tsubamoto2001;842820552 said:

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No disrespect, but none of these kids know who he is. He took a 57-win Denver team from George Karl and followed that up with 36 and 20 wins (Denver pulled the plug on him before the season ended) the next two seasons. Dude tried to run the triangle in Denver with a Pick N Roll PG. I guess people want to see him bring the Triangle to college hoops. Yeah, he's from Oakland, but so is Leon Powe. Let's get "The Show" to be our coach. I understand thinking outside the box, but...Brian Shaw? If the AD making this thing more complicated than it needs to be, then we're in trouble. Hire a good coach...that can recruit...that has West Coast ties or wouldn't mind being out here...that could deal with the Cal environment. It's not rocket science.

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+1

Uthaithani;842819774 said:

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That CSU Bakersfield coach is looking pretty good. Kicked Martin's behind twice at Haas.

I hope the Bozeman suggestion was a joke, because it should be.

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LOL, you thought Martin's offense was bad? Cal was rated 160. CSUB was 270!

I understand why people might have an issue with Randy Bennett based upon his violations a few years ago, but based upon his Xs and Os and recruiting.... I don't get the problem. St. Mary's looked pretty darn good in the first round and they beat an insanely athletic team (the kind of team we ALWAYS seem to have trouble with.) Clearly he is recruiting well enough to execute his vision very successfully.

They shot 56%..... in the tournament.

100x better than CM.

88Bear;842821070 said:

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I understand why people might have an issue with Randy Bennett based upon his violations a few years ago, but based upon his Xs and Os and recruiting.... I don't get the problem. St. Mary's looked pretty darn good in the first round and they beat an insanely athletic team (the kind of team we ALWAYS seem to have trouble with.) Clearly he is recruiting well enough to execute his vision very successfully.

They shot 56%..... in the tournament.

100x better than CM.

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Again, I don't question his x and os. I think he potentially would do great at that. The unknown/unproven is can he recruit at the P5 level because we are NOT getting to SS on the backs of aussies year in and year out while playing in the Pac12. And the big step that Bennet has to make is to be able to recruit SOME kids (not all but some) who will ask him flat out - "who have you placed in the league? Who do you know? How can you help my son develop his game over the next 12 months to get drafted in the first round?"

Again, we do not need to OUT recruit zona and ucla. We can not be at a tremendous talent deficit against them ALWAYS and except not to have at least 4 to 6 Ls in conference right out of the gate as we pencil in the season.

Strykur;842819799 said:

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Please, Few is not leaving unless he is paid a boatload. Tony Bennett? Why would come all the way back out here when he is settled in at Virginia, and can dominate the ACC once the old vanguard (Coach K, Roy Williams, Rick Pitino and Jim Boeheim) leave?

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He left his heart nearby.

ducky23;842820513 said:

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Shaw would be a coup. There's no doubt he will be able to recruit and he's a major upgrade X's and O's wise over cuonzo. The guy can coach. Plus, maybe he brings Theo with him as I believe they are both currently w the lakers.

If we had Shaw, I can't picture an Oakland recruit saying no to him.

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Don't see the evidence that Shaw is a good coach. He could probably recruit well but seems high risk otherwise.

510Bear;842820579 said:

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Careful with that suggestion. Cal might decide to have Lindsay Gottlieb coach both teams to save money.

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Hire Tara and let her coach both teams

BearDevil;842819797 said:

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Would call Few and Tony Bennett first.

Bryce Drew and Tom Crean next, followed by Gates, Turner, and Amaker.

Like Cuonzo, but insane for Mizzou to have him at the top of their list and pay him that much. Just jacked up the price for the Illinois job and will need a bigger splash than Cuonzo.

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That's a pretty unrealistic list.

Billy Bob;842821153 said:

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That's a pretty unrealistic list.

