Cal's had a great year, but Shocky thinks it could have been better. Is he justified in that opinion?
First, any season could be better. Any coach, like any executive, or any worker, will make mistakes and bad decisions. But given that reality, how do we feel about Charmin and her staff this season?
To get to Shocky's first point, Michelle Onyiah is much better this year than she has been in the past. Is she the perfect player? No, far from it. She fouls way too much, and simply doesn't seem to be aware of what she needs to do to cut down on fouling, She's been told how to get better at that 1000 times but can't seem to make the adjustment.
Of course, you can say that that's coaching, but anyone who's been a boss has had an employee that simply cannot do something that appears simple to everyone else. People are people and they sometimes simply cannot translate important mental information into accurate physical actions.
Michelle is better than she was when she got to Cal. Credit to Charmin? Michelle still fouls like a middle schooler. Blame to Charmin?
Otherwise, Cal has a somewhat flawed roster. There's not a lot of pure athleticism, at least in terms of the teams playing in the NCAA tournament and there's not a lot of depth. One could argue that Charmin could have done more with the athletic limitations of her team but one could also point out believe that she's pretty much maximized the available talent.
I tend to fall more with the latter group. I don't think this is a top 16 team, and in fact I'm really sort of surprised Cal was ranked in the top 25 at all. Much credit to Charmin for that.
But a big part of any college coach's job is to develop long-term success. It doesn't seem that this year's win total is going to be easy to replicate next year. Still, a good season is a good season, and there haven't been that many of those in recent years. And I don't think you can blame Charmin for the lack of attendance. That's not her job. her job is to win games, and she's done that this year.
But is that enough? Does she need to back it up with another good season next year? Or, even if Cal struggles next year, has Charmin shown that she can succeed in a rapidly changing, brutally competitive environment, and is a good fit for the university?
First, any season could be better. Any coach, like any executive, or any worker, will make mistakes and bad decisions. But given that reality, how do we feel about Charmin and her staff this season?
To get to Shocky's first point, Michelle Onyiah is much better this year than she has been in the past. Is she the perfect player? No, far from it. She fouls way too much, and simply doesn't seem to be aware of what she needs to do to cut down on fouling, She's been told how to get better at that 1000 times but can't seem to make the adjustment.
Of course, you can say that that's coaching, but anyone who's been a boss has had an employee that simply cannot do something that appears simple to everyone else. People are people and they sometimes simply cannot translate important mental information into accurate physical actions.
Michelle is better than she was when she got to Cal. Credit to Charmin? Michelle still fouls like a middle schooler. Blame to Charmin?
Otherwise, Cal has a somewhat flawed roster. There's not a lot of pure athleticism, at least in terms of the teams playing in the NCAA tournament and there's not a lot of depth. One could argue that Charmin could have done more with the athletic limitations of her team but one could also point out believe that she's pretty much maximized the available talent.
I tend to fall more with the latter group. I don't think this is a top 16 team, and in fact I'm really sort of surprised Cal was ranked in the top 25 at all. Much credit to Charmin for that.
But a big part of any college coach's job is to develop long-term success. It doesn't seem that this year's win total is going to be easy to replicate next year. Still, a good season is a good season, and there haven't been that many of those in recent years. And I don't think you can blame Charmin for the lack of attendance. That's not her job. her job is to win games, and she's done that this year.
But is that enough? Does she need to back it up with another good season next year? Or, even if Cal struggles next year, has Charmin shown that she can succeed in a rapidly changing, brutally competitive environment, and is a good fit for the university?
