https://instagr.am/p/DD0NrqxT74v
temple is NOT candy azz soft#

😱😱 ZAHRA!!! pic.twitter.com/vqbjYDIDNG

— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) December 23, 2024

california golden bears 89
temple night owls 63

ugonne foul watch: early in the game the refs did not call a moving screen which cleared a path for kayla lay up but did call a late 1st quarter defensive slap on the arm of a shooter on a contested lay up at the bucket...onyiah exited the game & the cal lead went from 20-10 to 20-19...2nd foul in the 2nd quarter wuz for pushing for offensive post position in the paint...the bears outstanding 3rd quarter (29-13) in pulling away wuz achieved with michelle on the floor applying the principal of verticality in defending & not getting her body into shooters, well done~~

turnovers watch: 20 turnovers is gonna limit the ability of this team to reach its full ncca potential...the complete elimination of the dumb azz cross court paths (high risk/low value) needs to be a point of emphasis by the staff during the winter break!!

anastasia: the 5'11" wing from greece started the 2nd half, she's a strong d presence with her waving arms length in disrupting passing lanes & also got a nice mid range shooting game...a strong basketball iq she seems to know where the ball is gonna bounce & is energetic on the court...can attack the basket/make defenses collapse creating 3 point pass outs & got a fundamentally sound shooting stroke...the bears need some bench offensive production so anastasia is 100% earning more minutes heading into acc battle

kayla: how does the shortest player on the floor share game high honors for rebounds with 7 boards??

lulu: the best smile & ponytail in college basketball can also shoot the **** outta the basketball (6 of 11 on 3 pointers), let it fly lulu, let it fly!!

Lulu is making it rain 👌's pic.twitter.com/BLtSm1PYAO

— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) December 23, 2024

jayda, gabby & natalia: they exude happiness in playing basketball like little kids with their friends on the playground with big smiles whether they're on the court or leading the epic celebrations on the bench!!

ionna: gets as many points in shocky's book in wildly waving her towel in support of the back ups particularly sofia bowes as she does for her caitlin clark bombs (20 points) from downtown san francisco!!

🚨 What can we say?!?! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/Rzirq5v2qC

— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) December 23, 2024

free throws: after the fordham game crooked azz shooting debacle, the bears cleaned that up tonite with 7 of 9 from the charity stripe

next games: **** is gonna get real as the #24 ranked bears (13-1) head into acc battle with a clemson & smu geographically weird roadtrip in early january with hopefully a 100% healthy marta suarez...r the bears all grown up & ready for the acc adventure??

https://instagr.am/p/DD6EZYeROrj
fun fact: lulu is NOT exactly all grown up (and plz don't change)

https://instagr.am/p/Cl-RtIDjr2r
this is cal basketball (a SPECIAL season for the ages??)#

Too much defense 😤 pic.twitter.com/IdVevI1lEj

— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) December 22, 2024

DEFENSE wins basketball games:

a major factor in the 13-1 record heading into the winter break is the stifling bears defense particularly the recent utilization of the 1-3-1 zone, watch the above waving hands/quick twitch lateral movement of the amoeba d which is kinda like a variation of the jim boheim syracuse d back in the day

the 1-3-1 also pulls michelle onyiah away from opposing posts (where she often gets whistled up by the refs for physical body to body contact) where she can use her length & quickness to deny passing lanes but more importantly it helps keep ugonne outta FOUL TROUBLE which is the #1 factor in this team winning basketball games!!

is there a correlation between the national rankings & team field goal defense??

check out these stats, ucla is #1 at 31.0% & cal is #24 at 35.4%
https://www.ncaa.com/stats/basketball-women/d1/current/team/115

team defense is FUN to watch (shocky hasn't watched more than 5 minutes of any game on tv of the men's team this season, they play near non existent d) & this year's coach charmin smith's relentless high motor d kinda reminds me of the cal's monster class era when coach cuonzo martin's team knocked the **** outta teams on the defensive end which set up our multiple epic STORMING THE FLOOR celebrations (yeah the monster wuz always the 1st person to the center of the universe, midcourt at a sold out haas pavilion)!!



shocky & barney luv to rock the fashionista purple (with seagull flapping t-rex arms & a 6" vertical jump)#

https://instagr.am/p/C6uKQhfrNzF

Movin on up 📈! ⬆️3⃣ from last week.#LevelUp | #GoBears pic.twitter.com/xNoC47XTem

— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) December 23, 2024

fun fact: #21 ranking translate approximately into a #5 seed in the ncca tournament

it's absolutely CRITICAL to earn a #16 ranking or better at the end of the season as the ncca tournament seeds #4 or lower get basically homecourt advantages while also guaranteed to not play any top 16 teams in the first 2 rounds

gotta take care of biz in south carollina & highland park next week#

https://instagr.am/p/DC9rcjNvN2W
whooo hooo (handstands r for losers who don't got short t-rex arms)!!#

cal's monster class OFFICIAL announcements today:

leidy: "After much discussion with my squad, family & some loser who owns Toca Madera I have decided to RUN IT BACK with them Cal Bears instead of transferring to the University of Ibiza!!"

