GAMEDAY 11/6 St Thomas at Cal -8.5
The University of St. Thomas Men’s basketball team opens the season traveling to Berkeley, California to take on the Golden Bears. This Cal Berkeley team has a new coach, 2022-23 WAC Coach of the Year and former T-Wolf, Mark Madsen. The Cal Bears last year had the 8th best transfer class in the country as measured by On3.Com. A change was needed dearly as Cal was probably the worst team in the P6 last season.
Cal Players to Watch
Headlining their transfer class is Jaylon Tyson, however, in a break for the Tommies, last week the NCAA ruled he is not eligible to play. His Texas Tech Teammate, Fardaws Aimaq, is eligible, even though he is on his 4th school in 5 seasons. He previously played for Mark Madsen at Utah Valley. He is a beast, averaging a double-double in his sophomore and junior seasons in Orem. At 6-11 245lbs, he is going to be the primary foe tonight. I expect to see him double teamed, even with that he could score 20. He also does not take great care of the basketball, which could provide an opportunity for Tommie defenders.
Northern Arizona transfer Jalen Cone is the primary back court threat, will likely be the guy to get the ball up the court. He is an impresive 40% 3p shooter. What to watch is to what extent that factors in tonight for Cal as Mark Madsen teams at Utah Valley really relied on high percentage shots in the paint. Memphis transfer Keonte Kennedy is a sixth year journeyman player as well with stops at UTEP and Xavier. His season last year was cut short due to a hand injury. Over the last two seasons he showed up as a force on defense, prolific at stealing the ball who even for a ball secure offense like UST, will cause some issues.
How St. Thomas can win.
The major advantage St. Thomas has going into Haas Pavilion are that they aren’t trying to rebuild a team in one season, unlike Cal. This St. Thomas team is battle tested, whereas Mark Madsen does not know how his team plays against opponents wearing a different color. Further Cal anticipated up until the last week having Jaylon Tyson playing for them. A path to victory does require replacing Rohde and Riley Miller’s 3 point scoring immediately. Mark Madsen at Utah Valley dominated the paint, his team had the 3rd best defense in the country inside the arc, and this year he added glass cleaner Fardaws Aimaq. As is the case for most St. Thomas keys to victory, finding a hot hand from beyond the arc early is crucial.
Storylines I am going to look for
Ahjany Lee’s growth in the off season is something I am looking for. I think his potential to impact the game on both ends was clearly seen in flashes last season. I am looking for him to be St. Thomas big defensive presence in the paint in this game. Similarly, I am interested to see to what extent Ben Nau is able to impact the game from long range.
Young Guys Stepping Up: Last season, we saw it take awhile for the younger guys as a whole to work their way into the rotation and make a significant impact. In the Creighton Game freshmen accounted for 50 of the 200 minutes, whereas in the ORU semi-final game it was 94 out of 200 minutes. I am looking for who gets in, and if they can get minutes that last year’s group was able to earn.
Plus 3
1.) In “Three Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty” Mark Madsen tells a story about Shaq buying him a Blue Chevy Tahoe. Does Mark Madsen still have that Tahoe? The cost to fill up that Chevy Tahoe according to Gas Buddy in Berkeley California, about $145.00.
2.) Coach Tauer told the Pioneer Press he has not settled on who the fifth starter will be. My Guess: Ben Nau
3.) NFL TE Receptions leader Tony Gonzalez played both football and basketball at Cal. At Cal he made it to the Sweet 16.
Prediction: Cal 74 UST 70