Great start for the Bears, not just the win but how they looked and played! Fox seems to have Monty's skill for getting the most out of his players.

And I too never understood the "sky is falling" response to the hire of Fix or the incessant whining about the search method.

It is certainly early but couldn't have a better start!

Go Bears!

Attacking every possession. No weave .

oskidunker said:

---

Attacking every possession. No weave .

---

I saw some weave in the first half but it didn't last more than about 3 passes. I don't remember any in the second.

Haters are going to hate.

Unbelievable that the weave or no weave is an indication of better coaching

Monty used the weave and I see it from other teams too

We might see Fox use it too

It's only the first game!

The mindless weave until the shot clock expired and a heave from 25 feet by Harrison Dyson was nor fun to watch.

I am happily eating crow this morning, and profusely apologize to the team, the fans, alumni, and especially coach Fox. From the first few minutes of action, you could tell what a difference he was making. The kids played with confidence. He clearly got more out of them than anyone could have expected. And unlike our football program, he's able to make lemonade out of a sour situation by rotating just about EVERYBODY into the game. Not only does this build depth and confidence, but it's a brilliant strategy to wear out other teams by constantly rotating in fresh bodies. It's what a good coach does with a limited staff. It's what Wilcox and company should do. And the only way you can actually do that is if everybody knows their role and is coached up to their max abilities. Bottom line, this was an incredible first look for coach Fox, and I'm now excited about the season.

calfanz said:

---

90% of the fan base after the Fox hire were completely pissed. It's only a game i know, but this team has less talent and played much better than we've seen in a long time.

We will have major set backs on our way to respectability, but really, everyone here should realize we know less than the AD, and (OMG) less than the search firm on the best Coach for the Cal Bears.


Now....get out to the games, yell your a$$es off, and open your wallets.

#votewithyourfeet

#votewithyourwallet

---

I think it was 90% of the posts, not 90% of the fan base, I would also suggest that there was significant disappointment in the reflection of the process by what little media (semi-professional and social) still follows CalmBball.

But I'm 90% behind you calfanz. I enjoyed last nights game at Haas more than any other in the last few seasons. Respectability and hope is coming back (or is here).

NVBear78 said:

---

And I too never understood the "sky is falling" response to the hire of Fix...

---

Probably because it was never a thing. All the Fox hire complaints I read on this board had to do with Cal settling for mediocricy rather than the sky falling. I'm pretty sure everyone understood the Bears would improve from the rock bottom under Fox.

Civil Bear said:

---

NVBear78 said:

---

And I too never understood the "sky is falling" response to the hire of Fix...

---

Probably because it was never a thing. All the Fox hire complaints I read on this board had to do with Cal settling for mediocricy rather than the sky falling. I'm pretty sure everyone understood the Bears would improve from the rock bottom under Fox.

---

Exactly. I don't recall anyone concerned with Fox's floor, the concern is with his ceiling, which won't be evident for a while.

That said, he's the coach now and I agree we should all support the program.

KoreAmBear said:

---

I wouldn't count anything yet, but loved what I saw.

It still doesn't absolve Knowlton for the disaster few weeks he had 1) almost retaining Wyking then firing him when basically forced to do so, 2) not being prepared in finding a replacement, yet 3) rushing to hire Fox when there was no need to rush as Fox wasn't exactly in great demand. I still maintain that it was still the right thing to do to hire Travis.

Then you had opening speech-gate. That was more about Cal marketing than Fox. Why in the world would you post that uninspiring if not depressing clip?

That said I think we all knew that pretty much anyone that has some head experience coaching men's basketball would be better than Wyking.

The thing that made me first warm up to him was first the strong staff he built. Second was the reclamation job he did in keeping kids like Bradley and Brown then filling the class with probably the best anyone could do under the circumstances.

Still, the worry was that he was more about D than O so my picture was Ben Braun. If we were getting Ben, I would have preferred Travis who I thought at the time of hire to have more upside.

But it's apparent that Fox may be a bit better than Ben and he has instilled structure back to Cal men's hoops. However it's one game. While I love Wilcox, it was too early last year or this year at points when we were playing well to hear "he is the right fit for Cal." Wilcox hasn't put an above average season together yet. Even more so for Fox after just one game over a decent but underwhelming mid-major, yet the type of mid-majors we would be losing to last season.

So I'd not proclaim that Knowlton or you or anyone who actually thought Fox was a better hire than Travis should be declared the victor just yet. Or that someone has been found to be a loser for not liking the hire.

However, now that he IS our coach, I want to be as supportive as I can, and I can see that he can clearly coach. I also have a special place in my heart for kids like Bradley, Brown, DJ and Kelly would could have easily found opportunities elsewhere yet stayed or remained committed. I think because of that when the winning comes around (hopefully) it will be all that sweeter. I'm just looking forward to seeing the program rise out of the ashes and for Haas to rock again.

---

Agree with all of this. I've been around the block too many times to get overly hyped early on, but it was nice to finally have a Cal MBB game that was enjoyable to watch. So add that to the other good things we've seen from Fox and so far I'm pleasantly surprised.