"Please respect my decision!!"

https://instagr.am/p/CTu6JxTlCct
becky g: "Buc-ee es muy guapo y Oski es muy feo!!"



doms: "I miss gazing at Shocky at his 50 hardline perch at Memorial Stadium on gamedays, hopefully he's gonna enroll in my Little Ballerina/Princess classes in the OC in order to improve his quick twitch +1 athleticism in a feral doggy dog kinda way!!"

https://instagr.am/p/B8FaO5vHD-f
lulu: "Shocky must be from the Great Barrier Reef because he keeps telling me, let it fly, Lulu, let it fly!!"

https://instagr.am/p/DDjILCYxNF6
coach christy: "Why does my husband keeping taking "guys trips" with his new kind friend Jimmy to Linville almost every weekend & who should I hire as my new assistant Dance/Cheer coach??"

https://instagr.am/p/Ce656jpOAo8
snoopy: "Wut's ur GPA??"

https://instagr.am/p/DACDTTWNYDB
shocky: "Demand the ball, Michelle, demand the ball!!!"

https://instagr.am/p/CuxKIOEIazx


MERRY XMAS EVERYBODY (bad judgment is triggering)!!#

https://instagr.am/p/DD-QQGmSRS3
this is cal basketball (where r the 10,000+ fans on gamedays??)#

Way to go Michelle! 💪 pic.twitter.com/wdACpLf3Ff

— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) December 15, 2023

question: why isn't haas pavilion this LOUD at every cal women's basketball gameday?>

answer: because markeisha everett, jennifer simon-o'neil & jim knowlton (all non berkeley grads) are wildly incompetent/non innovative worthless bureaucrats!!

https://instagr.am/p/C04W9LjMGy2

Mia's quick with it 🏃‍♀️

📺: ACCNX pic.twitter.com/y2URiictVr

— Clemson Women's Basketball (@ClemsonWBB) January 3, 2025

clemson tigers 68
california golden bears 58

ugonne foul watch: the 2nd quarter defensive foul on onyiah wuz the first truly questionable call by the refs on her this season but then michelle compounded the problem with an offensive foul on the next sequence which got her pulled from the game & the bears 8 point lead got overtaken by the tigers by halftime...this wuz the turning point in the game...3rd foul wuz a defensive call late in the 3rd quarter & then 2 more fouls late in the 4th fouled her outta the game for which there is a direct correlation with the program losing games

sluggishness: all 5 starters looked fatigued which is most likely a combination of playing heavy minutes this season, the lengthy travel to south carolina & non elite conditioning during the holidays...lulu's legs are tired, her usually canned 3 pointers came up short to the basket which a clear indicator of fatigue...defensively the bears wuz half a step behind the fiery tigers who lack +1 athletes

the bench: only a 3 pointer from anastasia tonite kept the bench from going scoreless, no es bueno

shooting: shooters are sometimes gonna miss shots, that's basketball...onyiah scored 13 points but could've doubled that number with more composed shooting around the basketball against much shorter posts, fully expect a monster game from michelle in dallas!!

turnover watch: 15 turnovers of which almost half of them wuz unforced mental non disciplined traveling calls/wayward passes to the stands

next game: smu, the bears (13-2) will practice tomorrow morning at clemson & then fly to dallas...we're gonna find out a lot about the resilience, character & leadership of this team on the road battling against high intensity acc opponents

Shocky1 said:

---

Mia's quick with it 🏃‍♀️

📺: ACCNX pic.twitter.com/y2URiictVr

— Clemson Women's Basketball (@ClemsonWBB) January 3, 2025

clemson tigers 68
california golden bears 58

ugonne foul watch: the 2nd quarter defensive foul on onyiah wuz the first truly questionable call by the refs on her this season but then michelle compounded the problem with an offensive foul on the next sequence which got her pulled from the game & the bears 8 point lead got overtaken by the tigers by halftime...this wuz the turning point in the game...3rd foul wuz a defensive call late in the 3rd quarter & then 2 more fouls late in the 4th fouled her outta the game for which there is a direct correlation with the program losing games

---

agree on her first two fouls ... first was a really bad call (defender needs to let a player land if they jump before defender is set), but her defensive foul right after was was an undisciplined foul.

