michelle onyiah

33,822 Views | 321 Replies | Last: 16 min ago by RedlessWardrobe
RedlessWardrobe
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wvitbear said:

Virginia beat both Clemson and Virginia Tech. any team on the road is dangerous.
I agree completely. Any team on the road is dangerous. More due to the fact that we have to play them at their venue. Much less to the fact that we have to travel to get there.
Shocky1
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^ agreed, cal's arguably worst performance of the season wuz the roadie to pacific in stockton
Shocky1
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Shocky1
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the eagles in berkeley (and tired as ****)#
HoopDreams
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might be a rainy day ... but basketball is an indoor sport


wvitbear
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Redless, your complaint is with the NCSTATE coach. they have lost one game in the conference. Their coach said it is onerus to travel cross the country but he wouldn't complain as he only had to do it once.. Cal and Stanford had to do it 5 times. Their only loss was to us. You should write him and tell he is wrong.
RedlessWardrobe
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wvitbear said:

Redless, your complaint is with the NCSTATE coach. they have lost one game in the conference. Their coach said it is onerus to travel cross the country but he wouldn't complain as he only had to do it once.. Cal and Stanford had to do it 5 times. Their only loss was to us. You should write him and tell he is wrong.
wvb, I know I've been a stickler on this subject, so let me clarify:

Obviously a cross country flight is not something any coach wishes for, and yes, it can factor into the results. But we're talking about 18-22 year old athletes, who have the ability during basketball season to minimize their class load. And generally in our case, we don't have back to back weekends of cross country road games, so when our team boards the plane, (and I think it's a charter- don't know for sure) we've been home for two weeks. Pretty sure for Thursday games we leave on Tuesday, giving us a full day in between travel day and game day.

So yes, it's my opinion, but I watched our game at Louisville. We got beat, because they were prepared for us and they played better than us. I think anyone else who watched it would agree. But someone always has to bring up the "travel" factor. It's there, but to use it as an excuse doesn't seem right. I would guess that if someone had asked Charmin if it had anything to do with us losing to Louisville, she would dismiss it as an excuse. This is 2025, sports teams have to travel. Just like Nick Cronin of UCLA, if we're going to complain about our travel situation, then we shouldn't have joined the ACC. North Carolina came out here on a Thursday night and beat us. They were good enough to "survive" the plane trip. If we want to be good, our team needs to be able to do the same thing.
Shocky1
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wvit & redless, u both make good points re: TRAVEL

the reality is that great teams handle obstacles in their paths including cross country flights

fun fact: a key impediment of travel is that it complicates academic coursework particularly at the #1 ranked public university in the world but it should also be pointed out that the majority of the rotation players this season are grad students with significantly less time consuming academic pressures than undergrads like lulu & gabby
Shocky1
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california golden bears 72
boston college eagles 63

ugonne foul watch: 1st quarter charging call, 2nd quarter moving screen for the nation's leader in this category, 3rd quarter lower body on post shooter, 4th quarter lowered shoulder offensive foul & final 5th disqualification foul with 2 minutes left in the game on a contested loss ball

michelle: offensively she is continuing to develop her sealing skills against opposing posts for uncontested shots around the basket...21 points on 9 of 13 field goals plus 11 boards but 6 turnovers is not gonna get u paid in the wbna

marta: 18 points on a cold perimeter shooting nite, suarez needs to demand the ball in the low post to take advantage of her clever shotmaking & get to the free throw line more often


jayda: a couple of ice in her veins clutch free throws down the stretch with a clean shooting motion

gabby: needs to get more minutes, the bears rebounding/interior defense suffers when she & onyiah are not on the floor

turnover watch: 26 turnovers (many of them unforced)!!...poor passing fundamentals/decision making

next game: CONGRATS to the bears on their 20th win, now 20-6 with syracuse coming to haas pavillion (homecourt 15-1 record) sunday afternoon
Shocky1
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will the bears play sloppy azzwipe TURNOVER street ball or FOCUSED ncca championship team basketball on sunday??
Shocky1
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this season's abysmal attendance at haas pavilion is conclusive proof that just winning more games does NOT translate to significantly better attendance in 2025, nothing is gonna change until general knowlton, jennifer simon-o'neil & their hand picked non innovative failed marketing director markeisha everett are fired by chancellor lyons

shocky growing/building out the berkeley brand (flip phones r NOT for losers)!!#
RedlessWardrobe
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Shocky1 said:




this season's abysmal attendance at haas pavilion is conclusive proof that just winning more games does NOT translate to significantly better attendance in 2025, nothing is gonna change until general knowlton, jennifer simon-o'neil & their hand picked non innovative failed marketing director markeisha everett are fired by chancellor lyons

