Cal coach wishes Jayda Curry stayed but has high hopes for 4 transfers (sfchronicle.com)

Over the last two seasons eight players have transferred out and eight players have become new members of the team.

Transfer "mania" has pretty much struck every team save LSU and a few others.

Thanks for posting that. FWIW I expect McKayla to start.

Glad that the standard will be an NCAA appearance this year. Now let's see it happen.

CalWSportsFan-the difference is Charmin's win-loss record as the head coach. The article lists Lindsay Gottlieb's excellent track record as Cal's HC but purposefully omits the current coach's losing history.

stu-I agree that McKayla Williams has to start for the Bears next season. She'll be the defensive stopper. I personally feel that Leilani might not start. The other person listed as a projected starter that probably should not start is Michelle Onyiah because of her propensity for committing quick fouls.

All IMHO:

Leilani is our best player - she can take care of the ball, facilitate, score (with a high %), defend, and do it all for 40 minutes.

Kemery provides outside shooting, experience, and rebounds well from the guard position.

Michelle is our only plus rebounder and does everything else one could ask of a post except she commits too many unnecessary fouls.

Mia is a reliable defender who could help us more if she can improve her 3-point shooting.

Alma looked pretty good in the few minutes I saw her play. I have no idea when (or if) she'll return to full strength.

I haven't seen any of the transfers play but I assume Ila, McKayla, and Ioanna will all see major minutes.

Claudia and Marta could contribute, hard for me to say at this time. Both have size and well-rounded skill sets.

I have no clue about our incoming freshies.

stu-I agree with your favorable comments concerning Leilani's skills. However, her liability is her height (5-5). Many guards in the conference post her up and score easily. Also, most of the guards can shoot over her from the outside unencumbered. McIntosh does steal the ball off of the dribble well. GO BEARS!

Schroeder71 said:

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CalWSportsFan-the difference is Charmin's win-loss record as the head coach. The article lists Lindsay Gottlieb's excellent track record as Cal's HC but purposefully omits the current coach's losing history.

stu-I agree that McKayla Williams has to start for the Bears next season. She'll be the defensive stopper. I personally feel that Leilani might not start. The other person listed as a projected starter that probably should not start is Michelle Onyiah because of her propensity for committing quick fouls. I was a big Lindsay fan and followed the team to the FF4 in New Orleans and I wish her well but I have to say the way she left Cal left a bad taste in my mouth. The Bears were 9-9 her final season at the helm in Pac12 play...6th place. I dare say it's also easier to recruit to USC than Cal for various reasons....but soon that will be moot I suppose...

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I was a big Lindsay fan, though the way she left Cal left a bad taste in my mouth. Cal went 9-9 in Pac12 play her final season and I dare say that recruiting to USC is easier than it is at Cal for various reasons....that said I wish her well in her new conference going forward...

The article did obliquely reference Cal's difficulties with this line: "Cal, though, hasn't found its footing. A late-season victory over then-No. 25 USC produced some hope, but that was before Curry, its leading scorer, left a gigantic hole."

I am, however, pleased with the newcomers Charmin has brought on board and am hopeful the team will perform better in conference. I am losing interest in WCBB overall given that it's beginning to resemble pro ball and that "team" is a term that doesn't really apply. I will continue to support Cal WBB by renewing my season tickets, but with new faces rotating in to so many teams, it's hard to truly develop fandom for specific players. I also support my Ivy alma mater and a D3 college so I hope I can follow some players for all four years of their respective careers....

Here's another Chronicle link to an article about the USF losing players to the transfer portal as well: https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/college/article/usf-women-among-mid-major-teams-losing-talent-17881581.php

I agree it's harder to root for a team of 1-year players, especially if they're playing for money rather than for the college experience, education, and degree. I hope we can attract more good 4-year players.