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Back to rub it in, huh? Whatever. I'll leave it at that before I say something mean.

philbert;842820531 said:

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This link said he got paid $2.575M in 2016 as a base salary.

http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/mens-basketball/coach/

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School and Salt Lake Tribune say $2.4 base. Does it matter? He is out of Cal's price range. Two thoughts: Martin is making Izzo type money. I know who I would take. Second, Sean Miller is insanely overpaid. Maybe that changes if the Cats go to championship game.

socaltownie;842821112 said:

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Again, I don't question his x and os. I think he potentially would do great at that. The unknown/unproven is can he recruit at the P5 level because we are NOT getting to SS on the backs of aussies year in and year out while playing in the Pac12. And the big step that Bennet has to make is to be able to recruit SOME kids (not all but some) who will ask him flat out - "who have you placed in the league? Who do you know? How can you help my son develop his game over the next 12 months to get drafted in the first round?"

Again, we do not need to OUT recruit zona and ucla. We can not be at a tremendous talent deficit against them ALWAYS and except not to have at least 4 to 6 Ls in conference right out of the gate as we pencil in the season.

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Matthew Dellavedova & Patty Mills and each have NBA championship rings.

How about Steve Prohm at Iowa State who makes about $1.2M.

Getting Bennett from St Mary's could potentially land us the next Aussie superstar recruit in 6-4 PG Angus Glover. Glover is also a teammate of current Cal commit Grant Anticevich on the New South Wales U-20 team and a possible member of the Aussie national team at the next Olympics.

https://pickandroll.com.au/angus-glover-selected-nike-hoop-summit/

socaltownie;842821112 said:

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Again, I don't question his x and os. I think he potentially would do great at that. The unknown/unproven is can he recruit at the P5 level because we are NOT getting to SS on the backs of aussies year in and year out while playing in the Pac12. And the big step that Bennet has to make is to be able to recruit SOME kids (not all but some) who will ask him flat out - "who have you placed in the league? Who do you know? How can you help my son develop his game over the next 12 months to get drafted in the first round?"

Again, we do not need to OUT recruit zona and ucla. We can not be at a tremendous talent deficit against them ALWAYS and except not to have at least 4 to 6 Ls in conference right out of the gate as we pencil in the season.

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BearBackerinLA;842821059 said:

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NO to Lavin. Sorry Lavs, peddle your BS elsewhere.

GoCalBears;842821179 said:

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Matthew Dellavedova & Patty Mills and each have NBA championship rings.

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Fair enough. I had forgotten that Mills had stuck.

It definately has upside. I guess one thing that we shouldn't presume prima facia is that the Australian school system is the cats meow and would generate hordes of automatic academic qualifiers. Easy probably though to figure out....and the pipeline to St. Mary's suggests that Bennet CAN go out and develop relationships to open up recruiting pipelines. His challenge (either place) is that it is always hard to maintain first mover position. If Angus Glover is the next best thing you would have to figure Coach K can make an international call with the best of them as the world shrinks and becomes ever smaller. Current success today is no guarantee for the future.

Bennett landed 2016 PG Jordan Ford, who has offers from Cal and USC. I vaguely recall his name being discussed on here a couple years ago.

Does anyone know what Bennett makes? I think that will really be determinant as to whether he's a viable candidate.

Does Bennett ever recruit African Americans? I think that might be an issue at Cal. It looks like there's only one on the entire roster at St. Mary's.

bearsandgiants;842821208 said:

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Does Bennett ever recruit African Americans? I think that might be an issue at Cal. It looks like there's only one on the entire roster at St. Mary's.

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On the surface St. Mary's would be an extremely difficult place to recruit many California studdents to who were coming from communities far different than Moraga. Because in America, Race is correlated with geographic affluence that probably explains some. I know if I am doing due dilligence on Bennet (and thus I have no confidence on the AD office doing it) I am calling up the Oakland Soldier's leadership and chatting about Bennet's rep. on the West side of the coastal crest. If he hasn't built a relationship (or it is a poor one) big red flag. Again, it is just hard to see us winning if the Rabbs, Gordons and Ashleys of the world all go to Zona and Ucla.

bearsandgiants;842821208 said:

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Does Bennett ever recruit African Americans? I think that might be an issue at Cal. It looks like there's only one on the entire roster at St. Mary's.

