Posted on Sat, 01/26/2008 - 06:51 — by pjh87
It doesn't take much analysis to figure out Cal sucks in Men's Basketball. Women's Basketball is awesome.
In football, you can say facilities suck... Basketball though...no such excuse.
We sit at 9th place in the Pac-10 standings in men's basketball and the women are undefeated in Pac-10 play... The women's basketball team has taken all of the men's basketball team's excuses away.
I like Ben Braun; he is a nice guy. He just doesn't win.
Time to upgrade Men's basketball coach at Cal please. Hey, how about that St Mary's coach?
Glenn Dickey says it all. He writes:
"NEXT CAL COACH? As I wrote in my Tuesday column in the Examiner, Ben Braun is a disaster as Cal men’s basketball coach. If this is his last year, as we can all hope, who would replace him? Rich Lieberman has a good candidate: St. Mary’s coach Randy Bennett.
“He’s everything Braun is not,†writes Lieberman, “He can coach (beat a talented Oregon team), has legitimate offensive/defensive schemes and has the respect of his players. He’s also a great recruiter. St. Mary’s is rarely is on TV, yet Bennett somehow was able to land two stud freshmen. Pat Mills is going to be a star.â€
I concur; I’ve been following Bennett’s career for some time. I think Braun knows he’s on borrowed time; his calling out of players has the smell of panic. Hopefully, Cal athletic director Sandy Barbour will realize that he has to go after this season."
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 21
The major difference that I see between Cal bball & fball is the talent. In fball we rank near the top of the pacx; in bball; not so much. The expectations that we should have in bball are therefore considerably diminished.
Personally, as long as the team competes to its skill level (and I think it mostly has), I don't have a problem with Braun. Now, I DO have a problem with Tedford since his team didn't even come close to matching what it COULD do. The bottom-line: The University has a responsibility to prepare its students for the real world. If you bring in talent, you better dammed well make sure that you make them better.
Of course, the bigger issue is why Braun DOESN'T get the talent but that's not NEARLY as big a sin, in my book, as wasting the talent that you DO have.
In other words, fire Tedford's under-performing butt & give Braun more recruiting help. THEN if Braun doesn't win, you can fire him, too.
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 24
dood, where have you been? Braun has had great talent over the years and squandered it. He'd be fine in the mids but not in the PAC. I've been saying for years that he shoud go.
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 14
FedUp,
U are officially insane and have now lost all credibility. Your continued condemnation of Tedford, and now your support for Braun, demonstrate that you are completely out of touch with reality.
Depending on what objective measure one uses to judge success, Tedford has been the most successful coach in the history of Cal football.
This year, the Cal basketball team, with Anderson, Randle, Christopher, Boykin, Hardin, and Kamp, has more talent than any Cal team since J Kidd. And, as many have pointed out already, the team still sucks.
Is Braun a good guy? Yes. Does he run a clean program? Yes. Do the players conduct themselves well off the court and with the media? Yes, for the most part. But it's no coincidence that Cal can NEVER win close games, that Cal's defense is presently the worst in the conference, that Cal couldn't get a rebound to save its life against Stanford, that it seems like Cal never has the right personnel on the floor, that Cal's offense is so predictable that Ben Howland had his defenders beating the Cal players to their assignments in the Pac-10 tourney last year.
With Braun, Cal will NEVER have success in the Pac-10 in men's basketball. It's just a question of whether the AD is willing to accept mediocrity or not. Given that Cal has achieved excellence in so many other endeavors (particularly now with a very successful football program) both in athletics and academics, most of us rational folks aren't content with mediocrity any more.
There are plenty of possibilities for a replacement without bringing in an established superstar coach:
Great coach from small school (e.g., Randy Bennett, Bruce Perle going to Tenn)
Great coach from smaller school in major conference (e.g., Seth Greenberg from Va Tech, Herb Sendek to ASU last year)
Unproven quantity who has worked with great coach (ANY current Duke assistant)
Former Cal great (Kevin Johnson)
It just takes the will to make it happen.
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 137
RS...
