Will our defense be improved?

[Creed Bratton]

I know there are still some people to be added to the roster or at least we better add more for depth. It has been obvious that our defense has struggled to stop anyone the last 2-3 seasons so my concern is can we improve on the defensive side of the ball. IMO Cal's best teams at UMass, Memphis and UK all had a rim protector to anchor the defense but also guys on the perimeter that could shut down the other teams wings. I haven't watched enough of these freshmen to know if we have the pieces to be a top 25 defense. Can anyone calm my fears that we will still not be able to come up with stops when we need to?

 

[UKBB4Ever]

Can't be worse.

 

[YardCat]

There are a couple dogs (Edwards/Wagner) that can get after you. I expect more steals and cause more turnovers by pressing. We have to be the team that causes havoc, if not we might get killed in the half court

 

[chroix]

We don’t have dogs. We have pups.

 

[SemperFiCat]

We gonna have a zone we can go to occasionally??

...I didn't think so either.

 

[CincyUKFan]

If Reeves comes back and plays a lot - that is a huge defensive liability again. But Wheeler, Toppin, Oscar, and CJ were liabilities too. Our defense, especially if Reeves transfers out, should be better.

But our three-point shooting could be the worst it’s ever been.

 

[FitchandMurray29]

I will never forget losing at half in the NCAAT to a team that hadn’t made a single jump shot. Hopefully the improved rim protection has a dramatic impact.

 

[ManitouDan]

These AAU studs are not gonna come in and Man up .. calling them dogs is hilarious woof Woof

 

[kyjeff1]

Freshmen = box-of-chocolates!

 

[Lempface]

We should block at least twice as many shots. I expect pick and roll defense to be better too. How we handle other motions is yet to be seen but we've got a lineup capable of being really good, but for freshmen it takes a while. Expect our offense to be pretty shite to start as Cal will drill them on defense for the first 12 games, then the offense should start to hit their stride in early SEC play. It really just comes down to will 2 of our freshmen turn into top 50 players in the country or not. They need to if we're going to have any chance to do anything.

 

[JerseyCat84]

We will block 13.2% more shots.

 

[YardCat]

One good thing about this team, they don’t have great expectations from the fan base. So, if they win over 20 games it should be a good year. I think over 24 wins would be phenomenal.

 

[bucsrule8872]

Defense will be better overall, especially if we add Cyril to help out inside.

 

[Boozer93]

In a couple of years when these freshmen are juniors we will be really good defensively…….never mind.

 

[St.PatterSoN-54-]

We just need to be 10% tougher, or else we'll get whipped.