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Less than 1% of the population of Australia is black. That's surely a factor.

socaltownie;842821211 said:

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On the surface St. Mary's would be an extremely difficult place to recruit many California studdents to who were coming from communities far different than Moraga. Because in America, Race is correlated with geographic affluence that probably explains some. I know if I am doing due dilligence on Bennet (and thus I have no confidence on the AD office doing it) I am calling up the Oakland Soldier's leadership and chatting about Bennet's rep. on the West side of the coastal crest. If he hasn't built a relationship (or it is a poor one) big red flag. Again, it is just hard to see us winning if the Rabbs, Gordons and Ashleys of the world all go to Zona and Ucla.

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Agreed. But Cal will never get a roster full of Oakland Soldiers players. Various reasons obviously. But they can get some of them. Add in a few Internationals and next tier players and you can compete at a very high level. JMO but Pasternak of the mostly often mentioned candidates seems to have the best chance of providing the right mix of players. I understand the various reasons some may not want Joe, but Cal really is not in a good place to find somebody much better. Every candidate they will look into will have some sort of baggage. If his incident with Jorge is the biggest impediment to his hiring among some then I think it may be shortsighted. Is Joe a good enough coach? Don't know. I am not advocating Pasternak as much as looking at every potential candidates strengths and weaknesses. If recruiting ties are important (I think they are) then Pasternak may have the upper hand for this job if he wants it. Of course you just never know for sure what Cal and MW may value more. I personally am not a fan of Musselman. The combo of Gates/Theo/Shaw in some form likely will be seen as a positive by many. It could work, but will be less likely IMO to work well in the more near term.

If Cal is going to go the way CHF has described in another thread then just hire Jim Les or Russ Turner and move on. No sense in looking for any coach that may have ambition beyond being occasionally good but mostly an NIT level team that pulls decent year every 4 or so seasons.

6956bear;842821216 said:

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Agreed. But Cal will never get a roster full of Oakland Soldiers players. Various reasons obviously. But they can get some of them. Add in a few Internationals and next tier players and you can compete at a very high level. JMO but Pasternak of the mostly often mentioned candidates seems to have the best chance of providing the right mix of players. I understand the various reasons some may not want Joe, but Cal really is not in a good place to find somebody much better. Every candidate they will look into will have some sort of baggage. If his incident with Jorge is the biggest impediment to his hiring among some then I think it may be shortsighted. Is Joe a good enough coach? Don't know. I am not advocating Pasternak as much as looking at every potential candidates strengths and weaknesses. If recruiting ties are important (I think they are) then Pasternak may have the upper hand for this job if he wants it. Of course you just never know for sure what Cal and MW may value more. I personally am not a fan of Musselman. The combo of Gates/Theo/Shaw in some form likely will be seen as a positive by many. It could work, but will be less likely IMO to work well in the more near term.

If Cal is going to go the way CHF has described in another thread then just hire Jim Les or Russ Turner and move on. No sense in looking for any coach that may have ambition beyond being occasionally good but mostly an NIT level team that pulls decent year every 4 or so seasons.

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I wish there was a magic way to disagregate Josh P from Arizona to understand how much is responsible for how much recruiting prowness.

Interesting observation I had forgotten about. Bennet and Romar worked together (Tony as an assistant) back at Pepperdine.

I have a warm feeling about Bennet with Romar on the Bench and helping with recruiting.

bearsandgiants;842821208 said:

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Does Bennett ever recruit African Americans? I think that might be an issue at Cal. It looks like there's only one on the entire roster at St. Mary's.

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My guess is very few African Americans have ever gone to St. Mary's. It's a tiny Catholic school in the middle of the woods.

