Cal Basketball: Matt Bradley Playing His Best Ball - Mark Fox Says There is Still More

Junior guard is coming off a career-high 29 points in Cal's win over Colorado
Cal Basketball: Matt Bradley Playing His Best Ball - Mark Fox Says There is Still More
Cal Basketball: Matt Bradley Playing His Best Ball - Mark Fox Says There is Still More /

If it seems like Cal junior Matt Bradley has never played better, coach Mark Fox agrees with you.

“I think Saturday against Colorado may have been the best he’s played in the two years I’ve been here,” Fox said Wednesday as the Bears prepared to head north to face Washington State on Thursday night.

“He scored the ball efficiently. I think he only had one turnover. I thought he was solid on the defense end, too, which never gets talked about.”

It wasn’t just that Bradley scored a career-high 29 points. He shot 9 for 17 from the field, made 2 of 5 from 3-point range and converted 9 of 10 free throws. He had eight rebounds and just a single turnover in 31 minutes.

And, of course, Cal won. The Bears beat a very good Colorado team 71-62 to snap a seven-game losing skid.

Bradley, who missed seven games this season with injuries to each ankle, is in the midst of the most productive and efficient six-game stretch of his career. He’s averaging 22.5 points and 5.0 rebounds, while shooting 50% from the field, 48.6% on 3-pointers and 86.8% from the foul line.

Fox credits Bradley for overcoming the injuries that made an already challenging year.

“Obviously, he’s had a very difficult year . . . the pandemic’s been hard on everybody, including Matt. Then you tack on two injuries,” Fox said. “The injuries are one thing, it’s the mental strain of dealing with injury, it’s the conditioning you lose and have to battle back through. That takes a toll on a young guy.

“I think physically the last couple games it looks like he has his legs back, his quickness back, his explosiveness back that obviously was not there when he first came back from injury. It’s been good to see him have success because it’s been a hard year for him.”

Asked if he’s even more impressed by Bradley because of those factors, Fox said when the 6-foot-4, 220-pounder is locked in to what the Bears are trying to do offensively he has a range of options that allow him to score.

“If he stays locked in how we’re trying to play and within the schemes he can be super productive,” Fox said. "I’m not surprised that he’s playing well, even though people are obviously gearing to stop him.”

Bradley will be better still, Fox said, when he achieves a level of fitness that may not have been possible this season without the ability to fully train during the offseason because of the pandemic.

Beyond that, he will take the next step in his development when he uses his ability to draw defenders, then share the ball more effectively. Bradley has just 27 assists in his 16 games — 1.7 per game — compared to 45 turnovers.

“Good players make plays for themselves. Great players make plays for everybody else,” Fox said. “The next step for him will be continuing to build those assist numbers and read how defenses are playing him. And then with that knowledge, be able to recognize how people are playing him to make the people around him that much better.”

Matt Bradley drives through the Utah defense
Matt Bradley / Photo by Chris Brown, USA Today

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THE PAC-12 DOZEN

A statistical comparison of 12 elite Pac-12 players and how they have performed over the past six games:

Remy Martin*, Arizona State senior guard

22.8 points, 3.8 assists, 41.4% FG, 37.8% 3-PT, 77.4% FT

Matt Bradley, Cal junior guard

22.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 50% FG, 48.6% 3-point, 86.8% FT

Isaac Bonton, Washington State senior guard

19.8 points, 4.8 assists, 41.4% FG, 32.3% 3-PT, 69.2% FT

Chris Duarte*, Oregon senior guard

19.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 54.3% FG, 44.7% 3-PT, 75.0% FT

Johnny Juzang, UCLA sophomore guard

18.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 40.4% FG, 34.1% 3-PT, 93.3% FT

Oscar da Silva, Stanford senior forward

18.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, 51.9% FG, 23.1% 3-PT, 92.3% FT

Evan Mobley, USC freshman forward

18.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.3 blocks, 57.4% FG, 74.4% FT

Timmy Allen, Utah junior forward

16.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 46.4% FG, 36.4% 3-PT, 75.6% FT

Eugene Omoruyi, Oregon senior forward

16.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 44.0% FG, 40.9% 3-PT, 82.1% FT

James Akinjo, Arizona junior guard

14.2 points, 4.8 assists, 38.4% FG, 47.8% 3-PT, 90% FT

Ethan Thompson, Oregon State senior guard

14.2 points, 3.5 assists, 43.1% FG, 30.4% 3-PT, 75.9% FT

McKinley Wright IV, Colorado senior guard

13.5 points, 5.5 assists, 38.8% FG, 29.4% 3-PT, 92.3% FT

* Martin and Duarte’s past six games were broken up by missed games

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Cover photo of Matt Bradley by D. Ross Cameron, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo


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Jeff Faraudo
JEFF FARAUDO

Jeff Faraudo was a sports writer for Bay Area daily newspapers since he was 17 years old, and was the Oakland Tribune's Cal beat writer for 24 years. He covered eight Final Fours, four NBA Finals and four Summer Olympics.