Do upperclassmen improve under Cal?

[morgousky]

Oh let's see

Liggins completely turned into another player, and Cal led him to a career in the NBA. Jorts the same.

Hawkins has improved a lot, but theres only so much you can do.

Jones improved from the parameter and overall.

Patterson learned to stretch his game and shoot. Cal did really well with Pat.

WCS didnt improve much offensively, but he did on the defensive end, which is what Cal preaches.

Darius Miller became another player under Cal.

Some won't, and I do think Cal has screwed up a few doing stupid things, but all in all his record of developing isn't that bad. He's not the greatest at developing but he's nowhere near bad.

Some players don't develop because they either are who they are (Lee) or don't put the work in (witljer).

 

[StubbornPenny]

I'll say two things in defense of Poythress.

One, I don't think people appreciate how solid of a defender he was. If you look at the FG% of players he defended, especially his Junior year before the injury, he's very impressive. I think people get caught up with some of the frustrating aspects of his game (myself included) and that can blind them to some of the things he did at a pretty elite level.

Two, I usually stick around after the home games to listen to the player of the game interview and Cal come out to talk and sign a billion basketballs. Whenever Poythress was selected his final year, he'd come out with bags of ice taped to both knees walking like my grandfather. I think his knee injuries took more of a toll on him than he ever let on, and he simply fought through without a complaint. Could be wrong on that, but I really think that was the case.

Poy did progress, just not in the superstar way everyone thought. He did become a great defender, and he's lighting it up in the D-league (19 pts 7 rebs pg, 20.5 PER) because NBA rules allow for athleticism whereas the college game de-emphasizes it. Even with the knees though, I think there was a lot of potential left on the table. I can't say he ever really "clicked" in college outside of the Duke game. I think if you were going to negatively recruit against Cal's player development, Poy would still be your go to example. Absolutely love the kid though.

Lee just didn't really progress much at all, but he also just didn't have the innate talent, IMO.

 

[UKnCincy_rivals]

Poy did progress, just not in the superstar way everyone thought. He did become a great defender, and he's lighting it up in the D-league (19 pts 7 rebs pg, 20.5 PER) because NBA rules allow for athleticism whereas the college game de-emphasizes it. Even with the knees though, I think there was a lot of potential left on the table. I can't say he ever really "clicked" in college outside of the Duke game. I think if you were going to negatively recruit against Cal's player development, Poy would still be your go to example. Absolutely love the kid though.

Lee just didn't really progress much at all, but he also just didn't have the innate talent, IMO.

Fair points on both.

With Lee, I always felt like he picked the game up too late and was never able to be more than just an athlete. The two critical things that never seemed to develop with him (at least to my eyes) were a sense for how to play the game of basketball and touch when shooing the ball. I felt like you could always tell he was a volleyball player in a basketball uniform.

 

[KYFOSSIL]

Eloy Vargas?

You make a stupid statement you will get "stupid responses". WCS was not a high draft pick as a Frosh, Willis is much better, Josh improved greatly as did Liggins. It's not you fan hood I would question but rather your anti-Cal agenda.

 

[JonathanW_rivals]

Willis is on the fence. Let's see how these last 19 or so games play out.

I think his defense and rebounding are a little better than last year. His biggest improvement came as a JR upperclassman.

 

[LeonThe Camel]

Just wondering because if you are starting over with five or more freshman every year, isn't the majority of your time spent teaching the exact same thing you taught the year before and the year before that to the new guys?

It would be kind of like taking Algebra one four years in a row.

All players improve with maturity and physically growing up. Players get better playing better players.
The real question is does he improve a player beyond what would be considered normal.
You make a very good point in being able to teach the same information is much easier than creating new content. Look at your high school teachers.

 

[JC CATS]

No. If they do give me one example because I can't think of one.

Harrleson, Miller, Hawkins, Willis, Briscoe...