Not enough to undo the "unpleasantly surprised" feeling about the trajectory of football, but it's nice.

Thanks all for great posts


Here's a crazy morsel. The last time Cal beat a top 125 team by double digits was nearly THREE years ago January 2017!!

KoreAmBear said:

---

calfanz said:

---

Thanks all for great posts


Here's a crazy morsel. The last time Cal beat a top 125 team by double digits was nearly THREE years ago January 2017!!

---

Can you imagine had we kept Wyking? We would have lost last night.

---

Duh.

KoreAmBear said:

---

calfanz said:

---

Thanks all for great posts


Here's a crazy morsel. The last time Cal beat a top 125 team by double digits was nearly THREE years ago January 2017!!

---

Can you imagine had we kept Wyking? We would have lost last night.

---

Yeah, but no one would have seen it.

UrsaMajor said:

---

KoreAmBear said:

---

calfanz said:

---

Thanks all for great posts


Here's a crazy morsel. The last time Cal beat a top 125 team by double digits was nearly THREE years ago January 2017!!

---

Can you imagine had we kept Wyking? We would have lost last night.

---

Duh.

---

And the guys who left still would have left, like when he was hired, the basis being the first time that we wanted to keep players and the recruiting class together (fool me once...). I'm really glad the parents/players or whoever it was that rushed Knowlton finally shook him to his senses. Knowlton was about to just let it slide. Ugh.

bluesaxe said:

---

KoreAmBear said:

---

calfanz said:

---

Thanks all for great posts


Here's a crazy morsel. The last time Cal beat a top 125 team by double digits was nearly THREE years ago January 2017!!

---

Can you imagine had we kept Wyking? We would have lost last night.

---

Yeah, but no one would have seen it.

---

LOL unless they were giving away bobbleheads.

KoreAmBear said:

---

...So I'd not proclaim that Knowlton or you or anyone who actually thought Fox was a better hire than Travis should be declared the victor just yet....

---

Just like Mr. Wolf said, "Let's not start sucking....quite yet."

calfanz said:

---

90% of the fan base after the Fox hire were completely pissed. It's only a game i know, but this team has less talent and played much better than we've seen in a long time.

We will have major set backs on our way to respectability, but really, everyone here should realize we know less than the AD, and (OMG) less than the search firm on the best Coach for the Cal Bears.


Now....get out to the games, yell your a$$es off, and open your wallets.

#votewithyourfeet

#votewithyourwallet

---

As one of the critics of Knowlton's coaching search in the spring (AKA, a "loser"), allow me to weigh in: Maybe you think allowing a search firm to do the vast majority of the work in a situation like this is fine, but I disagree. I also had problems with the way Wyking's termination was rolled out, at least publicly. It seems to me to be fair game to voice those criticisms.

That said, Mark Fox is our coach now and he has my 100% support. And so far, so good!

PS: I am a longtime season ticket holder and supporter of Cal Basketball. If you have been to more games and yelled your "a$$" off for the Bears more than me, then more power to you, because not many have. This is known.

PtownBear1 said:

---

Civil Bear said:

---

NVBear78 said:

---

And I too never understood the "sky is falling" response to the hire of Fix...

---

Probably because it was never a thing. All the Fox hire complaints I read on this board had to do with Cal settling for mediocricy rather than the sky falling. I'm pretty sure everyone understood the Bears would improve from the rock bottom under Fox.

---

Exactly. I don't recall anyone concerned with Fox's floor, the concern is with his ceiling, which won't be evident for a while.

That said, he's the coach now and I agree we should all support the program.

---

Yeah, so far it's entirely possible that what we've seen is more an indication of how bad Wyking was than how good Fox is.

You can always hope we lose to unlv.

Big C said:

---

calfanz said:

---

90% of the fan base after the Fox hire were completely pissed. It's only a game i know, but this team has less talent and played much better than we've seen in a long time.

We will have major set backs on our way to respectability, but really, everyone here should realize we know less than the AD, and (OMG) less than the search firm on the best Coach for the Cal Bears.


Now....get out to the games, yell your a$$es off, and open your wallets.

#votewithyourfeet

#votewithyourwallet

---

As one of the critics of Knowlton's coaching search in the spring (AKA, a "loser"), allow me to weigh in: Maybe you think allowing a search firm to do the vast majority of the work in a situation like this is fine, but I disagree. I also had problems with the way Wyking's termination was rolled out, at least publicly. It seems to me to be fair game to voice those criticisms.

That said, Mark Fox is our coach now and he has my 100% support. And so far, so good!

PS: I am a longtime season ticket holder and supporter of Cal Basketball. If you have been to more games and yelled your "a$$" off for the Bears more than me, then more power to you, because not many have. This is known.

---

I have said all along that Knowlton abdicated his responsibility on his second most important decision in his job, that Fox's record and teams at Georgia were uninspiring (I compared Fox to Braun a competent coach) but that I hope I am wrong and Knowlton gets lucky and Fox knocks it out of the park. Fox had a bad start with the team but he recovered well and we all agree he is an upgrade over Jones. Most importantly, the reports of the team's excellent play against a mediocre Pepperdine team are encouraging. I am rooting for Fox because I am rooting for the team.