When Arizona was national runner up, they had a guard shorter then our guard who was defensive player of the year. Outside, it is hard to shoot over anyone. Inside it depends on who your big people are. Stanford won the national championship with small guards but their bigs were great.

stu said:

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I agree it's harder to root for a team of 1-year players, especially if they're playing for money rather than for the college experience, education, and degree. I hope we can attract more good 4-year players.

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One year rent-a-players may not only leave without a Cal degree, but they may not even learn the words to our school songs or the name of our mascot. Especially in women's basketball, fans will still want to get to know the players they are rooting for, so it has to be a mix.

So it appears there are destination schools and stepladder schools ...

LSU and South Carolina are destination schools.

Mid-majors are stepladder schools that get you to the destination schools.

At this point, Cal is in between. It's a destination for some mid-majors, but still a stepladder to the postseason spotlight.

If you want four-year players, it seems, you need to become a destination school.

Schroeder71 said:

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CalWSportsFan-the difference is Charmin's win-loss record as the head coach. The article lists Lindsay Gottlieb's excellent track record as Cal's HC but purposefully omits the current coach's losing history.

stu-I agree that McKayla Williams has to start for the Bears next season. She'll be the defensive stopper. I personally feel that Leilani might not start. The other person listed as a projected starter that probably should not start is Michelle Onyiah because of her propensity for committing quick fouls.

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The first line of the article:
"Losing seasons and transfers in and out of the program have cast uncertainty over Cal women's basketball during Charmin Smith's tenure as head coach."

Not sure what "purposefully" efforts you are citing-the context is set from the get-go...LOSING SEASONS, plural.
So, the writer leaving off the year by year numbers changes this for you? Or you weren't going to be happy unless there was commentary about Charmin, calling her the worst women's coach ever, or words to that effect?

mbBear-I put purposefully in that context because her record is not just a normal losing record but it is abysmal.

Schroeder71 said:

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mbBear-I put purposefully in that context because her record is not just a normal losing record but it is abysmal.

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Well, you use the terms you want, but I consider Fox's efforts way below Charmin. But, doesn't matter-you had the opportunity, and took the shot. The writer hardly started off in a wave of optimism...some editor was going to let the article get bogged down by year by year results? Shocking enough that there was a women"s basketball article at all>
The intent/context was there....a "losing record" isn't like "first runner up"....but you do you, I know I am not accomplishing anything by responding....the transfer specific threads are far more relevant and interesting.

Again, you are super protective of Charmin Smith for some reason. She was perhaps the worst W/L record of the modern era of Cal women's basketball. If it was specifically listed and compared and contrasted to Lindsay Gottlieb's history, it might scare off players from coming to play for the Bears. I can't think of a head coach that still holds onto her job that has performed this poorly. Any of the rest of us in our professions would have been terminated a long time ago.

Mark Fox has done equally badly. There were times when both Cal teams were the worst in mens and womens basketball in the Pac 12 Conference. Finally-he has been terminated and has been held accountable. Charmin Smith?

Schroeder71 said:

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Again, you are super protective of Charmin Smith for some reason. She was perhaps the worst W/L record of the modern era of Cal women's basketball. If it was specifically listed and compared and contrasted to Lindsay Gottlieb's history, it might scare off players from coming to play for the Bears. I can't think of a head coach that still holds onto her job that has performed this poorly. Any of the rest of us in our professions would have been terminated a long time ago.

Mark Fox has done equally badly. There were times when both Cal teams were the worst in mens and womens basketball in the Pac 12 Conference. Finally-he has been terminated and has been held accountable. Charmin Smith?

