charmin, have you personally called justin wilcox to invite him & the football team to attend one of the home basketball games this week at haas pavillion??

cuonzo martin tole me once that the bears always played better high intensity/physical as **** DEFENSE in the 2nd half when the high testerone football guys wuz screaming at them from feet away in the south bleachers!!

ENERGY IN THE HAAS!!#

Shocky1 said:

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https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/rankings

the bears dropped 4 spots from #18 to #22 in the ap top 25, the downslide wuz not due to losing to #14 duke at cameron arena but rather due to being 100% uncompetitive in a 72-38 azz kicking

the good news is that the bears still control their destiny in the fierce battle to get ranked in the top 16 at the regular season's end in order to receive a homecourt #4 seed or better for the 1st 2 games at the friendly lair of the bear haas pavillion

#13 north carolina: cal hosts the tar heels at haas on january 30th
#14 duke: bears lost to the blue devils on the road 72-38
#15 oklahoma
#16 west virginia
#17 tennessee
#18 georgia tech: cal hosts the yellow jackets at haas on february 27th
#19 alabama: cal beat the crimson tide at haas 69-65
#20 north carolina state: cal beat the wolfpack at haas 78-71
#21 michigan state: cal played poorly down the stretch vs the spartans on a neutral court in losing 78-72
#22 cal

the bears will also get a national chance for positive exposure against #3 notre dame in south bend on february 9th

top 16 or go home#

---

recap: KEY LOSSES this week by team's ranked ahead of #22 cal in anticipation of monday's new top 25 rankings

#8 maryland lost three games to texas 89-51, ohio state 74-66 & ucla 82-67
#13 north carolina lost at home to florida state 86-84
#16 west virginia lost on the road to arizona 77-62
#18 georgia tech lost at home to duke 55-50
#19 alabama lost at home to vanderbilt 66-64

hopefully the bears will move up a spot or two tomorrow morning (it's also possible they will remain at #22) & then a home sweep next week of #13 north carolina & pittsburgh would potentially move the then 20-3 bears into the top 16 the following monday

top 16 or go home#

https://instagr.am/p/DFQhsP8ShNw
the MAGIC of cal basketball (needs u at haas pavillion at 7:00 pm this thursday nite vs them #13 north carolina tar heels)

Staying 🔐 in! 📈#LevelUp | #GoBears | #ThisIsWhatWeDo pic.twitter.com/o3sZErajqa

— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) January 27, 2025

https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/rankings

the bears move up from #22 to #19!!!

the bears still control their destiny in the fierce battle to get ranked in the top 16 at the regular season's conclusion (including the acc conference tournament) in order to receive a homecourt #4 seed or better for the 1st 2 games at the friendly lair of the bear haas pavillion before the 2nd weekend sweet 16 games on kinda neutral courts

#10 duke: cal got destroyed by the blue devils at cameron 72-38
#11 kansas state
#12 kentucky
#13 oklahoma
#14 maryland
#15 north carolina: cal hosts the tar heels at haas on january 30th
#16 michigan state: cal lost to the spartans on a neutral court 78-72
#17 north carolina state: cal beat the wolfpack at haas 78-71
#18 tennessee
#19 cal
#20 georgia tech: cal hosts the yellow jackets at haas on february 27th
#21 west virginia
#22 alabama: cal beat the crimson tide at haas 69-65
#23 vanderbilt
#24 oklahoma state
#25 florida state: cal beat the seminoles at haas 82-70

THIS IS WHAT WE DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

not really sure what "level up" means & it's not catchy

top 16 or go home#

Florida State now number 25.

^ thx wvit, rankings edited to now include florida state, bears not got 3 WINS against top 25 teams, thursday nite is a golden opportunity as haas to bump that number to 4!!

Shocky1 said:

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.@_puff25 is officially off the board to @CalWBBall!

Morris is ranked No. 24 overall in the espnW 100. pic.twitter.com/X3u15iV4cP

— League Ready (@LeagueRDY) October 20, 2024

4.0 gpa 2025 pg1#

---

CONGRATULATIONS puff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

there is no bigger honor in high school basketball, just ask jaylen brown

🌟 watch! Congrats to incoming Bear Puff Morris on being selected to the 2025 @McDAAG Game!#LevelUp | #GoBears | #ThisIsWhatWeDo pic.twitter.com/hSfrTffXqw

— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) January 27, 2025

https://instagr.am/p/DFVwCdLSEJq
THIS IS WHAT WE DO!!!!!!!!!!

the university of california, berkeley=#1 ranked public university in the WORLD (for intellectually curious high gpa student athletes that wanna live in the cosmopolitan san francisco bay area & compete for acc championships)

https://instagr.am/p/DDiIlGRvyDV

https://instagr.am/p/DDY4CzRt8tz
THIS IS WHAT WE DO!!!!!!!!!!!!

