calgymnast;842620062 said:

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So proud of this team!
Did not realize this was our eighth straight win over UCLA.

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Really proud of the team too. Hopefully Gabby is ok.

calgymnast;842620062 said:

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So proud of this team!
Did not realize this was our eighth straight win over UCLA.

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yeahbut, calbears' bruin preview employed clever phrasing
> Marks the eighth consecutive regular-season victory for Cal over UCLA
source: http://www.calbears.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30100&ATCLID=210593714

what you're not supposed to remember is during this 8 game [SIZE=4]regular[/SIZE] season run we lost twice to UCLA at the pac tourney.

so strictly speaking bears "only" notched a 5th win streak.

# sweet enuf

GATC;842620075 said:

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Really proud of the team too. Hopefully Gabby is ok.

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+1000. She's are backup point guard and with a short bench, we just can't afford anymore injuries. Hello coach G, we need a minimum of 12 players to start a season.

Luckily Cal has a 8 day break- hopefully this allows Gabby and Co. to heal before playing 2-9 CSU Northridge.

OBear073akaSMFan;842620022 said:

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refs, just because Canada falls doesn't mean it is a foul. It was frustration watching her chucking up the ball arkwardly , falling and then getting the call. Game shouldn't even had gone into overtimes, if we had managed the clock towards the end of the game. I blame it on the coaches for not telling the players to use up some time.

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Agree!
Not only would Canada flop but she did that herky jerky move
Once range was doing everything she could to get out of her way, but Canada basically shot into her to force the foul

It's like the worst call in basketball where the shooter intentionly jumps into the defender to get the call

Refs gotta make those no calls

MoragaBear;842620065 said:

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To their credit, [UCLA] never sagged their shoulders or gave up.

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Agreed. I thought UCLA impressive in several respects, and more likely than not to win, at least by a few points. Playing at Haas was such a help: our 2,200 sounded a lot louder. And if we can get enough fans to L.A., this might happen again; I checked the attendance for South Carolina at UCLA: just 2,000, and that to see the home team, a rising program, play the #2 ranked team in the nation, coached by Dawn Staley, on a Sunday afternoon.

I know the theory that towns with extreme weather and less to do attract big attendance, but I find the UCLA and USC attendance numbers pretty disrespectful of women's sports. Makes Cal's marketing department look good.

BearBint;842620118 said:

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Agreed. I thought UCLA impressive in several respects, and more likely than not to win, at least by a few points. Playing at Haas was such a help: our 2,200 sounded a lot louder. And if we can get enough fans to L.A., this might happen again; I checked the attendance for South Carolina at UCLA: just 2,000, and that to see the home team, a rising program, play the #2 ranked team in the nation, coached by Dawn Staley, on a Sunday afternoon.

I know the theory that towns with extreme weather and less to do attract big attendance, but I find the UCLA and USC attendance numbers pretty disrespectful of women's sports. Makes Cal's marketing department look good.

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You are exactly right regarding the low attendance at the SoCal schools. Shameful considering the large number of alums in the LA/OC area. Wonder why this doesn't hurt their recruiting more?
Too bad Canada backed off Cal at the end of her recruitment. Can you imagine her with the rest of the Cal team? Wow! Just glad we kept Thomas a Bear.

In case you haven't seen it, Nate Parham wrote an insightful piece after the UCLA game, which I though also lent some valuable perspective (especially for those more angst-prone Cal fans ):

http://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/2015/12/22/10656232/if-youre-not-following-cal-wbb-already-now-is-the-time-to-start

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

I have stopped posting after games because no criticism of the women's team is acceptable. For some reason, I'm more emotionally invested in the women's team than the men's bball team. I even taped the UCLA game and watched it @ 9 pm after I knew the outcome. I had no problem watching the men's game live vs Virginia. The only other Cal team that I get nervous watching is the football team.

Many positives for the ladies. Courtney Range is back to her 20 points per game self. Penina Davidson finally broke out offensively on her inside play. She hasn't begun hitting her three point shots yet. Remember she hit four in one game last season. The two freshmen-Kristine Anigwe & Asha Thomas-have both exceeded expectations by a country mile...The assist total is steadily increasing (now 17.5 per game) and the team's collective shooting is better than I expected entering the season without 2014's top three scorers.

