I agree with 90% of what you're saying - which makes it all the more remarkable how often he has top 5 (or close to it) squads by March. And it's not like he doesn't win games when he gets there. If the outcomes, over the whole span, are up to par in terms of raw numbers, then why pull your hair out over the continuity issue?
Well, I’m not really pulling my hair out. In the 70 years of NCAA tournament prior to Cal’s arrival (1939 which was the first year of the tourney to 2009) we had 7 titles, or exactly one every ten years. Cal got ahead of the curve by winning one fairly quickly, so technically as long as he wins another by 2029, he’s upholding the UK standard. That said, a player like Tshiebwe doesn’t come along very often so I’d like to see us capitalize on it.