Who’s the most important player for Cal basketball?

The most important player for Cal basketball this season is ______ because __________.

Avinash: Marcus Lee, because (1) he's the best player talent-wise on the team and can make a huge difference in our rebuild, and (2) he can give Jordan Brown a good sense for his early role with this team and show him what this new scheme is capable of. How high Lee goes could be a good sign for what the Bears are capable of and a peek into the potential next year's class can flash.

boomtho: Hmm, this is a really interesting question. I like Avi's Marcus Lee answer, but for diversity I'll go with Juwahn Harris-Dyson. I think he's going to be a fascinating test case for how wings, especially relatively young and raw ones, will fare in Wyking's system. If Wyking is trying to run anything like "Louisville light", it's imperative that we continue the strong recruiting momentum that Wyking and the staff started this year, with special emphasis on wings. JHD showing out this year should give recruits a lot of confidence that Cal runs a player-friendly system, and that they can perform well here early in their career.

Joseph: I'm going to second Avinash and say that Marcus Lee will be our most important player. The combination of his experience, athleticism, leadership potential, and sheer size should help give the Bears a formidable presence in the paint. However, I'm going to give props to boomtho for his pick of Juhwan. I think he could break out for us this year and be a contender for ROY.

Rob Hwang: I’m gonna cheat here and say a position. It’s the PGs. We don’t know who the starters are. We know we will play a 2-1-2 press and 2-3 Zone. The most important part of those systems are the two guards up top that they not get split and funnel the ball into the trap areas of the court. Second they will run our offense and if it goes according to plan they will have to finish off most of the steals and turn overs we create. Also. Perimeter scoring looks non-existent on this roster at the moment. If atleast one of our PGs can knock some down it’ll ease the pressure offensively on Marcus Lee and the Wings.

thedozen: Don Coleman. He seems to be a polarizing player around here, but Coleman is going to get his chances to contribute. Especially if Wyking Jones implements a more up-tempo style of offense, Coleman could benefit. He also was the offensive focal point during last season's forgettable finale in the NIT. At least now Jones has a cadre of freshmen to deploy alongside Lee, Coleman, and Okoroh.