Are Changes Coming to Cal's Lineup After Bad Outing vs. Pitt?

In the wake of his team’s most disappointing performance of the season in a potentially costly 72-56 home defeat to Pitt, Cal coach Mark Madsen is contemplating changes before the Bears visit Georgia Tech on Wednesday night.

“I have to play the guys that are producing,” Madsen said Monday on the ACC coaches teleconference. “The guys that are not producing need to come and sit down on the bench.”

Two days after the loss to Pitt, Madsen offered no specifics on what he might do, or whether he was considering changes to his starting lineup or tweaking playing time among reserves in the rotation.

Cal has had a very stable starting five, other than in specific instances related to injuries. And the Bears have somewhat limited depth, so it’s difficult to speculate on what his options might be.

But with just two regular-season ACC games remaining — Wednesday at Georgia Tech and Saturday at Wake Forest — the Bears (20-9, 8-8) are running low on opportunities to state a case for their inclusion in the NCAA tournament for the first time in 10 years.

“With the benefit of hindsight, having watched our most recent game against Pitt, we have a team full of great competitors. I have to be a little bit better at just making sure the guys that are producing are getting more minutes,” Madsen said.

“With two days in between Georgia Tech and Wake Forest, I’m not so worried about saving legs this week. We’re going to play the best players. If the starters are the best players, they need to play. If the guys off the bench are doing it, they need to have those minutes.”

Guards Dai Dai Ames and Justin Pippen and forward John Camden and Chris Bell have combined to start all but three games. Center Lee Dort started the first 20 games before an injury against Stanford sidelined him for the next seven outings.

Milos Ilic started in his place for eight games, including the first game Dort returned and played off the bench. They are the team’s top rebounders and they are both capable passers. But neither has perimeter ball handling or shooting skills, so playing them together on the floor may not be practical.

Otherwise, there are few viable lineup choices. Guards TT Carr, DJ Campbell and Nolan Dorsey combine for fewer than nine points per game, although scoring may not be the team’s biggest issue.

Defense, rebounding and consistency in effort and performance may be more the issues on the table.

Madsen said it’s fair to ask whether he will make a lineup change. It sounded on Monday like he wasn’t yet sure. Everything is on the table, he added.

“I’m not trying to insinuate anything, but I’m trying to tell you that after a loss like that, we’re meeting as a staff, we’re discussing things. We’ve all dived into the film multiple times. We’re kind of in that process right now.”

Cal posted a 90-85 victory over Georgia Tech (11-18, 2-14) at Berkeley early last month and will face a Yellow Jackets squad that has lost its past 10 games to sink into last place in the ACC.

The Bears led 43-29 at halftime in that one before Tech rallied and actually led by four points midway through the second half.

Cal is rated No. 64 by the NET computer — a position on the downside of the NCAA bubble — and is listed by respected ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi as the “first team out” of his projected NCAA bracket.

Madsen said he addressed the Bears’ precarious position with his team at practice on Monday.

“We discussed what we have to do,” he said. “And what we have to do is stay in the moment and try to win a game against Georgia Tech, who has a tough record right now but in a lot of those games they’ve been right there.

“Our first big test is can we be competitive down in Atlanta and have an opportunity to win the game in the second half? We have to change a lot of the things as to how we played against Pitt.”

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