They have to be positive until he's gone, they're not going to be like "Yeah, we're moving on" before they even have a replacement ready.
Mark Fox is probably getting more out of this group than a lot of coaches would, but in the end recruiting is part of the game and he can't recruit whatsoever. This isn't football, it takes one recruiting class to turn things around.
Good basketball coaches show substantial team improvement in just the first or second year (see Mick Cronin at UCLA, Eric Musselmen at Arkansas, Nate Oats at Alabama).
It's not like football where it may take a few years given the number of players and coaches deserve a longer runway. In basketball you really only need 2 maybe 3 good players to make a good or even great team.
Why not move on now instead of waiting for maybe moderate improvement next season.
With basketball, a few strong recruits can turn a program around. There's nothing in Fox's history that suggests he's capable of achieving that (and maybe some evidence that he'll lose those players). There's other roles for a guy who can only coach defense besides Head Coach.
Inadequate recruiting is a common thread (and I agree it's not good enough but my opinion is not well educated)... I read elsewhere that CAL is tough to recruit to due to lack of practice facility and other un-named liabilities (apparently besides recent poor records). Can anyone comment on whether or not any reasonable hire could effectively recruit or would be similarly hamstrung? (My gut says we should get some better talent but not up to the level I suspect some others seem to consider a minimum... again, though, I don't really know.)
We are outside the kitchen looking in the window at sausage being made. It looks bad and smells bad, but have to wait to see what the finished product looks like. Again, I thought we would truly suck this year without Bradley, and Fox took this team and made them winners in attitude and effort, winning some unexpected, beating Furd regularly, and losing some close and painful ones. The history of greats at Cal tells us the school can be attractive for recruits with the right coaching pitch. We all agree Fox has to get his coaching staff to up their recruiting game while maintaining academics and integrity, or he will be gone.
In other words I should go back to mostly ignoring Cal men's basketball.
Cal, where average to below average coaches are celebrated and extended.
The backhalf of what Jerome Randle said is what we all want to say on a higher scale but even he knows this isn't what he left behind
They have to be positive until he's gone, they're not going to be like "Yeah, we're moving on" before they even have a replacement ready.
Mark Fox is probably getting more out of this group than a lot of coaches would, but in the end recruiting is part of the game and he can't recruit whatsoever. This isn't football, it takes one recruiting class to turn things around.
Good basketball coaches show substantial team improvement in just the first or second year (see Mick Cronin at UCLA, Eric Musselmen at Arkansas, Nate Oats at Alabama).
It's not like football where it may take a few years given the number of players and coaches deserve a longer runway. In basketball you really only need 2 maybe 3 good players to make a good or even great team.
Why not move on now instead of waiting for maybe moderate improvement next season.
[insert "Dis Gon B Gud" gif or "Michael Jackson Eating Popcorn" gif]
Would be a mistake…
With basketball, a few strong recruits can turn a program around. There's nothing in Fox's history that suggests he's capable of achieving that (and maybe some evidence that he'll lose those players). There's other roles for a guy who can only coach defense besides Head Coach.
Inadequate recruiting is a common thread (and I agree it's not good enough but my opinion is not well educated)... I read elsewhere that CAL is tough to recruit to due to lack of practice facility and other un-named liabilities (apparently besides recent poor records). Can anyone comment on whether or not any reasonable hire could effectively recruit or would be similarly hamstrung? (My gut says we should get some better talent but not up to the level I suspect some others seem to consider a minimum... again, though, I don't really know.)
We are outside the kitchen looking in the window at sausage being made. It looks bad and smells bad, but have to wait to see what the finished product looks like. Again, I thought we would truly suck this year without Bradley, and Fox took this team and made them winners in attitude and effort, winning some unexpected, beating Furd regularly, and losing some close and painful ones. The history of greats at Cal tells us the school can be attractive for recruits with the right coaching pitch. We all agree Fox has to get his coaching staff to up their recruiting game while maintaining academics and integrity, or he will be gone.
This makes me want to cut myself.