We asked @cadeuluave and his fellow classmates to help us with our 2025 schedule release 🤣#GoBears pic.twitter.com/xHOWDQlpNc

— Cal Football (@CalFootball) January 28, 2025

2025 big game opponent: "a green trash can with legs coming out of it"

this is cal football (r u gonna storm the ******* field again with shocky on november 22, 2025??)#

Shocky1 said:

---

Staying 🔐 in! 📈#LevelUp | #GoBears | #ThisIsWhatWeDo pic.twitter.com/o3sZErajqa

— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) January 27, 2025

https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/rankings

the bears move up from #22 to #19!!!

the bears still control their destiny in the fierce battle to get ranked in the top 16 at the regular season's conclusion (including the acc conference tournament) in order to receive a homecourt #4 seed or better for the 1st 2 games at the friendly lair of the bear haas pavillion before the 2nd weekend sweet 16 games on kinda neutral courts

#10 duke: cal got destroyed by the blue devils at cameron 72-38
#11 kansas state
#12 kentucky
#13 oklahoma
#14 maryland
#15 north carolina: cal hosts the tar heels at haas on january 30th
#16 michigan state: cal lost to the spartans on a neutral court 78-72
#17 north carolina state: cal beat the wolfpack at haas 78-71
#18 tennessee
#19 cal
#20 georgia tech: cal hosts the yellow jackets at haas on february 27th
#21 west virginia
#22 alabama: cal beat the crimson tide at haas 69-65
#23 vanderbilt
#24 oklahoma state
#25 florida state: cal beat the seminoles at haas 82-70

THIS IS WHAT WE DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

not really sure what "level up" means & it's not catchy

top 16 or go home#

---

#18 tennessee (15-5) hosted monday nite #2 south carolina & lost 70-63

shocky's guess is that the bears will be a #5 seed tomorrow in charlie creme's next bracketology

Shocky1 said:

---

Shocky1 said:

---

Staying 🔐 in! 📈#LevelUp | #GoBears | #ThisIsWhatWeDo pic.twitter.com/o3sZErajqa

— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) January 27, 2025

https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/rankings

the bears move up from #22 to #19!!!

the bears still control their destiny in the fierce battle to get ranked in the top 16 at the regular season's conclusion (including the acc conference tournament) in order to receive a homecourt #4 seed or better for the 1st 2 games at the friendly lair of the bear haas pavillion before the 2nd weekend sweet 16 games on kinda neutral courts

#10 duke: cal got destroyed by the blue devils at cameron 72-38
#11 kansas state
#12 kentucky
#13 oklahoma
#14 maryland
#15 north carolina: cal hosts the tar heels at haas on january 30th
#16 michigan state: cal lost to the spartans on a neutral court 78-72
#17 north carolina state: cal beat the wolfpack at haas 78-71
#18 tennessee
#19 cal
#20 georgia tech: cal hosts the yellow jackets at haas on february 27th
#21 west virginia
#22 alabama: cal beat the crimson tide at haas 69-65
#23 vanderbilt
#24 oklahoma state
#25 florida state: cal beat the seminoles at haas 82-70

THIS IS WHAT WE DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

not really sure what "level up" means & it's not catchy

top 16 or go home#

---

#18 tennessee (15-5) hosted monday nite #2 south carolina & lost 70-63

shocky's guess is that the bears will be a #5 seed tomorrow in charlie creme's next bracketology

---

C'mon Shocky, get a life!
(Obviously I'm kidding, I'll be checking it out myself!)

https://instagr.am/p/C3OtC29MhNo
https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/30423107/ncaa-women-bracketology-2025-women-college-basketball-projections

redless, good news, the bears now are projected as a #5 seed in the tornado capital of planet earth, norman oklahoma...this would most likely mean a 1st game win against unlv & then the bears losing at a hostile sold out 11,000+ university of oklahoma lloyd noble center to the home team sooners in the 2nd game

top 16 or go home#

^
Shocky, are you okay? Number 5 seed in regional is NOT good news. Like you've constantly been stating, let's get that number 4 regional seed as our goal! Starts with a victory over UNC on Thursday.

