Also- people need to chill. It was a SCRIMMAGE against each other lol. I mean discussion etc is understandable but freaking out and already seemingly writing the season off ? Seems a bit premature
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I didn't see John Wall, Anthony Davis, Nerlens Noel, Julius Randle, Karl Towns, or DeAaron Fox - in other words, a transcendent talent you could build a team around. I didn't see a team with Brandon Knight, Jamal Murray or Malik Monk --a guard with big time scoring ability.
I wanted to see a dominating player in Knox. And he's a talented kid who will be an NBA player. But right now the person he reminds me of (though with important differences) is freshman Terrance Jones - lots of potential but not ready to dominate a game.
Add in the youth factor and this is a team that will struggle for awhile at best. The Kansas game may be like the Connecticut game of 2010 when the team looked overmatched. Road games in the SEC against tough, veteran teams could be ugly. If Cal gets this team to jell as a defensive juggernaut with enough offense to make a run in March Itll top 2011 and 2014 and mark his greatest coaching triumph.
Also- people need to chill. It was a SCRIMMAGE against each other lol. I mean discussion etc is understandable but freaking out and already seemingly writing the season off ? Seems a bit premature
Obviously a work in progress. Pretty much a donut team on offense at this point.
First guesstimate 23-8 regular season.
Vanderbilt's return or not is one of the X factors.
Just have to see them against better competition. Too much taking advantage of the walk-ons last night.
LOL ... You're basing all this on one intrasquad scrimmage? Hilarious. Jonathon Davis once scored 44 points in an intrasquad scrimmage. You probably declared him the next Dr J at the time.I didn't see John Wall, Anthony Davis, Nerlens Noel, Julius Randle, Karl Towns, or DeAaron Fox - in other words, a transcendent talent you could build a team around. I didn't see a team with Brandon Knight, Jamal Murray or Malik Monk --a guard with big time scoring ability.
I wanted to see a dominating player in Knox. And he's a talented kid who will be an NBA player. But right now the person he reminds me of (though with important differences) is freshman Terrance Jones - lots of potential but not ready to dominate a game.
Add in the youth factor and this is a team that will struggle for awhile at best. The Kansas game may be like the Connecticut game of 2010 when the team looked overmatched. Road games in the SEC against tough, veteran teams could be ugly. If Cal gets this team to jell as a defensive juggernaut with enough offense to make a run in March Itll top 2011 and 2014 and mark his greatest coaching triumph.
I don't know that a transcendent player has won a championship since Davis in 2012.About 99% of college basketball teams doesn’t have a “transcendent” player every year.
I don't know that a transcendent player has won a championship since Davis in 2012.
If Baker can play he will play. Cal only playing OAD's is another dumb myth that has never been proven. The OAD's are usually our best players and the youngest, thus they need more time to work through things. After 8 years you and others with the same claim should realize this.
About 99% of college basketball teams doesn’t have a “transcendent” player every year.
Exactly. Everyone says there’s no “John Wall, or Davis or Towns or Noel” so we probably won’t Win a title .. not sure why people use Noel as an example. That was an NIT team and even if he didn’t get injured we were looking at a possible NIT or low seed / early exit imo. I mean we were down like 20 against FLA when he was injured.
Walls team- EE
Randle - runner up
Towns - FF
Excellent players and amazing seasons but .., they didn’t win a title either
With maybe a couple of exceptions I don't think anyone was saying call it a season or saying we suck. Just a very early season evaluation of what we saw last night. This is a message board and people were just giving their opinions on what they saw on this first scrimmage. It means very little at this time of year but it is all we have to talk about right now and I see no problem with that. It's just simple meaningless discussion but I kind of enjoy hearing what others have to say after seeing the first scrimmage and comparing that to my first impressions. No harm in that so ease up a bit.
We will struggle. But I think we can be excellent by March but this has always been a class that has several kids who return for their sophomore year and we seriously compete for a 2019 title.I didn't see John Wall, Anthony Davis, Nerlens Noel, Julius Randle, Karl Towns, or DeAaron Fox - in other words, a transcendent talent you could build a team around. I didn't see a team with Brandon Knight, Jamal Murray or Malik Monk --a guard with big time scoring ability.
I wanted to see a dominating player in Knox. And he's a talented kid who will be an NBA player. But right now the person he reminds me of (though with important differences) is freshman Terrance Jones - lots of potential but not ready to dominate a game.