shocky growing/building out the berkeley brand (flip phones r NOT for losers)!!#
shocky, I think last Thursday I saw one of those refs using a flip phone. You're wrong again!
Shocky1
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weekend in cali: why would anyone wanna live in freezing azz upstate new york (when does the transfer portal open)??
Woodacre
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According to the NCAA website updated 10/2024:
For the 2024-25 academic year, the window will be open March 24-April 22 for men's basketball and March 25-April 23 for women's basketball.
Shocky1
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https://instagr.am/p/DGJ0oZ8S89Q
california golden bears 75
syracuse orange 68

ugonne foul watch: 2 of the fouls involved minor contact yet onyiah stayed on the floor during the final critical minutes & didn't foul out despite her 4 fouls...michelle is unstoppable around the rim but needs to not rush/play with composure before putting up shots at point blank to the bucket, she is the program's only +1 athlete (tho gabby might be too, too early to tell) & needs to stay on the floor

blood & guts: east coast basketball is physical as ****, loved it when lulu jumped in to defend her teammate ionna plus twidale shot in rhythm which is critical as the acc regular season winds down


turnover watch: 12 turnovers with particularly better handles/passing in the 2nd half which wuz the key to victory, kayla controlled the tempo & overall did a good job protecting the rock (only 1 turnover)

https://instagr.am/p/DGKEGfRsy_g
next game: the 21-6 bears might creep back into the top 25 on monday & travel this week for must win games on the road to virginia & virginia tech

top 16 or go home (the bears can beat anybody at haas pavilion)#
Shocky1
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cavaliers with an acc road win today#
Shocky1
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TOP defensive assignment (DEFENSE wins basketball games particularly on the road)#
HoopDreams
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Shocky1 said:


TOP defensive assignment (DEFENSE wins basketball games particularly on the road)#
they have a tall lineup across the board
Shocky1
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^ agreed, the cavs got length (an unreal 5.8 blocks per game) & a lethal big 2 in latasha (17.5 ppg) & kymora (14.6 ppg) but not a lotta scoring punch supporting them


virginia shoots a crooked azz 29.5% on 3 pointers, the gameplan for the bears needs to be doubling up on the big 2 & make others try to beat them thru perimeter shooting...if charmin doesn't scheme to bring help when michelle is guarding in the paint onyiah will be targeted by the cavs head coach & foul out with the bears losing by 20+ points...sustained DEFENSIVE intensity will determine this game's outcome & that can only happen if onyiah plays 32+ minutes which has a very low probability of happening if coach leaves her alone on an island as usual

one of charmin's most glaring weakness is the inability to adapt to the skills of her players: the bears still involve onyiah who is the nation's #1 fouler on moving screens in setting screens, ugonne seldom gets defensive support from teammates in the paint & the small post defensive strategy with jayda (who is most effective guarding scoring 3s/4s) doesn't work against elite 5s with length...why doesn't smith play michelle & gabby (whose talents are being wasted right now) at the same time to present a dominating interior post presence & rebounding advantage??

back in the cal's monster class era shocky sat in the 1st row behind the cal bench next to coach martin's wife roberta, the 15,000 seat arena got a nba vibe & a tour of the high performance facilities makes cal's sorry azz lack of a dedicated basketball practice facility a serious liability in tryna develop players & in recruiting

the men's bears lost that nite to the then #5 ranked team in the nation on a late dagger to the heart 3 pointer in an electric big time collegiate atmosphere in charlottesville, virginia basketball is relentlessly sold/marketed/branded in the region unlike the minor league approach in berkeley that relies upon worthless tix offer emails to football season tix holders that get immediately deleted & the coach asking senior citizens to bring an aarp friend to the next game...that's not how you sell tixs & build a fanbase in 2025
RedlessWardrobe
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^
Wow, that was a lot of material there Shocky. On the Virginia assignment, I'm still not sure if having Michelle and Gabby both out there at the same time is the answer, but I certainly do agree with you that using Jayda down low defensively is not the answer. And based on that Kymora Johnson video, I'd much rather see Jayda outside defending her where Jayda's defensive quickness can come into play.
stu
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Would a zone work?
wvitbear
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We don't use that zone very long. There are open three point shooters in the corners if you break it. Soon as Syracuse hit one, we took the zone off.
Shocky1
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redless, not only would michelle & gabby on the court at the same time protect onyiah (assign her to guard the less explosive scoring 4/5 on defense) but it would also create nightmare mismatches for marta at the 3 where should post up & exploit a smaller wing...the staff has failed to maximiz suarez's ability to abuse opponents down low in the paint, the lack of free throws metrics is a clear indicator that this skillset is being wasted by charmin...marta needs to start her offensive moves within 6 feet of the basket, continually starting her offense schematically at the top of the key will just result in more charges & turnovers, this is pretty ******* obvious but nothing changes with this staff

stu, yes a zone would work with 2 rim protectors in michelle & gabby down low...and yeah wvit charmin pulls the zone & reacts quickly back to her comfort zone which is onyiah fouling outta games

charmin is an engineering grad & tends to try to solve problems from a linear perspective which unfortunately permeates her coaching style as rigid & non adaptive...smith's coaching would benefit from a much more artistic approach

and yeah this the starting 5 is tired as **** with the exception of michelle who usually sits on the bench for a lotta minutes of each game...adding gabby to the lineup will allow for greater rotation of the guards & wings with marta taking a lotta minutes at the 3

kayla has probably hit the floor more than any other player in college basketball male or female, she is tough but wearing down physically during the long season...finding 2 minute subbing outs is critical for hear stamina & mental health

why does charmin & this staff fail to make in season adaptations??

