Cornell Big Red defeats the Bears in an 80-88 loss

Photo via @calmbball Twitter

Two basic numbers might have alarmed you about this game:

Cornell’s effective shooting percentage: 57.4%, 21st in the nation
Cal defensive effective shooting percentage: 54.3%, 300th in the nation

Cornell is not a particularly good team. As you would expect from an Ivy League team, they struggle defensively and don’t return the ball well.

But they have a unique offensive system that is VERY fast, can move the ball well, can take a lot of threes, and puts a lot of pressure on the opposing defense. They are good at hitting shots from all directions and are well prepared to punish poor defense. Facing a strange team that shoots really well probably isn’t good timing after allowing Stanford 1.35 points per possession and Missouri 1.29 points per possession (1.05 is the national average).

After allowing Cornell to score 1.2 points per possession on a night where the Big Red actually shot poorly from 3-point range, we need to have a very serious conversation about Cal’s defense. Because right now Cal may have the worst defense in the ACC, if not power conference basketball.

For the second time this year, I felt like Cal went into a game completely unprepared. The first time was against Vanderbilt, when the Mark Madsen-less Bears were overwhelmed by Vanderbilt’s ball pressure en route to 20 turnovers. This time, Cal didn’t seem ready for Cornell’s unique, extreme offensive system, as Cal fell behind early in the game. Worse, Cornell continued to increase its lead, increasing it to 23 at one point.

The commentary team of Roxy Bernstein and Ben Braun said they spoke with Madsen before the game and that he called Cornell perhaps the best team Cal has played so far this year. That’s not necessarily true, but it probably indicates that Madsen and the coaches took Cornell seriously as a threat. Why this led to such a huge effort to launch the game remains unclear.

The Bears recovered in the second half, mainly thanks to a series of successful three-pointers, and even took the lead back for a short time. But Cornell eked out the win with a series of baskets in the paint. So let’s talk about the most disturbing statistic of the season so far:

Cornell: 24-35 (68.6%) on 2-point baskets

I have to say that Cornell impressed me – they are well coached and really, really good at off-ball cuts. The basic strategy seems to be to have a player try to stop his man from dribbling, but have him constantly attack to the rim around him so he can make a pass when it’s open. The problem was that Cal’s defenders were constantly a step slow on these cuts. In theory, this could be due to Cal focusing on the threat of Cornell’s three-point shooting, but Cornell also made 32 three-point shots and I honestly don’t think their relative failure from deep matters anything had to do with Cal’s defense.

I’m honestly amazed at how bad Cal’s defense was. The Bears are too long and too athletic for teams to score at that pace, especially inside. And yet that’s exactly what’s happening. While I think the absence of defensive back BJ Omot and perhaps DeJuan Campbell might have something to do with it, it doesn’t look like a defense that’s one or two players away from being effective .

I said in the preseason that this collection of talent reminded me more of the defensive teams Madsen produced at Utah Valley, where his teams had plenty of shot blockers and rim protection. And Cal blocked a significant number of shots. But if the shots aren’t blocked, they fall through the rim. Maybe the lack of chemistry is hurting here, and that will improve as the Bears learn to play together. Then again, there are still 10 games left in the season and two games away from the return of ACC play, so the time to change that is very limited.

If you’re looking for bright spots, you can point to a breakout game from Joshua Ola-Joseph, who paced Cal with 21 points after hitting his 3-pointer for the first time this season. Four more Bears scored in double figures as the Bears upped the ante in the second half after a slow offensive start. The offense had questionable moments and the Bears turned it over too often, but it’s clear that the Bears have too many scoring opportunities to ever be stifled for long. The bigger question, as Ben Braun said about 30 times on the broadcast, is whether the Bears can ever get a stop to support their dangerous offense.

Cal will be back on Saturday against Northwestern State. which in theory should be an easier win. The Demons are generally a weaker team than Cornell and are less dangerous, particularly on offense. But Cal hasn’t earned the right to look past anyone yet.

Either way, this team could use any win after a three-game losing streak that now includes a blown lead, a home loss to their biggest rival, and an upset after a failed comeback. That’s a whole lot of pain in a week.