Bear8995 said:OK OK, Jones was really bad. Fox was a bad fit from the get go, but he did go 14-18 in his first season (then 9-20 (COVID season) and then 12-20 before his final disastrous season). So Fox's first season isn't all that different from Madsen's 13-17. Let's see how this season ends. If Madsen somehow manages to go 14-17, I would characterize that as slightly better than Fox's 12-20 (I'm disregarding the COVID season).HearstMining said:Too bad I can only give one star to a post. Yours deserves 87 stars! Madsen may be a disappointment, but he hasn't burned down the program the way Wyking and the MFer did. I'm convinced that Fox just ignored the parts of his job that he didn't feel like doing, betting that Knowlton didn't have the cajones or $$ to fire him.RedlessWardrobe said:I can go along with the majority of your post. But when you state that Madsen is a "slightly better version of Fox/Jones.." you miss the mark. Not because you underrate Madsen, but rather because you give Fox/Jones WAY too much credit.Bear8995 said:Cuonzo was terrible? Cuonzo got us a 4 or 5 seed in the tourney. I'd take that. How he left sucked but otherwise, his results were pretty good. He got Jalen Brown and Rabb to come to Cal. And I could be wrong but didn't one of his teams win all of its home games one season?barsad said:
Being the voice of reason in a Bear Insider thread is like whispering the alma mater on BART while it's going through the tunnel and hoping others will sing along, but I'll give it a try.
All the Madsen hate is unwarranted. Save it for a year from now if it looks like we'll have a third losing season. The guy gets three shots at this, that's the least we can do as fans given how many chances we gave the Axis of Terrible (Cuonzo-Wyking-Fox).
We're losing because the talent we thought we had isn't there. We're down two guys who should be starting (Omot and JOJ), and there is no floor leader. Our big men are small (metaphorically), and our shooters are…. what shooters?
This doesn't mean the season is doomed, just that a Zen-like patience is called for (we will win at least 6 more games, but stop dreaming of the postseason).
We will not win because Madsen calls a time out at X:XX instead of X:XX, or spends 5 more minutes talking to Dort about how to move your feet.
Ultimately he will pay the price if the team keeps up its losing ways, that's how coaching works. The only thing worse than watching Cal give up leads is reading a post that starts with: "I'm not an Xs and Os guy, BUT" … followed by a bunch of garbage on Xs and Os.
Fully admit I'm impatient. No f'ing way I'm going to be zen-like for sure. I know Madsen will get at least 3 years (likely many more) because people love his enthusiasm and he is a good guy. I will tell you that whatever enthusiasm I had for the program when he joined has pretty much gone way. I still go to almost every game but it is very, very tough to watch. We play so poorly prepared. I don't like it but I'm resigned to this reality.
Madsen needs to get better faster. I don't know. Maybe surround himself with guys who know what they are doing? There is a distinct pattern since he got here and that is LONG periods of not scoring. Happens in just about every game. Doesn't matter who the opponent is. Yes, other teams go through funks but the duration and frequency of their funks is much less than ours. There is a reason. Part of it is talent as you point out. But it isn't all of it. Keep in mind that Pitt was missing its leading scorer. Missouri was also missing a key player. And you can't tell me that we aren't more talented than Cornell and Furd. Those games were embarrassing.
Right now, Madsen is basically a slightly better version of Fox/Jones (slightly better recruiting and more alumni engagement and enthusiasm). I don't give a crap about him handing out pizzas on Sproul, or not swearing, or sounding positive on post-game interviews, or traveling to Asia, or schmoozing with donors. In fact, those things make me wonder whether he is focusing too much on PR and not enough on coaching. I want more Ws. Period.
In my mind, the season is pretty much doomed. No postseason as you point out. I would have loved for us to be slightly >.500 to show some progress and have some momentum for next season. NIT? Sure. I would have been satisfied (maybe even happy) with that at the beginning of the season. >6 wins out of the remaining 18 games? I sincerely hope so. That would put us at say 14-17 if we win 7 more games (we were 13-19 last season). A one game improvement over last season is pretty much doom in my opinion. The problem is, I don't see us winning 6 more games. Maybe 3-4. We're going backwards.
Curious as to why you think next season will be different. I want to believe. I really do.
+1. So far Madsen is looking like a nicer version of Fox.