If Bennett was to get the job, I would hope he would hire a diverse coaching staff though.

Saint Marys has a great basketball tradition with players like Leroy Doss, Gene Womack and Phil Hart, to name a few, in the late 1950's...guys who teamed with white players like Tom Meschery and the Dold brothers (Jack and Bobby).

Saint Marys was a Navy pre-flight school during WW-II and athletes from all places (and Universities) were enrolled on that beautiful little campus. Saint Mary's pre-flight had a considerable athletic reputation playing against some of the big boys...Cal, Stanford, Santa Clara and USF.

When Coach Bruce Hale (Rick Berry's father-in-law) arrived from Miami U in the early 1970's there were great players like Herman Brown, Nate Carroll, and Maurice Harper. Coach Hale left, and succession of Coaches...Frank LaPorte, Bill Oates (remember Jon Wheeler?), Lynn Nance (25-5 in 1988), Paul Landreaux, Ernie Kent (Yes, that one...23-8 in 1997), Dave Bollwinkle, and in 2001 Randy Bennett. And the Gaels have thrived ever since...all shapes, all sizes and colors, and all religious denominations.

Go Gaels and thrive!

6956bear;842821216 said:

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If his incident with Jorge is the biggest impediment to his hiring among some then I think it may be shortsighted.

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Shortsighted? Really? Really?

Lets just for a second ignore the fact that he kicked one of Cal's most beloved players of all time (which is enough to hate him).

What really bothers me about the guy is his character. Sometimes a person's true character is revealed in moments of instant reactions. You don't have time to think, and your natural reactions take over.

Now watch the video again. Jorge, completely unintentionally, falls on or near Pasternack. This is a basketball play seen a million times before. Players fall into the first row. Its something completely expected.

Now watch Pasternack's reaction. Not only does he kick Jorge, but he has this look of complete disgust on his face (as if Jorge had the temerity to even land close to him), and then he mouths off on him. I mean, what the F? What was his problem? People fall into the stands all the time. Why did Pasternack take it so personal? Why was he so upset?

Now watch the video again. Jorge falls into both Miller and Pasternack. Miller (who is not really known for being the most high character of guys) tries to catch Jorge. Pasternack tries to kick him and then yells at Jorge. Miller actually tries to then break it up. While Pasternack keeps yelling at Jorge. I mean, if you are a coach, and even if an opposing player is yelling at you, you have a duty to be the bigger person and you don't yell back. (Lets not forget that in this instance Pasternack was the instigator to begin with).

Miller is a sleazeball, but that's how you want your HC to react in that situation. You either get out of the way or try to catch the player who is falling. And rather than instigating a fight with an opposing player, you try to break it up. You don't kick a player for falling on you and then yell at them afterwards. Character. He doesn't have it. I don't want him anywhere near our basketball program. And I promise you, it will never happen. Never. So hopefully we can stop talking about Pasternack even being an option.

Bennett has a really white team right now, but he's had plenty of African-Americans and non-whites come through his program. I mean he's been there for 16 years, so of course. Don't people here remember Diamon Simpson, Wayne Hunter, Omar Samhan, Brad Waldow, etc.? Obviously, he'd still have the Aussie pipeline at his disposal, but I don't think he'd stock the entire roster with them. Fact is, Cal is Cal and recruits at a different level than a SMC, which he'd likely take advantage of.

ducky23, I agree with everything you wrote about Pasternack. It is not as though he has ever indicated contrition for his rather deplorable behavior in that stunning and terrible instance.

I have major concerns with Randy Bennett, mostly because he presents a very unique set of questions. I get that all potential coaches are going to have question marks. But his question marks are unique and thus, in my mind, a little harder to answer.

1. As discussed already, can this guy recruit outside of Australia? Does he only recruit Australia because he's at St. Mary's? Would he only recruit Australia if at Cal? Can he relate to kids who may come from more diverse backgrounds? Can he recruit locally? We just don't know the answer to any of these questions, which scares the crap out of me.

