Cal Basketball: Bears Will Speed Things Up This Season

Cal ranked last in the Pac-12 in scoring each of the past two years under Mark Fox

Can Cal handle speed?

Third-year Golden Bears coach Mark Fox says Cal will play at a faster pace this season.  The Bears certainly won't be a run-and-gun team, but it appears they will look to run in certain situations and shoot earlier in the shot clock than they did the past two seasons, when they played at a snail's pace. 

At least that's the initial intent.

Asked this week whether the Bears will play faster this season, Fox was unequivocal:

"Without question," he said in the video atop this story.

Of course, they don't have to push the pace too much to be going faster than they did the past two seasons. Cal finished last in the Pac-12 in scoring in each of Fox's first two seasons with the Bears. 

They averaged 63.22 points in 2019-20, which was more than six points a game fewer than anyone else in the conference and ranked 332nd of 353 Division I schools in scoring. They failed to score more than 56 points in 13 games that season, and had games in which they put up 40 and 45 points.

Last season, the Bears averaged 65.4 points, more than three points a game under anyone else in the Pac-12 and 309th in the country. Eight times they were limited to 58 points or fewer.

Funny thing, the Bears had more success in 2019-20 when they scored fewer points than they did last year, going 7-11 in the conference two years ago compared with 3-17 last season.

Teams that play at a slow pace are often admitting they don't have the talent or athletes to compete in a fast-paced game. Walking the  ball upcourt and using most of the shot clock shortens the game, puts an emphasis on defense and -- hopefully -- makes the opponent impatient on offense. 

It's sort of like playing a football game in bad conditions: It levels the playing field, reducing the advantage the team with better athletes and more talent has. It is, in short, an equalizer.

"We've played much slower than I want to play the first two years, but it's the only pace we could play really to give ourselves a chance to be in games," Fox said. "We anticipate the ability to play faster."

A slower pace reduces the entertainment value of a team. But playing faster means Cal will be matching its athleticism, talent and depth against its opponents' athleticism, talent and depth. Fox feels the team has more depth than it did the past two seasons, but we will see whether it has the athletes and talent to keep up in a faster-paced game.

The Bears' most talented and athletic player last season was Matt Bradley, and he's gone, having transferred to San Diego. But the Bears do have some players with decent skills and athleticism. They also have several pretty good ball-handlers in Joel Brown, Makale Foreman and Jarred Hyder, and ball-handlers who make good decisions are needed to control the pace of the game.

Lars Thiemann, a 7-foot-1 third-year player, has noticed the emphasis on playing faster during practice and intrasquad scrimmages.

"We're much faster than we've been, I would say, in the last two years," he said.

We'll see how much faster Cal plays this season, and whether the Bears will maintain that style throughout the season or revert to a slower style if things don't go well. 

A quicker pace will make the Bears easier to watch, but it's unclear whether it will make them more successful. They still want to get the ball inside to Andre Kelly in their halfcourt game, because he has shown he can be an effective scorer in the paint. 

It will be a balancing act Cal has not attempted the past two seasons.

Cal plays an exhibition game Monday (Nov. 1) against Cal State-Los Angeles, then opens its season on Tuesday, Nov. 9, against UC San Diego. Both games are at Haas Pavilion.

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Cover photo of Mark Fox by Randy Sartin, USA TODAY Sports

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Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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