University of
California (9)
by Joshua Riddell
Projected Starters
G
6-5
PT%
87.27
G
PTE
13.87
6-3
PT%
77.80
G
HS100 AC/AA
Jabari Bird
SR
NBA
43
JR
NBA
JR
PTE
4.28
HS100 AC/AA
21
3-AA
NBA
78
PT%
0.00
PTE
0.00
HS100 AC/AA
3
NBA
4
PT%
0.00
PTE
0.00
HS100 AC/AA
5
NBA
24
F
F
HS100 AC/AA
95
1-AC
Jordan Mathews
PTE
13.39
6-6
PT%
49.09
Tyrone Wallace
6-7
6-10
Jaylen Brown
Ivan Rabb
FR
FR
Bench Rotation
G
6-4
PT%
60.08
F
PTE
-4.86
6-6
PT%
21.21
C
G
HS100 AC/AA
Roger Moute a Bidias
PTE
-4.24
7-1
PT%
29.85
Sam Singer
HS100 AC/AA
Kingsley Okorah
PTE
-3.56
HS100 AC/AA
6-7 Stephen Domingo
PT%
6.44
PTE
-2.16
HS100 AC/AA
JR
NBA
JR
NBA
SO
NBA
JR
NBA
For a school that has reached
the second weekend of the NCAA
Tournament only twice in the
modern era (1993 and 1997), it
is becoming difficult to contain
the excitement surrounding this
year’s Golden Bears. The team has
aspirations of the Sweet 16 and
beyond, and although this may
seem a little premature considering
they failed to make any type of
postseason last season, it’s not out of
the realm of possibility.
So where is this hype coming
from? It starts with the key
players returning to the team.
The backcourt rotation is built
upon senior Tyrone Wallace and
juniors Jordan Matthews and Jabari
Bird. The trio combined to score
41.1 points per game last season,
almost 57 percent of the team’s
output. While their team wasn’t
especially deep last season, this is
an impressive amount of returning
production, with the three ready to
take on new challenges this season.
Each brings something unique
to the table as a scorer. Wallace is
the leader of the pack, playing with
the ball in his hands a majority of
the time as and finding creative
ways to score. He loves to play off
ball screens, turning the corner into
the paint for a floater. He isn’t the
most efficient player with a true
shooting percentage of only 48
percent hurting the effectiveness of
the offense with a usage rate of 31.3
percent, one of the highest in the
nation.
Matthews is one of the best
shooters in the country, converting
44.3 percent of his 3-point attempts.
Cal doesn’t take a ton of 3-pointers;
in fact, their 27.6 percent 3-point
rate was one of the lowest in the
country, so having a floor spacer like
Matthews will open a little spacing
for the offense. Bird is sometimes
lost in the shadow of Wallace, but
he brings plenty to the table for
Cuonzo Martin’s squad. He can
knock down shots from beyond
the arc, draining 36.9 percent of his
attempts, and also get to the rim and
finish on a regular basis.
While the returning players are
nothing to sneeze at, the hype train
is fueled primarily through a talent
influx with one of the best freshmen
class of the year, sporting two
players ranked in the top eight of the
2015 RSCI in Jaylen Brown and Ivan
Rabb.
There won’t be a ton of pressure
on them to take the brunt of the
offensive responsibility from the
get-go, but Martin will be looking
to get them involved on both ends
to impact the game as much as
possible.
BBALLBREAKDOWN | 20