this can be attributed to the revolving door of assistant coaches, clearly these coaches don't feel valued in berkeley and/or charmin doesn't include them in schematics/game planning...so the coaches that stick around just smile & nod while smith does her thing

this is a potential generational team in berkeley but this talent is not being fully maximized right now due to the myopic stubbornness of the head coach
RedlessWardrobe
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^
Shocky, your reasoning behind the Michelle, Gabby, Marta does have some valid points, I must admit. Now why it's not been tried I'm not sure of, you given us some heavy duty explanations on that, not sure if it all goes that deep. But I'm a believer that in a basketball season when over 30 games are played, a coach should try her best to explore all avenues.
Woodacre
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The previous 2 triple doubles in Virginia history were by Dawn Staley...
ClayK
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If you play two bigs at the same time on offense, then it's really easy for the defense to drop 3 players down into the paint and cause major problems. That's why you don't see three-out two-in anymore; it's too easy to clog up the lane.

On the defensive end, playing two bigs means there are many options in the pick and roll. You'll always draw one of those two out into the screening action, which means they're not playing inside. More athletic and less foul-prone posts can make that happen, but I don't think Cal has two of those.

As for a zone, they're very hard to play and very hard to rebound out of. Very few college teams use a zone as their base defense because with the rise of three-point shooting it's far too easy to attack. if you are going to be a zone team, you have to commit to it and pretty much play it all the time. It's very difficult to switch back and forth between man and zone.
Shocky1
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clay, that's the whole point of playing 2 posts, hopefully defenses then collapse 3 in the paint opening up shooting windows for the bears lethal (when not jacking up attempts) 3 point shooting game

the pick and roll is irrelevant with the skill level of michelle (who is #1 in the nation in moving screen fouls) & gabby, neither one is adept at knocking down 15 footers so there's no need for opposing posts to follow them out plus the guards/wings are turnover prone on entry passes

in the zone the bears would still dominate the boards & create interior defensive pressure with michelle & gabby near the bucket...agreed that the weakness of the zone is perimeter shooting, virginia is shooting 29.5% on 3 pointers this season so let's see if they can consistently knock down the outside jumpers in order to win the game, right?

great coaches make in game adjustments that win basketball games...remember sitting behind the cal bench when an opposing all american (future nba veteran) post wuz abusing the bears in the paint...listening to mike montgomery he explained with 5 minutes left in the game that the 7' bears post would play behind the all american & that 6'5" sam singer would front him in denying entry passes...kinda a box & one with a double on the all american

the all american never scored again & the bears won the game

after the game spoke with one of the assistant coaches & asked had the bears ever practiced that defense before or discussed it's potential utilization in game planning??

with a big smile the coach tole me "nope, 1st time any of us including sam had ever heard of it!!"
ClayK
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A couple things:

*With two posts, you don't have to collapse into the paint to defend. You already have two defenders there so all you need is one of the weak side defenders to drop down to help. That's one reason three-out two-in has sort of faded away in recent years.

*The weakness of playing two bigs is defending the pick and roll. if the ball handler forces the switch, all of a sudden Michelle or Gabrielle is trying to guard a guard on the perimeter. Drop coverage won't work against good teams because those guards can shoot threes, and the postseason is full of good teams.

*You would think rebounding is easy with big players in the zone but the problem is, unless you are committed to it, it's hard for players to identify who to screen out. Zone defenders tend to stand there and watch the ball, rather than find an offensive player and keep her from getting the ball. Again, if you play zone all the time, you can fix that. but suddenly shifting to it during a game or in the middle of a season generally doesn't work out that well.
wvitbear
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Since Marta is also a big, they can defend the three. Marta guarded a top point guard for N C State and shut her down. she is quicker than you think.
RedlessWardrobe
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With all these good ideas, I think it's time Charmin hires all of us to boost the coaching staff!
Shocky1
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https://instagr.am/p/DGRpJILSNhr
east coast biz trip#
Shocky1
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https://instagr.am/p/DGUTLGgt_f_
california golden bears 76
virginia cavaliers 70

this is what we do (22-6)!!#
Shocky1
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^ any lip readers out there??

kinda looks like my favorite australian lulu is telling ioanna "let's ******* go!!!!!!!!!!!!"

too bad the fragile/sorry azz bears wide receivers don't violently BLOCK with that kinda winning passion on the football field

https://instagr.am/p/Cl-RtIDjr2r
Shocky1
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hokies bench scored 5 points in 45 minutes#
HoopDreams
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