I only have one problem with your comment re: FUB...
It implies that at some point, he actually had credibility.
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 10
couldn't agree with you more, Ricky, fedupbear is insane! He's so fed-up? what's he doing on Cal forums? I think he's a masochist anyway. But yeah, Braun needs to go....along with fedupbear.
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 27
>>edUp, U are officially insane and have now lost all credibility.<<
My sanity (or lack thereof) has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that 2 years out of 3 the $3million man screwed the pooch on his QB selection (and left it there for each entire season; only to remove it and find ...surprise ... that he had a terrific QB just wasting away on the bench).
Bottom-line, Braun is a schlub, but he never has pretended to be anything else and -- up until this year -- he has been just good enough to get by. Tedford wants everyone to believe that he's a star. He has demanded the salary of a star and he has basked in the limelight of a star. Unfortunately, the reality is that -- as a COACH -- he's no different than Braun EXCEPT that he has hired assistants who can recruit. In his ENTIRE career at Cal, he has had ONLY 2 victories where he had inferior talent and outcoached his opponent --$C & Va Tech . TN this year? He had much better talent. UO last year? He had much better talent. UO this year? His coaching didn't win that game, LUCK won that game.
Questioning Tedford isn't an act of insanity but DEFENDING him IS. If this were any other school that aspires to football greatness, Tedford would find himself AND his air mattress out on the street.
Defending Braun before the last half of this year wasn't an act of insanity. Now it is and he's got to go. Firing him should be a good warmup for firing Tedford after another losing season with the wrong QB.
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 44
And again Furd 82 Cal 77. Do not blame the refs. Just hold your nose and hope for a coaching change.
But I am really sick and tired of coming close. [bleep]. Why can't we just fire Braun now? Do we want to wait until we are out of the NIT sweepstakes before we make a change? How solid of a grip on 9th place in the standings do we need to be before we decide find a new coach?
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 63
If I had very good frosh and soph talent and a #24 ranking by USA Today, I'd consider sticking around at SMC...if the pay was equal.
Mark Few at Gonzaga is paid on par with big time programs but gets the benefit of playing at a small school and getting paid okay aren't a bad combo. If he continues to win at SMC, his stock only goes up.
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 44
Jan K,
Glenn Dickey writes a great let's fire Ben Braun article:
http://www.glenndickey.com/_gd.php?view_one=yes&which=696
The Washington win was great. But let's not forget what that means: Ben Braun can't coach very well. If the Cal Basketball team is good enough to beat Wasu in Pulman then why are we 3-5 in the Pac-10? Good coaching means we beat the teams we are supposed to beat at home. And we split on the road-trips. If we lose to Wash then how significant will the WASU win be? Ans: 0
And can we get off the "Cal Alum don't donate" crap.(not you Jan) There was a SF Business journal article in December 2007 about how Cal has doubled the number of donors and $$ coming into the athletic dept. And that is with a mediocre men's BB team.
What happens with a men's basketball coach that actually makes Cal basketball exciting to watch again? Ans: We sell out Haas Pauv again for home games. And we win at Haas like we are supposed to do every game.
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 2441
Thanks! It wasn't very pretty tonight, but they did well enough to win. We hit another big shot (Knezevic 3) near the end, so holding on and winning in another close game might give them confidence. I honestly don't know why this team couldn't blow out the Beavers? We should have been up by 20 and never looked back, but what often happens is they play down to the level of the other team. Boykin seems to have found his role finally and he's fun to watch. He's got that Pribble exuberance.
UCLA and Stanford got it going, but WSU is having a disappointing season and we get them at Haas the last home game and can sweep them. We could beat everybody else if things go right. We have a telented team, but I think this year we really miss Ubaka and his outside shooting. Randle's quickness and ball handling is great, but I don't even think Verniesal made a shot unless it was late.
Beating Oregon Saturday for four in a row would be huge!
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 44
Back to reality. Cal loses 92-70 to Oregon at Haas, the Bears' largest margin of defeat in nearly three years. What the hell was that?
Next coach please.
