Pac-12 Basketball: Biggest question for each team entering 2020-21 season

California – Will Matt Bradley have any help?

Mark Fox is in his second season as the head coach of the California Golden Bears. In his first year, the team showed a six-game improvement over the previous season, and Fox is looking to continue that trend in 2020-21. Even though there was a stark improvement, nearly every statistical category was an issue for the Golden Bears last season, with free-throw percentage (73.8%) the only category in which they ranked inside the top-100 with many being 300 or worse.

One of the biggest issues for Cal last season was scoring the basketball, having scored just over 63 points per game which put them 330th in the country. Junior guard Matt Bradley was the only player for Fox to average double figures. The 6’4 Bradley took a giant leap last season, averaging 17.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.5 assists last year, the next closest teammate scored just 9.4. In fact, the next highest returning scorer for the Golden Bears will be senior forward Grant Anticevich who scored just over eight per game.

The biggest question for Cal in 2020-21 is going to be, will Bradley get any offensive help this season? Fox does welcome two senior transfer guards to the team, point guard Ryan Betley who averaged 11.6 points and 5.8 rebounds for the Penn Quakers, and 6’1 shooting guard Makale Foreman who netted 15.6 points for Stony Brook.

Then there is four-star small forward Monty Bowser and possibly guard Jarred Hyder who comes to Cal after spending last season with Fresno State, Fox is still waiting to hear if Hyder will be eligible. If Bradley doesn’t have to shoulder all of the offensive load thanks to these additions, Cal’s upward trend could continue.