Cal MBB Exhibition: A Notebook.

Exhibition game to start the same. It really doesnt mean much. Actually it means nothing at all. Let’s get hyped and pump the sunshine into this season anyway. Let’s get to this unorthodox recap.

First the Stats:

• Injury Notes: Cole Welle - Sprained Thumb, Justise Sueing - Recovering from stress fracture, Juhwan Harris-Dyson - Sick.
• The stellar performance of the night right? Kingsley Okoroh with the TRIPLE-DOUBLE. 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks.
• Marcus Lee completed his double-double in the first half and ended the game with 17 points (6/9 Shooting), 12 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal.
• Grant Anticevich is a very nice surprise, at least offensively. He was 3/3 in the first half, showing off some solid awareness in his spacing and a very nice touch around the basket.
• Darius McNeill was the primary ball handler and at point, did everything that was asked of him. Played 16 minutes of the 1st half and did not commit a turnover all the while, nabbing 4 rebounds, a block, a steal and 2 assists.
• Don Coleman led all scorers with 20 points on 8/18 shooting but also turned the ball over 6 times in 31 minutes of play. He needs to rein in his energy, but the fact that we have a relentless attacker on the offensive end will be a double edged sword for us all season long.
• Fun Fact: Every player who suited up for the Bears recorded at least one column on the stat sheet.
• The Bears forced 19 turnovers in the game and was able to score 23 points off of those turnovers.
• Cal also dominated the paint on both ends scoring more than half of their points in the paint while only allowing 14 points in the paint.
• The Bears’ field goal percentage was as expected across the board. 46.3% from the field and 26.1% from 3. Free throws were greatly improved as the Bears shot over 80% from the line on 16 attempts.
• Outside shooting will need to be improved to give some balance to a squad that will run at least one of Marcus Lee and Kingsley Okoroh at all times this season.
• The defense disrupted the opposing offense quite a bit from a 221 press and 212 press, to settling into a 23 zone and also some man. The biggest issue with the defense was that the Bears weren’t able to time when to set back into the zone from the press and find their spots. There were several moments when more talented teams could probably and will exploit while our defense is setting in from the press.
• The Bears got into foul trouble pretty early on and had three players end the game with four fouls. Marcus Lee got the only technical foul of the game and that was in the early moments of the game. He admitted that the emotions got the better of him and he was excited to be on the court.

The Bears return to the court on Friday at 9PM against UC-Riverside as part of a double header with the Women’s Team. Be on the lookout for a preview post, live tweeting, and a stellar recap!

California Love. California Rising.