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 1
Very ugly. Oregon hit 12 of 15 3s in thesecond half, most of which were wide open looks, and 18 for the game. You'renot going to beat many teams that shoot it that well. The really disturbing thing, though, was the seeming lack of adjustments on Cal's part. They continued to run the same stuff offensively and defensively. They walked the ball up the court the entire game. Ryan Anderson had two points in the second half until about 5 minutes left...he got few touches. We had a pretty good view of the bench from our seats and Braun just seemed bewildered. I don't pretend to be a coach, but I learned at any early age in sports that you change a losing game. Try something different...full court pressure, half court trap, run the ball up the court , something. Ben did nothing.
I'm also disturbed that none of the Cal players seem to get better after their sopomore years. The two prime examples of that are Sean Lampley and Devon Hardin. Both made strides between their first and second years, then the improvement came to a halt. That's Ben's responsibility, too.
It makes me sick to my stomach that Braun's contract was extended after last year.
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 14
While I appreciate all the accomplishments Ben Braun has achieved for the program during his tenure (noted from earlier posts), The simple truth is Cal is nothing more than competitive. I've watched Cal basketball for 40+ years and don't want to except mediocrity any longer. There ARE good coaches out there that would love to compete in the Pac-10. We CAN afford to pay for a top flight coach. Sandy needs to pull the plug on Ben and move forward. The football program did it - the basketball can as well. My gut feeling is that recruiting will go up measurably.
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 2441
To Braun's credit, there was an article today saying he intends to "go bigger" and start Hardin and will pull Vierneisel from the starting lineup. I bet he would have done that last week, but Hardin was not 100%.
Randle is still feeling the effects of a concussion, so Vierneisel will probably still get playing time and who knows, he might come in off the bench and hit some shots. He looked like from past years he would be a sharpshooter, but it just hasn't happened and he's probably pressing.
If Hardin is back in the starting line-up and guys can remain healthy, we shouldn't have that problem of falling behind and having to battle back when each half starts. We have a leader in Boykin and some bench players that can hold their own and provide a spark. Hardin has to stop reaching in and committing bad fouls at the top of the key too.
I'm trying to forget that awful Oregon game and remain optimistic. The home games against the Washington teams should still be fun to watch.
Go Bears!
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 2441
I was too depressed after leaving the game to post until now. I was really excited to keep the win steak going. We got a lot of guard scoring so that apparently isn't the problem as Randlle went for 17 and Robinson came off the bench and hit 3 three's for 9.
I really hate to single out individual players, but there's a lot of grumbling in the stands when Vierneisel starts. We dug ourselves a hole to start the game and then Robinson comes in and hits some shots and we spend the first half catching up. Then the 2nd half starts and with the same starting 5 and we get in another big hole. The last 2 games Vierneisel has only 2 free throws for 2 points, but yet he starts? I keep telling the guy sitting next to me when he complains that we need senior leadership, but he just lets out a big laugh. I also hear a lot of that same thing that players are not improving like you'd expect with each year of experience.
We got killed on the boards. It isn't just that Oregon made their shots so we got no rebound chances. I remember watching Oregon get about 5 offensive rebounds in consecutive trips down the floor and they got way too many second chances.
We needed two big guys in there. I thought Hardin who didn't start would have been good to start the 2nd half in place of Vierneisel since we caught up in the first half with him in there. Hardin is really quick so it's not like you lose much with him and Anderson in there. I know he was sick though last week and maybe coming off the bench protects him from getting in early foul trouble.
Why can't we defend the outside shot? Defense has always been our strong point. You know Tuan Porter is going to hit his crazy shots, but everyone for Oregon was getting open looks. Same thing that kept Oregon State in the game Thursday night. What? We can't defend against the high screen? It's so basic. We looked really flat and there were times Boykin was on the bench when we needed him out there because his effort can inspire his teammates so they don't hang their heads. He made some terrific extra effort plays diving for balls. That one where knocked the ball away, scooped it up, almost lost it and made a great play to get under control and then went coast to coast finishing with a contested bank off the glass while bowling over an Oregon defender on a great no call was one for the highlight reel. He even kicked Leunin in the nose when he jumped out at him which was inadvertant so no foul was called. Unfortunately, after stopping the game to get his wits, Leunen got mad and nailed a 3 after play resumed.
