Gabby has gotten a lot of guff from the board but I would like to point out some good things. The one thing she has done is shoot poorly. But otherwise she is playing pretty well'

She is probably our best defender. As i have mentioned before, I never thought I would say that. She is in much better shape and is much quicker than she has been. How quick? Well she leads the team with 25 steals. Next closest is Cowling with 14. Asha has 7. In fact, last year Brittany Boyd averaged just a shade less than 3 a game. Gabby is averaging 3.13 per game. And she leads the Pac 12 in steals too. i think right now she is our best one on one defender.

She also leads the team in assists. Has 38 for the season compared to 32 for Cowling and 31 for Asha. So when people say she is a 4 and not a 1, i wonder what game they are watching.

Another little statistic not related to Gabby. If i asked you who leads the team in Blocks, who would you say? If you answered Davidson, you win the pot. she has 10 blocks and the next best is 6. and she plays fewer minutes so her rate per minute is even higher.

Right now, defense is our biggest problem in my estimation.

I like G.G.'s talents very much, especially the fact that she's playing with more focus and determination this season. The erratic shooting and the TOs are dismaying, though. One of my New Year's wishes is that Gabby will find her proper role with Cal. (And that Range will get and stay healthy--when she's in good form, she's the best overall player on the team.)

Nothing in the rules states that a 4 cannot pass. GG is fair at the point, but would kill her defender at the 4.

Gabby does some things really well. She also does things like miss two fast break layups in a one point loss. If she can even just clean up the mistakes by 25 percent, she will be a bigger asset to the team. I'm excited for her to utilize her talents and size in the future.

Gabby's Floor game as a point forward is getting better. She has always been a solid passer.
I think most would agree she creates greater advantages if a 4 or 5 is guarding her on the perimeter. In the post she has the advantage over smaller guards. The same with Mikayala. When better teams take Kristine away or a team like Texas has two bigs that cancel out our 4 and 5 the versatility of having 2 guards that can post should be a great advantage. Even with Kristine in the game it would be nice to see Mikayla and Gabby get touches in the Post just to create matchup problems and get the other team in foul trouble taking away their aggressiveness on the perimeter. More touches with contact improves a players ability to finish. Lot of practice time the next couple of weeks...hoping they take advantage.

bearchamp;842612558 said:

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Nothing in the rules states that a 4 cannot pass. GG is fair at the point, but would kill her defender at the 4.

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Shooting has been a problem for her but also passing has not been her forte as a PG. However Cal has no backup to Asha, other than Gabby. Gabby has at least 5 TOs in the 1st half vs Sac St. Her passes needs to be quicker and more forceful.

OBear073akaSMFan;842612677 said:

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Gabby has at least 5 TOs in the 1st half vs Sac St. Her passes needs to be quicker and more forceful.

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As a team we had a lot of turnovers from slightly high or low passes to the posts. But then Kristine, Courtney, Nina, and KC made 33 of 43 shots from all the good passes. Also we finished with 36 assists to 26 turnovers, a very good ratio for an entire team. Consider as well the number of possessions.

Count me as a major Gabby fan. I could find areas for improvement, but like Brittany Boyd and Tyrone Wallace she has a huge impact on the court.

Gabby Green is attractive and always smiling out there. Sometimes I wonder how she can have that demeanor when she is 1 for 8 on her free throws or misses a breakaway layup after a nice steal.

http://www.calbears.com//ViewContent.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30100&CONTENT_ID=1516278

The turnovers are her undoing (33)...She had 10 assists and 9 turnovers against Sacramento State. GG is averaging approximately four turnovers per game. Her assists are higher but less than 5...

I think that Cal needs to design plays where she posts up her smaller defender. They also could clear a side of the floor and let her drive to the basket. She needs to learn the jump stop. When she gets within 5 feet of the basket, she can use this technique to put up a bank jump shot from either side of the basket. The worse that will happen is that she will draw a foul. The coaching staff should have her work on her foul shots and her " close in" game near the basket. Green needs to utilize her height and big body to her advantage. It helps her on defense but she is not benefiting enough from it on offense. She is not a natural three point shooter. She has the lowest shooting percentage from the floor (27%) that I have seen from a starting player in the Pac 12.

