Cal Basketball Video: Paris Austin Says Defense Has Been the Emphasis in Practice
There are a lot of ways to measure defensive efficiency, and Cal stacked up poorly in most categories a year ago.
Changing that has been new coach Mark Fox's mission from the moment he was hired last spring. He talked about it extensively as his introductory news conference and he's selling the plan to his players in early workouts.
"Defense is something coach Fox always harps on," senior point guard Paris Austin said at Pac-12 media day in San Francisco. "To be a good offensive team, it starts with defense.
"We spent a lot of time working on defense so we can be prepared for the games."
The numbers don't lie:
On the way to an 8-23 overall record, Cal was 10th last season in the Pac-12 in points allowed per game at 77.0. The Bears were 286th nationally in Ken Pomeroy's defensive efficiency rankings, surrendering 110.3 points per 100 possessions.
But there were numbers that were worse still:
Cal was last -- and it wasn't close -- in field-goal percentage defense, allowing opponent to convert 48.9 percent of their attempts. That generous figure ranked 348th among 351 Division I teams nationally.
And the Bears were last in 3-point percentage defense, with opposing teams making 38.1 percent from beyond the arc.
Defense includes rebounding, and Cal was by far the poorest rebounding team in the Pac-12 with a minus-7.0 margin. That number ranked 346th in the country,
Likewise, the Bears checked in last in steals at just 5.0 per game.
"We want to win games and it starts with defense," Austin said. "Turning up our defensive intensity and creating havoc, that's what we want do to.
"We just want to make our mark this year."