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Not sure what "super protective" means...I have no input into her being the Head Coach. I'm hopeful for sure, especially after the transfers. Actually, I wouldn't post on, or read Cal boards unless I was hopeful..
In cooperation with the Athletic Department, I was responsible for every Women's Hoops home game being on radio for the first time back in the day....so yeah, never going to stop believing "this is the year.." I know I'm not the only Alum with that built in Blue and Gold default.
You can literally take a shot at her after every post on this board: "So and So is transferring in...had some good numbers last year at X"...you could easily say "but she won't have those numbers under Smith, based on the last few years." "Cal is picking up a 4 star from HS X, some people like her potential." You could easily say, "show me where Smith has developed a young player of any note"...."The Cal women have some cool new uniforms with Nike coming on board," and you can say "doesn't matter, they aren't going to look good as long as Smith is coaching...."
I can't possibly think of Fox and Smith as equals...just how they have performed against competition, considering the level of the Pac-12 women's teams, is enough of a difference for me. Some of the directional schools that Fox lost to were a real embarrassment...
I get the record...so did the article, because, well, it said so.
Okay, you have established your dislike for Smith, and your desire to be gone...I'll even give you that you aren't the only one, but I will give you the pole position.
So, that all said, Is this board really worth your time until Smith is gone? Just a question...you can post anything you want obviously within the rules of the Mods, so not questioning your "free speech."

I can't see any comparison between Charmin Smith and Mark Fox.

Starting with the records, Smith's have trended up while Fox's have trended down. Most recently, there's a lot of daylight between Fox's 3-29 and Smith's 13-17, especially considering in the PAC-12 WBB is much tougher top to bottom than MBB.

Beyond that I'd say Smith has shown way more understanding than Fox of interpersonal relations, the portal, and the technical details of basketball. For a few comments about Fox's performance in these areas check out this Bear Insider Podcast featuring former Cal player Rod Benson:
https://soundcloud.com/bear-insider-859421566/bear-insider-podcast-former-cal-center-rod-benson-and-jim-talk-madsen-and-recruiting?si=cad52d402ac144c6bf77e7ed5b067888&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Charmin Smith just returned from the International Basketball Coaches Clinic in Athens, Greece. The event was sponsored by ACS Athens (American Community Schools) and provides an opportunity to connect with and learn from American basketball coaches. James Jones, Yale University Men's Basketball Head Coach was also a participant. Yale was 21-9 last season.

I guess Charmin must know something about coaching to be invited to this clinic.

Yes, I agree. Charmin Smith also has 25% (3 of 12 scholarship players) of her team from Greece. GO BEARS!

Regarding last season's record, a quote from Charmin in another thread:

"We lost 17 games last season and 15 of those 17 games were to teams ranked in the top 25 in the country. So we're not a bad team."

No sense further debating the past. Charmin is now saying this should be an NCAA tournament team this coming year. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

SFCALBear72 said:

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Charmin Smith just returned from the International Basketball Coaches Clinic in Athens, Greece. The event was sponsored by ACS Athens (American Community Schools) and provides an opportunity to connect with and learn from American basketball coaches. James Jones, Yale University Men's Basketball Head Coach was also a participant. Yale was 21-9 last season.

I guess Charmin must know something about coaching to be invited to this clinic.

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and continue to develop and mine her favorite recruiting spot

Last year, the league has seven teams in the tournament, and the lowest NCAA NET ranking among those teams was #35. We had a NET ranking of #82, so that will be the hill we will need to climb.

SFCALBear72 said:

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Charmin Smith just returned from the International Basketball Coaches Clinic in Athens, Greece. The event was sponsored by ACS Athens (American Community Schools) and provides an opportunity to connect with and learn from American basketball coaches. James Jones, Yale University Men's Basketball Head Coach was also a participant. Yale was 21-9 last season.

I guess Charmin must know something about coaching to be invited to this clinic.

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Coincidence or not, the most successful athletic programs at Cal have a strong international presence....

Since I was looking at last year's NET rankings,I must say that the most sobering numbers I saw are USF at 135 and UCSB at 153. But at least we are getting their best players.

Schroeder71 said:

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Cal coach wishes Jayda Curry stayed but has high hopes for 4 transfers (sfchronicle.com)

Over the last two seasons eight players have transferred out and eight players have become new members of the team.

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This was omitted from the BI's recent article. Telling half the story is a telling a story that's not exactly making the BI nation informed on the state of the women's basketball program.