You're correct, wvitbear, that she was been the only Bear with a steal in two or three games. Her long arms come in handy. GO BEARS!

I want a selfie of me with the Great Green's - Gabby and Draymond. Gabby has the talent to be all Pac12, and like Draymond, a smile that could melt any icy heart. I am looking for great things from Gabby Green.

john1953;842613162 said:

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I want a selfie of me with the Great Green's - Gabby and Draymond. Gabby has the talent to be all Pac12, and like Draymond, a smile that could melt any icy heart. I am looking for great things from Gabby Green.

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Wish Gabby had Dray's commitment and desire to improve her shooting. Draymond has improved his shooting a lot since college. He had no 3 point shot when he was a rookie. Now he is pretty good from 3 point land. If Gabby worked as hard at it as Dray does, her shooting would certainly improve significantly. What a monster player she would be!

Vit---I don't know if I would consider most of the posts on Gabby as being guff. I just think that most have been in respect to how she would be more effectively used. Unfortunately the team is in the position of having to use her as a point guard. I for one do not think she has personality for that position. It's not a criticism of her but the situation she is in. As others have suggested the team might need to try some adjustments to make better use of he skill set while also mitigating her weaknesses. I agree with you as to her defensive contributions and have posted that in the same posts that I gave my opinions of how she was being used. I always felt that a tall player can adjust to quicker players via proper defensive positioning. Length can just as well mitigate speed as well as speed can mitigate a lack of height.

willtalk;842613178 said:

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Vit---I don't know if I would consider most of the posts on Gabby as being guff. I just think that most have been in respect to how she would be more effectively used. Unfortunately the team is in the position of having to use her as a point guard. I for one do not think she has personality for that position. It's not a criticism of her but the situation she is in. As others have suggested the team might need to try some adjustments to make better use of he skill set while also mitigating her weaknesses. I agree with you as to her defensive contributions and have posted that in the same posts that I gave my opinions of how she was being used. I always felt that a tall player can adjust to quicker players via proper defensive positioning. Length can just as well mitigate speed as well as speed can mitigate a lack of height.

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I agree with your points. And if you look at her in HS, her blocks are spectacular and she has good handles and good vision (for HS), but she had a really low release point on all her shots, even on her layups. She had to change her shot in college and start all over again. It is unrealistic to think that she will become a good shooter anytime soon.

GOCAL73;842613169 said:

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Wish Gabby had Dray's commitment and desire to improve her shooting. Draymond has improved his shooting a lot since college. He had no 3 point shot when he was a rookie. Now he is pretty good from 3 point land. If Gabby worked as hard at it as Dray does, her shooting would certainly improve significantly. What a monster player she would be!

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And you KNOW that she doesn't work as hard on her shot as Dray because?? My questions to you are: How did she spend her summer? How much time does she spend each day in practice working on her shot? Are her coaches good shooting mentors? (not every coach can teach or correct shooting form.) Is she actually getting instruction to help her improve her shot? Just shooting a lot doesn't fix flaws, and most players can't self correct.

Just because the results may not be apparent doesn't mean she isn't working extremely hard on her shot. Correcting and improving one's shot is probably the most difficult thing for a college player to do. You are making minor tweeks to retrain muscles that have performed the same tasks thousands of times. The conventional theory is that you need to perform a given movement at least 10,000 times before you develop muscle memory.

She may never be a great 3 point shooter, but to assume it is from lack of effort or commitment without knowing what work she has actually put in seems wrong to me.

letsski;842613700 said:

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And you KNOW that she doesn't work as hard on her shot as Dray because?? My questions to you are: How did she spend her summer? How much time does she spend each day in practice working on her shot? Are her coaches good shooting mentors? (not every coach can teach or correct shooting form.) Is she actually getting instruction to help her improve her shot? Just shooting a lot doesn't fix flaws, and most players can't self correct.