Shocky1 said:

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Tar Heels fall in a tough one.#InPursuit x @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/axqZG3CBje

— Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) January 26, 2025

north carolina scouting report

physicality: another acc mma battle with pushing, shoving & 30+ violent collisions that sent players from both teams crashing to the floor...none of the participants complained (other than a quick head shake) to the refs

tar heels interior defense: this will be the best coached most fundamentally sound d the bears have played this season, the heels posts consistently utilize the principle of verticality & then swallow the ball like a hungry python...just textbook d!!

Blanca coming in BIG.

📺 | ACC Network pic.twitter.com/ajFVnjMjJK

— Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) January 26, 2025

tar heels full court defense: unlike duke, nc lacks across the board quick +1 athletes...north carolina didn't try to full court florida state other than a semi loose full court defender on the ball handler bringing the ball up

tar heels offensive: the posts do a good job of setting up shop really down low in the paint allowing point blank shots around the bucket...bears guards/wings are gonna need to sag & help onyiah stay outta foul trouble by denying entry pass windows to the heels posts

A MASTER in the Paint 🎨

📺 | ACC Network pic.twitter.com/FonFrzZDlU

— Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) January 26, 2025

intangibles: this wuz a bitter hard fought loss for north carolina in front of their home fans on a sunday afternoon, they will need to now regroup & fly across the country in order to battle with the refreshed/fresh legs bears next thursday nite at haas pavillion...big advantage for cal if a big loud crowd shows up for the 18-3 bears!!

fun fact: north carolina is the worst free throw shooting team among the major conference teams...big advantage for cal down the stretch in a tight game

---

Up & In!

📺 | ACC Network pic.twitter.com/pHd1VeJYAn

— Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) January 26, 2025

tar heels in bound plays: hopefully defensive specialist eliza pierre is charting all the north carolina offensive in bounds plays which often results in buckets...the heels are extremely well coached in a mike montgomery kinda way & they masterfully scheme in bound plays which result in buckets just like the monty coached teams...preparing for these crafty in bound plays will mitigate easy buckets in what promises to be a closely contested battle thursday nite

Get to know our newest Tar Heel, Taissa! pic.twitter.com/T57jT2ZpFB

— Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) January 28, 2025

^ an excellent example of introducing signed recruits/current players to the fanbase helping them view them as a complete person with hobbies & aspirations, not just a basketball player on a basketball court with a basketball

just winning doesn't sell tixs in 2025, fans need to feel a connection to the players, building a bridge to a passionate fanbase requires hard work & consistent effort

https://instagr.am/p/C9hy6DXJnXc

https://instagr.am/p/DFbDFRhyhvc
the king got moves!!#

funny moment: in the final group picture above jayda steps back & adjusts her hair, fashionista baby!!

wvit (shocky respects ur longtime wbb fandom!!), agreed opposing coaches instruct their posts do bait michelle into foul trouble & an early seat on the bench, this strategy is pretty transparent (the elbows/knees in onyiah's back) to all & also worked an often mentally undisciplined kristine anigwe particularly when she played against hometown asu

for all intents & purposes tonite's battle between #15 cal & #19 north carolina is a likely elimination game for earning a #4 seed or better in the 2025 ncca tournament...the winner will still be in contention for hosting the 1st weekend of games & the loser will be facing an uphill road needing a couple of major upsets to get back in contention

Late Night Tilt in the East Bay 🌙https://t.co/nc0L7x2qve pic.twitter.com/qrblup2jEn

— Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) January 30, 2025

fun fact: the tar heels are facing a 10:00 pm east coast tip off time, will their biological clocks be ready for a game that finishes closes to midnite back home??

question of the day: does "level up" mean ur underwear is falling down & u gotta adjust it or something??

