Four Final 4s in Five Years- who else has done it?
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3rex will chime in soon, that it should have been 3 championships in those years...(if only we had a coach who could recruit the best of the best and then be the best of the best coaches)
Michigan State went 99-01, but they didn't make it back until 2005.
They don't qualify.
Not to mention that when Duke did it between 1986-1990, it resulted in ZERO titles. For all of those bemoaning how we've ONLY won once in Cal's short tenure.
Additionally, K had the dominant team that lost in the tourney in '99, and unlike Cal, he's lost in the first round as both a 2 and a 3 seed. Just in the last couple years, too.
That's not to say that Cal's better than K, because no one is. But for those who want to hang on individual game outcomes...
Yeah, but how many of those were they a favorite? I think only once, which was 1986.
But they had a crazy run..
86 National Runner-up
88 Final Four
89 Final Four
90 National Runner-up
91 National Champs
92 National Champs
94 National Runner-up
That's 7 Final Four trips out of a possible 9 and they advanced to the title game 5 times. Crazy
Most impressive run since UCLA. Winning the title takes a fair amount of luck, but keeping your team as a year-in-year-out contender like that is extraordinary.
I think Cal's run is the best ever. Here's why. UCLA had Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton for three years in separate stints. Coach K had Laettner. Cal has had to rebuild/reload every year.
I don't think it's more impressive than Wooden's run, but that run also needs to be considered in the context of the parity of the era. To do it today would be unfathomable. Less parity back then.
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Well, he'd win championships probably more than he lost them, but I doubt he'd go 10 for 11. Not because he's lacking as a coach, but for example, we didn't win his first year, and then there would be occasional in between years where the new freshman stars didn't overlap with any superduperstar upperclassmen - maybe something like 7 out of 11 championships.
Cal and K are reloading with a weaker college landscape to compete against because of all the NBA attrition. When Laettner was in school the competition was different. Alonzo Mourning stayed in school four years, all those Vegas guys came back to try and win another one. Hell Shaq stayed three years. UNC only lost one guy early to the pros during CL's four years. ( junior JR Reid)
Umm, except 86-90 was NOT the only time Duke did it, that's just the one you cherry picked here..
Duke actually went to seven final fours in a nine year stretch between 86 and 94, including a streak of five straight between 88-92, during which they won titles in 91 and 92.
So there's actually FIVE different 5 year stretches during that run where they did it: from 90-94, 89-93, 88-92, 87-91, and 86-90. Only one of those five times they did it did not include titles. Gee ...and guess which one you chose to talk about.
I didn't cherry pick anything. And I didn't post this to dig at Duke. I posted it because some of our fans act like this 6 yr span by Cal is a failure because we only got 1 title. Also, because it was K's first 4 FFs, and was apt as I was comparing Cal's first 4 at UK. Besides, why does what I posted bother you? You Duke's defender now?
I agree with what was said earlier. Cal's is more impressive.
Wooden had the NCAA in a vice and the best player by FAR in Jabar and Walton.
K kept a fantastic team together during that 9 year run with no early entries, he ran it like an NBA team with replacements.
Cal had done it with a new team each year he has to mold and get ready to run. Plus the competition is so much stiffer now.
Wooden had the NCAA in a vice and the best player by FAR in Jabar and Walton.
K kept a fantastic team together during that 9 year run with no early entries, he ran it like an NBA team with replacements.
Cal had done it with a new team each year he has to mold and get ready to run. Plus the competition is so much stiffer now.
Obviously works both ways as Coach K got to keep the likes of Laettner, Hurley and Hill four years back then, too.
You need to consider that in the era in which K did it, guys didn't leave early, so they were playing teams that also had 3 and 4 year players. If you were to look at the Duke run and the Uk run, K did it best in that era of guys staying 3 and 4 years and Cal has done it best in the era of guys leaving after 1 and 2 years. Both are very impressive runs at different times in college basketball.
We almost went to 7 Final Fours in 8 seasons in the 1990's (1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999). The only down year was the 1994 2nd round loss to Marquette. Every other year we were either in the Final Four or in the Elite Eight on the cusp of a Final Four.
Definitely, but no one has near the turnover Cal has had to deal with. Everyone else may loose a starter or 2. We tend to lose at least 3-4 each year, and keep doing it.
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