oskidunker;842293945 said:

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"We don't always play hard" I like Montgomery and am not in favor of changing coaches at this time.But when I discussed this response with another coach and asked him why this would be, he said, :"That's the coaches responsibility, isn't it"???

I am not sure we are not playing hard all the time. Maybe someone else with a clearer vision knows

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There is no point talking about a coaching change.

However, there is one person paid $millions to recruit, coach and motivate the team. They absolutely have to take responsibility.

As I see it, there are 3 primary reasons for the failure of this year's team:
1. Monty had a bad year coaching/motivating
2. Injuries at the 3 position
3. Chemistry issues that prevented the team from jelling.

Maybe a bit of each?

SonomaBear;842293977 said:

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As I see it, there are 3 primary reasons for the failure of this year's team:
1. Monty had a bad year coaching/motivating
2. Injuries at the 3 position
3. Chemistry issues that prevented the team from jelling.

Maybe a bit of each?

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Throw in "we had mediocre recruiting years 2, 3 and 4 years ago" and "we have too many players that can't shoot 3s or FTs very well".

The issue that bothered me most about this season was Bird's contributions after the injury. It never made since to me how a player that was our leading scorer (including 17 against Syracuse) before the injury, all of the sudden became a player that got spotty minutes and seemed to be valued as just a "minute eater".

I understand that his defense was not great but the argument that this is why he didn't play is illogical. It is not like he was a good defender before the injury (in the starting 5) and when he returned he was dramatically worse. In my opinion, Bird's lack of production falls directly on Monty. We could see flashes of his talent (first UCLA game) and then in the next game he would see very limited minutes. We all knew (Monty probably included) that in order for the team to be good this year, we needed significant contributions from Bird. And the lack of this is what cost us the opportunity to compete for a NCAA berth.

"In my opinion, Bird's lack of production falls directly on Monty."



Yes, I agree here.

btsktr;842294056 said:

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The issue that bothered me most about this season was Bird's contributions after the injury. It never made since to me how a player that was our leading scorer (including 17 against Syracuse) before the injury, all of the sudden became a player that got spotty minutes and seemed to be valued as just a "minute eater".

I understand that his defense was not great but the argument that this is why he didn't play is illogical. It is not like he was a good defender before the injury (in the starting 5) and when he returned he was dramatically worse. In my opinion, Bird's lack of production falls directly on Monty. We could see flashes of his talent (first UCLA game) and then in the next game he would see very limited minutes. We all knew (Monty probably included) that in order for the team to be good this year, we needed significant contributions from Bird. And the lack of this is what cost us the opportunity to compete for a NCAA berth.

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Yup. I don't think Monty did a very good job of handling Bird. That he thought TW, JM, and RK were somehow better options for the long term view of the season baffled me. I know Bird struggled after his return, but him being good was really our only shot of being the team we were capable of. I said before the season and even early on. He should have been given more of a chance to get back into the flow. Instead, Monty was likely blinded by some fool's gold games from the other guys.

btsktr;842294056 said:

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The issue that bothered me most about this season was Bird's contributions after the injury. It never made since to me how a player that was our leading scorer (including 17 against Syracuse) before the injury, all of the sudden became a player that got spotty minutes and seemed to be valued as just a "minute eater".

I understand that his defense was not great but the argument that this is why he didn't play is illogical. It is not like he was a good defender before the injury (in the starting 5) and when he returned he was dramatically worse. In my opinion, Bird's lack of production falls directly on Monty. We could see flashes of his talent (first UCLA game) and then in the next game he would see very limited minutes. We all knew (Monty probably included) that in order for the team to be good this year, we needed significant contributions from Bird. And the lack of this is what cost us the opportunity to compete for a NCAA berth.

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I suspect that Bird hadn't completely healed and that's why he didn't play as well after he came back. I recall thinking that the injury looked very severe when it occurred, so this makes sense to me and is a simple explanation for the outcome.

As for blaming the poor effort on Montgomery, it is certainly possible that he has some blame for this. But on the other hand, in my role over the years of leading a constantly changing team (albeit not an athletic one), I've sometimes had groups in which some individuals just didn't care enough or weren't motivated enough, no matter what I did. In some cases those individuals managed to influence the psychology of the whole group, with depressing results. These people were in other respects smart and capable. So who knows what went on with Bears this year? And what will happen next year?

concordtom;842293959 said:

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I am concerned this is the beginning of the end for Monty. He got by for a number of years without having big recruits. This year, his big recruit underperformed and so did his own motivational leadership. I have the feeling that the cupboard is getting bare, and he doesn't care. I know this doesn't necessarily make sense, but that is the sinking feeling in the back of my mind.

6 months ago, I posted a very different feeling, that Bird would be Crabbe 2.0 and we'd challenge for the conference title again, that Monty would be here another 4 or 5 years to bring his win totals up to the top of the pac12 lead, and become one of only a few head coaches to surpass 800 wins, that he'd then be elected to the HOF. The first didn't happen, and now everything else *feels* like it could cascade downward.