But her fourth and fifth foul was after game was clearly over and she was just trying to make something happen. It will show up in box score as fouling out, but can't count those against her.

Lulu had an off game which sometimes happen, but hopefully that won't happen too often as we need her scoring

Artista 🎨🖌️ pic.twitter.com/QfuADtLJLQ

— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) January 6, 2025

california golden bears 81
smu mustangs 66

ugonne foul watch: 4 fouls resulted in 15 minutes played, this will cost the bears victories in the future if not corrected as michelle needs to be on the court!!

marta suarez: big time players put their struggling/out of rhythm teammates on their shoulders on the road, that's exactly what happened with an unintimidated physical apex predator 19 points on an efficient 8 of 12 field goals & most impressively only 3 turnovers...marta es un star star star star star star

Can't stop her! pic.twitter.com/CxcByzmLkm

— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) January 6, 2025

anastasia drosouni: perfect shooting on 2-2 field goals & 3-3 free throws for 7 points in only 9 minutes, the bears need an offensive spark off the bench to take some pressure off the starters...anastasia's minutes need to be doubled next weekend

jayda noble: with michelle getting splinters on the bench, jayda's 9 rebounds wuz a critical component of the bears victory

turnover watch: 20 turnovers will lose a lotta games against nationally ranked opponents but a win is a win on the road in the highly competitive acc...the starting point guard cannot have 6 turnovers in a game moving forward but kayla's unselfish 7 assists & 17 points is 100% good stuff

defense: fun fact: defense wins basketball games (which is why the men's team may not win an acc league game), the ponies shot under 40% on non 3 pointers...this team is mentally tough & plays physical d (the bears would've lost this game during any other season during the coach charmin era)

next game: the 14-2 bears host them #22 ranked north carolina state wolfpack (11-3) & florida state semimoles (13-2) at haas pavilion, are markeisha everett & jennifer simon-o'neil gonna sell any tixs to these games in the women's basketball crazy bay area marketspace or just keep cashing paychecks as non innovative worthless bureaucrats??...when is chancellor gonna hold them & james "the con artist" knowlton accountable for doing their jobs??

real talk: this is a special team in the midst of a special season!!

wvit, no insider info re: the extent of any injury, but lulu looked fatigued/sluggish (and a step slow) against clemson, she only played 24 minutes against smu with much more rest than usual...a couple of days of rehab in the ice pool without the additional responsibility of berkeley classwork which won't start until later this month should result in our favorite australian much more bouncy next weekend

https://instagr.am/p/Cl2VvMep220

whoops wvit, just reread ur post, to be honest with u lola needs to work on her shooting mechanics/fundamentals before she gets critical minutes in future acc battles...her minutes need to be allocated to anastasia

Hot 👋 & the And-☝️ pic.twitter.com/Qiz2O9yxyz

— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) January 5, 2025

Just talking about another body. Is she OK?

don't know, she's been on the bench enthusiastically rooting for her teammates so we do know lola is not in critical care at alta bates or transferring to the university of ibiza

my take is that the bear's got an ELITE starting 5 with jayda as a a lockdown defender, a healthy anastasia showing an ability to provide some offensive punch & garbriella a developing post player in spelling michelle

there are 200 minutes to be played in games, the starting 5 should take 150 minutes (that's 30 minutes per player on average) with the 3 substitutes taking the remaining 50 minutes with 15-20 per game roles

that's an 8 player rotation, the bears do not have the luxury of going deeper than that in tightly contested acc conference games

do you feel any of the other bench players should be part of the rotation & if so, why?