If we don't win the NIT I'm going to be really disappointed.
Edited 2/10/2008 9:04 am by BazookaJoe
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 14
Let's see - Close win at home against Oregon St the a blowout loss to Oregon. Close for a half against Arizona then getting left behind in the dust 2nd half. Did you notice that Mr. Hardin scored 1 point in that 2nd half? Any one else tired of mediocrity? The program has been going nowhere for a number of years and needs some new leadership. I'm sorry Ben but you don't deserve any more time at the helm. Sandy needs to prepare a short list now.
Adios from the land of margeritas and guacamole
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 2441
Well, I missed the game due to Valentine Day stuff, but it sounds like it was just as well. That's a shame. I guess going with the bigger line-up isn't the problem either. It's going to be tough to salvage much this season, but maybe they can get it together, make the NIT, and bring home another banner to hang in the rafters of Haas? The woman play Stanford on the 23rd and if both teams keep winning, that will be a huge game and maybe they can go deeper in NCAA's and make some noise. It's not all that bad for Bear fans.
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 2441
They beat AZ State! Sounds like they figured out how to play defense, but the article said the Sun Devils hit 7 three-pointers in the final 1:07? Wow, it's a good thing we had a cushion. Some of the games this year were lost with the inability to stop the 3 in the closing minute of play, so they have to get that straightened out and then they might have it all together and can finish the season on a good note.
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32
It's time for Ben to go. Thanks for everything.
-- Lawrence C. Ross, Jr. The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities (author) The Ways of Black Folks: A Year in the Life of a People (author) Friends With Benefits (author) Skin Game (author) Money Shot: The Wild N
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 2441
Same old theme against Stanford, watching the Bears battle back all game just to fall short. When they got down by 15 early I was ready to turn to the Academy Awards but I had it Tivo'd and fast forwarded to the 2nd half and was pleased to see they were only down 4. It was entertaining, but the ending was all too familiar.
The good news about the men struggling is the women are getting a lot of attention they really deserve. I was at their game Saturday along with over 10,000 other people and it was an incredible atmosphere. It's not so bad being a CAL fan when one sport is struggling and you can turn your attention to another and support them in the post season.
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 79
Good morning pjh87 and everyone else: Braun is a nice guy, no arguement there. When you consider the mess that was left by Bozeman, Braun has done a nice job in cleaning up the mess, and restoring the program. But a "successful" coach is measured by wins and losses period!
The answers to the following will tell you that Braun needs to go!!
Talent: How many players that Braun has recruited have made "All Pac-10", or gone on to the NBA? NCAA Tourney: How many trips have the Bears made under Braun? or the NIT? How many Pac-10 or Co-Pac-10 Championships?
If a successful BB program is judged only on how "clean" it is, Brauns a winner!! But we all know it's not!! Braun is the "Holmoe" of basketball! Winning brings the money in! It's not "I need more money to win"!! 12 years is long enough, where are the results?
Regards to all Dave
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 44
Ok I can handle a losses on the road. But 2-7 at Haas in the Pac-10? How bad does this team need to go before Braun just says what's obvious "I need to leave because I suck as a coach?" Fire Braun today; he probably doesn't sees what is already obvious. We can lose with anyone coaching this team at this point.
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 14
It's just sad to see Devon go out like that on Senior Day at Home. What could have been with a better coach........ I was surprised that so many fans showed up, though the place sounded like a graveyard most of the game. I think the only way to get the message across to the AD is for everyone to stop going to games. It's just such a sad waste of talent this year....
RickySanchez
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 63
I thought after Harmon/Haas was rebuilt things would improve for Cal hoops and they did for awhile. It's a huge improvement and a good place to see a game and that's something that hasn't been Cal's strong suit...and that's why people show up regardless. Nothing wrong with loyalty.
