Cal Basketball: Mark Fox Praises Matt Bradley, Encouraged by Team's Direction

First-year coach says "100 percent" of credit for Bradley's season goes to him

Coach Mark Fox was encouraged by the consistent manner in which his players embraced a new way of doing things this season, and he was pleased that especially the seniors helped “change the momentum” of the program in his first season.

Four days after the Bears’ season ended abruptly with the cancellation of the Pac-12 tournament after first-round games, Fox reflected on a 14-18 campaign that included a 7-11 mark and a tie for eighth place in the final conference standings.

In a conference call with reporters who cover the team, Fox repeated his mantra that there is much work still to do, but he saw a lot of positive signs after the Bears won just eight games in each of the two seasons before his arrival.

In particular, Fox was effusive in his praise of sophomore wing Matt Bradley, the team’s leading scorer at 17.5 points per game and a second-team All-Pac-12 selection.

“The year that Matt Bradley had, 100 percent of the credit should go to Matt,” Fox said. “He had a phenomenal year when you look at his production, his consistency. He’s a great competitor, he has been very coachable and he’s allowed himself to look at a new situation and style of play.

“He really bought in from basically the first day. He worked super hard, and worked super hard on his body in the offseason. As we asked him to do certain things and play a certain way he always committed to it.”

*** Here is Mark Fox talking about Bradley's game-winning 3-pointer in the final seconds of an overtime victory against Washington: 

By becoming stronger but leaner, Bradley was able to sustain playing 33.2 minutes per game — five more than he shouldered as a freshman in 2018-19.

Fox also pointed out that Bradley, at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, often was matched against a taller, longer athlete, both when the Bears were playing offense and defense.

“There were not many nights that Matt Bradley was playing against an opponent his size or shorter. He was always playing against a bigger, longer player,” Fox said, noting that Bradley often was playing small forward. “Next year we hope to slide him more and more to the 2 guard spot as some of the young guys get more comfortable.”

Freshmen Kuany Kuany and D.J. Thorpe, at 6-9 and 6-8, respectively, showed flashes of potential this season and will have the opportunity to play bigger roles at small forward a year from now.

Big picture, Fox liked how his team — picked to finish last in the Pac-12 — never accepted those modest expectations and followed the lead of the coaching staff to exceed them.

“This group, we recognized we would have some challenges. What I really learned about this group of young men, they would stay the course and continue to try to improve each week. I think they did that,” he said. “Obviously, when you're teaching an entire roster a new defense, a new way to prepare, a new offense, there’s so much to learn and implement.

“They stayed locked in. I’m really pleased with that. Hopefully, their path of growth will continue.”

The goals will be loftier in the future, but Fox said this squad accomplished one of his first ambitions for them.

“The one thing I really wanted this team to do was I wanted them to change the momentum of our program,” he said. “I think as I look at our senior class, I wanted them to be able to leave here holding onto the fact that things began to change with them.”

The Bears did make those first few steps toward where they want to be, and seniors Paris Austin and Kareem South were critical to that progress. The seven conference wins were two more than the team accumulated the past two years combined. And the Bears clearly improved as the season progressed, winning three of their final five games, four of their final seven.

“I think people have a positive feeling about where we're headed,” Fox said. “We have a long way to go, and I could be wrong, but I think that people are feeling better about where we’re going. That’s the thing I'm most pleased with about this group.”