top 16 or go home#

#13 oklahoma lost at lsu 107-100
#16 michigan state lost at home to oregon 63-59

top 16 or go home#

5-5 FG's for Michelle!
In the 1st quarter!!#GoBears pic.twitter.com/mmRKtxY4tZ

— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) January 31, 2025

north carolina tar heels 65
california golden bears 52

ugonne foul watch: 1st foul very early in the game, 2nd quarter offensive pushing foul, 3rd quarter knee in the back defensively & 4th quarter wrist slap on a shooter foul before heading to the locker room with 3 minutes left due to a leg injury

cal defense: coach charmin got outcoached tonite, instead of having the bears defenders sag in the paint to help michelle they schematically opted to leave her on an island...the heels are not a great perimeter shooting team, the bears would've had a higher probability of winning by making north carolina knock down perimeter shots instead of allowing them to dominate offensively in the paint once onyiah wuz outta the game...why not play both onyiah & abigor at the same time with gabby guarding maria gakdeng??

north carolina defense: the tar heels wuz the more physical/disciplined team, the truth is that defense wins basketball games particularly on the road

bottom line: this thread wuz created to illustrate how when michelle is on the floor this is a special team, onyiah had 14 points on 6 of 7 field goals in 18 minutes...to compete with the heels the bears needed michelle on the floor for 35 minutes

next game: 18-4 cal hosts pittsburgh at haas pavillion sunday afternoon in a must win game for the bears before the challenging notre dame/louisville roadtrip

charmin, let's be real here, you got outcoached last nite vs north caorlina, you failed to make the necessary in game adjustments with personnel like ur idol tara

when michelle got in trouble you made the poor decision to have jayda try to guard the much taller gakdeng when it wuz obvious to literally everybody that wuz not gonna work...noble is a dog guarding the 1 thru 4 but giving up multiple inches on an ELITE post with length wuz a dumb azz coaching move on ur part as is asking the slower foot speed marta to guard quicker posts

Should have known she's a problem 🤷‍♀️

📺 | ACCNX pic.twitter.com/THmAFf9CAP

— Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) January 31, 2025

and not protecting michelle has been an ongoing challenge/shortcoming on ur resume, why not play both onyiah & abigor at the SAME time with gabby handling some of the post d assignments in order to limit michelle's foul proclivities??

now the next game is pittsburgh which basically got a 1 person wrecking crew in all acc standout post khadija faye who is averaging 17.7 points per game & 9.5 rebounds per game as a dominant physical banger!!

Another Khadija DOUBLE DOUBLE‼️

Khadija Faye picked up another double-double as she led the Panthers with 21 points and 15 rebounds while adding five blocks@Pitt_WBB | @Pitt_ATHLETICS | #H2P pic.twitter.com/VASEmeqsUV

— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) January 31, 2025

so are you gonna innovatively play both michelle & gabby at the SAME time or r u just gonna keep trying the same old **** but hoping for a different outcome??...pointing out that natalia wuz not available is just a sorry azz lame excuse, great coaches find SOLUTIONS which in this case means playing putting both onyiah & abigor on the floor together to improve interior d, offensive rebounding & most importantly keep michelle outta foul trouble

michelle's foul problems are a reflection of ur coaching, maybe it's time for you to think outta the box or something, this team is NOT that special without onyiah on the floor

you know that, right??

The same old stuff has Cal #19 in the nation.

Shocky. When there's a game when the posters have strong reactions to the officiating, you make it a point to let everybody here know that usually these posts are overreactive and almost always inaccurate. In fact you bluntly say that these comments shouldn't be made. You might want to apply these same standards to yourself when it comes to posting reactions about our coaching.

Bottom line, North Carolina was the better team last night. And yes, not having Natalia did make the assignment even tougher. The fact is, Michelle's fouling can only be "coached up" by Charmin so much. Carolina ran much of their offense through and around Gakdeng and we just didn't have enough to stop it.

Another big factor. The UNC guards did a great job on slowing Kayla down at the point. She scored all of two points. And almost every game we get points from her driving to the hoop and coverting, or her driving to the hoop and kicking out to Lulu,Io, or Marta for the three. Last night that never happened. You have to tip your hat to UNC for that. They were ready for us.

https://instagr.am/p/DFYrTHryyBz

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFd3fv0SSW3/

DIME @HadiFaye 🥽

📺 ACCNX pic.twitter.com/fo0ttYSn5Y

— Pitt Basketball (@Pitt_WBB) January 31, 2025

KEY to defeating pittsburgh:

defending ELITE panthers post dhaddija faye & keeping michelle outta foul trouble!!