2. If Australia becomes our main recruiting area, what happens if that area starts drying up? What happens when every other school starts developing in-roads into that area and starts taking those recruits? (this will happen eventually). What happens then?

3. If we just recruit white guys, can that win in a power 5 conference? Sure, that can work at a midmajor. But every night, we would be facing a team with way more athleticism. Can we make up the difference with superior execution, experience and skill? I don't know. Does a team like St Mary's have any chance beating an elite athletic team like Arizona, UCLA or Oregon?

4. If Bennett did start bringing in more athletic players, will those types of players even fit in his system? Again, Bennett's offense relies on execution, experience and skill. If you start bringing in one and done guys (which you need to do to compete at the highest level), will these guys be able to learn his offense quick enough? Would they have the right type of skillset?

Bennett's recruiting philosophy and offensive schemes are perfectly suited for a midmajor. Can these same philosophies be successful at the next level? if no, Can Bennett make the necessary adjustments to be able to compete at the next level? I just don't know.

south bender;842821254 said:

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ducky23, I agree with everything you wrote about Pasternack. It is not as though he has ever indicated contrition for his rather deplorable behavior in that stunning and terrible instance.

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Honestly, I could care less about the Jorge incident. It was long ago and I can write it off as competitive instincts boiling over somewhat inappropriately. Not a big deal for me. Instead, I oppose hiring him because I've met him several times and just think he's a world class jagoff and punk extraordinaire. No way would I proud of a guy like that representing the school. Working alongside Sean Miller leads me to think he's probably a bit shady too and he definitely comes across that way in person.

89Bear;842819737 said:

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Who do people think would be on a list of potential Bear coaches?

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Dennis Gates and Theo Robertson are getting the most mention for obvious reasons.

I suppose Tom Crean should get thrown into the mix.

Eric Musselman has been mentioned by.....another blog I can't name here. Brian Shaw was also mentioned by that blog.

Randy Bennett and Mark Few will get the obligatory mention.

I don't know that we could afford him, but Greg McDermott might want to make the jump from a mid-Major to a major conference team.

ducky23;842821255 said:

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I have major concerns with Randy Bennett, mostly because he presents a very unique set of questions. I get that all potential coaches are going to have question marks. But his question marks are unique and thus, in my mind, a little harder to answer.

1. As discussed already, can this guy recruit outside of Australia? Does he only recruit Australia because he's at St. Mary's? Would he only recruit Australia if at Cal? Can he relate to kids who may come from more diverse backgrounds? Can he recruit locally? We just don't know the answer to any of these questions, which scares the crap out of me.

2. If Australia becomes our main recruiting area, what happens if that area starts drying up? What happens when every other school starts developing in-roads into that area and starts taking those recruits? (this will happen eventually). What happens then?

3. If we just recruit white guys, can that win in a power 5 conference? Sure, that can work at a midmajor. But every night, we would be facing a team with way more athleticism. Can we make up the difference with superior execution, experience and skill? I don't know. Does a team like St Mary's have any chance beating an elite athletic team like Arizona, UCLA or Oregon?

4. If Bennett did start bringing in more athletic players, will those types of players even fit in his system? Again, Bennett's offense relies on execution, experience and skill. If you start bringing in one and done guys (which you need to do to compete at the highest level), will these guys be able to learn his offense quick enough? Would they have the right type of skillset?

Bennett's recruiting philosophy and offensive schemes are perfectly suited for a midmajor. Can these same philosophies be successful at the next level? if no, Can Bennett make the necessary adjustments to be able to compete at the next level? I just don't know.

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Thanks for this. Definitely food for thought.

TheSouseFamily;842821258 said:

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Honestly, I could care less about the Jorge incident. It was long ago and I can write it off as competitive instincts boiling over somewhat inappropriately. Not a big deal for me. Instead, I oppose hiring him because I've met him several times and just think he's a world class jagoff and punk extraordinaire. No way would I proud of a guy like that representing the school. Working alongside Sean Miller leads me to think he's probably a bit shady too and he definitely comes across that way in person.

