First of all, it’s Discdude, even though I did grow up in the 70s, no “o” in the middle. Personal, ad hominem attacks aren’t necessary. Discussion is good by me. I’ll be civil. Actually, I’m usually very civil, but when people start calling for the firing of a coach who has taken a completely broken program to top 4 finishes in his first 4 seasons and made them fun to watch, then I get a little bent out of shape. I actually block Steve because he goes so far beyond the pale, that I put him with Moron. I know he’s a Cal fan and he does make some good points, but he also has some ideas that are crazy. So, now that you know where I stand…

1. This team is what we were dealt with this year. No one knew Solomon would not play. And Monty didn’t know Franklin would transfer last year. Monty didn’t even know Seeley and Amoke would leave the year before. Unfortunately, when you plan recruiting around that, and then you get bit, you end up with a very shallow team, lots of walk-ons. Going into this season, I knew depth would be an issue. And at the end, playing about 5 to 6 players wasn’t going to get it done.

2. That being said, recruiting has been weak and Monty has to look at himself for that. I agreed with that last fall and I agree with it now. I also said 2012 and 2013 recruiting years would be the *best* time to judge him because when you are trying to turn around an aircraft carrier, it takes time. People seem to forget that it took Monty more than 5 years to turn around Stanfurd. Also, that team didn’t really hit it’s stride until he’d be there nearly 10 years. In this instant age we live in, no coach would get 10 years, of course. But it’s not like he’s underperformed, in fact, I think he’s over-performed for the talent level on the team. By a lot. He definitely maximizes his available resources. To me, now that the track record is there again, he does need to land some higher-level recruits. He has clearly stated he won’t go after one-and-dones, but he needs some upper tier talent if they want to not only challenge the top of the conference, but make it to at least the Sweet 16.

3. His age could be working against him. There are not many coaches his age who can get the top level talent, despite the resume. He’s a cerebral coach and he won’t appeal to every kid. I think he needs to hire a top-level recruiter to help him out.

4. Don’t expect Cal to “compete” for talent against Kansas, Kentucky or Ohio State. I don’t expect it. When in fact you go back and look at Furd’s success when Monty was there, they had talent, but they also over-achieved, which is a trait of Monty teams. I just don’t think we’ll be seeing Kentucky-level talent at Cal, ever. We seem to lose recruits who want public education to UCLA, Zona, and UW, and we lose those who want private education to Furd (I would take Powell or Chasson Randle on Cal right now). He may land a few in the future, but unless something changes drastically, I just don’t see 5-star talent coming to Cal, I’m not sure why others do.

5. Thus, I think his MO is to identify missed talent and develop it, and continue to build a program. I’m ok with that when it results in top 4 finishes, even in a down year, but I too would like to see better athletes on the court. However, as someone mentioned somewhere, Cal’s APR is hurting them right now and taking high-level talent that leaves in one or two years might not even be do-able right now. He needs to get guys who will graduate.

I’ve got more to say, but work calls. It was a fun year (at least the early part) and hats off to Kamp and Gutierrez for great careers at Cal and for getting their degrees! Those 2 guys are stand up Cal guys and everyone should be proud they played in the blue and gold.

Go Bears!

Oh wait…they did.

And he underperforms as a recruiter.

Maybe its time to start the overpaid for mediocrity comparisons to Tedford.

Add that the match up was a tough one, against a USF team that played very disciplined ball (they sure didn’t look turnover prone), and it was a recipe for indigestion. I am still not over watching that damn banked 3 pointer extend an already big lead.

I would not shed a tear if Monty called it quits. Sure, there are very legitimate excuses out there from the light bench to Crabbe having shingles (did anyone know that before last night) to Monty’s own health, but some of the basic decision making last night was confounding.

Suddenly, at this point (not back when the winnable conference title was at stake), Monty lets Smith and Bak shot multiple times down the court, all misses, in the first half? Was this desperation? Calculated? If desperation, that is embarrassing. If calculated, perhaps that could have been tried @ Colorado, or @ Standfurd, or in the Pac tourney.

Monty threw the players under the bus after the half saying they were settling for bad shots, but they’ve been doing that every game for over a month, and many games throughout the year. That’s coaching.