Nick Kranz: It truly is a new era: Cal basketball's biggest strength is pure talent. I mean that in the sense of both basketball talent and particularly in terms of athleticism. Obviously Rabb and Brown are uber athletes, but Tyrone Wallace has impressive size and strength for a point guard, and you've got two 7 footers hopefully ready to make a developmental leap defensively. This is a team that, if everything fits together correctly, can overwhelm teams defensively while getting to the basket and drawing a bunch of fouls on offense.
KWBears: Speed and athleticism. We've got some real athletes on the court for us this year. In sets with Rabb playing the 5, expect Cal to just outrun teams all night long. And, have you see Brown?! They guy is like the former UofA standout, Stanley Johnson - an elite specimen of the likes that Cal fans have never seen before!
Reef: Depth and versatility. Last year's squad lacked scoring options, perimeter defensive ability, and size inside. All three were severely limiting in terms of presenting other teams with challenging situations. Adding Rabb and Brown as high end scorers changes lineups with 2-3 decent scoring options into lineups with 4-5 great scoring options, making us difficult to defend. Cuonzo's offense showed a (proper) tendency to look for drives to the basket or open threes as first options, but it often couldn't get to those options last year.
This year it should get those looks early and often. Adding Brown and Domingo (and possibly Rabb) to the mix means it will be much harder for opposing guard/wings to use the bounce to bend our defense out of position. When both are on the floor at the same time, I'm not sure how other teams will be able to breathe. And up front, adding Rabb and Rooks means that we will no longer be exploited by mediocre bigs. Instead, we have a decided advantage inside when we choose to play a big lineup. More than anything Cuonzo has a lot of options, and the ability to draw an elite answer out of the deck for any matchup opposing teams choose to throw at us.
Nik Jam: Depth. With Ivan Rabb and Jaylen Brown on the team, joining in with Jabari Bird, Tyrone Wallace and Jordan Matthews (plus Domingo, Rooks, Singer, Okoroh, the list goes on) there are a lot of styles we can run in a game. We should have success shooting 3 pointers and setting up field goals.
Ruey Yen: Athleticism for sure, that's what is expected with two potential top 5/10 pick in the NBA draft next year on the roster in Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb. This is not to mention those transformation images that we have seen of Rabb, Sam Singer, and others.
Experience from Ty Wallace, Jabari Bird, etc. would also be a huge strength for the team this year. With Wallace running the offense, it's the ideal scenario that he's the senior with a bunch of athletic youngsters to play with. In addition to all of these, that Australia trip has allowed us the chance to gel as a team.
boomtho: The biggest strength is our wing talent, versatility, and depth. It's a great opportunity and a potential challenge for Cuonzo to figure out the minutes allocation, but we have a lot of long-armed, rangy athletic wings who should be menaces on defense.