Big C said:
Shocky, just in case your reappearance here is ephemeral, I'll try hit you right up with a question here and there...
Do you think Theo would ever come back to Cal, under the right circumstances?
(He seems like he wants to coach in the NBA, but his potential there might be limited.)
theo loves the nba & his reputation in the league for working hands on with shooters is impeccable, he teaches not only shooting mechanics (ball on the fingertips, elbow angles, vertical release) but also coaches up the location (where on the 3 point line, the center, the corners) & timing (when in the time clock, game situational awareness)...look at jordan mathews & jabari bird pure shooting strokes, they both mentored under robertson who has also been effusively praised by seth curry & klay thompson
watching joel brown among others crooked azz shooting, one can only think they would improve under theo's tutelage
there is zero doubt that the tireless worker will be a head coach in due time, he's a player's coach who has learned the game from his time with coach montgomery, the los angeles lakers & the golden state warriors
theo has told me the only college he would ever consider is cal, it surprised me when mark fox (who had just recently worked with robertson at basketball usa) did not try to bring robertson in as an assistant coach...recruiting to cal is an unique proposition because of the academic requirements & coaches who have either played or coached in berkeley are much better positioned to successfully recruit...a second significant fox mistake was retaining the toxic s&c coach jordan james during his 1st year in berkeley...the third fox mistake was hiring assistant coaches who lack dynamic west coast recruiting relationships or past affiliation with cal, right now they are wasting time with low academic portal transfer ballers from the midwest/east coast seeking lots of immediate playing time instead of focusing upon predominantly california & academically focused international prospects
how important is it for assistant coaches to have cal ties?
after coach martin's departure both joe pasternack & dennis gates reached out to me for the monster's support
joe got my private # from roxy (his brother in law) & we talked during arizona's prep time for the ncca tournament...he told me that he is the only coach that could get the practice facility built in that his relationships with both doug goldman (who withdrew his $10m lead gift order in protest of the wyking hire) & former cal grad financier michael milken (net worth is 4 billion) would ensure that the $28m project got built in the current coach's parking lot
pasternack told me his targeted coaching staff would include candidates such as theo, my frequent floor seat guest richard midgley (currently working as a scout for the brooklyn nets & financial planning) & former cal guard nikola knezevic...as joe was on braun's staff back in the day, all of these guys would sell berkeley first day out like their hair was on fire
my only problem with pasternack is his past connection to the oakland soldiers then pipeline to the donut boy of tucson but midgely (who i trust implicitly) has told me that joe would run a clean program & that's good enough for me
dennis gates got my private # from midgely, in speaking with him he's an absolute winner in every sense of the word, his intensity is palpable...i told him ashwin puri told me that he came across as unprepared during his interview, gates told me it was only a 15-20 minute phone interview & that it came while he was game prepping for florida state during the ncca tournament & had not closely studied the cal roster which is understandable
gates told me his targeted staff candidates would include theo, midgely & lou richie...once again a young hungry staff with deep cal ties
puri torpedoed pasternack, gates & decuire because he was singularly focused upon eric musselman who he knew from a previous work experience...musselman played puri (who should've never been in charge of the job search along with williams, jay john would've been a much more savvy & well connected point person) by telling him "cal was a dream job" when in fact he was just using our interest to negotiate a better deal with nevada's largest donor, a casino magnate (yanni told me he lived rent free on a high floor with free laundry & room service during his year with musselman)...puri believed musselman because the divorced ex nba coach's kids went to school in danville & that his very attractive young black wife would help kill it on the recruiting trail, the monster is in agreement that recruiting is most effectively not done by old white guys...yanni has shared with me that musselman has zero regards for academic achievement, when the wildpack lost a close game with missed free throws down the stretch musselman told the assistants after the game that he wanted all the guys to put up at least 500 free throws early the next morning...when it was pointed out that some of the guys had required classes, musselman made it clear he didn't give a **** about reading books & other intellectual pursuits
so yeah theo (currently a player development coach with the golden state warriors, recently agreed to be the big c's liaison director for cal basketball) would consider returning to cal someday in the future...still hoping mark fox can turn it around but his stubbornness in changing out some of his ineffective recruiting assistant coaches, inability to be a player's coach instead of an authoritarian overlord, failure to grow/energize the fan base thru social media outreach like the cal's monster class & outdated playing style are working against him
