Hey guys, here is my preview of the Cal men’s basketball game against Coppin State. Tipoff is today at 4:00 PM PST. As is typical, here is my list of 5 things to look for and know going into this game.
#1. Will Cal build on the Saint Mary’s game and crush Coppin State? Cal should stomp Coppin State. Coppin State comes in with a 2-8 record and their leading scorer Terry Harris, Jr. averages 11.8 points per game. Plus, Coppin State doesn’t rebound very well, averaging 36.9 rebounds and gives up 43.0 rebounds. Cal has a perfect opponent coming to Haas in terms of somebody who they can blow out of the building and build momentum against going into Virginia. The key question of this game is will Cal blow Coppin State out of the gym like they should or will they have another let down?
#2. Coppin State will throw zone. How will Cal handle that? Cuonzo Martin said on Thursday that he expects Coppin State to throw them a lot of zone. This alone is cause for concern. It will be key to see how Cal plays against the zone and whether or not we see any improvements in this area.
#3. Coppin State can’t score and they can’t defend: Coppin State averages only 70.8 points per game and they give up 85.3 points per game. They shoot 37.0% from the field, 24.9% from three-point range, and 68.0% from the foul line. Basically, they are offensively challenged and allow opponents to get buckets. In short, they aren’t very good and Cal really should crush them.
#4. How well will Cal take care of the ball? During Thursday’s press conference, Cuonzo Martin said the assist-to-turnover ratio is a key area of concern. Against a poor Coppin State team, Cal should be able to take care of the ball and keep the turnovers to a minimum. Cuonzo wants at least 15 assists per game and no more than 10 turnovers. He’s right about that being the minimum acceptable assist-to-turnover ratio and against Coppin State, Cal should have no trouble reaching this low benchmark.
#5. Will the Cal bench get buckets? I’m of the opinion that Cal needs more scoring production from their bench. Coppin State seems to be a perfect opponent to help Cal’s bench score some points. Sam Singer, Roger Moute a Bidias, and especially Stephen Domingo should have no trouble combining for 10-12 points against this team. It would be great to see those guys shoot some balls through the basket and gain some confidence with their scoring.
Prediction: Cal should crush Coppin State by 25 points. But, they should have crushed Incarnate Word by the same amount and that was a close game. I do believe, given my interactions with the team, that Incarnate Word woke them up and that they played their best game against Saint Mary’s. A close game against Coppin State would be a huge regression from last week. I expect Cal to play well and be improved as a result of what we saw last week. I’m going to say Cal wins this game 75-53.
Note: I'll also live-tweet the game from my personal twitter handle @slamdunk406
#1. Will Cal build on the Saint Mary’s game and crush Coppin State? Cal should stomp Coppin State. Coppin State comes in with a 2-8 record and their leading scorer Terry Harris, Jr. averages 11.8 points per game. Plus, Coppin State doesn’t rebound very well, averaging 36.9 rebounds and gives up 43.0 rebounds. Cal has a perfect opponent coming to Haas in terms of somebody who they can blow out of the building and build momentum against going into Virginia. The key question of this game is will Cal blow Coppin State out of the gym like they should or will they have another let down?
#2. Coppin State will throw zone. How will Cal handle that? Cuonzo Martin said on Thursday that he expects Coppin State to throw them a lot of zone. This alone is cause for concern. It will be key to see how Cal plays against the zone and whether or not we see any improvements in this area.
#3. Coppin State can’t score and they can’t defend: Coppin State averages only 70.8 points per game and they give up 85.3 points per game. They shoot 37.0% from the field, 24.9% from three-point range, and 68.0% from the foul line. Basically, they are offensively challenged and allow opponents to get buckets. In short, they aren’t very good and Cal really should crush them.
#4. How well will Cal take care of the ball? During Thursday’s press conference, Cuonzo Martin said the assist-to-turnover ratio is a key area of concern. Against a poor Coppin State team, Cal should be able to take care of the ball and keep the turnovers to a minimum. Cuonzo wants at least 15 assists per game and no more than 10 turnovers. He’s right about that being the minimum acceptable assist-to-turnover ratio and against Coppin State, Cal should have no trouble reaching this low benchmark.
#5. Will the Cal bench get buckets? I’m of the opinion that Cal needs more scoring production from their bench. Coppin State seems to be a perfect opponent to help Cal’s bench score some points. Sam Singer, Roger Moute a Bidias, and especially Stephen Domingo should have no trouble combining for 10-12 points against this team. It would be great to see those guys shoot some balls through the basket and gain some confidence with their scoring.
Prediction: Cal should crush Coppin State by 25 points. But, they should have crushed Incarnate Word by the same amount and that was a close game. I do believe, given my interactions with the team, that Incarnate Word woke them up and that they played their best game against Saint Mary’s. A close game against Coppin State would be a huge regression from last week. I expect Cal to play well and be improved as a result of what we saw last week. I’m going to say Cal wins this game 75-53.
Note: I'll also live-tweet the game from my personal twitter handle @slamdunk406
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