Cal men: Don Coleman, left, Bears a work in progress.
It’s a little unfair for a freshman point guard, but this is the state of the Cal men’s basketball program: The Bears’ fortunes in Pac-12 play will be based largely on the play of Darius McNeill.
The 6-foot-3, 175-pound lefty has become the barometer for Cal, which will enter conference play Saturday with a losing record (6-7) for the first time since 2003-04 season.
During Cal’s three-game winning streak this month, McNeill averaged 20 points per game on 60.5 percent shooting and had a 1.3-to-1 assist-toturnover ratio. In the two losses that sandwiched the best stretch of the Bears’ season, the Houston native averaged 10 points per game on 35.7 percent shooting and had an 0.5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
“I know what they need from me, and that’s what I’m going to give them,” McNeill said.
McNeill is one of nine newcomers on the Bears’ roster and has been the most productive of seven freshmen — averaging 13.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists. Cal has been wildly inconsistent, losing at home by 27 points to Central Arkansas and winning at San Diego State in a four-day span.
Even after dumping an ineffective full-court press, Cal is 175th in the nation and 11th in the Pac-12 in defensive efficiency — allowing 103.7 points per 100 possessions. The Bears are 193rd in the country and last in the conference in offensive efficiency — scoring 102.4 points per 100 possessions.
If Cal’s offense, which is in the conference cellar in shooting (44.9 percent), assist-to-turnover ratio (0.7-to-1) and three-pointers per game (4.8), is to improve, it’ll happen under the orchestration of the primary ballhandler.
McNeill knows that, and relishes that. Long after his teammates leave the gym following practices, he remains to work on his game.
“We’ll have a 2½-hour practice, and he’s still here. I leave, and he’s still in here,” head coach Wyking Jones said. “I have to chase him out of here. I tell him to go read a book or do some homework or something.”
Jones begged senior big men Marcus Lee and Kingsley Okoroh to be more vocal, and leading scorer Don Coleman, a junior, has committed to becoming more of a leader. But this thing goes as McNeill goes, and everybody knows it.
The first-year head coach met with his first-year point guard to tell him as much.
“He’s a talented young man, but I had to do that,” Jones said. “I had to give him that confidence, because he’s young. He’s never been through this before. He had to know that I believe in him and trust him with this team.”