Go Bears!

BearGreg said:

---

KoreAmBear said:

---

I wouldn't count anything yet, but loved what I saw.

It still doesn't absolve Knowlton for the disaster few weeks he had 1) almost retaining Wyking then firing him when basically forced to do so, 2) not being prepared in finding a replacement, yet 3) rushing to hire Fox when there was no need to rush as Fox wasn't exactly in great demand. I still maintain that it was still the right thing to do to hire Travis.

Then you had opening speech-gate. That was more about Cal marketing than Fox. Why in the world would you post that uninspiring if not depressing clip?

That said I think we all knew that pretty much anyone that has some head experience coaching men's basketball would be better than Wyking.

The thing that made me first warm up to him was first the strong staff he built. Second was the reclamation job he did in keeping kids like Bradley and Brown then filling the class with probably the best anyone could do under the circumstances.

Still, the worry was that he was more about D than O so my picture was Ben Braun. If we were getting Ben, I would have preferred Travis who I thought at the time of hire to have more upside.

But it's apparent that Fox may be a bit better than Ben and he has instilled structure back to Cal men's hoops. However it's one game. While I love Wilcox, it was too early last year or this year at points when we were playing well to hear "he is the right fit for Cal." Wilcox hasn't put an above average season together yet. Even more so for Fox after just one game over a decent but underwhelming mid-major, yet the type of mid-majors we would be losing to last season.

So I'd not proclaim that Knowlton or you or anyone who actually thought Fox was a better hire than Travis should be declared the victor just yet. Or that someone has been found to be a loser for not liking the hire.

However, now that he IS our coach, I want to be as supportive as I can, and I can see that he can clearly coach. I also have a special place in my heart for kids like Bradley, Brown, DJ and Kelly would could have easily found opportunities elsewhere yet stayed or remained committed. I think because of that when the winning comes around (hopefully) it will be all that sweeter. I'm just looking forward to seeing the program rise out of the ashes and for Haas to rock again.

---

A few clarifying facts/perspective:

- Whether or not Jim Knowlton planned to retain WJ or not (a fact only he truly knows) he was humble, open and hard working enough to solicit a ton of opinions and perspectives on the subject and he made the "right" choice.
- There was no unplanned search or rush. The search firm had been in conversations with Cal for quite awhile preceding the termination of WJ and there was a target list already in place that as per normal grew after the search began in earnest
- Not sure there is always a "right" or "wrong" decision in hiring. Sometimes you have multiple good candidates, sometimes none. Fox crushed his interview and DeCuire struggled in his. Travis was in a tough spot given WSU interview timing and the NCAA but tough to blame Knowlton for hiring the guy who wowed him.
- The talk with the players and the decision to market a video about it was clearly a gaffe. One among many under the headling of Cal not sweating the small stuff. See last nights game event management as more evidence. Basketball is in serious need of a marketing and event management overhaul
- The challenges for Fox are unlikely to be in teaching, game coaching or player relationships. IMO, his work lies in a.) recruiting at a high enough level for Cal to be a consistent NCAA team; 2.) Energizing the fan base with exciting players, style of play and willingness to put himself and his team out there to build relationships with the public and 3.) Evolving his staff. I like where he's started yet believe there is room for improvement
- Fox did so many things right last night, it's hard to know where to start. Good post on Haas Pavilion here for susbcribers - Initial thoughts on Fox Era

---

Greg,

Thanks for providing some inside perspective, which was needed, and appreciated.

Go Bears!

The most important thing to me about last night is that the game was fun to watch. I was frustrated in the first half, especially by the defense, but unlike most of the Jones era, it was still way more fun than watching paint dry.

One game against the team picked to finish 4 in the WCC is far too little to judge anything on, but it was definitely a positive, which is far better than opening with a negative. Way better than, say, when the Jones era opened with a loss to UC Riverside. I don't care if UCR's coach is good, and I don't care what talent losses we sustained, we had a lot more talent than UCR.

A big question is whether the team be consistent in how it performs. Last year, the team had the occasional game where it looked good. The San Diego St. game in December. The LSJU game on Super Bowl Sunday. When they played a great 31 minutes against UW in the upset win, the big question for me was, if they can play so well for 31 minutes, how on earth can they have played so poorly in most every game? I liked how we played last night, I liked watching it, I hope it continues.

BearGreg's post, perhaps inadvertently, indicates one of the HUGE frustrations I had with the Fox hire -- he got hired because he won the interview. The key in hiring a basketball coach isn't how well he interviews. The key isn't how chummy the AD feels with the candidate, so long as the candidate is someone who will not have friction with the AD. Knowlton hired the guy who won the interview, and that is a mistake. Barbour hired Dykes because he won the interview, and we need to STOP DOING THAT!