That said, I agree it's time for Ben Braun to be replaced. You have the facilities, you have the school that kids want to attend, you're a major school and in the Pac 10. There's really no excuses any longer.
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 24
is it me or does this new forum format suck?
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 44
The article in todays CC Times about Sandy B and Ben Braun stated some very obvious things: 1.) The Cal men's BB team has lots of talent, 2.) we "should" be doing better.
And then there are the interesting remarks like Sandy saying: I'm "Ben's biggest cheerleader."
If we have 2 players that are NBA quality and we finish the Pac-10 in 9th place then the obvious decision to make about Ben B is to fire him or ask him to resign. So here's what Ben says about our 6-10 Pac-10 record and the teams performance:
"I do take it personally, and I take responsibility," Braun said of the defensive breakdowns. "If our defense isn't where it should be, it starts with me. If we're playing the kind of defense we're capable of playing, I think you can flip-flop our record. That's how close things are."
Coaches are suppose to make good players better and to have the players buy into their style of playing. Ben's style of playing is defense first. He came to Cal as a defensive minded coach. The defensive breakdowns are lack of effort and/or lack of players believing that Ben's way of doing things works. The fact that players are not playing defense and that this year's team has allowed 78 points per game leads me to believe that Ben has in fact lost his players.
So another year with Ben would be disasterous. Think Tom Holmoe. We all know how disasterous Holmoe's last year was when it was obvious he should have been fired the year before his last year.
So if Ben B is really taking responsibility then he will resign. Right? I would hope that Ben would resign, but he has no incentive to resign. If he is fired Cal must pay Ben $900K+ per his contract. Next year that amount drops to $400K+. So Ben has a $900K+ incentive to make Sandy fire him and not resign.
The $900k+ question is will Sandy fire Ben or will Sandy fall into a Holmoe syndrom and keep him for one more year?
If Ben is coaching next year then I don't need to go to Haas to watch them lose; I can just read about that in the newspaper. I don't seem to be the only one with these thoughts. It seems that Ben has lost Cal fans and his players.
Let's hope Sandy has more character than chearleading skills.
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 2441
We got ripped today against UCLA. Can't believe the refs gave two games to the Bruins this weekend on terrible calls. Another apology should be forthcoming.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have faith in Sandy Barbour and it was good she made that public statement about Braun and I think it caused the Bears to play inspired this weekend. I'll support the AD's decision on coaches because I think she's doing a great job. I'm staying out of it this time. I remember writing a letter to Bob Bockroth telling him how great his decision was to fire Campanelli and hire Bozeman and we all know how that turned out. Bozeman got us on probation after the Jelani Gardner deal and Bockroth turned out to be a forgettable AD who I think went to Alabama and screwed them up too. I'm just going to be a fan this time and let Sandy Barbour do her job because in my opinion she understands how important winning is and will make the right decisions to put us in the best position for winning.------------------------------------------------- Too bad against UCLA, it ended up to be a game like every other this year, but we deserved to win that one.
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 2441
I was pretty sure that a shot that goes over the backboard was illegal but since the announcers and refs didn't mention it, I figured they knew the rules. Reading the paper and having it confirmed that Shipp's shot was illegal makes me even madder. How can the refs not use instant replay like the CAL coaching staff requested to look at that? There were 3 bad calls: Anderson was fouled intentionally and they don't call it, the ball should have been CAL's went it went out of bounds, and Shipp's shot was illegal and should have been nullified. It's good for the pac-10 UCLA won, but I feel real bad for CAL's kids who played so well all game.
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1
I couldn't agree more with getting rid of Braun. Like you said, great guy and all but he's hasn't taken the Bears to the next level. It's time for a change. There's no reason why Cal can't be a perrenial top 25 team. This underachieving is frustrating. Here are Ben's stats,........ the one's that matter anyway:
5 NCAA tournament births in 12 season's,..........not good enough. 3 NCAA wins in 12 seasons! (2 of those wins were with the '97 Bears, which it could be argued, was Todd Bozeman's team),..........embarrasing. 4 wins vs Stanford since the '98 season!,...........also embarrasing.
