Dec 12, 2022Liked by Nick Kranz, Avinash Kunnath, BentPawn
Your column today was very touching to a very senior Cal fan (who had the privilege of seeing championship basketball at the Cow Palace). Yes, that old. I reached out after last season to Cal's AD with a strong suggestion to hire a new coach "to start the rebuilding process sooner than later", only to be told this would not happen. I feared the result we are seeing today. Regret the players are not getting the college experience they had hoped. Thanks for expressing your feelings.
Not to get all Al Sharpton here. I am a very middle aged white dude from Walnut Creek after all, but there has always been a certain elephant in the room IMO to how quick we are to criticize some coaches and rationalize others despite the actual evidence.
Honestly, it’s gotten so bad that I have more fun watching to see if we can claim the title of worst team in the history of the game than anything else. Does that make me a terrible person? Maybe. But I’m honestly more interested with this than I was last year. At least we are on the cusp of making history.
Cal has had horrendous coaching for years despite above average talent. We've had many players who ended up in the NBA or on a two-way G league contract and did nothing with them. We had Allen Crabbe and Tyrone Wallace on the court at the same time, and then Tyrone and Jabari Bird. We had Tyrone Wallace, Jabari Bird, Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb on the same roster and lost in the first round. The teams that won the tournament in the years that we had those players did not have that many future NBA/G-league players. Montgomery and Martin didn't really do anything with their talent. Jones had no business being a head coach (a press conference where he blamed the players was particularly memorable). My sunshine pumping is limited to Cal Football because enjoying an afternoon in Strawberry Canyon makes up for a lot. Haas Pavilion just reminds me of finals.
I'm so dispirited and tuned away from Cal basketball, fully experiencing the pain of loss, that I also struggle to say anything. Your article hits a nerve with me, so well done. Yes, we are at a point of historical atrocity. Worse, even, than mediocrity. Nothing more to be said than waiting around for the inevitable. Next?
Jordan Pope from Brentwood and now an outstanding freshman at Oregon State never got call from Cal even though hecwas interested in being a Bear. Neither did his teammates at Prolific Prep in
The big question is whether firing Fox mid-season will generate some improvement. It won't overcome poor roster construction but can overcome outright bad coaching (if there's enough developed latent talent present to unleash).
Your analysis is on point, but the reason to attend games is to support the student athletes. Mark Fox is a good person, and far more basketball savvy than our previous two coaches. But an empty larder, coupled with ineffective recruiting heas likely ended Fox's tenure. Dennis Gates who was a favored candidate among some when Fox was hired is now succeeding at Missouri now that Conzo was fired. Who will be Cal's next option?
It’s a sad state of affairs. Fox was a good coach many years ago. The bottom line comes down to recruiting players that can play. He has done such a poor job at finding talent, this is what happens. This is on the coach and his evaluators. They must reach out and sale the school and the program, which shouldn’t be hard! St Mary’s down the road never has a problem. As for Cal, I can see right away, this team doesn’t have the talent level to compete, I am very good at judging talent and it’s very obvious. That is 100% on the entire coaching staff, so this is the product that you get. The same thing is happening to the football team, to a lesser extent.
Processing the bad kind of history making
Your column today was very touching to a very senior Cal fan (who had the privilege of seeing championship basketball at the Cow Palace). Yes, that old. I reached out after last season to Cal's AD with a strong suggestion to hire a new coach "to start the rebuilding process sooner than later", only to be told this would not happen. I feared the result we are seeing today. Regret the players are not getting the college experience they had hoped. Thanks for expressing your feelings.
Not to get all Al Sharpton here. I am a very middle aged white dude from Walnut Creek after all, but there has always been a certain elephant in the room IMO to how quick we are to criticize some coaches and rationalize others despite the actual evidence.
OK, I skipped the "next section". Fans should show up for the first game after Fox has been fired, which should be within the next 3 games.
Honestly, it’s gotten so bad that I have more fun watching to see if we can claim the title of worst team in the history of the game than anything else. Does that make me a terrible person? Maybe. But I’m honestly more interested with this than I was last year. At least we are on the cusp of making history.
Cal has had horrendous coaching for years despite above average talent. We've had many players who ended up in the NBA or on a two-way G league contract and did nothing with them. We had Allen Crabbe and Tyrone Wallace on the court at the same time, and then Tyrone and Jabari Bird. We had Tyrone Wallace, Jabari Bird, Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb on the same roster and lost in the first round. The teams that won the tournament in the years that we had those players did not have that many future NBA/G-league players. Montgomery and Martin didn't really do anything with their talent. Jones had no business being a head coach (a press conference where he blamed the players was particularly memorable). My sunshine pumping is limited to Cal Football because enjoying an afternoon in Strawberry Canyon makes up for a lot. Haas Pavilion just reminds me of finals.
It's ironic to show the Haas floor pre-2017 in the photo above the body of the article...
The current Cal basketball floor has yet to see a winning season.
I'm so dispirited and tuned away from Cal basketball, fully experiencing the pain of loss, that I also struggle to say anything. Your article hits a nerve with me, so well done. Yes, we are at a point of historical atrocity. Worse, even, than mediocrity. Nothing more to be said than waiting around for the inevitable. Next?
Too bad there's no Wilcox HC twin in P12 BB where we might sneak out a win.
chuckle, chuckle....sigh...
What is basketball? Don’t know her.
Jordan Pope from Brentwood and now an outstanding freshman at Oregon State never got call from Cal even though hecwas interested in being a Bear. Neither did his teammates at Prolific Prep in
Fantastic work, Nick, as always.
Someone should arrange “Fight for California” as a slow funeral dirge that we can start playing at these games until we get a new coach
The big question is whether firing Fox mid-season will generate some improvement. It won't overcome poor roster construction but can overcome outright bad coaching (if there's enough developed latent talent present to unleash).
Your analysis is on point, but the reason to attend games is to support the student athletes. Mark Fox is a good person, and far more basketball savvy than our previous two coaches. But an empty larder, coupled with ineffective recruiting heas likely ended Fox's tenure. Dennis Gates who was a favored candidate among some when Fox was hired is now succeeding at Missouri now that Conzo was fired. Who will be Cal's next option?
It’s a sad state of affairs. Fox was a good coach many years ago. The bottom line comes down to recruiting players that can play. He has done such a poor job at finding talent, this is what happens. This is on the coach and his evaluators. They must reach out and sale the school and the program, which shouldn’t be hard! St Mary’s down the road never has a problem. As for Cal, I can see right away, this team doesn’t have the talent level to compete, I am very good at judging talent and it’s very obvious. That is 100% on the entire coaching staff, so this is the product that you get. The same thing is happening to the football team, to a lesser extent.