Everyone thought Fox had a high floor. Most of us felt he had too low a ceiling. As I said after the hire, unless there is something that NOBODY CAN KNOW, that the reasons why Fox was mediocre at Georgia wouldn't be carried over to Cal, then Cal would be no better than mediocre. Oh, yeah, mediocre is SUCH an improvement over the last two years that we'll all take it for the moment, but it isn't where we want to go.

The important things going forward there is no way Knowlton could know. Can Fox coach offense better than he has shown in his career? Can Fox recruit better than he has shown? You can't tell that a coach can do better than he has in the past because he interviews well. Don't tell me that Knowlton's knowledge of basketball was so great that he could tell Fox wouldn't repeat his problems of the past. Maybe Fox told Knowlton his game plan to avoid his problems of the past, but that doesn't mean the plan will be a success.

I still hope Fox will be a smashing success and make Cal competitive in the Pac-12 for years to come. One game isn't enough to say a lot, there's a TON of work to be done, recruiting more talent and developing this program. But again, it is one game that means there is hope, as opposed to the UCR game two years ago that made a whole lot of us feel hopeless about Jones.

It is really silly for anyone to suggest those of us who didn't like the Fox hire were wrong. If Fox wins an NCAA championship, you still can't say we were wrong. If I bet even money a coin would come up heads 8 times in a row, I made a bad bet, even if the coin comes up heads 8 times in a row. I'd be happy my bad bet worked out, but it was still a bad bet.

Fox's record made him a less than desirable bet, but let's hope he defies the odds and turns out great. His first game was at least a good start.

8285 you always do a way better job of explaining the same thoughts I have as you.

It is ironic that while he "won" the interview, he definitely did not "win" the opening speech. He wows Knowlton but he can't wow the very young men he has to work with. OK. But all that is behind us now, and I believe that Sueing, Vanover and McNeil were on their way out regardless. Maybe Jason Kidd was the only guy that could have persuaded them to stay, but otherwise I think their minds were made up for the most part. I'm happy for them and they should do what they want. However, my energy will be spent on supporting the kids that are here and giving Coach Fox a chance. Great to have something positive happen with Cal sports esp. after the freefall football is in.

KoreAmBear said:

---

I wouldn't count anything yet, but loved what I saw.

It still doesn't absolve Knowlton for the disaster few weeks he had 1) almost retaining Wyking then firing him when basically forced to do so, 2) not being prepared in finding a replacement, yet 3) rushing to hire Fox when there was no need to rush as Fox wasn't exactly in great demand. I still maintain that it was still the right thing to do to hire Travis.

Then you had opening speech-gate. That was more about Cal marketing than Fox. Why in the world would you post that uninspiring if not depressing clip?

That said I think we all knew that pretty much anyone that has some head experience coaching men's basketball would be better than Wyking.

The thing that made me first warm up to him was first the strong staff he built. Second was the reclamation job he did in keeping kids like Bradley and Brown then filling the class with probably the best anyone could do under the circumstances.

Still, the worry was that he was more about D than O so my picture was Ben Braun. If we were getting Ben, I would have preferred Travis who I thought at the time of hire to have more upside.

But it's apparent that Fox may be a bit better than Ben and he has instilled structure back to Cal men's hoops. However it's one game. While I love Wilcox, it was too early last year or this year at points when we were playing well to hear "he is the right fit for Cal." Wilcox hasn't put an above average season together yet. Even more so for Fox after just one game over a decent but underwhelming mid-major, yet the type of mid-majors we would be losing to last season.

So I'd not proclaim that Knowlton or you or anyone who actually thought Fox was a better hire than Travis should be declared the victor just yet. Or that someone has been found to be a loser for not liking the hire.

However, now that he IS our coach, I want to be as supportive as I can, and I can see that he can clearly coach. I also have a special place in my heart for kids like Bradley, Brown, DJ and Kelly would could have easily found opportunities elsewhere yet stayed or remained committed. I think because of that when the winning comes around (hopefully) it will be all that sweeter. I'm just looking forward to seeing the program rise out of the ashes and for Haas to rock again.

---

Well said my friend! I thought Knowlton abdicated his responsibility on the second most important decision he needs to make and thought the Fox hire was uninspiring and unnecessarily rushed at a time Knowlton was dealing with a sexual harassment claim against the football team. What I said is I hope Knowlton gets lucky and Fox hits it out of the park.

No one said Fox is incompetent, he is a competent coach, but looking better than last year's train wreck is a low hurdle. I've said all along the big danger is we get a coach that takes us to .500 in conference and we continually renew his contract for the next 10 years. Maybe one and done in the Tournament in a good year. Because the Administration would be fine with that and people like Calfans will call anyone who thinks otherwise a "loser." I compared him to Braun in results, but said Braun was a better recruiter, Fox the better tactician. We will see how it plays out at Cal. As I said, people can also learn and improve. Again, I hope he knocks it out of the park.

Fox did a good job with his staff and I like the team he has cobbled together after his bad start. This team is team is extremely likable and fun to root for and appears to be well coached. They are our Bears and I support them and Fox 100%. Win with these guys and become a program on the upswing that top recruits want to play for? That is the hope.

Go Fox, go Bears!

