Cal Basketball Video: In Better Shape, Matt Bradley Ready to Play Defense
Matt Bradley's role on the Cal basketball team was fairly simple. He was a freshman and the former coaching staff didn't ask him to do much more than shoot the open 3-pointer.
Bradley very good at that, covering a Pac-12 best 47 percent from beyond the arc.
But the Bears suffered through an 8-23 season, a new coaching staff has arrived and Bradley knows he must do more.
He knows because coach Mark Fox and his staff are demanding it.
At Pac-12 basketball media day in San Francisco, Bradley talked about all the ways he expects to be a greater contributor to what the Bears achieve this season.
He said in the video above he has worked on becoming a better teammate, in part by being a more vocal leader on a team that has six newcomers, five of them freshmen.
But he also said he has dropped 10 pounds and gotten into much better shape. He passed the physical conditioning test required of all players and said he's ready to become an "enforcer" at the defensive end of the floor.
The Bears have massive improvements to make in all aspects of the game, but their defense has been consistently below par the past two seasons.
Cal ranked 10th in the Pac-12 in points allowed last season, giving up 77.0 per game, and their field-goal percentage defense was last in the conference at .489.
Bradley just he doesn't know exactly what his role on this Cal team will be, but there is just one bottom line he's concerned about.
"I just want to win," he said.
