appreciate the analytical basketball article, rather than the typical game summary that ChatGPT can now write.
We just don't have enough shooters for almost anything to work. Teams just jam up the paint and double our posts and prevent drives. That takes Brown and Marsalis out of scoring roles, makes it difficult for Lars to score and creates turnovers. None of our 'shooters' (players who've taken 33+ threes) of 2K (32%), Sam (33%), Bowser (32%), Brown (26%) and Grant (26%) are good or consistent enough.
Wren should get more PT to put more shooting on the floor, but Fox only gives him limited PT because he favors defense. But without more shooting the best defense in the nation wouldn't be good enough to win games (how many games are won with 44 or 47 points?)
I was thinking this, as well. I'd like to see Joel and Wrenn on the floor together. Go ultra small lineup, Bowser at the 3, and Newell and Kuany as your nominal bigs. Let's see what kind of spacing you could get for Joel and Newell to drive, and free up the average outside shooters Wrenn and Kuany. It's all a dream.....Fox would never play Wrenn and Joel simultaneously.
This to me is the biggest indictment of Fox…stubbornness and a lack of imagination. He’s far from a gifted basketball mind, and lacks the ability to think outside the box and adapt his style to the personnel he has assembled. It is an example of a poor teacher…
I've had this discussion all season with friends. The time to fire him actually is now (and it was the same 6 weeks ago). Why? The "old" days of looking bad due to firing a coach early in the season are over, it's common. Programs that wait for later are wasting time. By making the move now, you send the message "we give a sh*t about this basketball program and we don't want this coach here any more." He's going to get fired, so what's the benefit at all in waiting? Put the assistant in charge, send the message, maybe the existing players feel better about the future, possible recruits know there will be a regime change, and let's have a longer search period. Players are already making plans for next year...right now! Finally, you don't have to hire now, just fire now...hire after March Madness when more coaches are available, but jump starting the search means that you have a head start on the future. I see zero benefit to waiting.
This. The longer we wait, the more time we give recruits to actively looking to transfer. Firing him now at least tells our current players that we care, and the ones who aren't lost causes can wait until they see who we bring in.
The time to fire him and appoint Marty Wilson interim Head Coach was after ANY number of games…specifically, post-Oregon State blowout at home was probably the last, best shot. I’m honestly hoping he does not get another year, but the level of incompetence at the top of the athletic department is unmatched, so it’s not a sure thing…until it is, God willing.
When your administration already has the well-earned reputation for not valuing the revenue sports, allowing an embattled Men’s Basketball HC to keep his job with a 3-20 record, by far the worst in the entire country, and almost a lock to be the worst in program history, just sends a horrible message to the rest of the country. The verdict is in on Knowlton…it’s really just a matter of how far he actually sinks the athletic department in general, and Men’s Basketball specifically. He and Fox are literally destroying the brand a little more with each passing game…just set it afire.
And Bob, I still do not think you understand the value and role of an interim coach, so I will not debate it with you, my good man.
Asked and Answered, counselor. We’ve given you examples multiple times, including this very Cal program…you either forget them, ignore them, or simply choose to be contrary and argumentative just to support your own narrative.
You ask for the same stuff EVERY thread, Bob…it grows tiresome, my man. Wisconsin Green Bay fired Will Ryan 2 weeks ago after a horrible, 38 point offensive showing and just won a game to climb to 3-22, right on par with Fox. And the benefit is the same as a failing Fortune 500 company firing it’s CEO…it maintains confidence in the shareholders.
I'm not gonna do that, waste of my time and I don't appreciate that you'd pick nits about one sentence while completely missing the point. However, I will give you one of the top of my head: Helton at USC was fired after a 1-1 start in 2021, and his overall record was far better than Fox.
I didn't say it's the new way btw, but the old way of thinking about *WHY* a school fired someone was "Wow, can you believe that they fired the coach mid-season? No one is going to want to work there! They have zero patience!" That is the wrong way to look at this situation, the right way is to take a positive look and say "this program is so far gone, but at least they finally care to start fixing it." That's the point, instead we have Knowlton sitting on his a** doing who knows what, piling up excuses fed to the media and waiting to maybe fire him? Seriously, explain to me what possible advantage there is in waiting? What does that at all accomplish? The team he put together is 3-20 this year, no excuses, he owns it.
And further, as I stated above, players need to know what's going on. They are already making plans for next year. Wait until 5 more players transfer, the seniors move on, and there are something like 4 players left for a new coach. Won't that be a fun situation.
Also, I think Pasternack would be a solid choice...and G*d knows that if homeboy wins a NC, Bob will never let us live it down (since he advocated for Troy the Traitor). However, I think we need somebody that can generate instant excitement. We need Jason Kidd.
One could easily argue that waiting has actually been worse for all parties. Fox could have had a chance to coach again, somewhere, if we had cut ties with him after the non-conference slate...but now everybody looks worse: Fox, Cal, Knowlton, etc..
Any hope of a turnaround is gone. The injury situation is worse than it was and the performance of the team is declining further.
I actually felt bad for Wyking Jones' last team. Bunch of talented young guys who worked their butts off and started to break through at the end of the year: they showed improvement. This situation is much worse. Firing Fox now puts us first in line. No sense is waiting.
Not immediately rehired, Bob, but a chance, some day, to coach again. Now, it is doubtful if he will ever get a shot at a D1 P5 again. I don't see him working his way back up.
Thanks BP! Good stuff my friend.
"AD Knowlton is at a critical juncture where inaction is the worst possible choice"
Turns out it was Knowlton himself who was the worst possible choice.
appreciate the analytical basketball article, rather than the typical game summary that ChatGPT can now write.