Cal8285 said:

---

The most important thing to me about last night is that the game was fun to watch. I was frustrated in the first half, especially by the defense, but unlike most of the Jones era, it was still way more fun than watching paint dry.

One game against the team picked to finish 4 in the WCC is far too little to judge anything on, but it was definitely a positive, which is far better than opening with a negative. Way better than, say, when the Jones era opened with a loss to UC Riverside. I don't care if UCR's coach is good, and I don't care what talent losses we sustained, we had a lot more talent than UCR.

A big question is whether the team be consistent in how it performs. Last year, the team had the occasional game where it looked good. The San Diego St. game in December. The LSJU game on Super Bowl Sunday. When they played a great 31 minutes against UW in the upset win, the big question for me was, if they can play so well for 31 minutes, how on earth can they have played so poorly in most every game? I liked how we played last night, I liked watching it, I hope it continues.

BearGreg's post, perhaps inadvertently, indicates one of the HUGE frustrations I had with the Fox hire -- he got hired because he won the interview. The key in hiring a basketball coach isn't how well he interviews. The key isn't how chummy the AD feels with the candidate, so long as the candidate is someone who will not have friction with the AD. Knowlton hired the guy who won the interview, and that is a mistake. Barbour hired Dykes because he won the interview, and we need to STOP DOING THAT!

Everyone thought Fox had a high floor. Most of us felt he had too low a ceiling. As I said after the hire, unless there is something that NOBODY CAN KNOW, that the reasons why Fox was mediocre at Georgia wouldn't be carried over to Cal, then Cal would be no better than mediocre. Oh, yeah, mediocre is SUCH an improvement over the last two years that we'll all take it for the moment, but it isn't where we want to go.

The important things going forward there is no way Knowlton could know. Can Fox coach offense better than he has shown in his career? Can Fox recruit better than he has shown? You can't tell that a coach can do better than he has in the past because he interviews well. Don't tell me that Knowlton's knowledge of basketball was so great that he could tell Fox wouldn't repeat his problems of the past. Maybe Fox told Knowlton his game plan to avoid his problems of the past, but that doesn't mean the plan will be a success.

I still hope Fox will be a smashing success and make Cal competitive in the Pac-12 for years to come. One game isn't enough to say a lot, there's a TON of work to be done, recruiting more talent and developing this program. But again, it is one game that means there is hope, as opposed to the UCR game two years ago that made a whole lot of us feel hopeless about Jones.

It is really silly for anyone to suggest those of us who didn't like the Fox hire were wrong. If Fox wins an NCAA championship, you still can't say we were wrong. If I bet even money a coin would come up heads 8 times in a row, I made a bad bet, even if the coin comes up heads 8 times in a row. I'd be happy my bad bet worked out, but it was still a bad bet.

Fox's record made him a less than desirable bet, but let's hope he defies the odds and turns out great. His first game was at least a good start.

---

Exactly, well said.

Go Fox! Go Bears!

Some of the comments about the handling of WJ termination and hiring of Fox reflect some incomplete or sometimes incorrect info that gets warped by social media, poor traditional media coverage and folks like us at BI. I think Greg left out one important thing in his excellent summary:

The perception of Cal as an institution had gone from dumpster fire (both AD and Chancelor were incompetent lame ducks) to front porch poop bag with some potential candidates probably thinking not now, maybe later. There was a new Chancelor and AD, but still significant financial concerns about the dept, and an extremely significant rebuild left behind by WJ.

Knowlton seemed to have a good rep coming from Air Force, but his background at RPI and as an assistant at Army did not prove to candidates that he had what it takes to handle a major rebuild in a P5 conference. A definite step up from Williams and a seemingly good fit with Christ and Cal, but still a lot to prove.

I was not a huge fan of the FOX hire at the time, but am still very supportive of him and like what I'm seeing. I'm not convinced that TD would have been better, either. It will be interesting to follow both. But the real story is that the candidate pool was not as strong as it may have been following Monty's retirement, for example.

And yes, introgate and other event/marketing gaffes are just as painful as watching sloth try to juggle.

BearGreg said:

---

KoreAmBear said:

---

I wouldn't count anything yet, but loved what I saw.

It still doesn't absolve Knowlton for the disaster few weeks he had 1) almost retaining Wyking then firing him when basically forced to do so, 2) not being prepared in finding a replacement, yet 3) rushing to hire Fox when there was no need to rush as Fox wasn't exactly in great demand. I still maintain that it was still the right thing to do to hire Travis.

Then you had opening speech-gate. That was more about Cal marketing than Fox. Why in the world would you post that uninspiring if not depressing clip?

That said I think we all knew that pretty much anyone that has some head experience coaching men's basketball would be better than Wyking.

The thing that made me first warm up to him was first the strong staff he built. Second was the reclamation job he did in keeping kids like Bradley and Brown then filling the class with probably the best anyone could do under the circumstances.

Still, the worry was that he was more about D than O so my picture was Ben Braun. If we were getting Ben, I would have preferred Travis who I thought at the time of hire to have more upside.

