So, big news here at TBIOOTF.

The news? TBIOOTF will soon no longer exist.

This has happened for a variety of reasons - The SBN folks had good reason to be frustrated with my comparatively light posting. Also this Fall, I am likely headed back to school, in a different part of the country, making running a one-man Cal blog a pretty impossible task.

The good news for you - the guys from California Golden Blogs will be taking over the Cal SBN page (albeit at a new domain). I have talked with them a little bit, and may become a contributor once they get set-up.

For now though, just want to thank everyone who has kept reading through good times (winning the Holiday Bowl, being ranked No. 2), bad times (losing the Big Game, the over the backboard shot), moments surprising (firing Braun), and shockingly great (Riley coming off the bench, and Monty getting hired.) I especially appreciate our regular commentors including (but not at all limited to) - SoCal Oski, HolmoePhobe, CalBear2001, joshiemac, BenN, and 13636712. I'd also like to thank Eli, who made this site manageable during the past football season.

For now, I have no new blog, or real plans of setting one up. This domain literally will be wiped off the net soon. But feel free to e-mail me at TBIOOTF@gmail.com if you want to contact me.

Thanks a lot everyone,

Kevin

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This is kind of a surprise.

Sports Illustrated is saying that former Cal RB James Montgomery is transferring to Washington State.

Normally players don't transfer in-conference ... it's just bad form.  But apparently he's got friends up in the paloose.

Well, I guess we'll see first-hand whether we'll miss his presence or not, huh?

Normally, I would wish any player who transfers the best of luck, and the same goes for JM.  Except, of course, for two games, when it will be nice to see a few fumbles and some really horrible running.

Go Bears!

[editor's note, by Kevin]Doesn't this mean he has to sit out two years?

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Ben lands a new gig. According to Fox Sports, Ben Braun will be coaching at Rice next year.

Good for him!  I think it will be a pretty good fit.  As we all know, Ben is the sort of coach that can come in to a program and get things moving in the right direction - even if he can't take them to the more elite levels.

Still, I think pretty much every Cal fan, student, and alum has good wishes for BB, and seeing him get another head coaching gig so fast is nice.

Best of luck to him and the Rice Owls.

Go Bears!

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Key Points:

1. Monty will move his family to the East Bay and become part of the Cal community... he doesn't want to commute.

2. His son WILL be coming to Cal and was one of the conditions of the deal.

3. He has not hired any assistants yet, but has been on the phone with potentials.

4. He has not had a sit down with Ryan yet b/c Ryan has been sick... but will have meetings with the players soon.

5. He did have one other offer and was close to another one.. but both were NOT from Indiana.. in fact, he didn't talk to anyone from Indiana.

6. Nobody at the farm (that he told) has given him shit about coming to Cal.. but he did clear it with his higher ups there to make sure it was kosher.

7. He gave no comments about current Braun staffers and their status at the school.

8. He said that he must re-recruit our recruits... and re-recruit Ryan... and that he will focus on keeping Ryan around.

9. Seems the early reports on the 6 year contract was accurate.

He acknowledged that the Furd/Cal rivalry will be an issue initially, but once he starts winning everyone will quickly forget about that... I agree 100%...

Overall, I am over-frickn-joyed at this hire and wish him the best of luck... not that he really needs it.

http://all-access.cstv.com/cstv/player/player.html?code=cal&sport=m-baskbl&category=Press%20 Conference%20%28MediaType%29&media=66711

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If the Pac-10 is in a coaching arms race, Cal dropped a pretty big bomb on the field today.

No, not just Mike Montgomery.

6 years, $10 million.

Basically Ben Howland money for a guy who has been out of coaching during a period in which Howland has gone through three straight Final Fours.

This shows someone at Cal is pretty serious about basketball. A few weeks ago, I thought that the Cal job was too good for Monty to pass up.

But 6 years, $10 million? No way would I have believed that.

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The one concern people have stated about Montgomery is that he won't be willing to recruit, and that he (supposedly) didn't like to recruit at Stanford. That may well be true, but honestly, does it matter?

(1) This is basketball not football. If guys stay four years (and they almost all did under Monty at Stanford) you have to recruit a total of three players per year. Sure, you want to get some top-level guys, but winning makes basketball recruiting pretty easy.

(2) Monty is a tactician, not a recruiter. There are plenty of coaches who work their asses off to get the best recruits. I'm not sure that Monty needs to be one of them. His offense is intricate and fantastic - a step above anything else on the college level.

And let's not forget - he isn't just a brilliant tactician, he is a brilliant offensive tactician. Howland and Bennett are brilliant defensive coaches, but it is a lot easier to recruit for offense. (None of this is to say that I expect a Wazzu or UCLA like turnaround under Monty.)

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Speaking of offense - we averaged 76.4 points per game last year. If Anderson returns, we should be better. Scary.