"Ben it's been a good run. We like you and respect you as a coach, but it's time to move on. It's time to shake things up and it's time to expect more for Cal basketball."
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 2441
I didn't see the end of the Arizona State/USC game, but apparently the Pac 10 officials ripped AZ State off now. I heard during the CAL game the announcers said Pendergraph make a dunk or something that should have counted but USC got the win instead. They said that call might cost AZ State a trip to the NCAA's. Why are the Pac 10 officials making so many bad calls at the end of games?
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 14
Hopefully Sandy has seen enough. Losing close games on a regular basis is bad enough. Losing by 20 at season's end is disgraceful. I've made my position known weeks ago and I've seen nothing since then to change it. Ben's teams don't have the skill sets to compete with the better coached teams. The player personnel is fine - they just haven't progressed. Please Sandy give us some hope for a brighter future. Anybody notice how poorly the recruiting is going!
Adios from the land of margeritas and guacamole
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 44
You can hear it now. Well Ben o'l boy started 4 Sophmores this year. He should be given another chance. It wouldn't be fair to fire him now. CRY CRY CRY. This is pathetic. Why hasn't Sandy acted and fired Ben? What is she waiting for? A 9th place finish in the Pac-10. Oh wait yes an NIT bid.... That'll make everything just fine, an NIT Bid. Hey we might not even get an NIT bid. How pathetic would that be?
How bad does the Cal Men's BB team need to be before Sandy will fire Ben Braun? How many less Cal fans need to show up for games at Haas? Is it ok that the women's BB team draws more fans than the men at Haas?
How come more Cal fans don't call for Benn B to be fired? Do we like losing at Haas? Is Ben Braun really going to be a better coach next season?
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 16
here's another reason why braun has to go - he considers winning the NIT a "national championship." nuff said (from rod benson's blog):
One time when I was talking with coach Braun (Cal's head coach) he said, "Rod, do you trust that I know what I'm talking about? You should. I've won a national championship."
I started to ask him when this occurred. As far as I knew, Cal hadn't done anything championship related since 1959. I knew that coach had taken his first Cal team to the Sweet 16 and that his Eastern Michigan teams were real nice with Earl Boykins. I think he could tell I was trying to remember what year he was an Assistant for Dean Smith, because that was the only possible way I could think of. Before I could muster my first word back to him, he cut me off.
"NIT national championship. So I know what it takes to win a national championship."
I laughed because I never heard it referred to as a national championship. It was a great accomplishment; especially considering that two of my four years at Cal we didn't qualify for anything except a real nice spring break. I went to Cabo one year. Still, now I wonder, did he have a point? Maybe he did. I doubt he would EVER call the CBI a national championship, but as a competitor you should want to keep competing.
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 2441
Hey! I always considered the NIT a National Championship too! I'll never forget that shot by Geno Carlisle. I was thinking about halfway through the season, this was our best year to try and win another one! ---------- I'm not sure I would put too much stock in what Rod Benson said in his blog, but I will say that the excuse that they are all sophs is not a good one. They did a side by side comparison of the talent in the PAC-10 and most the teams and even the guys that won the individual awards were fueled by sophs and freshman. You need to win with one senior and a lot of sophs and freshman now. Look at Kevin Love and O.J. Mayo, these guys are coming out of high school nearly NBA ready. If they go pro after one year, there's another guy like them ready to step in and take over.
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 16
haha. you have very low expectations of the basketball program. maybe its ok for a fan to consider an NIT championship a nat'l championship. but its quite sad that ben braun has to use that as evidence of his coaching credentials/expertise. i really hope that's not his main pitch to recruits. "come to cal, and we'll win some nat'l championships, NIT style!" pretty embarrassing if you ask me.
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 2441
I just got my tickets for that first round New Mexico game Wed night! I know it sucks not making it to the NCAA tourney again, but there's always the women who got seeded 3rd and maybe they can make some noise this year. I'm just trying to make the most of it, but I certainly understand other people's frustrations too and I don't blame them for voicing their opinions. I had the same high expectations as everybody else for both football and basketball and it was disappointing, but we still have to remain loyal fans because it's too late to change our alma mater. Heck, back when I chose to go to CAL, they really sucked!
