we are actually better this season from the free throw line than at this point last season.

Point being....we will improve greatly. Also, we're the type of team that only needs to shoot about 10-12 threes a game generally. Make 4-5 per game and we are good to go.

Interesting comparison between this year and last. Numbers don't lie, but I think people are worried about this team since it isn't the defensive juggernaut that can erase mistakes like last year's squad.

 

[ganner918]

Cal's teams never rely on threes.

We need to shoot a better percentage for sure, but a measly 4 more makes from outside the arc and we are on pace with last years team through. And we are actually better this season from the free throw line than at this point last season.

Point being....we will improve greatly. Also, we're the type of team that only needs to shoot about 10-12 threes a game generally. Make 4-5 per game and we are good to go.

While it's true we don't ever rely on threes, it's also true that the national championship team was one of only 2 of Cal's teams here to shoot over 35% from 3 (37.8%), and having one deadly shooter, another good shooter, and a couple of capable shooters definitely helped open the middle up for drives and lobs. The difference in percentage from 35% to 38%, with the number we tend to take in a year, is worth 3 points every other game. Not often going to matter, but in a close game against a good team one extra make can be a big deal.

The good news is that, despite our low 3pt% and ft% so far, we have a higher fg% than any of the previous 6 years, and the third highest true shooting percentage (56.4% behind last year's 56.5% and 2012's 58.2%).