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He's done nothing to be considered for the job other than being buddy-buddy with some boosters. There's not even any sentimental reason to give him a look like there is with Gates.

I have to think there are a few names that are off the radar or that have not been mentioned frequently.

SoFlaBear;842821259 said:

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Dennis Gates and Theo Robertson are getting the most mention for obvious reasons.

I suppose Tom Crean should get thrown into the mix.

Eric Musselman has been mentioned by.....another blog I can't name here. Brian Shaw was also mentioned by that blog.

Randy Bennett and Mark Few will get the obligatory mention.

I don't know that we could afford him, but Greg McDermott might want to make the jump from a mid-Major to a major conference team.

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Cal isn't the place for failed and fired coaches to resurrect their careers. So no Lavin, no Crean. If we were coming off a 7-23 season, they'd get consideration, maybe.

McDermott was at Iowa State and soft landed at Creighton.

SoFlaBear;842821259 said:

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Dennis Gates and Theo Robertson are getting the most mention for obvious reasons.

I suppose Tom Crean should get thrown into the mix.

Eric Musselman has been mentioned by.....another blog I can't name here. Brian Shaw was also mentioned by that blog.

.

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My dream scenario is Brian Shaw with Theo as his top assistant. You're basically getting a 2 for 1. Its like the best of both worlds for those who want either Theo or Gates (cause the main concern with either of those are experience right? So with Shaw at the helm, you have someone with vast experience showing Theo the ropes and once Theo is ready, he can take over once Shaw inevitably moves on.

And before you say, 'why would theo want to come to just be an assistant', why wouldn't he? Theo already has a relationship with Shaw (they are currently on the same staff). And I'm sure its appealing for Theo to come home (not just to Cal, but remember he's originally from the bay area). And he would probably know that he would be next in line once shaw leaves.

ducky23;842821245 said:

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Shortsighted? Really? Really?

Lets just for a second ignore the fact that he kicked one of Cal's most beloved players of all time (which is enough to hate him).

What really bothers me about the guy is his character. Sometimes a person's true character is revealed in moments of instant reactions. You don't have time to think, and your natural reactions take over.

Now watch the video again. Jorge, completely unintentionally, falls on or near Pasternack. This is a basketball play seen a million times before. Players fall into the first row. Its something completely expected.

Now watch Pasternack's reaction. Not only does he kick Jorge, but he has this look of complete disgust on his face (as if Jorge had the temerity to even land close to him), and then he mouths off on him. I mean, what the F? What was his problem? People fall into the stands all the time. Why did Pasternack take it so personal? Why was he so upset?

Now watch the video again. Jorge falls into both Miller and Pasternack. Miller (who is not really known for being the most high character of guys) tries to catch Jorge. Pasternack tries to kick him and then yells at Jorge. Miller actually tries to then break it up. While Pasternack keeps yelling at Jorge. I mean, if you are a coach, and even if an opposing player is yelling at you, you have a duty to be the bigger person and you don't yell back. (Lets not forget that in this instance Pasternack was the instigator to begin with).

Miller is a sleazeball, but that's how you want your HC to react in that situation. You either get out of the way or try to catch the player who is falling. And rather than instigating a fight with an opposing player, you try to break it up. You don't kick a player for falling on you and then yell at them afterwards. Character. He doesn't have it. I don't want him anywhere near our basketball program. And I promise you, it will never happen. Never. So hopefully we can stop talking about Pasternack even being an option.

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And there is another video. Watch Miller Bush league call TO in the conference semi-final against UCLA. The other Zona coaches look embarassed. Josh P. is yucking it up like it is HYSTERICAL.

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=18881203

Watching it again he is the one that starts signaling. Seriously. People want HIM to represent Cal??????