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 16
never would think about changing my alma mater. just wanna change the men's basketball coach. cal definitely needs more fans like you though.
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 44
I was in the Cal Band when we got into the NIT in 1985. We hadn't been in any post season for years. But this past mediocrity does not have to be our future. In fact, at Cal it is increasingly unacceptable. Many major sports at Cal are performing at a high level. But the Men's BB team finishes 9th out of 10 teams in the Pac-10, we go the the also ran tournament NIT and say well maybe Ben Braun is not that bad??? Go ahead buy tickets to Cal's NIT game at Haas. Let Sandy know that mediocrity is just fine with you. Let her know that 9th place in the Pac-10 is perfectly acceptable results for you. Go ahead support mediocrity; buy tickets and go to Cal's NIT game at Haas. Maybe we'll do better than the 2-7 PAC-10 record we had at Haas this year. Maybe next year we can compete for 8th place in the Pac-10 and move up in the standings and get a higher seed in the NIT next year. If this is the future you want then go to the NIT game at Haas and support the mediocrity Ben Braun has given us Cal fans. Maybe if we win the NIT we can celebrate how great it is to be #66 in the country again. If we want a coaching change, then we must stay home and tell Sandy we will not support the mediocrity Ben Braun has given us year in and year out. In 1985, the NIT was progress; in 2008 the NIT is just plain mediocrity. If UCLA can win the PAC-10 why can't Cal?? UCLA is not a better school; they just have a better coach.
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 44
"I just got my tickets for that first round New Mexico game Wed night!" Congrats Bazooka Joe you get to go watch a crappy Cal Men's BB team play a crappy New Mexico team. You must be proud of how hard our Cal team played to get to 9th place in the Pac-10. And you are right Cal really did suck in the past when we finished in 6th place in the Pac-10. 9th place must make you proud to own those tickets; at least we got into the NIT right?
At least we are not mediocre this year right? At least you are supporting Ben Braun who never has competed for the Pac-10 title since he has been here. Maybe Cal will be better next year if we all go out and support Ben Braun and the mediocre results he's given us over the years. More than likely Bazooka Joe, we will all be sick of losing again. But thanks for your support of losing and making us all sick for maybe one more year.
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 2441
Man, don't blame me for all the problems. I'd rather see New Mexico and the legendary Steve Alford, than I would Nantucket State, or whoever else we schedule our preseason games against and blow our money on. I'm just a basketball fan. If the NCAA's were on, I would probably stay home, but I can TIVO American Idol. I don't believe for a second me going to the NIT game has anything to do with whether they retain Braun or not. I don't have that much power.------- You guys missed a great game! Randle made the replay of the night with a circus pass to a trailing Christopher off the backboard for a dunk! Unbelievable! We got real lucky. We were up 5 with less than 2 minutes and we let the Lobos make a 3. Then we couldn't get the ball across midcourt and got a 10 second violation. It looked like one of those games. Whether you call it luck, or NIT magic, we pulled it out. Anderson misses 2 crucial free throws, but we get the rebound on the second miss! Then Boykin drives the lane with the score tied and the refs make a real iffy foul call with 3.4 seconds remaining. Boykin sinks both throws, and it's off to the second round against #1 seed Ohio State. OHIO STATE, mind you! It sure beats those teams we play in the preseason! I've been to an NIT final at Madison Square Garden. It wasn't even CAL, it was Witchita State against Tulsa. Overtime too!
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 44
"An announced crowd of 1,906 fans -- one of the smallest at a Cal home game in a quarter century -- watched..." the NIT game. Most Cal fans gave Sandy and Ben Braun a vote of no confidence at the NIT game. Most Cal fans stayed home and did not go to Cal's NIT game because they do not want to support a mediocre Men's BB program led by Ben Braun. Of course the game was exciting; it pitted two mediocre teams against each other and they were equally matched.
