Cal Men's Basketball vs. CS-East Bay Preview and Open Thread

It's a UC vs. Cal State grudge match extraordinaire as the Pioneers make the long trek up from the Hayward Hills to face our sturdy Golden Bears.

Not much is known about the CS-East Bay squad;  their website still reflects last year's roster.  We do know that they went 7-21 last year under 1st year coach Gus Argenal.  They reportedly have ten new players suiting up for this year's squad with the headliner being former McDonald's All-American and CCSF transfer, Jamal Ford, a 6'5 swing man.

Our biggest pre-season questions for Cal:

1)  The rotation

Even taking exhibition game substitution patterns with a grain of salt, it'll be interesting to see who starts and how Coach Martin allocates playing time.  Per Jeff Faraudo, it looks like Martin is going w/ a lineup of:

Wallace, Bird, Mathews, Behrens, and Kravish.

Singer and Tarwater will be the first two off the bench w/ Roger Moute a Bidias in fight to prove himself worth of minutes.  It's a bit of a surprising choice because Singer is our best passer, decision-maker, and only natural point guard.  However, it is good news that Behrens is healthy and improved enough to establish himself as a potential starter.

2)  Player Development

We're hoping to be excited as players show off the results from an off-season of getting stronger and working on their games.

3)  Defensive Intensity

This is supposed to be the hallmark of a Cuonzo Martin team.  We were noticeably inconsistent in this area last year.  If nothing else, a team playing with better effort would be a step in the right direction.

4)  Motion Offense

Early in the year, we'd expect this to be ragged at times as guys are still learning Coach Martin's system.  Will we see crisp passing and good ball movement, or too many iso pull-ups?

With no television or radio coverage listed, we're counting on some intrepid CGBers to attend this free event and post updates below.

The game will be streamed! Thanks, Pac-12 Network!

Tip-off:  7pm

TV:  None

Radio:  None