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Re. "got by without having big recruits". First, I assume you mean big as in highly rated, not big as in front court players. But he didn't get by without having the recruits, it's just that the price came this year. Bad recruiting classes don't have much effect the first year. Instead, they cause you trouble when those guys that you didn't get would have been the core of your team -- i.e. this year and next.

The worse part of this year was how the team failed to improve as the year went on. In 40+ years of watching Cal play mostly bad basketball, this was the first time I saw this. Yes, there were other bad teams that lost many more games but most played hard and competed. Other teams were derailed by injuries but the guys that were left sucked it up. This team at the start of the year looked quick, athletic and able to leap like no other Cal teams since the Ed Gray era. Sadly, they proceeded to continually miss defensive assignments, never block out on rebounds, brick shots with maddening consistency and, worse of all, not look like they came to play or were having any fun while playing. There must have been other things going on with the players/coaches that we have no knowledge about that led to this miasma at season's end.

bluepod;842294112 said:

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There must have been other things going on with the players/coaches that we have no knowledge about that led to this miasma at season's end.

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This.

Worse comparing two things

Worst comparing three or more

:gobears:

tsubamoto2001;842294073 said:

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Yup. I don't think Monty did a very good job of handling Bird. That he thought TW, JM, and RK were somehow better options for the long term view of the season baffled me. I know Bird struggled after his return, but him being good was really our only shot of being the team we were capable of. I said before the season and even early on. He should have been given more of a chance to get back into the flow. Instead, Monty was likely blinded by some fool's gold games from the other guys.

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Obviously, Monty's handling of Bird cannot qualify as brilliant. That said, JB got chances every game to show what he could do and regularly underwhelmed... on both ends of the court. It was the middle of the conference season, what're ya gonna do?

Bird needs to realize that a change of mindset is in order. Same ol', same ol', get-the-ankle-right, get-a-little-stronger, spend-the-summer-dazzling-in-the-Pro-Am isn't going to get him, ultimately, where he wants to be.

Ask DJ Seeley or Circus King.

The other thing I never understood is why we never tried to press teams this year. My dad is alum of SDSU, so I watch a lot of their games and it is amazing to watch what a good press does to teams. SDSU is also not that big like us but they have a 4 and 5 that above average athletically and press to use this to their advantage. Another benefit of pressing is that it can give you the opportunity to get easy baskets. SDSU is not a good shooting team similar to us, but they are able to get points from their press.

When watching SDSU you can see that not only does the press force turnovers but, it also forces the opponent to eat shot clock time and has "wearing" effect at end of the game. If done correctly it very rarely results in breakouts so, in my opinion has low risk but high reward.

There were times throughout the season where I was begging us to go into a press. Not only could it help us get out of a rut offensively but I also think when players press they naturally pick up the intensity.

This season was lost when little Richard sat out with the bruised labia. Set the tone for things to come.

AXLBear;842294202 said:

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bruised labia.

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HaHa. Nice.

btsktr;842294169 said:

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The other thing I never understood is why we never tried to press teams this year. My dad is alum of SDSU, so I watch a lot of their games and it is amazing to watch what a good press does to teams. SDSU is also not that big like us but they have a 4 and 5 that above average athletically and press to use this to their advantage. Another benefit of pressing is that it can give you the opportunity to get easy baskets. SDSU is not a good shooting team similar to us, but they are able to get points from their press.

When watching SDSU you can see that not only does the press force turnovers but, it also forces the opponent to eat shot clock time and has "wearing" effect at end of the game. If done correctly it very rarely results in breakouts so, in my opinion has low risk but high reward.

There were times throughout the season where I was begging us to go into a press. Not only could it help us get out of a rut offensively but I also think when players press they naturally pick up the intensity.

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In looking at our roster, I definitely think an approach like that would be great for next year's team.

btsktr;842294169 said:

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The other thing I never understood is why we never tried to press teams this year. My dad is alum of SDSU, so I watch a lot of their games and it is amazing to watch what a good press does to teams. SDSU is also not that big like us but they have a 4 and 5 that above average athletically and press to use this to their advantage. Another benefit of pressing is that it can give you the opportunity to get easy baskets. SDSU is not a good shooting team similar to us, but they are able to get points from their press.

When watching SDSU you can see that not only does the press force turnovers but, it also forces the opponent to eat shot clock time and has "wearing" effect at end of the game. If done correctly it very rarely results in breakouts so, in my opinion has low risk but high reward.

There were times throughout the season where I was begging us to go into a press. Not only could it help us get out of a rut offensively but I also think when players press they naturally pick up the intensity.

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Great idea. I remember John Wooden's full court presses at fUCLA. Very effective.

:beer: