Can't get worse than that. We know we are a bottom tier team in terms of talent and execution, and on an off night, this happens. Continue to feel like Fox gets at least next year. If we remain this bad all of next year, his third, then I wouldn't give him a fourth. It's on him to recruit and train. Three years is long enough to see marked improvement. Tell me that if Monty had taken over, it wouldn't be better. I like coach Fox just fine, and have written very positive things here about how the team morale seems to be good and the relationship with coach strong. But losing is losing, and three years will be enough of it.
I based this only on seeing the way the team and coach interacted at the Colorado game, but also others. I'm not in the locker room, and doubt most of us here are. I mentioned seeing Bradley slap Fox on the chest in that game in a way you only do to say "We got this coach". I've watched a lot of huddles over the decades. These players seem to pay attention to Fox as much as they ever did to Monty, and way more than they did to Jones. Given the failures of this season, it is saying something that the team has not shown more quit. They fail from lack of talent, and maybe coaching/execution, but not effort, by my eyes.
I tweeted this but I’ll post it here in shorter form:
Currently doing some more research but by my count we had 3 conference wins within 5 points last season out of our total 7 conference wins. On the flip side we only had 3 games where we lost within 5 points last season. So our variance of win loss in winnable games could be 4-14 or 10-11.
This season? Every conference win (3 so far) was more than 5 point wins. Only 2 losses were within 5. 6 were within double digits. Meaning 9 were 10+ deficits. 4 of the 9 were 15+ deficit losses. So our variance with winnable games so far? 3-15 or 5-12 with 2 games to go.
This isn’t the end all stat. it’s just something to ponder if your win variance in close conference games goes from 4 to 10 down to 3 to 7.
I'm ready to buy stock in the "Matt Bradley is our Russell Westbrook" type of player in the sense that he makes us "better" on paper but makes the team as a whole worse, no cohesion, too much reliance, and the dwindling of secondary scores and confidence within those players. Not selling this stock until the end of at least next season.
it's the curse of having one *really good* player surrounded by an overflow of below-average ones. you wanna get the ball in your best players' hands, but the defense knows too, and your other players can't step up. it's not team basketball; it's wishing for good luck
I'd almost argue that we had players who were there and ready to step up when Bradley didn't play, like the style and team basketball fall into the trash can when he plays and I agree with the luck portion. Like a take a look in the part of the schedule where we beat Washington through beating Utah, Grant Anticevich was someone who was coming into his own along with Joel Brown, and now with Bradley back they've fallen off a cliff in terms of usage, efficiency, and confidence.
I think one of the bigger disappointments of the year has been JH, unfortunately. Hopefully he improves, whether it be the outside shot or minimizing turnovers...whatever - he seems like a hard worker and a good kid...they all do. Missing Brown definitely hurt, but he also is somewhat limited...fingers crossed for improvement from the point guard position bc any type of competitive jump depends upon better play from the floor general.
i'll give hyder a pass cuz he came in late, couldn't practice, and then got injured. i also think it was was a little overenthusiastic to think a freshman at fresno state averaging 9 points was going to fix our offensive problems.
*I also think that fox overhypes his own players to the media, leading to it being passed down to fans*
Well, he was practicing with the team, as much as any of the guys were at least, before getting a little banged up and missing a little time. Still, no one was asking him to fix the O problems...Bradley, Grant, AK, Betley & Foreman all were sharing the scoring load, plus he was behind Brown at the PG spot. Truth is, he has shown very little in his minutes so far.
I am admittedly guilty of having expectations of him being able to play at a level he may not yet be capable of playing at, and was super pissed when the NCAA initially (inexplicably)denied his waiver despite approving plenty others. However, players historically make their biggest jump between FR & SO campaigns, and after averaging 9 ppg as a true FR getting solid minutes for the Bulldogs, it was not overly optimistic to expect him to have a bigger impact at Cal once eligible. Perhaps the transfer up the highway in the pandemic hindered his development a bit, and maybe he sees that improvement his 2nd year in Berkeley...hopefully that’s the case bc right now he doesn’t shoot well, he doesn’t defend a lick, and he turns the ball over way too much.
That said, the whole team is scuffling, so it’s not all on him, and I definitely don’t mean to single him out. I hope he improves and can be a consistent player.
I have no idea what fixes Cal basketball...but it's broken.