But it's apparent that Fox may be a bit better than Ben and he has instilled structure back to Cal men's hoops. However it's one game. While I love Wilcox, it was too early last year or this year at points when we were playing well to hear "he is the right fit for Cal." Wilcox hasn't put an above average season together yet. Even more so for Fox after just one game over a decent but underwhelming mid-major, yet the type of mid-majors we would be losing to last season.

So I'd not proclaim that Knowlton or you or anyone who actually thought Fox was a better hire than Travis should be declared the victor just yet. Or that someone has been found to be a loser for not liking the hire.

However, now that he IS our coach, I want to be as supportive as I can, and I can see that he can clearly coach. I also have a special place in my heart for kids like Bradley, Brown, DJ and Kelly would could have easily found opportunities elsewhere yet stayed or remained committed. I think because of that when the winning comes around (hopefully) it will be all that sweeter. I'm just looking forward to seeing the program rise out of the ashes and for Haas to rock again.

---

A few clarifying facts/perspective:

- Whether or not Jim Knowlton planned to retain WJ or not (a fact only he truly knows) he was humble, open and hard working enough to solicit a ton of opinions and perspectives on the subject and he made the "right" choice.
- There was no unplanned search or rush. The search firm had been in conversations with Cal for quite awhile preceding the termination of WJ and there was a target list already in place that as per normal grew after the search began in earnest
- Not sure there is always a "right" or "wrong" decision in hiring. Sometimes you have multiple good candidates, sometimes none. Fox crushed his interview and DeCuire struggled in his. Travis was in a tough spot given WSU interview timing and the NCAA but tough to blame Knowlton for hiring the guy who wowed him.
- The talk with the players and the decision to market a video about it was clearly a gaffe. One among many under the headling of Cal not sweating the small stuff. See last nights game event management as more evidence. Basketball is in serious need of a marketing and event management overhaul
- The challenges for Fox are unlikely to be in teaching, game coaching or player relationships. IMO, his work lies in a.) recruiting at a high enough level for Cal to be a consistent NCAA team; 2.) Energizing the fan base with exciting players, style of play and willingness to put himself and his team out there to build relationships with the public and 3.) Evolving his staff. I like where he's started yet believe there is room for improvement
- Fox did so many things right last night, it's hard to know where to start. Good post on Haas Pavilion here for susbcribers - Initial thoughts on Fox Era

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It is clear that you are wasting your time, Greg. I venture to say that if Cal becomes a perennial Sweet-16 team with a couple of NC's, there will be plenty on this Board who will "know" that Knowlton failed in his hiring and that Travis would have been a better hire. the analogy to flipping a coin is silly. This isn't about random chance, it's about using the data available to make a decision. I'm fairly certain that the nay-sayers don't have access to all the data that Knowlton did. Does that mean he made the correct decision? No. Only time will answer that question. As for "winning the interview," it depends upon what that means. If it merely means that they got along well together, then it's not a very good criterion. If it means that he answered all of the questions one might have about how he intends to build a program and what went wrong at UGA, then it is highly meaningful. Bruce Snyder was hired because he "won the interview," meaning he had a well-thought out plan for how he was going to build a program and how long it would likely take. Was that a bad hire because it was based primarily on the interview?

this may seem like a random association, but I'm reminded of a story told about Jock Sutherland the legendary football coach at Pitt and Marshall Goldberg, the Heisman running back (this was the Pitt team that tied Cal for the 1937 NC). Goldberg bounced an off-tackle run around the end and dodged and weaved his way to an 80 yard touchdown. When he came to the bench, Sutherland was screaming at him: "Goldberg, what the hell was that? You didn't hit the hole you were supposed to! You didn't wait for your interference! You didn't follow your blockers!" At which point Goldberg said, "Yeh, yeh, Coach, but how was it for distance?" The same applies here. If Fox succeeds (admittedly, a big IF), the "process" becomes moot.

UrsaMajor said:

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BearGreg said:

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KoreAmBear said:

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I wouldn't count anything yet, but loved what I saw.

It still doesn't absolve Knowlton for the disaster few weeks he had 1) almost retaining Wyking then firing him when basically forced to do so, 2) not being prepared in finding a replacement, yet 3) rushing to hire Fox when there was no need to rush as Fox wasn't exactly in great demand. I still maintain that it was still the right thing to do to hire Travis.

Then you had opening speech-gate. That was more about Cal marketing than Fox. Why in the world would you post that uninspiring if not depressing clip?

That said I think we all knew that pretty much anyone that has some head experience coaching men's basketball would be better than Wyking.

The thing that made me first warm up to him was first the strong staff he built. Second was the reclamation job he did in keeping kids like Bradley and Brown then filling the class with probably the best anyone could do under the circumstances.

Still, the worry was that he was more about D than O so my picture was Ben Braun. If we were getting Ben, I would have preferred Travis who I thought at the time of hire to have more upside.

But it's apparent that Fox may be a bit better than Ben and he has instilled structure back to Cal men's hoops. However it's one game. While I love Wilcox, it was too early last year or this year at points when we were playing well to hear "he is the right fit for Cal." Wilcox hasn't put an above average season together yet. Even more so for Fox after just one game over a decent but underwhelming mid-major, yet the type of mid-majors we would be losing to last season.

