Of course there are probably many reasons why Montgomery chose to retire now. It was interesting to listen to his press conference, and he did have a couple of thoughts about the game of basketball as it is being played and coached today.

I'm paraphrasing, but Montgomery spoke of the fact that the game has changed to where today coaches don't seem to be teaching much. They seem satisfied just to go out and try to get the best athletes available and just win with that, and it has worked for many of them. He said that he is a teacher.

He also spoke of his time on the NCAA rules committee, and his philosophy was never to make a rule that gave an advantage to the offense or the defense, that is never to favor one over the other. He then mentioned the new hand check rule, and how it gives great advantage to the offense, which he felt was wrong. This made playing and coaching defense harder on players and coach.

So when a sport changes so much that some of your coaching skills aren't needed as much, and other skills are needed more, maybe skills you don't find very satisfying, and when major rules are put in place to make it harder to coach the way you want, perhaps you lose some of your enthusiasm to continue coaching. I believe that if he didn't think of now having to recruit better players and not do much teaching, along with rule changes that affected his style of defense were factors in his decision, I doubt he would have mentioned them.

I'm sad for Cal, for the team, and for the fans. We are losing a class act.

:Monty

Interesting take, SFCB.

However, in my reading of his comments what stands out is Monty's sense that the end is nigh for him in this high pressure, high energy profession. He feels he can still do it, but wants to retire before he cannot meet his own standards.

I am deeply saddened by this, yet another example of the finitude of all of us.

SFCityBear;842299863 said:

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Of course there are probably many reasons why Montgomery chose to retire now. It was interesting to listen to his press conference, and he did have a couple of thoughts about the game of basketball as it is being played and coached today.

I'm paraphrasing, but Montgomery spoke of the fact that the game has changed to where today coaches don't seem to be teaching much. They seem satisfied just to go out and try to get the best athletes available and just win with that, and it has worked for many of them. He said that he is a teacher.

He also spoke of his time on the NCAA rules committee, and his philosophy was never to make a rule that gave an advantage to the offense or the defense, that is never to favor one over the other. He then mentioned the new hand check rule, and how it gives great advantage to the offense, which he felt was wrong. This made playing and coaching defense harder on players and coach.

So when a sport changes so much that some of your coaching skills aren't needed as much, and other skills are needed more, maybe skills you don't find very satisfying, and when major rules are put in place to make it harder to coach the way you want, perhaps you lose some of your enthusiasm to continue coaching. I believe that if he didn't think of now having to recruit better players and not do much teaching, along with rule changes that affected his style of defense were factors in his decision, I doubt he would have mentioned them.

I'm sad for Cal, for the team, and for the fans. We are losing a class act.

:Monty

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Agree this is an interesting take. I would also think that his frustration with recruiting and the role AAU "advisors" moving top players away from "old school" coaches was troubling to Monty, and I do know he particularly hated the one and done rule and the consequences it had for recruiting.

Yes - good take. Agree - Monty in part felt like the game was moving away from him.

In other words, had Monty been a nun, more than a few of his players would have been slapped on the wrist with a ruler, smacked on the back of the head with the back of the ring finger, and lifted up by the top of the ear....and as a result probably have been Dancing this year.

I think Monty changed his defense due to the new hand check rule

He moved to use more switching in early Pac12 games. This worked initially as maybe it caught them by surprise, but later teams were ready for it, and burned us.

He was forced out of using switching later in the conference slate

SFCityBear;842299863 said:

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Of course there are probably many reasons why Montgomery chose to retire now. It was interesting to listen to his press conference, and he did have a couple of thoughts about the game of basketball as it is being played and coached today.

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I think more than anything else, he's a tired old man to which he's entitled.

And, until you've become a tired old man, a factor that is difficult to appreciate.

Well, this could be a problem for college coaches moving to the next level where inflated egos and the big salaries are paid for entertainment disguised as "sport". I'm very sympathetic to Coach Monty, but isn't "change" part of the college game, too? Rule makers are not always clear-thinking, but that's part of American life---work, profession, technology, etc. We try to understand and chose to get aboard and participate or not.

On the other hand there comes the time when we decide to move on or adjust otherwise. He won't "retire". He has made a decision to play a different role and I am very certain he will be very good and successful at it. He has a lot to offer.

SFCityBear;842299863 said:

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Of course there are probably many reasons why Montgomery chose to retire now. It was interesting to listen to his press conference, and he did have a couple of thoughts about the game of basketball as it is being played and coached today.

I’m paraphrasing, but Montgomery spoke of the fact that the game has changed to where today coaches don’t seem to be teaching much. They seem satisfied just to go out and try to get the best athletes available and just win with that, and it has worked for many of them. He said that he is a teacher.

He also spoke of his time on the NCAA rules committee, and his philosophy was never to make a rule that gave an advantage to the offense or the defense, that is never to favor one over the other. He then mentioned the new hand check rule, and how it gives great advantage to the offense, which he felt was wrong. This made playing and coaching defense harder on players and coach.

So when a sport changes so much that some of your coaching skills aren’t needed as much, and other skills are needed more, maybe skills you don’t find very satisfying, and when major rules are put in place to make it harder to coach the way you want, perhaps you lose some of your enthusiasm to continue coaching. I believe that if he didn’t think of now having to recruit better players and not do much teaching, along with rule changes that affected his style of defense were factors in his decision, I doubt he would have mentioned them.

I’m sad for Cal, for the team, and for the fans. We are losing a class act.

:Monty

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Good post. He was/is a good coach, but like every good coach before him, eventually it was time for him to retire.

On a similar note, hiring Howland (or Bobby Knight) based on their past success at winning games under different rules and standards of behavior at different schools would be a mistake. The new hire needs to be able to be successful at Cal under the current (and future) realities of college basketball. Recruiting will be key. There is still room for teachers, but teaching styles have changed too. The old school authoritarian/disciplinarian style is a bad fit for modern athletes and for Cal student-athletes in particular.