notice how the cards d collapses on the superstar when she touches the ball, the bears schematically need to adapt & modify the d scheme to keep our key player on the court for 35+ minutes by bringing help every time faye touches the ball (and watching the backdoor cut too)

and yeah playing onyiah & abigor at the SAME time would allow michelle to play the 4 & not have to guard faye the entire game...it would also improve offensive rebounding but most importantly gabby is a much better post defender than the step slow marta & the undersized jayda against ELITE posts if natalia is unavailable

Shocky1 said:

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DIME @HadiFaye 🥽

📺 ACCNX pic.twitter.com/fo0ttYSn5Y

— Pitt Basketball (@Pitt_WBB) January 31, 2025

KEY to defeating pittsburgh:

defending ELITE panthers post dhaddija faye & keeping michelle outta foul trouble!!

notice how the cards d collapses on the superstar when she touches the ball, the bears schematically need to adapt & modify the d scheme to keep our key player on the court for 35+ minutes by bringing help every time faye touches the ball (and watching the backdoor cut too)

and yeah playing onyiah & abigor at the SAME time would allow michelle to play the 4 & not have to guard faye the entire game...it would also improve offensive rebounding but most importantly gabby is a much better post defender than the step slow marta & the undersized jayda against ELITE posts if natalia is unavailable

---

I know you don't want to let it go, but I will still contend that the primary reason we lost to UNC was our failure at the offensive end.
Fact: At Haas this year only one time before the UNC game did we put up less than 65 points, (UNC's point total Thursday night) and that was only two points less, 63, against a good Auburn team, which was still enough for the victory. We UNDERSTAND that defense it vital to winning basketball games, but you still need to put the ball in the hole, if not, you greatly reduce your chances of winning. The fact is, regardless of who's playing the post, when Kayla and Lulu's offensive games get shut down, we are gonna be in trouble.

(left to right): lola "where's the salmon poke??" donez, jayda "an icy sneakerhead" noble, gabrielle "not afraid" abigor, gisella "instant offense" maul, kamryn "let it fly" mafua, anastasia "mykonos ponytail" drosouni & zahra "brooklyn bridge" king

california golden bears 84
pittsburgh panthers 53

ugonne foul watch: defensive bump on faye 4 minutes into the game & subbed out rest of 1st quarter, low post defensive foul in the 3rd quarter, onyiah with only 2 fouls in outplaying faye

DEFENSE: en fuego shooting comes & go at times but relentlessly physical DEFENSE wins basketball games!!

lulu: better team ball movement & the extra unselfish passes allowed our favorite australian to let it fly & get back in a shooting rhythm...funny when the splash sisters talk **** they cover their mouths with their hands!!

👌#GoBears x @Lulutwidale pic.twitter.com/8UaLG89wmh

— Cal Basketball (@CalWBBall) February 2, 2025

turnovers watch: luv how charmin benched kayla for most of the 1st quarter after a couple of mentally sloppy decisions, gotta reinforce the message that **** won't work against elite teams...turnovers are usually a function of a dumb decision which will result in a **** situation against nationally ranked teams particularly on the road



technical: wuz due to the failure of the cal athletic department gameday staff not properly having all electronics functional prior to the game, there is zero accountability in general knowlton's world

next game: the 19-4 bears got a ncca hosting elimination game next thursday vs jayda curry's louisville cardinals before sunday's 2nd game of the road trip at #3 notre dame

top 16 or go home#

2025 ncca tournament bracketology update:
https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/30423107/ncaa-women-bracketology-2025-women-college-basketball-projections
despite the loss to north carolina & prior to the pittsburgh victory, cal is still projected as a #5 seed with an opening game against middle tennessee before meeting the hometown sooners in the 2nd game of the opening weekend

yeah winning at louisville is an opportunity to get to 20 wins & bolster the ncca tournament seeding portfolio, a loss at south bend against the #3 irish will NOT materially impact the bears post season seeding tho a victory would be EPIC for a multitude of reasons!!

top 16 or go home#

Big 3️⃣ from @jayda_curry ‼️

📺 ACCN#GoCards pic.twitter.com/KouJFHVVlo

— Louisville Women’s Basketball (@LouisvilleWBB) January 31, 2025

berkeley is NOT home for everyone (unless u got academic ambition)#

HoopDreams said:

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https://instagr.am/p/DFYrTHryyBz

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I'm talking to myself again, but don't we get ice cream with Michelle's double-double?!!?!!