For the first time in 611 days, Cal basketball will be played in front of fans in Haas Pavilion. It's an exhibition against a Division II team that hadn't played since March of 2020 (a loss to Cal's opening opponent, UC San Diego) until a 90-54 loss to UC Riverside last week.

Cal had an actual offseason under head coach Mark Fox for the first time in his tenure, and while exhibition games may not show a whole lot, but Cal, even with 11 scholarship returning players from a year ago, has a lot of questions to answer in the first part of the season.

Where: Haas Pavilion, Berkeley, CA

When: 6 PM

This exhibition will not be televised, but there will be a live stream here

Injuries:

- Mark Fox told media Thursday that sophomore Monty Bowser would be out, "he's dealing with an injury that will take some time"

Other Notables about Cal State LA

- This is the third time Cal has matched up with Cal State LA, as they're 1-1 against the Golden Eagles (playing them in the 70s twice)

- Two freshmen on the Golden Eagles are from the Bay Area, as Jaden Lazo and Shane Bell hail from Salesian Prep in Richmond

What We're Looking For:

What's the Rotation?

Fox noted that the exhibition will be a time for the Bears to work out who plays more in the early going. There is a belief that this Cal team is deeper than what they've had, with a few physically longer freshmen who are ready to go on defense. With the addition of Obinna Anwanyu and Sam Alajiki, along with the maturation of the likes of Kuany Kuany and Jalen Celestine, Cal has a few more wings types to work with at the 3 and 4, making for better matchups on defense.

The Scoring

The elephant in the room for this year is that Cal lost top scorer Matt Bradley to the transfer portal, as he's down closer to home at San Diego State. Andre Kelly returns as the only player to average over 10 points per game for the Bears, but the question of where the scoring comes from looms large.

Fox has pointed to the team's need for a balanced attack, and they have had players who can put up points, albeit not consistently like Bradley was relied on to do. Grant Anticevich had back to back solid scoring performances before an emergency appendectomy took him out for a stretch, as he never completely recovered to that point in season. Kelly similarly had some strong stretches throughout the year as a scorer, while Makale Foreman (who struggled with an injury near the end of the season) has shown the ability to get hot from the perimeter.

Cal also brought in grad transfer Jordan Shepherd, who showed scoring ability at Charlotte, and Kuany Kuany is frequently cited as the Bears' most improved player in the offseason.

Outside Presence

Cal shot a lot more threes in year two of the Mark Fox era than year one, and that's a trend expected to continue. Fox listed Anticevich, Shepherd, Kuany, Celestine, Alajiki, Anyanwu, Foreman, and Joel Brown as guys that can shoot the three for the Bears, as the outside game will be important for an improving team. Kelly has been efficient on the inside, but the Bears will need to establish some outside threats to keep the attention off the senior forward.

Newcomers

This is one of the oldest teams Cal has had, maybe since the Mike Montgomery-era, but what the newcomers bring to the table will be interesting to watch. Roberson, Alajiki, and Anyanwu are all relatively long players for their positions, with some notable athleticism from each. Alajiki in particular is a bit of a wildcard, athletic in the film he put out playing at prep schools in New Jersey and West Virginia, but also having some shooting ability.

Then there's Shepherd, a sixth year player utilizing his Covid year across the country. He can handle some point guard duties, as well as some of the scoring load. How much of each that he takes will be worth watching in game one.

The Pace

The depth of the Cal roster means the Bears can play with a bit more pace, after ranking in the bottom 30 in the metric in 2020-21. Fox noted that their depth, helped by Anticevich and Foreman taking an extra year, should help them to speed up a bit, but how much. Fox's teams, no matter the school have been around the mid-60s in possessions per 40 minutes (per KenPom). The Bears aren't likely to go to the old Paul Westhead route, but there's an expectation of not running clock on offensive possessions before settling for late shots.