Anderson is great, but lacking in exposure. If he comes back, he won't be lacking anymore. He has to come back, right?

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Remember the Cal-Stanford game at Haas in 2007? You probably shouldn't, Cal lost by 19.

But Monty was covering the game for Comcast Sports. He was absolutely in love with Jerome Randle. Randle scored 19, including 3-for-5 on threes.

We just went from perhaps the worst PG coach around (zeros decent PGs in 12 years) to perhaps the best (Brevin Knight, Arthur Lee, Chris Hernandez).

How happy is Jerome today?

And bizarre to consider, but did us having Randle have any influence on Monty taking the job?

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These players should be overjoyed...

Boykin - just a Monty-at-Stanford type guy through and through. If I wasn't a Cal fan, Boykin would annoy me to no end. Remember how annoying Monty's Stanford teams were.

Kamp - big decently talented white guys - a Monty specialty.

Christopher - guards who can hit a jumper will get basically an unlimited number of open shots in Monty's offense. Guess who is a guard who can hit open jumpers?

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Is Sandy Barbour officially the best AD around?

Keeping Tedford (and if you don't think this makes Tedford feel better, you are crazy.)

Boyle. Firing Braun. Hiring Monty. (You might even be able to add not firing Esquer to the list at the end of the year. The baseball team is even ranked No. 7!)

And announcing getting this rumor going at the Final Four? Saavy. If Monty leaves after a few decent years, guess what? Barbour upped the Cal coaching profile about two notches today. Think the future Anthony Grant-ish coaches aren't thinking - "6 years. $10 million?"

You can tell that Barbour has a lot of confidence right now.

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Is Pac-10 basketball now SEC football?

Are we seriously that coaching crazy?

Ernie Kent is probably the 9th best coach in the league (hell, there is a possibility he could be No. 10 by next week depending on who OSU game get.)

Ernie Kent has two Elite Eights (2002, 2007) in the last six years.

Yet, some Oregon fans are talking job security. Wow.

(OK, somebody should be say it - Lute is clearly No. 9 right now. But he does has a national title, so I don't think he gives a shit.)

Update [2008-4-5 0:54:21 by Kevin]: And its official...

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ESPN:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3329152

Chronicle:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/04/SPS61003NI.DTL

wow...really?  Where do we set the over/under?  3 years?  10?  I think Barbour needs to address that in the press conference...

way to go local media for getting scooped by ESPN!

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Not entirely unexpected but still a bit depressing.  At least he hasn't hired an agent.  Early indications are that this year's class is strong, and some don't project Anderson picked until the 2nd  round.

I think he needs to improve his inside game and gain some weight, but I also cringe at next year's roster without him.  Let's hope he follows Devon's path of returning to Cal (but not sucking).

http://www.contracostatimes.com/colleges/ci_8797669

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Tom Crean apparently will be introduced Wednesday as the next coach at Indiana.

Very good news for Cal - we no longer have to compete with IU for anyone, and they got a guy we clearly were not after (not after for a variety of reasons).

Cal is pretty much the only high-ish profile job available. Apparently we have been granted permission to talk to Mark Fox from Nevada (a nice choice).

I vaguely think that I read that we may have interest in Anthony Grant (no word on whether he has interest in us unfortunately and he seems high on the list at LSU. And I might just be remembering a dream I had).

Mark Few wants in (for $2 million per).

Kevin O'Neill should be on the list after getting absolutely screwed over by Lute (if there isn't an exodus en masse from Tucson I would be shocked - I can never remember a coaching situation handled worse than this.)

USD's Bill Grier would take any Pac-10 job thrown his way with some decent bucks behind it. (He may have already accepted at OSU).

As far as I know, Dunlap, the Bennetts (including Tony), and Monty haven't been ruled out either.

So, there is a way to go. But with IU out, no real pressure.  

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A few coaching notes for your Saturday...

Big news of the day (I guess) is that Jaime Dixon turned the Bears down. Some of the stories say he was offered the job, which I am slightly reluctant to believe (if so, they had to be pretty sure about Dixon quite a while ago.)

If think that this is great news in many ways...mainly, it keeps the Cal job in the news.

It more or less seems that the Bears are going to battle with Indiana for their next coach. Apparently the Hoosiers want Tony Bennett or Mike Montgomery (though the idea of Monty going there is absurd). The more that Cal stays in the limelight, the more it will be perceived as a grade A job - especially important with our tier 2 candidates (Randy Bennett, Anthony Grant, etc.)

The assumption seems to be that Indiana is a better job. Which generally, even I will admit is true.

But remember...Indiana is about to get somewhere between one and many years of probation. My guess is they will miss at least one tournament and lose a few scholarships. They hired a cheater and then allowed him to cheat again. Firing Sampson was not close to enough to avoid serious penalties.

This alone makes Cal competitive with Indiana for any coach.

