One of the major differences between men's basketball and women's basketball this year has been the way Matt Bradley has been more consistent in stepping up than Jaelyn Brown. Bradley is averaging 17.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game while Brown is averaging 14.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.Bradley has had 11 games where he's scored 20+ points; Brown has had 7 games where she's scored 20+ points including her 30 points explosion against Arkansas.
While I certainly think men's basketball has benefited from being in a weaker conference than the women's Pac-12, I think the way Bradley has been more of a consistent go-to threat cannot be understated. What we saw from him last week to get Pac-12 Player of the Week for a second time is a prime example. As a sophomore, he is more than comfortable taking over the game and putting his team on his shoulders.
As for Brown, she's been much more up and down. As we saw on Sunday, it was Brown's late game heroics that got Cal across the finish line against #13 Arizona. If she was that way more consistently and had more big outings, I think Cal women's basketball would have a couple more wins. Unfortunately, she has too often disappeared and not stepped up when Cal needed her.
So once again, casting strength of schedule aside, Matt Bradley is the reason Cal men's basketball has had the more successful season. Dude has done an amazing job of stepping up on most nights.
While I certainly think men's basketball has benefited from being in a weaker conference than the women's Pac-12, I think the way Bradley has been more of a consistent go-to threat cannot be understated. What we saw from him last week to get Pac-12 Player of the Week for a second time is a prime example. As a sophomore, he is more than comfortable taking over the game and putting his team on his shoulders.
As for Brown, she's been much more up and down. As we saw on Sunday, it was Brown's late game heroics that got Cal across the finish line against #13 Arizona. If she was that way more consistently and had more big outings, I think Cal women's basketball would have a couple more wins. Unfortunately, she has too often disappeared and not stepped up when Cal needed her.
So once again, casting strength of schedule aside, Matt Bradley is the reason Cal men's basketball has had the more successful season. Dude has done an amazing job of stepping up on most nights.
