Blueandgold15: I didn't really keep track of the preseason expectations for this team, but considering that the Bears were not tournament bound a month and a half ago, I find it hard to believe that 2012-2013 wasn't successful.
LEastCoastBears: Getting to the Round of 32 of the NCAA tournament ties for the best finish in Cal basketball in the last 16 years. Can't call this anything other than a successful season. It is not like we had some one and down players to really push the expectation high.Cal Men's Basketball
Berkelium97: It wasn't unsuccessful. The season had several lows: UNLV's game-winning layup, losing to Harvard, the first half of Pac-12 play, losing the Pac-12 Championship at the hands of Stanford, a first-round loss to Utah. It also had some high points: wins over Arizona, Oregon (x2), and UCLA, going from the NIT bubble to the brink of a Pac-12 title, and of course the first-round upset over UNLV.
Overall I'd say Cal met expectations. We sorely missed the leadership of Kamp and Jorge, but we fielded a competitive, tournament-bound team. It's a shame about that Pac-12 title, though. Had we won that, I'd call the season a solid success.
OhioBear: I'll say mildly successful. Cal did a terrific job of rallying from a mediocre start to the season. The 7-game winning streak was surely memorable. But at the end, we blew a chance to win a regular season conference championship for the second year in a row. That was annoying. That probably annoyed me more than the loss to Utah in the Pac-12 tournament. But I'll remember the good more than the bad: winning an NCAA tournament game, in particular.
TheScientist019: It's a little hard to judge because it was such a roller coaster of a season. I thought we had the potential for a strong season with Crabbe, Cobbs, Kravish, and Solomon, but we started off slow and with that ugly Harvard loss. Things picked up with that amazing seven-game conference winning streak, but then we fell back down with disappointing performances against Furd (actually being unable to beat them all season) and Utah at the Pac-12 tournament. Ultimately, I'd say our respectable finish in the Pac-12, that thrilling hot streak with wins over Arizona and Oregon, and a great upset win over UNLV in the postseason make for a successful season.
Kodiak: I think so. We had all given up hope around December. Despite it's hiccups, this team could have and should have won a conference championship. There are some who might dwell on the "what might have been," but you'd go insane as a Cal fan if you did that. I enjoyed the ride. It was really nice to see this team bounce back and grow.
VincentS: No question, no doubt about it. The guys were really flying around at there, real physical.
We lost our way part of the way through the year, mainly due to injuries: Ricky's foot problems, Behrens's ACL, Smith's concussion, etc. But the team rebounded, and played (and defeated!) teams they had no business beating (see: @Arizona, for example). I'm satisfied with the season, and I can't wait to see what the Bears can do next year.
Boomtho: I think this was a successful season for MBB. My answer would have been way different halfway through the season, but I loved how the team came together to win big games against UO and UA; the 7 game win streak was awesome! We also saw nice growth (both on the court & maturity) from Solomon, as well as development from Kravish. Overall I think we have a lot of nice pieces this year... hopefully Jabbari can be the missing piece next year!
LeonPowe: Really would've liked to have gotten to the Sweet Sixteen, but I think we can look holistically and say that it was. After losing a Pac-12 POY and a 3 year starter, we remained in contention for the Pac-12 title and made the tournament. It was a success but it wasn't a resounding success
atomsareenough: Definitely, yes. Not as successful as we would've hoped, we were close to winning the conference or getting to the Sweet 16. Having a better showing in the conference tourney would have been nice as well. But all in all, especially considering the injuries and depth issues, we had a successful year. Hopefully we can build on it next year with the incoming recruits.