Factual statement.
sad game, which pretty much sealed our spot as 12th in the conference
I wonder why we completely abandoned the hedging defense when a pg gets a high ball screen
seems like opposing PGs get into the paint at will when they round the corner off a high ball screen
I guess we think our bigs aren't quick enough to get back to defend the roll?
in the games where we've been competitive, it's been our defense that was the problem
in this game, against the worst team in the conference (I still think Cal is better) it was our defense and our offense that was the problem
Can't get worse than that. We know we are a bottom tier team in terms of talent and execution, and on an off night, this happens. Continue to feel like Fox gets at least next year. If we remain this bad all of next year, his third, then I wouldn't give him a fourth. It's on him to recruit and train. Three years is long enough to see marked improvement. Tell me that if Monty had taken over, it wouldn't be better. I like coach Fox just fine, and have written very positive things here about how the team morale seems to be good and the relationship with coach strong. But losing is losing, and three years will be enough of it.
team morale good? like bradley fighting with fox earlier in the season? with players limping off the court before time expires?
I based this only on seeing the way the team and coach interacted at the Colorado game, but also others. I'm not in the locker room, and doubt most of us here are. I mentioned seeing Bradley slap Fox on the chest in that game in a way you only do to say "We got this coach". I've watched a lot of huddles over the decades. These players seem to pay attention to Fox as much as they ever did to Monty, and way more than they did to Jones. Given the failures of this season, it is saying something that the team has not shown more quit. They fail from lack of talent, and maybe coaching/execution, but not effort, by my eyes.
I tweeted this but I’ll post it here in shorter form:
Currently doing some more research but by my count we had 3 conference wins within 5 points last season out of our total 7 conference wins. On the flip side we only had 3 games where we lost within 5 points last season. So our variance of win loss in winnable games could be 4-14 or 10-11.
This season? Every conference win (3 so far) was more than 5 point wins. Only 2 losses were within 5. 6 were within double digits. Meaning 9 were 10+ deficits. 4 of the 9 were 15+ deficit losses. So our variance with winnable games so far? 3-15 or 5-12 with 2 games to go.
This isn’t the end all stat. it’s just something to ponder if your win variance in close conference games goes from 4 to 10 down to 3 to 7.
I'm ready to buy stock in the "Matt Bradley is our Russell Westbrook" type of player in the sense that he makes us "better" on paper but makes the team as a whole worse, no cohesion, too much reliance, and the dwindling of secondary scores and confidence within those players. Not selling this stock until the end of at least next season.
it's the curse of having one *really good* player surrounded by an overflow of below-average ones. you wanna get the ball in your best players' hands, but the defense knows too, and your other players can't step up. it's not team basketball; it's wishing for good luck
I'd almost argue that we had players who were there and ready to step up when Bradley didn't play, like the style and team basketball fall into the trash can when he plays and I agree with the luck portion. Like a take a look in the part of the schedule where we beat Washington through beating Utah, Grant Anticevich was someone who was coming into his own along with Joel Brown, and now with Bradley back they've fallen off a cliff in terms of usage, efficiency, and confidence.
*scorers
Missed Brown. Hyder not good.
I think one of the bigger disappointments of the year has been JH, unfortunately. Hopefully he improves, whether it be the outside shot or minimizing turnovers...whatever - he seems like a hard worker and a good kid...they all do. Missing Brown definitely hurt, but he also is somewhat limited...fingers crossed for improvement from the point guard position bc any type of competitive jump depends upon better play from the floor general.
i'll give hyder a pass cuz he came in late, couldn't practice, and then got injured. i also think it was was a little overenthusiastic to think a freshman at fresno state averaging 9 points was going to fix our offensive problems.
*I also think that fox overhypes his own players to the media, leading to it being passed down to fans*
Well, he was practicing with the team, as much as any of the guys were at least, before getting a little banged up and missing a little time. Still, no one was asking him to fix the O problems...Bradley, Grant, AK, Betley & Foreman all were sharing the scoring load, plus he was behind Brown at the PG spot. Truth is, he has shown very little in his minutes so far.
I am admittedly guilty of having expectations of him being able to play at a level he may not yet be capable of playing at, and was super pissed when the NCAA initially (inexplicably)denied his waiver despite approving plenty others. However, players historically make their biggest jump between FR & SO campaigns, and after averaging 9 ppg as a true FR getting solid minutes for the Bulldogs, it was not overly optimistic to expect him to have a bigger impact at Cal once eligible. Perhaps the transfer up the highway in the pandemic hindered his development a bit, and maybe he sees that improvement his 2nd year in Berkeley...hopefully that’s the case bc right now he doesn’t shoot well, he doesn’t defend a lick, and he turns the ball over way too much.
That said, the whole team is scuffling, so it’s not all on him, and I definitely don’t mean to single him out. I hope he improves and can be a consistent player.