Jeff82;842620989 said:
Agreed. While it may be true that Monty wins that game with these players, Monty doesn't get these players as a coach. And this game, with the type of players Monty recruited, is a 15-20 point loss, because we probably get athleticked right off the court. I'm much more optimistic having a coach that can recruit, and is still finding his way on Xs and Os, than a coach who knows what to do at the blackboard, but can't get the guys he needs to come and play for him.
How can you say that when most of the players wearing blue and gold last night were actually recruited by Monty?
I actually really wish people would stop with the "Monty would've won this game" threads, because who cares, the man is RETIRED. He is no longer our coach, Coach Martin is, and while things are a work in progress, there is reason for optimism going forward.
But the continual blaming of Monty for past recruiting misses is ridiculous. Despite his limitations as a recruiter, at the end of his term at Cal he actually recruited some really good players, many of whom are key components of this year's team, and are great athletes in their own right. Monty did not leave a perfect roster with no holes, but he did not leave a sub-par roster in any way, shape or form either. Go back and read any article written about college coaching hires when Cuonzo was hired. ESPN, CBS and others had articles about which coaches had a difficult road, and which coaches were poised for immediate success based on the situation they inherited, and Cuonzo was always listed as one poised for immediate success because of the favorable situation he inherited.
In fact, if you go back and read Cuonzo's own comments around the time he was hired, one of the things that drew him to Cal was the quality of the players on the roster, and the opportunity to build on the successes achieved under Monty, and win right away. Cuonzo had options, and he chose to come to Cal. Without Monty, Cuonzo may not be our coach.
And I think people also under-appreciate the role that Monty's recruits played in the ability for Cal to land Rabb and Brown. I want to first say that I think Cuonzo is a tremendous recruiter. He does a phenomenal job developing relationships, not only with players and the families, but with high school and AAU coaches as well. He hired a terrific staff, particularly in the area of recruiting. They all work incredibly hard, and they are not afraid to compete for any recruit they believe would be a good fit for the their program. They deserve ALL of the accolades they have received for their recruiting efforts. But those things alone don't guarantee recruiting success. Great players want to play on a team with other great players, and on a team that they believe can win. And the opportunity to play on a team that was at least in contention for an NCAA bid for six straight years (with 4 NCAA bids and 2 NIT bids), and with players like Wallace, Bird and Mathews, was important. At the end of the day, no matter how good a coach is at selling, Rabb and Brown also had options, and they don't wind up here unless they thought they could win.
I don't know, I kind of don't want to get into a discussion of what Monty could have done had he decided to coach longer, because he didn't, he chose retirement. I guess I'll just say that I disagree strongly with the contention of many that he was only capable of bubble teams that couldn't advance in the NCAA tournament, given his track record before arriving in Berkeley. I don't know if people don't remember or understand what he did at Stanfurd, but he inherited a situation where recruiting for Basketball was at a distinct disadvantage, and it was difficult to recruit teams that could be competitive, much less challenge for championships, when he arrived in Palo Alto. And he was unable to turn it around overnight. But over time, through his consistent ability to win basketball games, he made Stanfurd a viable option for better basketball players, and the recruiting results followed. He took Stanfurd from being one of the worst power conference programs to one of the truly elite programs in all of college basketball. In fact, they still benefit from the brand equity built by Monty today, although thankfully, Dawkins is doing his best to try to change that.
I am all for getting behind Cuonzo, because while he may not be perfect, he is a good coach, and I do believe this team can still accomplish some great things this season and beyond. He took a much less talented team than this one to the Sweet 16 at UT, even though that team struggled during the regular season as well. In both his previous stops, although initial success was limited, he improved each year. Don't dwell on the imperfections, but look at and evaluate the overall results. And the same should be true regarding Monty's legacy. Instead of dwelling on the imperfections of his recruiting, look at the overall contributions of Monty's players to this teams' success. They may not be perfect, but his net contribution to this team was a positive one.