So I'd not proclaim that Knowlton or you or anyone who actually thought Fox was a better hire than Travis should be declared the victor just yet. Or that someone has been found to be a loser for not liking the hire.

However, now that he IS our coach, I want to be as supportive as I can, and I can see that he can clearly coach. I also have a special place in my heart for kids like Bradley, Brown, DJ and Kelly would could have easily found opportunities elsewhere yet stayed or remained committed. I think because of that when the winning comes around (hopefully) it will be all that sweeter. I'm just looking forward to seeing the program rise out of the ashes and for Haas to rock again.

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A few clarifying facts/perspective:

- Whether or not Jim Knowlton planned to retain WJ or not (a fact only he truly knows) he was humble, open and hard working enough to solicit a ton of opinions and perspectives on the subject and he made the "right" choice.
- There was no unplanned search or rush. The search firm had been in conversations with Cal for quite awhile preceding the termination of WJ and there was a target list already in place that as per normal grew after the search began in earnest
- Not sure there is always a "right" or "wrong" decision in hiring. Sometimes you have multiple good candidates, sometimes none. Fox crushed his interview and DeCuire struggled in his. Travis was in a tough spot given WSU interview timing and the NCAA but tough to blame Knowlton for hiring the guy who wowed him.
- The talk with the players and the decision to market a video about it was clearly a gaffe. One among many under the headling of Cal not sweating the small stuff. See last nights game event management as more evidence. Basketball is in serious need of a marketing and event management overhaul
- The challenges for Fox are unlikely to be in teaching, game coaching or player relationships. IMO, his work lies in a.) recruiting at a high enough level for Cal to be a consistent NCAA team; 2.) Energizing the fan base with exciting players, style of play and willingness to put himself and his team out there to build relationships with the public and 3.) Evolving his staff. I like where he's started yet believe there is room for improvement
- Fox did so many things right last night, it's hard to know where to start. Good post on Haas Pavilion here for susbcribers - Initial thoughts on Fox Era

---

It is clear that you are wasting your time, Greg. I venture to say that if Cal becomes a perennial Sweet-16 team with a couple of NC's, there will be plenty on this Board who will "know" that Knowlton failed in his hiring and that Travis would have been a better hire. the analogy to flipping a coin is silly. This isn't about random chance, it's about using the data available to make a decision. I'm fairly certain that the nay-sayers don't have access to all the data that Knowlton did. Does that mean he made the correct decision? No. Only time will answer that question. As for "winning the interview," it depends upon what that means. If it merely means that they got along well together, then it's not a very good criterion. If it means that he answered all of the questions one might have about how he intends to build a program and what went wrong at UGA, then it is highly meaningful. Bruce Snyder was hired because he "won the interview," meaning he had a well-thought out plan for how he was going to build a program and how long it would likely take. Was that a bad hire because it was based primarily on the interview?

this may seem like a random association, but I'm reminded of a story told about Jock Sutherland the legendary football coach at Pitt and Marshall Goldberg, the Heisman running back (this was the Pitt team that tied Cal for the 1937 NC). Goldberg bounced an off-tackle run around the end and dodged and weaved his way to an 80 yard touchdown. When he came to the bench, Sutherland was screaming at him: "Goldberg, what the hell was that? You didn't hit the hole you were supposed to! You didn't wait for your interference! You didn't follow your blockers!" At which point Goldberg said, "Yeh, yeh, Coach, but how was it for distance?" The same applies here. If Fox succeeds (admittedly, a big IF), the "process" becomes moot.

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Knowlton knows hockey, what is his experience hiring a basketball coach? What "data"?
Knowlton made his selection within days of announcing the search and that was within days of indicating WJ would he back. It was before the end of the NCAA tournament when up an coming mid-major coaches in the tournament can start considering a job change. Give interested coaches enough time to contact YOU. You never know who might be interested. There was no need to rush to hire Fox, who had been unemployed for over a year and would still be available in a few weeks as you continued your search. Get some feedback from stakeholders.

We all want Fox to succeed and after a rebuild in a few years have Cal playing at a high level (a factor in the NCAA Tournament). I called that Knowlton "getting lucky" and I will stand by that. I hope Knowlton gets lucky on this. We all want Fox to succeed. So far so good.

UrsaMajor said:

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BearGreg said:

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KoreAmBear said:

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I wouldn't count anything yet, but loved what I saw.

It still doesn't absolve Knowlton for the disaster few weeks he had 1) almost retaining Wyking then firing him when basically forced to do so, 2) not being prepared in finding a replacement, yet 3) rushing to hire Fox when there was no need to rush as Fox wasn't exactly in great demand. I still maintain that it was still the right thing to do to hire Travis.

Then you had opening speech-gate. That was more about Cal marketing than Fox. Why in the world would you post that uninspiring if not depressing clip?

That said I think we all knew that pretty much anyone that has some head experience coaching men's basketball would be better than Wyking.

