I mean you can’t really. Booker, SGA, Herro, and Shepherd were all really underrated.
Hell i knew Booker was underrated before he ever played a game for us. And you could tell SGA was too. I watched him in the Derby classic and told my buddy there’s no way he wouldn’t be starting before the end of the season.
I do think he helped Jackson by playing him in a way that showed off his strengths. Because Jackson really wasn’t all that good IMO. He was just a freaky athlete with a great motor and good defensive IQ. But offensively he didn’t have much and even in his 4th year in the league he still hadn’t gotten much better. So yeah I think Cal did a good job selling the nba on him with how he played him.
Other than that i’m not sure how much credit you give Cal for just playing guys. Eric Bledsoe probably. Not sure how many people were going to feature him the way Cal did as a true freshman without the hype of the higher ranked guys. That was back when the idea of winning big with freshman was still scoffed at. But his only other legit option was Memphis because of his eligibility questions. And Pastner is probably one of the other guys that would have played him a lot.
On the flip side i don’t think Cal did Devin Booker any favors by sticking him in the corner every night. Booker got to workouts and showed GM’s he was more than that.
Cal did do Herro and SGA a favor by pulling them away from coaches that weren’t known to play freshman a ton. But as long as they got ample playing time they were going to show out.
I think theres an argument he ruined Skal’s career. As well as BJ Bostons.
phew. that was too long but i’m bored.
