parentswerebears said:
SFCityBear said:
parentswerebears said:
Cal is only on the list because 5 billion years ago, before the modern game of basketball was invented, Cal won a championship.
Hopefully, Cal returns to that greatness and moves up the list.
The only reason the Cal made that list of the best P6 conference programs is that they won one championship? Obviously, whoever made the list has more knowledge of Cal basketball than that.
For openers, Cal men's basketball teams have won 14 Conference championships, which is the 3rd most in Conference history, behind UCLA and Arizona.
From 1957 through 1960, Cal teams overall were the most dominant in the country. They won 4 straight conference championships, went to 4 straight Elite Eights, two Final Fours, and two NCAA Championship games. In those 4 years, no other team in the country went to more than two Elite Eights. Only one other team in the country, Cincinnati, went to 2 Final Fours, and no other team in the country went to two NCAA Final games, in that 4 year stretch.
In 1957, Cal had lost 2 starters from a very good 1956 team, but they won the conference and went to the Elite 8
In 1958, Cal lost 4 starters from the 1957 Elite 8 team, but won the conference again, and again went to the Elite 8.
In 1959, Cal lost 3 starters from the 1958 Elite 8 team, but won the conference again, and went on to win the NCAA Championship.
In 1960, Cal lost 3 starters from the 1959 NCAA Championship team, but they won the conference again, and lost in the NCAA championship game to Ohio State, one of the greatest teams of all time, with Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek, Larry Siegfried, Joe Roberts, Mel Nowell, and Bobby Knight.
During those four years from 1957 to 1960, Cal had to win the conference to get an invitation to the NCAA Tournament, and Cal's main rival in the conference was UCLA, coached by none other than the great John Wooden. Cal's record vs UCLA and in those 4 years of 1957-1960 was 8 wins and one loss. John Wooden and UCLA would have to wait until 1964, 4 years after Pete Newell retired, to win their first NCAA Championship. UCLA would go on to win 9 more NCAA Championships under Wooden. One could say that if Pete Newell had not retired, John Wooden and UCLA might never have won an NCAA championship.
Cal has had several other very good basketball teams, and many very good basketball players.
Cal is one of the all-time great basketball programs, and has been influential in how the game has been played over the years.
Like I said- a billion years ago. Pretty much irrelevant now. We made a sweet sixteen in the last 1/2 century. That's it.
Why do you use the word "We"? It is obvious you are not one of us. if your are going to continue to denigrate Cal basketball history, you should try and learn it. Go back and look at the record. Cal made two sweet 16s in the last half century, not just one, and played very well both times. Once under Todd Bozeman, and then another one under Ben Braun.
And all you care about seems to be the NCAA tournament. The NCAA did not even become a respected tournament until the 1950s, and it was USF and Cal who put the NCAA on the map. Before that the NIT was considered the true National Championship. Before that, it was the NIT, because the NIT was invitational, guaranteeing the best field, while the NCAA was only conference champions. And it was UCLA who brought it into a real spectacle. And in the 1950s, all the NCAA tournament games were played on back-to-back nights, unlike today's candy-ass schedules for all college teams, who rarely play on back to back nights, even during the season.
The "modern game" is nothing more than the old game with some rule changes, to favor the offense and limit or handicap the defense, one to make one type of shot worth much more than other types of shots, allow the offensive player more freedom to move, and give him a wide open path the bucket. Tip the scales in favor of the offenses. A couple of new semi-circles painted on the floor. I guess it is designed to put more butts in the seats, more viewers of the tube. Many of the players will be paid to play now. If I want to watch players play for money, I will watch the pros.
Gone are the reasons basketball was allowed in college to begin with, to help mature the student, teach him respect, teamwork, character, etc. College basketball is all about money now. I have never witnessed an era in college basketball with so little teamwork, and I have never witnessed an era that had more injuries, many of them quite serious, ending careers and more. How in the world do players get injured so much now, with all they rules favoring the offensive player? College basketball has become little more than a way to get exposure, and draw interest from the pro teams, with the best players leaving after a year.
Why is it you and so many Cal basketball fans have no respect for Cal's past players and past teams which accomplished a lot in the sport they played? I don't hear UCLA fans ridiculing Kareem, or any fans trashing Bill Russell and what he did. The only reason I joined this forum years ago was to counter all the negative vibes here by so-called Cal fans toward Cal basketball of the past. I failed to move the needle.
Why is basketball the only sport where we ridicule players and teams of old and the games they played, in the era they played in? Why doesn't anyone here trash Willie Mays or Sandy Koufax or Ted Williams? Or teams of Will Clark or Jack Clark? Why don't we trash the old 49er teams of John Brodie, or the teams of Joe Montana. Why aren't the old track stars ridiculed? No one seems to ridicule Jesse Owens, or John Thomas, or Bob Hayes, when their records are long gone? Who bashes great golfers like Hogan or Snead, or Nicklaus or Palmer? Who trashes tennis stars like Tilden, Borg or Laver? I read here Cal fans denigrating our own Darrall Imhoff, for being slow, or because he was one of the defenders who defended against Wilt the night he scored 100. Darrall Imhoff was the most dominant center in college basketball for two seasons.
It is clear that all the sports have evolved and the athletes are bigger, stronger, faster, can jump higher, the fields and equipment are so much better, so what is the reason why you and many Cal fans have chosen to single out Cal's basketball teams and players of the past and what they accomplished for ridicule?
I remember a couple of years ago at the PAC12 basketball tournament, one obnoxious announcer stuck a microphone and the face of a spectator, Julius Erving, and asked, "Dr. J, the players of today are so athletic, were they better than players of your era?" Dr J. replied, "Well, they are very athletic, but we were not allowed to do all the things they are allowed to do."
I asked a friend who once played for Red Auerbach, did he like to watch basketball today? He said, "No, I don't watch anymore. They palm it, they carry it, and they charge. It is not the same game." If the fans get bored with modern basketball, the men who control the game will change some of the rules back to allowing some more defense. Players don't like to get scored upon. Rules change back and forth from one era to another, to favor offense or defense, and back again in basketball, baseball, and football. So enjoy the modern game while you can, because if history is any guide, they will change the rules back one day, and you will not be a happy camper.
SFCityBear