Cal fans understand that if they go to Cal's men's BB games they are supporting Sandy's current position to keep Ben Braun as coach. Cal fans understand that if they vote by staying home from BB games at Haas they are telling Sandy B: if you want to keep Ben Braun the cost will be a lack of support from Cal fans and alumni at home games at Haas next year too. If Sandy wants to make the decision to keep Ben B and further alienate Cal fans hungry for a coach that gives us a chance to compete for the Pac-10 championship and make it to the real NCAA National Championship Tournament then she does so at her own peril. I'm not demanding that we win the Pac-10 year in and year out; I just want us, as I'm sure many other Cal fans do as well, to compete for the Pac-10 Championship year in and year out. That Bazooka Joe would be way more exciting to watch than two mediocre teams playing at Haas. And the extremely low number (1,906) of fans who attended the Cal NIT game at Haas sent a clear message to Sandy that she can not ignore. Hopefully she got the message and will do the right thing and fire Ben Braun.
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 14
I strongly agree with PJH on this one. We can beg for Braun's departure until we're all blue (and gold) in the face, but it obviously has had zero effect on the AD. The ONLY method that may have an impact is to quit buying tickets. Bazooka, I beg you to stop going to games -- watch the games on TV instead. I saw the New Mexico game, too ...... from home. It was a great game in that a) the Bears played with guts against a better-coached team (nothing new), and JR Giddens was pretty impressive; and, b) fewer than 2000 people attended the game. I say good job Bear fans. Keep up the good work of staying away from Haas until Braun is gone. I'm now hoping that we snag Bill Grier away from USD before he becomes a national name.
RickySanchez
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 2441
I have great season tickets that I don't want to give up and I cetainly don't want to pay $35 per game just to not go. That sure was classy of Braun after that tough loss to go over to that Giddens kid for New Mexico who scored 26 points and played his last college game. I don't know what he said, but I'm sure Braun had some encouraging words for him. You know he had to feel bad because he made a great play to stop Boykin on that final drive and it was unfortunate for the Lobos they called a foul on the other guy that seemed to just run by the play. I'm sure a lot of programs would pick Braun up if he did get let go because he runs a clean program and is a player's coach. I'm not saying I'm against a coaching change, but who would you get in return? Not someone like Kelvin Sampson I hope. Mark Few? Most fans might think it's boring, but I really like WSU's Tony Bennett and their style of basketball.
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 10
I will take 1) Mike Montgomery, 2) Jaime Dixon, or 3) Bobby Braswell over Ben Braun anyday.
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 16
you know, i don't think ben braun is a player's coach. i don't have any inside info, but i hear that he's difficult to get along with and that he's not that personable. he certainly doesn't strike me as the charismatic type. i rarely hear players refer to him in glowing terms. plus, he seems to call out players in the media frequently. and let's not forget the early defections and transfers (i'm sure academics has a lot to do w/ that too, but wouldn't surprise me at all if it was braun)
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 2441
You could be right, but I figured Braun is a player's coach because he seems to play a lot of guys and he's really good with giving walk-ons a fair chance. I don't have any inside info either though. It looks like the kids play hard for him. I think every team is going to have transfers. We were able to get Boykin that way. Transfers, injuries, and kids leaving early happen to all teams, so it's true you need to find a way to win despite those problems. -------- Since you guys want a new coach so bad, why don't you ask this guy? He looks like he's ready for a new challenge and he comes with a mascot bear so you guys could replace Oski at the same time. He has experience coaching smart Ivy League kids, so Cal should be a good fit. (I bet he wishes he was in the NIT and had a chance to win a National Championship! :)
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 1
Hey may have had violations, but he he brought us: Jason Kidd, Lamond Murray, Abur-Rahim, Tony Gonzales (bball and fball) , consecutive NCAA bids, March Madness, packed games, etc.
The point is Cal needs a coach that can recruit and relate to players. Ben is no Coach "K"...12 years is way too long! Ben (if your reading) please respectfully resign, take a note from the greats like Bobby Knight...get out before you get forced out. Man-Up.... Go Ben....Go Bears!