Great win! @CalWBBall 🐻💙💛 pic.twitter.com/bksfNOzYBC

— TAYLOR BARNES (@TayMB3) January 6, 2025

2025 top 100 signee 6'1" wing 4.3 gpa taylor barnes#

the university of california, berkeley=#1 ranked public university in the WORLD (just ask buc-ee)

Good point about how many minutes there are in a game...I think Zahra brings a dimension of energy and skill that should also be incorporated. And, given the ever looming Portal, would love for her (and the other new players) to feel like this is a program they will stick with.

agreed woodacre, roster stability/retention with young players is a real challenge in 2025 with the transfer portal...zahra got some mad hops but plays near non existent d, getting her developed for next season in berkeley when kayla is outta eligibility...noticed the staff has been playing her sometimes at the 2

and that's why natalia is such an important roster addition this season, a seasoned veteran who knows her role off the bench who is excited to be part of a special team with a national road schedule in the acc & that her 100% roots for her teammates with good vibes whether she's on the court or not

🔐 in the @AP_Top25 for the 4️⃣th straight week.#LevelUp | #GoBears | #ThisIsWhatWeDo pic.twitter.com/LlJVChnEKg

— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) January 6, 2025

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/30423107/ncaa-women-bracketology-2025-women-college-basketball-projections

latest bracketology: bears are picked as a #7 seed in storrs with a 2nd game matchup against hometown connecticut, no es bueno

the KEY to advancing in the 2025 ncca tournament is to be a #4 seed or better and therefore be awarded a homecourt hosting MONSTER advantage!!

a #5 seed & worser probably means a 1st round win & then getting bounced by the homecourt advantage team in the 2nd game

bottom line: the bears gotta be ranked in the top 16 after the acc tournament

let's ******* go!!

agree

a 7 seed should be the lowest this team needs to go

don't want the 8/9 seed of death, and a 5 seed is often upset (although I think this Cal team won't be upset by a 12 seed as we have too much offense.

but definitely would be huge to get a 4 seed

https://instagr.am/p/DEV-kzcRiy5
hoops amigo, it's no mystery that the difference between a top 16 ranking (and a homecourt #4 or better seeding at haas pavillion) & a #17 ranking (and probably getting bounced by an elite team on their SOLD OUT hostile homecourt in the 1st weekend) is a gazillion miles of land on planet earth!!

First stop: In-N-Out 🍔 pic.twitter.com/jioJQ068Xn

— NC State WBB 🐺🏀 (@PackWomensBball) January 8, 2025

the dinner of champions (burp)#

If they like it maybe we can get someone to have them "load up" on it all day today and tomorrow. By game time
they might be moving a little slow.

🗒️ from the W at SMU:

🏀 Cal hit 🔟👌 for the 8⃣th time this year

🏀 Marta and Kayla combined for 6⃣ of 7⃣ from deep

🏀Cal had 3⃣ runs of at least 8⃣ - 0⃣ in the game

🏀 Bears went 5⃣0⃣-4⃣0⃣-9⃣0⃣ from the field, 3-point line and free throw line for the game#ThisIsWhatWeDo pic.twitter.com/mhx7gMid5i

— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) January 6, 2025

this **** matters but DEFENSE wins basketball games (men's team hasn't figured this out yet)#

left to right, marta "mi madre esta mirando" suarez, kayla "love for the fire families" williams, lulu "secret **** talker" twidale, ionna "shooters shoot" krimili & michelle "all grown up??" onyiah

ugonne foul watch: only 2 fouls (one a rebounding tussle) & more importantly a composed michelle with bodies flying all over the floor with numerous collisions, when onyiah thought she wuz fouled from behind on a missed shot around the bucket she calmly pointed to the ref to her wrist & she ran back forward with a professional wnba demeanor & zero ima victim bull**** drama...and wut happens when michelle is NOT in foul trouble??...ugonne plays lockdown d, grabs 10 huge rebounds, scores 15 points on a highly efficient 7 of 12 field goals & most importantly ZERO turnovers...pros do this every nite, michelle, keep this up & ur gonna get PAID!!

kayla williams: huge props to coach charmin for recognizing the usc fierce warrior as someone who could lead this year's california golden bears basketball team with wildly acrobatic finishes around the bucket & an unselfish 6 assists

😱 🤯 😱
ESPN Top 10 play right there!#LevelUp|#SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/fXMRmtJrJt

— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) January 10, 2025

marta suarez: ur moms did not raise u to back down to nobody in ******* life, she is smiling right now & guiding ur 3 pointers thru the heavenly haas airspace!!...17 points on a lethal 6 of 12 fields including 4 for 4 on 3 pointers & just as importantly an improved facilitating/distributing 4 assists and only 2 turnovers...muy bueno, marta, muy bueno!!

