We keep asking each other to come up with a list of who can come in and replace Cal, but every list one side makes, gets immediately discredited by the other side. It's usually something like "he'd never come here", or "he had a string of bad seasons 12+ years ago". Truth is, there is no perfect fit and honestly, the pickin's are slim.
After some thought on this, I came to the realization that even though I have Scott Drew on my list, I don't actually want Scott Drew, no, I want his system and I want Cal to coach it. Scott Drew doesn’t cater to the NBA, he gets kids that are program guys, redshirts some of them and develops them, then they step on the court as juniors and seniors and they play like a well oiled machine. He’s not yelling all game long, because he did his coaching over the course of several years.
I don't actually want Nate Oats, I want his gritty attitude and his ideas. His system needs fine tuning, but he runs a high octane style that utilizes long and athletic shooters that defend well. Give him a few years. But Nate isn't worthy of the UK job, but I wouldn't mind if Cal played a tuned 'Nate Oats' style.
I don't want Bruce Pearl, but damn, I want Cal to run the stuff Pearl runs. Hell yeah, he presses, he gets athletic freaks that drive hard to the rim, they open the floor up with good outside shooting and he makes great adjustments. His system is probably the best out of all of them. Also, I love his passion.
I think we would all love to get Brad Stevens, that’s very unlikely to ever happen, but I would love his coaching mind here. I think we all know how brilliant he is as a coach. He can take non-athletic kids and beat anybody. He runs an offense that is difficult to guard, with back cuts and a lot of misdirection plays that get easy baskets. This isn’t something Cal would ever do, but as a fan, you should want what Brad runs.
All these coaches are good player developers, they all use the 3 point shot effectively and they care about winning more than anything else.
Our issues with Cal are pretty simple. The roster turnover is a big issue, the offense, the stall ball, talking down to fans, the yelling all game long, taking half the season to figure out his team, the culture he created, which promotes leaving as fast as you can and the lousy pre-conference scheduling where we only play bigtime opponents when forced to or on neutral courts.
Most of us don't want Cal to quit or get fired, we just want him to stop the one-and-done, stop the pro days, change the offense and develop players over time instead of trying to microwave these kids' games.
After some thought on this, I came to the realization that even though I have Scott Drew on my list, I don't actually want Scott Drew, no, I want his system and I want Cal to coach it. Scott Drew doesn’t cater to the NBA, he gets kids that are program guys, redshirts some of them and develops them, then they step on the court as juniors and seniors and they play like a well oiled machine. He’s not yelling all game long, because he did his coaching over the course of several years.
I don't actually want Nate Oats, I want his gritty attitude and his ideas. His system needs fine tuning, but he runs a high octane style that utilizes long and athletic shooters that defend well. Give him a few years. But Nate isn't worthy of the UK job, but I wouldn't mind if Cal played a tuned 'Nate Oats' style.
I don't want Bruce Pearl, but damn, I want Cal to run the stuff Pearl runs. Hell yeah, he presses, he gets athletic freaks that drive hard to the rim, they open the floor up with good outside shooting and he makes great adjustments. His system is probably the best out of all of them. Also, I love his passion.
I think we would all love to get Brad Stevens, that’s very unlikely to ever happen, but I would love his coaching mind here. I think we all know how brilliant he is as a coach. He can take non-athletic kids and beat anybody. He runs an offense that is difficult to guard, with back cuts and a lot of misdirection plays that get easy baskets. This isn’t something Cal would ever do, but as a fan, you should want what Brad runs.
All these coaches are good player developers, they all use the 3 point shot effectively and they care about winning more than anything else.
Our issues with Cal are pretty simple. The roster turnover is a big issue, the offense, the stall ball, talking down to fans, the yelling all game long, taking half the season to figure out his team, the culture he created, which promotes leaving as fast as you can and the lousy pre-conference scheduling where we only play bigtime opponents when forced to or on neutral courts.
Most of us don't want Cal to quit or get fired, we just want him to stop the one-and-done, stop the pro days, change the offense and develop players over time instead of trying to microwave these kids' games.