Add in the youth factor and this is a team that will struggle for awhile at best. The Kansas game may be like the Connecticut game of 2010 when the team looked overmatched. Road games in the SEC against tough, veteran teams could be ugly. If Cal gets this team to jell as a defensive juggernaut with enough offense to make a run in March Itll top 2011 and 2014 and mark his greatest coaching triumph.
It's a young team, so it's hard to judge right now.
Plus it's an intrasquad scrimmage.
I agree with OP that there's no standout.
I know he won't go back to platoons, but if there was ever a team that could benefit from a platoon, it's this one.
Nobody is head and shoulders above everyone else right now.
Diallo and Knox are our best guys, but they aren't head and shoulders above everybody else. Washington, Gabriel, Richards, and SKJ are all good players, but not one of them is a lottery pick or anything. Neither Green nor SGA standout at PG.
With no Vanderbilt, we have 10 guys that should be pretty even. With our length and skills I would play all 10 and press and try to force teams into a transition game.
G Green/SGA
G Diallo/Baker
F Knox/Washington
F Gabriel/SKJ
F Richards/Wynyard
I would platoon (but not call it that) with that team the first 16 minutes, then go with the best 5-7 the last 4 minutes of the half. Then continue with platoon the first 8 minutes of the 2nd half, then finish with the best 5-7 in the last 12 minutes. Speed the game up, use our athleticism, and wear teams down.
That's just me.
Cal will play 6-7 guys most of the minutes, with 1-2 guys getting in 10-12 minutes a game.
I'm glad Cal is the coach, he'll figure it out.
Looking like a contender in October is not realistic for this team. I don't care if they look like a contender right now, I just hope they look like a contender in February and March.
Quads Green - poor mans Ulis. Think he'll be fantastic as a sophomore.
Nick Richards (at his best) rich mans Marcus Lee. Slightly better size, comparable athleticism. If he comes back, we could have two unreal defensive anchors in Bol and Richards.
Knox and Washington are just very well rounded and complete forwards. The kind of guys you feel comfortable relying on in March. I think Vanderbilt would be in that same mold if not for the injury.
If we get a couple guys back from this squad, next years team could be the most solid we've had since '12.
That is a heck of a harsh critique. Glad you don't do my performance evaluations...
...sarcasm? I thought it was pretty fair...
You just made my point perfectly. Why does a OAD need more time to work on things than a non OAD? Because Cal knows they are going pro and will therefore only have them for the one season. Therefore they get all the minutes in order to be ready for post-season.
Baker is not a OAD. So there is more time to bring him along, even if he's actually good enough and ready to contribute right away.
May have been partly me. I never thought good of Lee on the court. he seemed to never be focused playing basketball. (Which was why he was supposed to be at Kentucky.) I give Richards much more of an upside comparison. (I'd never compare the two. Not fair to Richardson.) Your thoughts on Green are premature though any comparisons to Ulis should be good for Green. I felt it was a harsh comparison so early. (May be due to my jaded feelings toward Lee. I wish he'd have never played volley ball.)
Fair enough. Meant more from an athletic/physical standpoint, very similar. Disagree that it's too early to peg green. We know who he is.
I'd say Richards defense is polished....his offense is slow, no dribble skills, can't hang on to the ball, brings it down before going up, getting stripped. Will his defense be enough to keep him on floor? Cal said at the end of the day, the 5 best defenders will be on the floor. The guy had 8 blocks last night, nearly a triple double. Can't complain with those stats but will his defense be enough?I did not see a dominate big man. Richards is long and has some athleticism, but I think he is a bit of a project on both ends of the floor. I also did not see an elite PG. I think Shai and Green have real strengths, but also noticeable weaknesses. I think they will tag team at that position.
We will miss Vanderbilt.
Knox, Wenyen and PJ demonstrated some real positives on the offensive end of the floor. Diallo in transition will be fun and I like his explosiveness, but mid-range and perimeter in half court sets are not his strength.
Gonna be a wild ride.
I could have missed it but I didn't see Cal's wife. Smh
So what are you arguing? You just stated why the young and most talented guys on the roster should get more time. Baker’s delevopment is unlikely to have much of an effect on the success of this years team.You just made my point perfectly. Why does a OAD need more time to work on things than a non OAD? Because Cal knows they are going pro and will therefore only have them for the one season. Therefore they get all the minutes in order to be ready for post-season.
Baker is not a OAD. So there is more time to bring him along, even if he's actually good enough and ready to contribute right away.