MARTA!!! HEAT CHECK 🔥
3 straight 👌's in a MINUTE!!! pic.twitter.com/MrRnOVXwCF

— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) January 10, 2025

fun fact: when lulu & ionna r conversing with their hands over their lips they r saying unladylike bad words...let's ******* go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

turnover watch: best game of the season in terms of not wasting valuable possessions, the bears can compete with any team on planet earth with only 11 turnovers!!

minutes/fatigue: kayla played all 40 minutes & ionna played an iron woman 37 minutes, rest/rejuvenation will be necessary before sunday's match up with florida state...seems like the acc gives another day between scheduled games than the pac 12

real talk: the bears need to be in the top 16 in the nation & host a 1st round regional, a #17 ranking or higher will 95% mean losing in the 1st round to an elite team on their hostile homecourt...cannot let up now

this is what we do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

https://instagr.am/p/DEooyymRJq7
next game: exciting opportunity to build that top 16 resume for the bears (15-2) against florida state (13-3) which lost a heartbreaker to stanford 89-84 tonite...the seminoles gotta big 3 offensive firepower trio & not much scoring behind them, r the bears gonna bring that **** u up d on sunday??

It’s a shooting clinic!
Marta 4-4 in👌’s #GoBears pic.twitter.com/jH0VAtPXhS

— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) January 10, 2025

bottom line: this FUN team of destiny is BEAUTIFUL now!!

.@NiyaLatson doing Ta'Niya Latson things. #NoleFAM pic.twitter.com/nniThnfETe

— FSU Women's Basketball (@fsuwbb) January 10, 2025

florida state: bears gotta play relentless **** u up DEFENSE on sunday against the noles BIG 3 scoring trio

tonite: ta'niya latson: 24 points in 35 minutes
o'mariah gordon: 23 points in 32 minutes
makayla timpson: 19 points in 38 minutes
rest of the seminoles: 18 points in 95 minutes

NOPE. @MakaylaTimpson2 protecting the basket. #NoleFAM pic.twitter.com/MuLr4R7Q5Y

— FSU Women's Basketball (@fsuwbb) January 10, 2025

jayda noble is gonna need to play 20+ minutes of lockdown d on sunday & great to see +1 athletic gabriella abigor play high energy solid minutes tonite!!

Our girl @AirMariah beats the buzzer again!#NoleFAM pic.twitter.com/zktgSk7V55

— FSU Women's Basketball (@fsuwbb) January 10, 2025

message to the cal women's basketball media team: track down the acc network interview of lulu with her teammates when she coined the phrase "This is what we do!!!!" & then pin it at the top of social media & brand/market the team with this compelling message to a larger bay area/nor cal women's basketball starved audience!!

chancellor lyons (luv this guy) cares about this SPECIAL TEAM but markeisha, simon-o'neil & knowlton have 100% failed this remarkable team in doing their jobs in selling tixs & in an organization that held its employees accountable for results would be fired 1st thing tomorrow morning...there are zero excuses why this FUN program is not drawing 10,000+ fans at every game

https://instagr.am/p/DEof7MkRoV2

coach charmin, my suggestion is that you reconsider making the ncca tournament the goal for this year's SPECIAL team as they gotta lotta upside to be an elite team...really think the focus should be on getting into the top 16 & potentially hosting the 1st two games of the 2025 ncca tournament!!

win the 1st two games at haas pavilion & then play in sweet sixteen on a potential neutral court & then this team will be OFF TO THE RACES!!

team for the ages (should not be happy/satisfied making the ncca tournament with a first weekend loss playing against an elite team on their homecourt)#

let's be real here, the bears gotta finish in the top 16 in order to host a 1st round regional at haas pavilion, it's highly probable that 15 or 16 of the 1st round hosts will advance to the much more neutral 2nd round sites

a #17 or higher ranking probably means an opening ncca tournament weekend loss for the bears at an elite team's hostile homecourt & tixs home back to berkeley in a good not great season...it is kinda delusional thinking that any program including cal can survive a non #4 seed or higher and advance, got it?

so right now the bears are #24 & gotta pass up at least 8 teams before the season's final regular games, how have the teams ahead of them in the race to the top 16 fared this week??

#10 oklahoma lost on the road to mississippi state 81-77
#13 georgia tech got upset at home by virginia tech 105-94
#14 duke lost at in state rival north carolina 53-46
#16 tennessee narrowly lost at home to lsu 89-87
#18 alabama got their azzs handed to them by texas 84-40
#20 michigan state lost on the road to nebraska 85-80
#21 north carolina state lost to them bears!!!
#22 utah got destroyed by kansas state 71-47
#23 Iowa lost on the road to Illinois 62-57

the bears gotta take care of biz at HOME against florida state on sunday afternoon in order to potentially move up in next monday's top 25 rankings

top 16 or go home#