[winflop]

Well...maybe it's a good thing that wasn't the thinking back in 1986-87 when Monty started.  His 7-year mean conference finish in the [then] Pac-10 was... 5.3 [with one 2d place and one last place] -- all in all pretty similar to Dawkins'.  Of course, Monty didn't really have the talent in those first seven years that Dawkins has had.  He had to get by with guys like Lichti and Keefe...

Really getting tired of this argument because it completely ignores the context of fan expectations.  When Monty was hired, it had been more than 40 years since Stanford went to the big dance.  There was no expectation that Stanford could become a conference powerhouse and perennial tournament team.  When Dawkins was hired, Stanford had been to the tournament 13 of the previous 14 years including a trip to the Final Four, had won four conference titles, and finished in the top 3 in 10 of those 14 seasons.

Monty met or exceeded expectations, even in his early years.  Dawkins has not with one exception.

[winflop]

Well...maybe it's a good thing that wasn't the thinking back in 1986-87 when Monty started.  His 7-year mean conference finish in the [then] Pac-10 was... 5.3 [with one 2d place and one last place] -- all in all pretty similar to Dawkins'.  Of course, Monty didn't really have the talent in those first seven years that Dawkins has had.  He had to get by with guys like Lichti and Keefe...

Really getting tired of this argument because it completely ignores the context of fan expectations.  When Monty was hired, it had been more than 40 years since Stanford went to the big dance.  There was no expectation that Stanford could become a conference powerhouse and perennial tournament team.  When Dawkins was hired, Stanford had been to the tournament 13 of the previous 14 years including a trip to the Final Four, had won four conference titles, and finished in the top 3 in 10 of those 14 seasons.

Monty met or exceeded expectations, even in his early years.  Dawkins has not with one exception.