The thing that made me first warm up to him was first the strong staff he built. Second was the reclamation job he did in keeping kids like Bradley and Brown then filling the class with probably the best anyone could do under the circumstances.

Still, the worry was that he was more about D than O so my picture was Ben Braun. If we were getting Ben, I would have preferred Travis who I thought at the time of hire to have more upside.

But it's apparent that Fox may be a bit better than Ben and he has instilled structure back to Cal men's hoops. However it's one game. While I love Wilcox, it was too early last year or this year at points when we were playing well to hear "he is the right fit for Cal." Wilcox hasn't put an above average season together yet. Even more so for Fox after just one game over a decent but underwhelming mid-major, yet the type of mid-majors we would be losing to last season.

So I'd not proclaim that Knowlton or you or anyone who actually thought Fox was a better hire than Travis should be declared the victor just yet. Or that someone has been found to be a loser for not liking the hire.

However, now that he IS our coach, I want to be as supportive as I can, and I can see that he can clearly coach. I also have a special place in my heart for kids like Bradley, Brown, DJ and Kelly would could have easily found opportunities elsewhere yet stayed or remained committed. I think because of that when the winning comes around (hopefully) it will be all that sweeter. I'm just looking forward to seeing the program rise out of the ashes and for Haas to rock again.

---

A few clarifying facts/perspective:

- Whether or not Jim Knowlton planned to retain WJ or not (a fact only he truly knows) he was humble, open and hard working enough to solicit a ton of opinions and perspectives on the subject and he made the "right" choice.
- There was no unplanned search or rush. The search firm had been in conversations with Cal for quite awhile preceding the termination of WJ and there was a target list already in place that as per normal grew after the search began in earnest
- Not sure there is always a "right" or "wrong" decision in hiring. Sometimes you have multiple good candidates, sometimes none. Fox crushed his interview and DeCuire struggled in his. Travis was in a tough spot given WSU interview timing and the NCAA but tough to blame Knowlton for hiring the guy who wowed him.
- The talk with the players and the decision to market a video about it was clearly a gaffe. One among many under the headling of Cal not sweating the small stuff. See last nights game event management as more evidence. Basketball is in serious need of a marketing and event management overhaul
- The challenges for Fox are unlikely to be in teaching, game coaching or player relationships. IMO, his work lies in a.) recruiting at a high enough level for Cal to be a consistent NCAA team; 2.) Energizing the fan base with exciting players, style of play and willingness to put himself and his team out there to build relationships with the public and 3.) Evolving his staff. I like where he's started yet believe there is room for improvement
- Fox did so many things right last night, it's hard to know where to start. Good post on Haas Pavilion here for susbcribers - Initial thoughts on Fox Era

---

It is clear that you are wasting your time, Greg. I venture to say that if Cal becomes a perennial Sweet-16 team with a couple of NC's, there will be plenty on this Board who will "know" that Knowlton failed in his hiring and that Travis would have been a better hire. the analogy to flipping a coin is silly. This isn't about random chance, it's about using the data available to make a decision. I'm fairly certain that the nay-sayers don't have access to all the data that Knowlton did. Does that mean he made the correct decision? No. Only time will answer that question. As for "winning the interview," it depends upon what that means. If it merely means that they got along well together, then it's not a very good criterion. If it means that he answered all of the questions one might have about how he intends to build a program and what went wrong at UGA, then it is highly meaningful. Bruce Snyder was hired because he "won the interview," meaning he had a well-thought out plan for how he was going to build a program and how long it would likely take. Was that a bad hire because it was based primarily on the interview?

this may seem like a random association, but I'm reminded of a story told about Jock Sutherland the legendary football coach at Pitt and Marshall Goldberg, the Heisman running back (this was the Pitt team that tied Cal for the 1937 NC). Goldberg bounced an off-tackle run around the end and dodged and weaved his way to an 80 yard touchdown. When he came to the bench, Sutherland was screaming at him: "Goldberg, what the hell was that? You didn't hit the hole you were supposed to! You didn't wait for your interference! You didn't follow your blockers!" At which point Goldberg said, "Yeh, yeh, Coach, but how was it for distance?" The same applies here. If Fox succeeds (admittedly, a big IF), the "process" becomes moot.

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Great story to make your point. Maybe Cal's all time best team, and we end up sharing the NC with Pitt. If only we had beaten the Huskies instead of getting a tie in that game, and then we are the only true #1 in 1937. Alas, not to be. Gives us something to work for.

Another interesting point is that Stub Allison, Cal's coach in 1937, was not a good coach, as the rest of his record demonstrates. And on the play for one of Cal's two touchdowns to win the Rose Bowl, on the final down, I think, Allison sent in a play, and the players sent it back And Bottari ran it in for the score.

SFCityBear said:

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Another interesting point is that Stub Allison, Cal's coach in 1937, was not a good coach, as the rest of his record demonstrates. And on the play for one of Cal's two touchdowns to win the Rose Bowl, on the final down, I think, Allison sent in a play, and the players sent it back And Bottari ran it in for the score.

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another great story!