I had a conversation with a former Cal season ticket holder (basketball and football) of 35 years or more, and a former standout player in both sports, who has retired and moved to Nevada and no longer can attend games in person. My friend watches all the games on TV. He has a different take, a cynical view, and I don't agree with everything he said. I thought you might find it interesting, and I welcome your comments.
He felt Montgomery left because he was frustrated with coaching, and especially coaching last season's team. This was the first team in his memory of Montgomery at Cal where the team did not show improvement over the course of the season. He felt Montgomery, try as he would, could never get this team to play together. Gone were the plays that used to free Crabbe or Jorge to shoot from behind a double screen. The team was very inconsistent. My friend felt that Cobbs could never quite get into a successful point guard rhythm. Cobbs often tried to be too unselfish in the first half of games, and ended up almost disappearing, only to get fired up to win the game in the second half by scoring a lot himself. The team was not very successful in the half court, so Montgomery's strategy was to push the ball up the floor as quickly as possible, as often as possible, to try and score before the defense got set.
Montgomery tried to get his players to buy in, but they never fully did. Montgomery seemed to recruit players who did not respond to coaching. My friend said that Kravish is still afraid to shoot, and passes up way too many open shots, and he felt that Wallace, the team's worst perimeter shooter, took most of the threes. Bird and Mathews improved very little on defense. My friend does not like Ricky Kreklow at all. He thinks Ricky was not a very good player, and he felt that Kreklow was a disruptive force on the team, because he was not as good a player as Bird or Mathews, and he felt those players probably resented the fact that Montgomery insisted on playing Kreklow. He felt that Ricky played too out of control, often getting himself in foul trouble, or getting injured.
The last year had to be frustrating. Even Richard Solomon, whom Montgomery had finally convinced to become a post player, instead of a tall player dreaming of becoming a wing, even though he had greatly improved his post play, still had trouble keeping his head in the game for 35 minutes. In the previous season, Montgomery had become so frustrated that he shoved his star player Allen Crabbe in front of Cal fans at Haas and those watching on TV, just to get Crabbe's attention.
My friend felt that Montgomery just could not get players to do what he wanted, lost control of his team, and left out of frustration, without blaming anyone, his players, or himself.
:beer:
He felt Montgomery left because he was frustrated with coaching, and especially coaching last season's team. This was the first team in his memory of Montgomery at Cal where the team did not show improvement over the course of the season. He felt Montgomery, try as he would, could never get this team to play together. Gone were the plays that used to free Crabbe or Jorge to shoot from behind a double screen. The team was very inconsistent. My friend felt that Cobbs could never quite get into a successful point guard rhythm. Cobbs often tried to be too unselfish in the first half of games, and ended up almost disappearing, only to get fired up to win the game in the second half by scoring a lot himself. The team was not very successful in the half court, so Montgomery's strategy was to push the ball up the floor as quickly as possible, as often as possible, to try and score before the defense got set.
Montgomery tried to get his players to buy in, but they never fully did. Montgomery seemed to recruit players who did not respond to coaching. My friend said that Kravish is still afraid to shoot, and passes up way too many open shots, and he felt that Wallace, the team's worst perimeter shooter, took most of the threes. Bird and Mathews improved very little on defense. My friend does not like Ricky Kreklow at all. He thinks Ricky was not a very good player, and he felt that Kreklow was a disruptive force on the team, because he was not as good a player as Bird or Mathews, and he felt those players probably resented the fact that Montgomery insisted on playing Kreklow. He felt that Ricky played too out of control, often getting himself in foul trouble, or getting injured.
The last year had to be frustrating. Even Richard Solomon, whom Montgomery had finally convinced to become a post player, instead of a tall player dreaming of becoming a wing, even though he had greatly improved his post play, still had trouble keeping his head in the game for 35 minutes. In the previous season, Montgomery had become so frustrated that he shoved his star player Allen Crabbe in front of Cal fans at Haas and those watching on TV, just to get Crabbe's attention.
My friend felt that Montgomery just could not get players to do what he wanted, lost control of his team, and left out of frustration, without blaming anyone, his players, or himself.
:beer: