This team has been really fun to watch. ZK confidence is going up last few games. Get healthy for conference play

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My forecast of a 5 point victory margin held true through half time.

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This cracked me up. Cal won by 26 and he Schroeder couldn't man up and admit he was way off. His contention that we'd miss Marta demonstrate that he sees players as their stat line and his thinking can't go beyond numbers. Also the constant pessimism is getting tired.
Anyway it was a terrific performance by a very good Bear team. How long has it been since we were this good? The only downer for the game was the absence of regular PA announcer, Matt Foley. "AJ" who replaced him, makes my teeth hurt. Also he announces opposing baskets as if he's telling someone their grandma died. It's downright disrespectful. Foley should never be allowed to miss a game.

Going into the game, I had thought this could be a tough game. Temple had played against a ranked foe in WV.

Cal had been (and still is, quite frankly) turning the ball over at a high rate. Zahra may have had the highlight of the night, but she also had 4 TOs in only 13 minutes. The Bears continue to force entry passes towards Michelle and Gabrielle - all they have to do is reverse/repost and there will be a better option a bit later in the possession. If not? Hoist a 3 like it's nothing.

Speaking of, being efficient from the 3-point arc and shooting a LOT of them covers a lot of ills. Another 16 made tonight (on 35 FGA = 46%). Crazy.

As the season goes on, I think Zahra, Gabrielle, Gisella and Anastasia get more minutes and that's in addition to a steady Ackerman and the defensive stopper in Jayda. That's 11 that can come in and contribute something positive. Yes, we will have to live with some freshman mistakes and also live with some of the risky passes. But on the whole, it seems Cal has more options than originally thought.

By the way, Anastasia was very good tonight. Looks like she has a 'feel' for the game. Makes good decisions and Cal needs that.

Cal dominated the boards tonight, with 5 players having 5 or more. Kamryn had 4 in 7 minutes.

Add to this a healthy Marta...this season has possibilities.

Clemson plays NC State in their next conference game (12/29 - TV on ACC) before Cal plays NC State, so a preview of both in one game and a chance to scout the opposition.

Season's greeting to all!

I really like the way the young players are being brought along to make contributions. We can't be the #24 team in the nation without Suarez. But these two games provided the younger players with more opportunities to develop and to contribute under fire. Bodes well going into the ACC schedule.

Suarez apparently resting her foot. She has surgery on it this summer? Glad to see non-starters get some quality minutes. As others have noted we're going to need them.

Bears score 89; win by 26 without Marta.
Those stats fill me with optimism about the conference season ahead and beyond.

Players know their roles. Younger ones are putting in the work and applying what they've learned in practices to the games at hand. That's coaching.

Case in point: Kamryn Mafua. She played free and confident tonight and contributed. She knows she can contribute and is seeking out those opportunities. Likewise, Zahra.

Roll on you Bears!!

Finnish Oski said:

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My forecast of a 5 point victory margin held true through half time.

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This cracked me up. Cal won by 26 and he Schroeder couldn't man up and admit he was way off. His contention that we'd miss Marta demonstrate that he sees players as their stat line and his thinking can't go beyond numbers. Also the constant pessimism is getting tired.
Anyway it was a terrific performance by a very good Bear team. How long has it been since we were this good? The only downer for the game was the absence of regular PA announcer, Matt Foley. "AJ" who replaced him, makes my teeth hurt. Also he announces opposing baskets as if he's telling someone their grandma died. It's downright disrespectful. Foley should never be allowed to miss a game.

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Also: "If Cal doesn't have their starting lineup of five double-digit scorers, they are not that hard to beat. Suarez provides the balance that they need to the lineup because she can score both inside and outside"

Honestly S71, I really do appreciate your pregame reports.

But at least half of baseketball is defense. Your constant analysis based on offense and scoring alone is really starting to get tiresome. Sometimes I really question your approach to the game. And the "5 point" differential half time score confirmation you made was just plain ridiculous. I really think you would gain more credibility if after making your pregame prediction, you would just let the game play out and refrain from analyzing your own prediction.

It's basketball. Offensive stats alone will never tell the whole story.

Shocky1 said:

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^ finnish, looking forward to ur detailed game reports/predictions for the clemson & smu games or do u just lob unwarranted criticisms from the cheap seats??

s71 has been remarkably accurate (unlike u in ur muteness) in his score forecasting often being within points of the final outcome!!

the truth of the matter is that temple is a really dangerous athletic well coached basketball team that don't gotta lotta perimeter shooters, the bears played one of their best all around games of the season in achieving the wide margin of victory

that should be celebrated (not the fact that u think u know more about basketball than s71 because honestly u don't)

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Sorry Shocky. I don't think Finnish's point is that he knows more about basketball that s71 does, but rather the point is that s71 doesn't know as much about basketball as s71 thinks he does himself. And I for one agree with Finnish on this issue. Bottom line, s71 predicted a 5 point Cal victory based solely on offensive statistics,
and they won by 26. Not impressed.

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Hey, critics, do you think anyone is going to be correct all of the time. I have been close most of the time and i have never heard a peep from you two loud mouths about my accuracy. If you wish to take over my highly compensated duties, please let me know. I will be happy to free up my time. For the most part, I've been "flying blind" doing these previews and my research plus review of team statistics is all that I have to work with this season.

For this 2024-25 season, I thought about not doing the analyses because of all of the new teams from the ACC that I have never seen play. In prior years, I knew a lot about west coast basketball and the Pac 12. I had seen those teams play. Btw, it is a bit difficult to do a *defensive preview* of teams that you have never seen perform. Why don't you guys try it on for size and see how easy it is, ok? Do me a favor...I'm not impressed with you, either. Why don't you show me what real basketball knowledge looks like by doing the ACC game previews! I'm looking forward to this-it's all yours NOW, dynamic duo!

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You just don't get it. No one minds you missing on a prediction, especially since you're close so often. It was that pathetic, well I was right at half time, you offered instead of saying, well, happily I was way off this time. Plus you're relentless pessimism and negativity is enervating. I always look forward to your previews and appreciate the work you put in. But it seems reading your comments come with a heavy price. My solution is have yoiu join Shockey and Cal Bears80 in the ignore user category. Nonetheless I wish you a happy holiday season and a wonderful new year. Sincerely, A Loud Mouth.

" Hey, critics, do you think anyone is going to be correct all of the time. I have been close most of the time and i have never heard a peep from you two loud mouths about my accuracy"

Sorry I have to pile on, but with all due respect the reality is, nobody really cares about your accuracy, with the exception - of you.

We appreciate your information, but at a certain point it's obvious that the underlying reason for your posts is for you to let us know how good you are. The reality is, all of us know a little something about the game, but turning this board into a "who can be the most accurate" game is irrelevant. And honestly, when you start criticizing players for getting their shots blocked, and measure the bench's performance on points scored instead of point differential, it doesn't do much for your credibility.