Since the team is only winning close games by an average of six ppg, the team also has glaring weaknesses. The Bears have been giving up huge numbers of offensive rebounds most of the season. UCLA had 28 offensive boards and 29 more shots than Cal as a result. The Bears still have a turnover problem, too, averaging 19.5 per contest. Two other opponents had 25 "O" boards against us (one was Liberty U). During the first half the Bears did not block off the boards. In the 2nd half, the rebounders put bodies on their opposition but did not jump for the ball. The only tall Cal player that jumps for rebounds in GG. The Bruins had 6-1 players jumping over taller Bears (6-2 to 6-4) who never left the floor. Another thing that drives me nuts and the tv announcers pointed this out, too, is that Cal seldom stops the dribbler from going the length of the court for a layup. Fields & Canada are two of the fastest end-to-end dribblers in the women's college game but that is still no excuse. Last season I complained that there was seldom any weak side help defense on drives to the basket. No change is evident so far in 2015.

http://pac-12.com/content/womens-basketball-statistics

Cal is 4th in scoring offense w/ 80 points on average but is last in scoring defense (74 ppg). The defense is fundamentally weak. They are 12th in field goal defense, allowing opponents to hit 40% of their shots. Cal is 10th in three point defense...The Bears are unbelievabley #2 in FG%! Hopefully the six player team can hold up. If the Bears lose one of those players, the season is over. I blame that on HC Gottlieb as everyone here knows. Even top high school teams [St Marys-Stockton and Archbishop Mitty] rotate nine quality players every game. GO BEARS!

Defense was actually great. The offensive rebounding was the problem. They shot 39 % which is well below their season average.

Schroeder71;842621293 said:

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... Hopefully the six player team can hold up. If the Bears lose one of those players, the season is over. I blame that on HC Gottlieb as everyone here knows. Even top high school teams [St Marys-Stockton and Archbishop Mitty] rotate nine quality players every game. GO BEARS!

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Next year we graduates ZERO, and add a tall wing (CJ West) and a post (Jaelin Brown)? Is that right?
If Ionescu comes, we should be fairly incredible, no?

Just switch their positions and you would be correct.

Schroeder71;842621293 said:

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

I have stopped posting after games because no criticism of the women's team is acceptable. For some reason, I'm more emotionally invested in the women's team than the men's bball team. I even taped the UCLA game and watched it @ 9 pm after I knew the outcome. I had no problem watching the men's game live vs Virginia. The only other Cal team that I get nervous watching is the football team.

Many positives for the ladies. Courtney Range is back to her 20 points per game self. Penina Davidson finally broke out offensively on her inside play. She hasn't begun hitting her three point shots yet. Remember she hit four in one game last season. The two freshmen-Kristine Anigwe & Asha Thomas-have both exceeded expectations by a country mile...The assist total is steadily increasing (now 17.5 per game) and the team's collective shooting is better than I expected entering the season without 2014's top three scorers.

Since the team is only winning close games by an average of six ppg, the team also has glaring weaknesses. The Bears have been giving up huge numbers of offensive rebounds most of the season. UCLA had 28 offensive boards and 29 more shots than Cal as a result. The Bears still have a turnover problem, too, averaging 19.5 per contest. Two other opponents had 25 "O" boards against us (one was Liberty U). During the first half the Bears did not block off the boards. In the 2nd half, the rebounders put bodies on their opposition but did not jump for the ball. The only tall Cal player that jumps for rebounds in GG. The Bruins had 6-1 players jumping over taller Bears (6-2 to 6-4) who never left the floor. Another thing that drives me nuts and the tv announcers pointed this out, too, is that Cal seldom stops the dribbler from going the length of the court for a layup. Fields & Canada are two of the fastest end-to-end dribblers in the women's college game but that is still no excuse. Last season I complained that there was seldom any weak side help defense on drives to the basket. No change is evident so far in 2015.

Cal is scoring approximately 80 points on average but is giving up 74. The defense is fundamentally weak. Hopefully the six player team can hold up. If the Bears lose one of those players, the season is over. I blame that on HC Gottlieb as everyone here knows. Even top high school teams [St Marys-Stockton and Archbishop Mitty]rotate nine quality players every game. GO BEARS!

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You really need to get over the "all good teams go nine deep" stuff, especially using high school teams as an example. I just looked at this year's top teams nationally. The vast majority go seven deep in big games. And these are teams that have not yet had to suffer significant injuries. The myth that many good players would be delighted to sit on the bench, just in case, is simply not true. We could get a few more local players to do that. But certainly not the best of the local players. An "over-recruitment" strategy can work if you want to use a "survival of the fittest" approach with higher transfer rates rather than graduating people. But it is still a constant weeding out process with that strategy rather than an effective nine-deep retention strategy, with only a few exceptions.

Yes-you switched the positions of the two players: Jaelyn Brown (6-1 southpaw forward) & CJ West is a Bakersfield post player (6-3 or 6-4). