But how great of a run is it when you consider the talent he's had? Thats what everyone fails to mention. They all talk about unprecedented success under Cal as if he is doing this with a roster of Richie Farmers. How do we know how incredible this run is?
We have nothing to compare it to.
I can only assume that you don't believe there is any other coach that could do what Cal has done with his talent the last six years.
If you were to take 5 of the top coaches in the country and give them the talent Cal has had the past 6 seasons what would be their results? If your answer is you think it would be similar to what Cal has done then whats the big deal? If your answer is, no way they do as well then thats your opinion.
If you give the Shaka Smart the talent that Calipari has had the past six years, say just put Shaka in Cal's seat, would he have the same amount of success? What if you gave this talent to Izzo? What would he do? If they both do the same or better than Cal, are their runs also remarkable?
We've been over this. We do have people to compare it to. Not many, but we do.
Coach K has had the same average number of five stars during Cal's time here. (6 per year)
Self, Roy, have had just under, around 5 per year. Miller, Matta, Donovan, Barnes, anybody coaching at UCLA, and probably Crean and Pastner are somewhere around 4.
That is not a huge difference, and K is considered by many to be the GOAT - and Cal and K have had very similar levels of success in that time. Cal has blown every single one of those other guys out of the water. It hasn't even been a contest.
Where does the worship for Shaka come from? He's done nothing even remotely as impressive as what Cal did at UMASS. Cal took a school that had 1 NCAA appearance in
history (1962)
, and ran off 5 straight tourney appearances, 3 of which made it past the first weekend, averaging 30 wins a season, including a deadly final Four team featuring
two recruits with high major offers and a bunch of no-names.
Shaka took a school that had been to the tourney
9 times since 1980. He also had 5 straight tourney appearances, averaging 27 wins per season, making one final four, and every other appearance was a first weekend exit. He did this with a comparable talent level - didn't have a Camby, but he had 3 players who made the NBA (including 15 and 20 mpg contributors) and had more guys as overseas pros than Cal did.
if you want to talk about mid major runs in the last decade, the only two who are comparable are Marshall and Stevens and maaaybe Mark Few (no post season success to speak of though).
Yes, I bet Izzo would get results as good as Cal with the same talent, sure. There are probably 5-7 coaches in the country who could - K, Izzo, Cal, Rick, Marshall, maybe another one or two.
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, because I want to articulate your argument here precisely.
Here's your quote:
"If you were to take 5 of the top coaches in the country and give them the talent Cal has had the past 6 seasons what would be their results? If your answer is you think it would be similar to what Cal has done then whats the big deal?"
So in essence, your argument here is -
how can we possibly be happy about our program being the best (or worst, second best) in the country, knowing that there are a couple of other coaches in the country who could also be wildly successful with this much talent?
Again, correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what it seems like you are saying. And it doesn't make any sense. At all. By the same token, you could say Duke fans should be angry, because they've had top 2 talent almost every year since 1990, and they've won 5 championships. 5 championships in 25 years, having top 2 talent every year - he dropped the ball with 5 lottery picks in 1999, including the #1, fergoodnesssakes - would Brad Stevens have done such a thing?!? How many burger boys did he need to overcome Lehigh and Mercer?!?
There are probably 5-7 other coaches who also would've produced absolutely ridiculous runs with that much talent, including Cal.
Does that cheapen or devalue Duke's success in that time? What's more, does it mean Duke fans should be running around wringing their hands like you?