Just because the results may not be apparent doesn't mean she isn't working extremely hard on her shot. Correcting and improving one's shot is probably the most difficult thing for a college player to do. You are making minor tweeks to retrain muscles that have performed the same tasks thousands of times. The conventional theory is that you need to perform a given movement at least 10,000 times before you develop muscle memory.

She may never be a great 3 point shooter, but to assume it is from lack of effort or commitment without knowing what work she has actually put in seems wrong to me.

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I didn't understand the comparison to Draymond either other than having the same last name. Dray was actually a better 3pt shooter in college (granted the 3pt line is different) and he is still not a better 3pt shooter now (34% regular season, 26% playoffs) 4-5 years later. I have no idea how hard he has been working on it but I trust that he is getting good coaching (especially with Kerr being a good 3pt shooter).

It does appear that Gabby has been working on her shooting last year and there were tweets about her and Nina putting in a lot of time with Cammon during the summer focusing on shooting. It just takes a long time even if you are learning the proper technique.

OTOH, I agree with the other posters who don't think that Gabby shooting 3's is the best use of her talents/potential.

GOCAL73;842613169 said:

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Wish Gabby had Dray's commitment and desire to improve her shooting. Draymond has improved his shooting a lot since college. He had no 3 point shot when he was a rookie. Now he is pretty good from 3 point land. If Gabby worked as hard at it as Dray does, her shooting would certainly improve significantly. What a monster player she would be!

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I wish she had the same tens of millions of incentives that Draymond had to improve his game (which should now easily bring him well into NINE figures over his career)....

Of course, if that were the case, she might not have as much incentive to graduate or come to Cal in the first place.

GATC;842613738 said:

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I didn't understand the comparison to Draymond either other than having the same last name. Dray was actually a better 3pt shooter in college (granted the 3pt line is different) and he is still not a better 3pt shooter now (34% regular season, 26% playoffs) 4-5 years later. I have no idea how hard he has been working on it but I trust that he is getting good coaching (especially with Kerr being a good 3pt shooter).

It does appear that Gabby has been working on her shooting last year and there were tweets about her and Nina putting in a lot of time with Cammon during the summer focusing on shooting. It just takes a long time even if you are learning the proper technique.

OTOH, I agree with the other posters who don't think that Gabby shooting 3's is the best use of her talents/potential.

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Yeah, because a comparison with an NBA player is always going to end well. Especially someone who is in her 2nd year of college.
And for those of you scoring at home (or even if you are alone): D. Green averaged under 10 points a game his 2nd year at Mich. St.

34% of threes = 50% of twos. Do the math...

Missed tres' arguably have a better chance of an offensive rebound with teammates spreading the floor, but also risk a fast break transition for the other team if capable. An open look at a three for a 34%+ 3 pt. shooter is not a bad shot to take. Theoretically, twelve 3 pt. shots x .334 = 12 points........ 12 two pt. shots at .500 = 12 points........

Thus, certain lineups and match-ups can present give greater statistical advantage based on threes. Opportunists have to be ready. Hit the threes and the defense can't sag, better opportunities for two pointers emerge.

I was having fun with the Green's reference. Gabby is a young terrific work-in-progress; Dray is a Professional, NBA World Champion, and probably a 2016 All-Star, in his prime.

I think the problem many of us have with Gabby putting up three's is simply that the team has much more effective options. Range, Cowling and Thomas all shoot a much higher percentage from three-point distance. So as a primary ball-handler, Gabby should be trying to get the ball to those players in good shooting positions. Also, Gabby's height is such an unusual asset that one would think that our coaches would be trying to capitalize on that asset against smaller players. But unless Gabby has some plays run for her to take advantage of that height inside, she is simply going to continue to hang around on the outside putting up more three's. Our coaches don't seem to have installed anything yet to use her any differently.