Unlike the men, in the first 2 rounds the higher seeds will get to play at home. Unless we collapse completely my guess we should at least get 1 or 2 games at home.
The sites of the first and second round games of the women's tournament are predetermined, so Cal will not play any NCAA tournament games at home.
Here are the 16 sites for the first and second round games (pdf file). It's extremely unlikely that all 16 host teams will make the tournament (right now, the breakdown might be 9 sure things and 7 maybes). So even though Cal will not play at home, we can at least hope to be sent to one of the neutral sites that will not include a host team (or failing that, earn a high enough seed to avoid being sent to one of the deadlier host venues as happened last year at #1 seed Notre Dame).
Since this was originally a game thread, and since no one who watched the game has shared their observations, I thought I'd pass along this game story.
I didn't watch the game but did listen to Dave Lewis' play-by-play as well as both the pre- and post-game interviews. I would say that this report at Dwhoops.com provides a very accurate recap of the game as called on the radio, and gives you a better feel for the flow of the game than other reports. Note that there are links across the top where you can click to more info (Analysis & Stats and Photos). Lots of good photos from the game.
The sites of the first and second round games of the women's tournament are predetermined, so Cal will not play any NCAA tournament games at home.
Here are the 16 sites for the first and second round games (pdf file). It's extremely unlikely that all 16 host teams will make the tournament (right now, the breakdown might be 9 sure things and 7 maybes). So even though Cal will not play at home, we can at least hope to be sent to one of the neutral sites that will not include a host team (or failing that, earn a high enough seed to avoid being sent to one of the deadlier host venues as happened last year at #1 seed Notre Dame).
thanks for the correction. Maybe I was thinking about the NIT tournaments. They still slant the games to favorite the elite teams, Furds, CT, Maryland, Baylor, Tennessee, T&AM, Delware, Ohio St, and Duke all have home games!! The only top team not given a break seems like ND. I realize they need to do this for attendance purpose but it sucks!
Last edited by OBear073akaSMFan; 12-03-2012 at 06:21 PM.
Since this was originally a game thread, and since no one who watched the game has shared their observations, I thought I'd pass along this game story.
I didn't watch the game but did listen to Dave Lewis' play-by-play as well as both the pre- and post-game interviews. I would say that this report at Dwhoops.com provides a very accurate recap of the game as called on the radio, and gives you a better feel for the flow of the game than other reports. Note that there are links across the top where you can click to more info (Analysis & Stats and Photos). Lots of good photos from the game.
I did watch the game on the Duke network. We played hard, but ran into a stretch where we couldn't get a basket and also didn't defend very well in the first half.
Major observation is that our bigs can't keep going straight up against other tall frontlines, and Gen, who can outleap people needs shooting touch help fom Steding.
A change was Brittany using her athleticism and going for her own shot aggressively in the second half. Given her talents and some of our weaknesses, I think we will want her to do more of that (to some extent ) against the better teams.
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You, in fact, are very right. It has been frustrating of late with FB and VB going flat, and then promise being developed in MBB and WBB, and have both of them slapped hard, early and often, in their first big road tests. Too much emotion in my post because of the weekend events.
I know, it's when our favorites don't live up to expectations or potential. I was a basket case during the Women's College World Series last year. I too had to remind myself of the big picture and appreciate the fact we'd gotten that far....lots to look forward to for Cal Athletics.
Three of the post players average double figures for the season. Brandon is an elite rebounder but can't score much against quality opponents. She was 3 for 13 vs the Blue Devils. Gray is the best scorer but is not strong enough to hold her position. She commits way too many personal fouls-cannot stay on the floor. Caldwell had a single board in 27 minutes and only took 2 shots...Almost invisible.
Boyd & Clarendon can play against top teams competitively but Jemerigbe cannot. Pierre is ok.
One bit of sour grapes about the Duke game. We did not lose because of the officiating. In the end, both teams had about the same number of fouls and free throws. And we just did not get it together on offense in the first half. But Duke does do a lot of shoving in the back which the refs did not call in many cases, with McCallie working them hard the whole game. Look for some handprints left over from this one on the backs of our players jerseys when they return to Haas. If we do play the Dukies again this year, let's hope the NCAA does put us on a neutral court.
One thing that is really important in the NCAA's is matchups. It's about which team is weak in the area that you are strong and visa versa. I really didn't think Cal had much of a chance against Duke because they just don't match up well with them. If they should meet them again in the NCAA's Duke will be stronger because two more of their rotation will be back from injury. Another team that Cal doesn't match up well with is Ucon. I do think that Cal can beat Stanford at least once this year. I think Cal has a really good chance to go far this year very few teams have the depth that Ucon or Duke has and Cal should feast on a lot of them.
I'm afraid I pretty much agree with you. -
12-03-2012, 08:51 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Schroeder71
Three of the post players average double figures for the season. Brandon is an elite rebounder but can't score much against quality opponents. She was 3 for 13 vs the Blue Devils. Gray is the best scorer but is not strong enough to hold her position. She commits way too many personal fouls-cannot stay on the floor. Caldwell had a single board in 27 minutes and only took 2 shots...Almost invisible.
Boyd & Clarendon can play against top teams competitively but Jemerigbe cannot. Pierre is ok.
Although Gen did fine in shooting against, for example, Ohio State last year--but it's true that her offense is erratic. I think Talia is usually pretty steady. But Boyd and Clarendon tend to play their best when challenged, the quality that separates the good players from the best. Reshanda's the player I find myself watching and wondering what she'll make of her skills.
Although Gen did fine in shooting against, for example, Ohio State last year--but it's true that her offense is erratic. I think Talia is usually pretty steady. But Boyd and Clarendon tend to play their best when challenged, the quality that separates the good players from the best. Reshanda's the player I find myself watching and wondering what she'll make of her skills.
3 out of 4 of our bigs are similar and are 1 dimensional type of players who just want to try to power their way to the basketball. Nothing wrong with that against smaller teams but against equal size teams with talent, it just not going to work. As Annarorbear have mentioned numerous time they need more than 1 go to move. Learn some back to the basketball moved, drop steps or create space and do some fade shots. I know Reshanda can do it! I think in her last home game, she caught the ball with her back to the basketball, did a fake to the left and then took a quick 1 step to the right and made a about a 5 footer jumper in the middle of lane. That was a thing of beauty because it was so smooth. Now they are getting to many miss layups and having too many shots blocks - because teams knows their tendencies. I remember when Justine first started she was such a player but her injuries have robbed her of mobility and her jumping abilities.
Last edited by OBear073akaSMFan; 12-04-2012 at 08:43 AM.
all four Cal bigs held to 7 points or less... -
12-03-2012, 02:39 PM
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