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Contrary to many the reports, there is absolutely no evidence that Steve Lavin will be involved in our coaching search. In fact, the only person who thinks this might happen is Steve Lavin. At least Todd Bozeman has Wikipedia.

Just like Steve Lavin could be a candidate. Honestly, I'd rather have Bozeman.

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On to actual candidates...if this Chron article is correct, their really are two legit candidates - Tony Bennett and Mike Dunlap.

Who is Mike Dunlap?

Well, in short, a guy I would want more than Tony Bennett.

From the Chron story:

Sounds like a badass winner to me. Braun was great, yet so not a badass winner.

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Another interesting note from that story...

Apparently, Monty has been consulting the Ray Ratto Hierarchy of College Basketball coaching.

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Ray Ratto chimed in on the Braun firing with his usual brilliant combination or wit and cynicism. (Seriously, is anyone smarter or more analytical in a major daily?)

Everyone has to agree with Ratto on some major points...firing Braun wasn't an easy call, Cal hasn't had much basketball success (I think he may be mistaking effect for cause here),  Braun was squeaky clean and likable,  Monty probably doesn't want the job,.

But sorry, in this one, Ratto'a argument - in essence, "Be Realistic" and "The Cal job isn't very good"- while a fair warning - just aren't supported very substantially.

Cal should at least attempt to be a winning program.

Some of his support sounds great and reasoned. But when you think about it for 10 seconds, it just isn't...

Why does it need to be better? And is anyone arguing that Cal doesn't have talent to make it competitive with those teams - teams that make the tourney every single season. Christopher, Hardin, and Anderson are All-Pac-10 quality talents without a doubt. And that was with a consistently mediocre program.

Have you been to Tucson? Lawrence, Kansas (Drew Gooden)? Durham (DeMarcus Nelson)?

And, haven't we landed the two biggest Bay Area prospects in the last 15 years - Jason Kidd (ok, might have had some "help") and Leon Powe?

Tedford revitalized Cal football by locking down the Bay Area (Lynch, Best, Hill, Hawkins) while also branching out to steal some of the best players from under the huge programs (Brock Mansion from Texas, DeSean Jackson from L.A. and Kevin Riley from Oregon.)

Right, except for the education to offer players, the arena, the money, the media market, and um, the money. Let's not forget, we are paying a guy $900,000 to not coach here.

Sure, but Florida is a football school, in a football state, outside of the ESPN octopus. As far as I know, they didn't have a basketball team before Billy Donovan arrived.

West of the Rockies just doesn't matter for basketball - sorry - basketball in the West is just as strong as it is everywhere else. (If we were looking for a lacrosse coach, I would be concerned about this.)

And just look at how Tedford monetary ambitions have been quashed at Cal. Oh right, he is being paid well without the job insecurity at one of the few schools that would pay considerably more.

Sorry, but could you name these 50 programs. I can name a few more (Arizona, Kentucky, Kansas, Wake Forest, NC State, Memphis, Syracuse, UConn and Georgetown). There might be 10 more "basketball schools." But guess what - they are "basketball schools" because their football teams suck. Oregon does pretty well at both in the Pac-10. USC also. Outside the conference - Tennessee. Texas. Ohio State. Florida.

Plus, until 2004, Cal was still a basketball school.

I buy that this is generally true. But teams can turn it around really, really quickly at times.

Fine, perhaps I am a true believer. We did hit a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth using a toothpick with Tedford. I can accept that probably won't happen again.

But I have enough faith that this is a very good job to think that it might.

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Firing the coach of a young team can be tough. Randle, Christopher and Anderson all must not be feeling too good about their futures in Berkeley. Here is what I try to do today if I am Sandy Barbour...

Call Lorenzo Alexander and Ryan Gutierrez and fly them to Berkeley.

Get the basketball team together. Have Alexander and Gutierrez explain how they felt when coach Holmoe was fired. Then have them describe how things changed the minute coach Tedford arrived. How he entered the room and they immediately believed that they not only could be a good team, that they could be a great team.

Have them explain how they went from one of the worst teams in college football, far worse than our basketball team has ever been, to one of the best teams in the nation. More importantly how in just three seasons, they went from the worst team in school history to the best team in school history. The difference wasn't just the coach. It was how the coach could change a group of players.

It is a compelling story, and I have heard Gutierrez, Alexander and several other players tell it very well.

This firing is not a condemnation of these players. It is an acknowledgment of the need for change.

Change can be very, very good.

One of the best exchanges I remember having with a player was after the Bears found out they wouldn't be going to the Rose Bowl in 2004. With a few reporters hounding players with Rose Bowl questions, I asked Alexander, "Did you ever think you would get to go to the Holiday Bowl?"

I remember his response being, "Never. But things have changed a lot."

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Last night my friend JKC (shout-out!) asked a relatively simple question via e-mail...

My response follows...

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