We just don't have enough shooters for almost anything to work. Teams just jam up the paint and double our posts and prevent drives. That takes Brown and Marsalis out of scoring roles, makes it difficult for Lars to score and creates turnovers. None of our 'shooters' (players who've taken 33+ threes) of 2K (32%), Sam (33%), Bowser (32%), Brown (26%) and Grant (26%) are good or consistent enough.
Wren should get more PT to put more shooting on the floor, but Fox only gives him limited PT because he favors defense. But without more shooting the best defense in the nation wouldn't be good enough to win games (how many games are won with 44 or 47 points?)
I was thinking this, as well. I'd like to see Joel and Wrenn on the floor together. Go ultra small lineup, Bowser at the 3, and Newell and Kuany as your nominal bigs. Let's see what kind of spacing you could get for Joel and Newell to drive, and free up the average outside shooters Wrenn and Kuany. It's all a dream.....Fox would never play Wrenn and Joel simultaneously.
This to me is the biggest indictment of Fox…stubbornness and a lack of imagination. He’s far from a gifted basketball mind, and lacks the ability to think outside the box and adapt his style to the personnel he has assembled. It is an example of a poor teacher…
I've had this discussion all season with friends. The time to fire him actually is now (and it was the same 6 weeks ago). Why? The "old" days of looking bad due to firing a coach early in the season are over, it's common. Programs that wait for later are wasting time. By making the move now, you send the message "we give a sh*t about this basketball program and we don't want this coach here any more." He's going to get fired, so what's the benefit at all in waiting? Put the assistant in charge, send the message, maybe the existing players feel better about the future, possible recruits know there will be a regime change, and let's have a longer search period. Players are already making plans for next year...right now! Finally, you don't have to hire now, just fire now...hire after March Madness when more coaches are available, but jump starting the search means that you have a head start on the future. I see zero benefit to waiting.
This. The longer we wait, the more time we give recruits to actively looking to transfer. Firing him now at least tells our current players that we care, and the ones who aren't lost causes can wait until they see who we bring in.
The time to fire him and appoint Marty Wilson interim Head Coach was after ANY number of games…specifically, post-Oregon State blowout at home was probably the last, best shot. I’m honestly hoping he does not get another year, but the level of incompetence at the top of the athletic department is unmatched, so it’s not a sure thing…until it is, God willing.
When your administration already has the well-earned reputation for not valuing the revenue sports, allowing an embattled Men’s Basketball HC to keep his job with a 3-20 record, by far the worst in the entire country, and almost a lock to be the worst in program history, just sends a horrible message to the rest of the country. The verdict is in on Knowlton…it’s really just a matter of how far he actually sinks the athletic department in general, and Men’s Basketball specifically. He and Fox are literally destroying the brand a little more with each passing game…just set it afire.
And Bob, I still do not think you understand the value and role of an interim coach, so I will not debate it with you, my good man.
Asked and Answered, counselor. We’ve given you examples multiple times, including this very Cal program…you either forget them, ignore them, or simply choose to be contrary and argumentative just to support your own narrative.
You ask for the same stuff EVERY thread, Bob…it grows tiresome, my man. Wisconsin Green Bay fired Will Ryan 2 weeks ago after a horrible, 38 point offensive showing and just won a game to climb to 3-22, right on par with Fox. And the benefit is the same as a failing Fortune 500 company firing it’s CEO…it maintains confidence in the shareholders.
I'm not gonna do that, waste of my time and I don't appreciate that you'd pick nits about one sentence while completely missing the point. However, I will give you one of the top of my head: Helton at USC was fired after a 1-1 start in 2021, and his overall record was far better than Fox.
I didn't say it's the new way btw, but the old way of thinking about *WHY* a school fired someone was "Wow, can you believe that they fired the coach mid-season? No one is going to want to work there! They have zero patience!" That is the wrong way to look at this situation, the right way is to take a positive look and say "this program is so far gone, but at least they finally care to start fixing it." That's the point, instead we have Knowlton sitting on his a** doing who knows what, piling up excuses fed to the media and waiting to maybe fire him? Seriously, explain to me what possible advantage there is in waiting? What does that at all accomplish? The team he put together is 3-20 this year, no excuses, he owns it.
And further, as I stated above, players need to know what's going on. They are already making plans for next year. Wait until 5 more players transfer, the seniors move on, and there are something like 4 players left for a new coach. Won't that be a fun situation.
Also, firing Musgrave and Co. mid-season may have been what saved our relationship with Jayden Ott.
Also, I think Pasternack would be a solid choice...and G*d knows that if homeboy wins a NC, Bob will never let us live it down (since he advocated for Troy the Traitor). However, I think we need somebody that can generate instant excitement. We need Jason Kidd.
I’ve come round on a lot of coaches I used to poo poo for the Cal gig. Pasternak is one of them - as you said, he’d be a solid choice.
Does he want the gig…is he looking elsewhere. Is UCSB simply a better job?
One could easily argue that waiting has actually been worse for all parties. Fox could have had a chance to coach again, somewhere, if we had cut ties with him after the non-conference slate...but now everybody looks worse: Fox, Cal, Knowlton, etc..
Any hope of a turnaround is gone. The injury situation is worse than it was and the performance of the team is declining further.
I actually felt bad for Wyking Jones' last team. Bunch of talented young guys who worked their butts off and started to break through at the end of the year: they showed improvement. This situation is much worse. Firing Fox now puts us first in line. No sense is waiting.
Yeah, you have to make the move. Keeping him this long shows a staggering level of incompetence at the top.
It’s like a struggling company…action is absolutely needed to restore confidence, but Knowlton whiffed immensely.
Not immediately rehired, Bob, but a chance, some day, to coach again. Now, it is doubtful if he will ever get a shot at a D1 P5 again. I don't see him working his way back up.