There is a long way to go for Cal basketball to recover from two of the worst years in the history of the program. A single 23 point victory over a Division 2 school from Lacey, Washington won't bring back the happy feelings lost during the Wyking Jones era. But it's a start, as the Bears looked competent and confident after a 98-75 win over St. Martin's

"We did a lot of good things, we have a lot of teachable moments to look back on," head coach Mark Fox said in the aftermath. "St. Martin's is a really good three point shooting team, that's all we had on them, we didn't have game film, nothing to prepare on. Credit to them for shooting the three point shot well. We made a couple slight adjustments in the second half and I thought our defense player better in the second half. To put up 98 points in the second half is a plus, we had a lot of guys contribute, and it's a great place to build on."

That's what this Cal team needed, a place to start, as the group had something that they lacked in previous years, a sense of immediacy in moving the ball around the floor. The Bears had 26 assists on the night (to 6 turnovers), had four guys with at least four, as the ball moved around the perimeter before making solid interior passes.

"What I like about our team is that we tend to practice very unselfishly, I don't think we have anybody that's a ball-stopper," Fox said, "I think they enjoy helping each other get better, we talk about trying to make each other better and I think tonight we were able to do that."

St. Martin's ran a zone, and Cal ran the same type of action at it all night, putting their four, Paris Austin, or Matt Bradley at the free throw line, having the five move from block to block, and getting the entry pass to the guy at the free throw line/elbow. It looked like the play below, as the Bears got at least seven baskets off free throw jumpers from that action (Grant Anticevich getting five).

We just leaned on our coach's system," senior guard Kareem South said, "he designed plays for us to get open, and that was indicative through our assists. We're very unselfish and we got guys open."

- Generally you saw more off-ball movement, whether it was Austin flitting from the elbow to the wing to try and get an open lane, passes across the baseline for open corner 3s by South and Matt Bradley. Even on the play below, you see some subtle shifting that sets up a wing three for Anticevich.

- Lars Thiemann got the start, playing 17 minutes and having a plus/minus of +19 (Anticevich led the team with +27 in that category). The size and smoothness for a player that big are already apparent, something you can see in the blocked shots, but even on the first possession, you could see some of the subtle things he does, like using his size to clear the lane, giving South an easy layup.

"Lars has an unbelievable demeanor, it's not easy to rattle him," Fox said, "his poise is a real benefit to him, he did a lot of solid things tonight, blocked a couple shots, should have had a couple more, but he finished plays around the basket, and in his first time playing in front of people, it's a good start."

- Three pointers allowed, as the Bears allowed St. Martin's to stay in it in the first half, allowing 7-14 shooting from beyond the arc in that frame. Fox noted that they made adjustments in the huddle to slow down Alex Schumacher, who had 17 points in the first half (4 in the second), but open threes have been the bane of Cal for the past two years, along with penetration allowed from straight-line drives. They cleaned both of those things up to a certain extent in the second half, but it's not going to fly against a better team.

- Cal had a couple three second calls on offense, which were simple positioning things that can be cleaned up.

- The Bears also fouled at least three times on three pointers, one leading to a four point play. That's another area where the Bears can't jump into the man. There's a lot of inexperience in the group, Cal playing seven of their eight freshman and sophomores. Same goes for backdoor cuts, which Schumacher had a couple of to get behind Bradley, South, and otherwise. Experience is what's going to be a boon for this group.

- Kuany Kuany, Juhwan Harris-Dyson and Blake Welle were all inactive today. Welle will be redshirted. Kuany has a leg brace on. Fox didn't say what the injuries were, but that neither Kuany nor Harris-Dyson's would be long term

- A handful of Points off stats:

Turnovers: St. Martin's 7, Cal 22

In the paint: St. Martin's 22, Cal 44

Second Chance: St. Martin's 2, Cal 14

Fast Break: St. Martin's 0, Cal 21

Bench Points: St. Martin's 44, Cal 27

- In all, even with the level of competition, it was an entertaining game. Cal now has their opener against Pepperdine next Tuesday, as former Washington coach Lorenzo Romar has his squad picked to finish fourth in a tough WCC.