We all know that Cal wants a roster stacked with long, athletic, jump-out-of-the-gym types and relegates guys who are less athletic but better shooters to limited minutes.
It seems obvious -- "Cal has to fulfill promises made to 5*s to keep getting them" -- but there has to be something deeper to it for him to be willing to lose due to lack of scoring.
I think Cal's primary issue comes back to the old (and outdated) adage: "Defense wins championships." He'd rather have 5 guys on the floor that can guard every position than risk having one 'shooter' who is limited athletically for that. We know he doesn't teach "plays" on offense (takes time away from teaching defense) and he says at beginning of season all they work on is defense.
Further, Cal knows that a true "zone team" (e.g., Syracuse) really never wins the title. So, he force-feeds man-to-man no matter what to his unreal athletic but VERY inexperienced players -- even when it's obvious some zone would help us win.
So I'm not sure Cal's issue on continuing to play poor offensive guys like Boston, Clarke (and add to that A. Goodwin, K. Johnson, etc.) isn't so much about him thinking they will eventually be scorers but that he values defense so much more than offense.
Nick Saban used to have this paradigm in football and recently changed his thinking to one that says he's going to have the most EXPLOSIVE, points-scoring offense possible while still having an above-average defense -- which will lead him to many more championships even though he's not shutting teams out like they did in the past. He realized the game itself has changed and as smart as he was, he had to change with it or get left behind by the Lane Kiffins, Steve Sarkisians, etc.
For Cal to continue his ways as a "Hall of Fame Coach," I think he has to have a paradigm-change and it's not so much about the one-and-done philosophy as it is the "defense-first" mentality.
If he makes this ONE paradigm-shift I'm good with him continuing on; if not, I'd be ready to go with anyone else with a sound "offense-first" mentality.
It seems obvious -- "Cal has to fulfill promises made to 5*s to keep getting them" -- but there has to be something deeper to it for him to be willing to lose due to lack of scoring.
I think Cal's primary issue comes back to the old (and outdated) adage: "Defense wins championships." He'd rather have 5 guys on the floor that can guard every position than risk having one 'shooter' who is limited athletically for that. We know he doesn't teach "plays" on offense (takes time away from teaching defense) and he says at beginning of season all they work on is defense.
Further, Cal knows that a true "zone team" (e.g., Syracuse) really never wins the title. So, he force-feeds man-to-man no matter what to his unreal athletic but VERY inexperienced players -- even when it's obvious some zone would help us win.
So I'm not sure Cal's issue on continuing to play poor offensive guys like Boston, Clarke (and add to that A. Goodwin, K. Johnson, etc.) isn't so much about him thinking they will eventually be scorers but that he values defense so much more than offense.
Nick Saban used to have this paradigm in football and recently changed his thinking to one that says he's going to have the most EXPLOSIVE, points-scoring offense possible while still having an above-average defense -- which will lead him to many more championships even though he's not shutting teams out like they did in the past. He realized the game itself has changed and as smart as he was, he had to change with it or get left behind by the Lane Kiffins, Steve Sarkisians, etc.
For Cal to continue his ways as a "Hall of Fame Coach," I think he has to have a paradigm-change and it's not so much about the one-and-done philosophy as it is the "defense-first" mentality.
If he makes this ONE paradigm-shift I'm good with him continuing on; if not, I'd be ready to go with anyone else with a sound "offense-first" mentality.
