I just got back from today's practice in Gold's Gym. Due to my desire to keep a lot of what I saw to myself, I will share a few observations. Grant is 100% and showed zero signs of the cramping issues that he experienced during Monday night's game. Keonte is doing a lot of wind sprints and shooting with his uninjured right hand. Jaylon Tyson can sky and is simply the best player I have seen in a Cal jersey since Cuonzo assembled his squad. Coach Madsen acts as a player to show our bigs how to get free in the paint, even throwing a few elbows for emphasis. My buddy, Devon, told me that last Monday was the first game in which he won a game in a Cal jersey. When I said "Devin you must be joking with me", he responded by saying "seriously". I found the team chemistry last season to be very good, especially after the adversity that the players suffered (Sam Aligiki, Kuany Kunay, Lars Thiemann were all good guys and good teammates). But, the chemistry between last year's coaches and the team (and even between the coaches themselves) was lacking IMO. The BIG difference this year is that there is fantastic chemistry between not only the players, but also between the players and the coaches, as well as amongst the coaches. The practices are as intense as the Mad Dog with conditioning obviously being emphasized as well as explosiveness and constant motion on both pick-oriented offense and switching D.
