The superlatives came flying in from every direction before the season began for Cal men’s basketball. Despite not reaching the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament since 1997, the Golden Bears were picked by four ESPN analysts to make the Final Four, projected to finish second in the Pac-12 and opened the season at No. 14 in the AP poll.
And after just one game, it was easy to see why. Sure, the competition was inferior, but with two potential NBA Draft lottery picks lining up with a contingent of veteran players, Pac-12 Networks analyst and former Cal coach Ben Braun could see how high the ceiling was.
“I said, ‘Boy if they play like this, this year they’re going to be very successful,’ ” Braun said.
But it seemed like all of these considerations had been too optimistic by the time Cal entered the month of February. Contrary to what Braun saw in their opener, the Bears stumbled their way to a 14-8 (4-5 Pac-12) record and looked to be on the verge of not making the NCAA Tournament. The problems were obvious: The team couldn’t win on the road, played erratic at many junctures of games and hadn’t gelled cohesively.
Ask a team like Oregon if Cal’s figured it out since, though.
Evident in the Bears’ 83-63 shellacking of the conference champion Ducks, Cal connected the pieces to win 8 of its final 9 games of the season and is embodying the traits of a team that could do some serious damage in March.
The freshmen tandem of Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb has only gotten better as the year’s gone on. Brown leads the team in scoring, averaging over 15 points per game. In addition, his raw athleticism and speed continue to be why he’s such a nightmare for opposing teams. There’s a reason he’s projected by Draft Express to be picked third in the 2016 NBA Draft. As for Rabb, the rookie is averaging almost a double-double.
“They have a presence on the floor, and if your coaching against them, they demand you do some things to stop them,” Braun said.
But Brown and Rabb are merely one part of this sprint to the end of the season for Cal. Tyrone Wallace, who was first-team Pac-12 in 2015, returned from a broken hand in February and the Bears have been clicking ever since. The senior’s numbers have dropped off from last year’s due to the pool of talent surrounding him, but he’s proven to be a huge factor for the Bears’ success, averaging over 15 points per game.
Additionally, as Braun notes, Jabari Bird and Jordan Matthews are two of the most effective players in the Pac-12 and perhaps the nation. Matthews is shooting 42 percent from three-point range and hit at least two in eight of the team’s last nine games.
The Bears finished the regular season ranked first in scoring defense and field-goal percentage defense, which may prove to be their biggest strength in the Pac-12 Tournament and beyond. Add all of it together, and it appears that Cal is finally living up to preseason descriptions such as, “Cal is the closest thing to an NBA team in college basketball.”
It certainly wasn’t what was expected, but Cal’s final drive has head coach Cuonzo Martin and his team posing several different challenges to whichever teams they face for the rest of the March.
Follow Justin Wise on Twitter @JustinFWise