Combined feed (RSS)Basketball: Max has Cal coaches buzzing
By Jeff Faraudo
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 at 4:07 pm in Basketball.
I caught up this afternoon with assistant coach Jay John, between flights on the recruiting trail, and he confirmed that Max Zhang’s performance at the World University Games has the attention of the staff.
“It was a big deal for all of us to learn that about how Max was producing,” John said. “If Mike (Montgomery) said it once, he said it a hundred times — you’re just cheering for the kid. You just want it to work out for him. Certainly what we’ve seen seems to indicate this could be a big step forward.”
Zhang, the Bears’ 7-foot-2 1/4 sophomore center, averaged 17.5 points and a tournament-leading 16.3 rebounds and 7.5 blocked shots through four games in Belgrade, Serbia. He had 25 points in one game, 22 rebounds in another, and has put together a pair of triple-doubles with 10 blocks in each.
Amazing numbers for a guy who averaged 1.3 points and 0.6 rebounds in scarce minutes last season.
Max’s overseas outburst has prompted the same questions in the minds of the coaching staff as in everyone else who’s tried to digest the performance: What is the level of competition in the event and how does Max’s effort translate to what he can do for the Bears?
“Not knowing the level of the tournament, that’s a lot of blocked shots and it makes me want to know was this an A level tournament or what?” John acknowledged. “I know when I watched Pau Gasol and Dirk Nowitzki play in those (international) competitions, aint’ nobody blocking their shots.”
Regardless of that, John believes Max will gain huge benefits from this experience. First of all, he was on the floor in a significant role, which rarely was the case for the Bears.
“My first reaction is that he’s playing. He’s an intregal part of what’s going on, because you can’t get those numbers without being on the floor,” said John, who works with Cal’s big men. “The other thing is the rebounding. Not every ball comes to you, so you’ve got to be alert and got to be pursuing it.”
Max certainly wasn’t cheated on playing time. He averaged 38 1/2 minutes per game, acknowledging that one game went two overtimes. He shot 43.1 percent (25-for-58) from the field and 74.1 percent (20-for-27) from the FT line.
Mostly, John said the coaching staff is excited by the residual impact this can have on Zhang’s confidence and outlook.
“This tournament, game in and game out, it appears he had to gain experience and confidence, and for him, that’s vital,” John said. “He’s now done something. In his mind, he can say, `I’ve done this against these people. I can do it here.’
“That’s what Max didn’t have. There was no reservoir of experience that he can go back to and really draw from. This couldn’t work out any better. It has to be motivation, and the drive has got to kick in and accelerate.”
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July 8th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
My guess is the level of play is probably like an average mid-major conference, WCC, D1. Here’s the logic:
University athletics aren’t the same internationally, if you’re good you go to a pro development league when you’re 16.
These are basically all-star teams, perhaps like a WCC level all-conference team but probably more like the mid to bottom half WCC team, like Santa Clara.
So it’s probably like Santa Clara playing USF, and Max was like John Byrant.
July 9th, 2009 at 7:42 am
I’d take that happily Milo.
July 9th, 2009 at 10:38 am
Me, too.
Milo, I agree with your assessment of the U Games but in Max’s case I think it’s about development. Look how far he’s progressed from when he arrived to where he is today. Another big step in his progress and he’ll be like…Steve Nash at Santa Clara. I know 1 vs 5. Hall of Famer vs…never mind I’m getting overly optimistic but you get the idea.
Go Bears!
July 9th, 2009 at 10:53 am
we just need a solid big man. he doesn’t have to be a superstar. even with a small lineup, we’re expected to dominate. if max plays even half as well in college as he has in these games, he’ll make a bigger contribution than wilkes, and it sounds like he can hit free throws too. go bears!
July 9th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Just because he is 7.3 doesn’t mean he can play ball. Chinese basketball, what a joke.
July 9th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
I agree with you Bears, if Max can be half as productive, it’s a huge improvement and helps Cal big time. Lets hope for it. He has three years to play.
iamalcindor - yeah way to go with the xenophobia. That’s what Shaq said about Yao Ming and he got schooled.
July 9th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
If anyone can get the most out of a big man, it’s Mike Montgomery. If Max develops just reasonable skills, he’ll look good in our offense…
July 9th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Yao (fluke…. 1 good player among 1.2 billion of population) = 0 rings.
Shaq = plenty of rings.
Owned.
July 9th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
iamalcindor…I mean Jabbar, you go up against Max or Yao, you freakin’ nimrod.
July 9th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
I don’t know why people like question Yao or Max,if you really a good viewer,you will find Chinese basketball is very good and has many good players.Even the Austrilian boomers can’t baet it,that was proved recently.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
Max got 0.9 blocks in 4.5 minutes per game last season. That translates into 7 blocks in 36 minutes. That is almost twice of what Thabeet got in a game. He is a blocking machine, even in the NCAA. I’m puzzled why he got so little minutes.
The competition at the World University Games are not that bad. Many countries send their junior national team.
July 10th, 2009 at 11:21 am
While I would be the first to admit that I don’t pay much attention to what the coaches do during the off-season other than recruiting, I am a little concerned by the fact that it seems that I know more about how one of our players is performing in an international competition than our coaches. John saw the numbers but has no idea how many minutes Max is playing? As far as centers go, he is it for us this season so you would think they would follow how he is progressing/maturing very closely during the off-season.
July 12th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
I was expecting a complete zero from Max this year, so his recent performance can be considered encouraging at the very least.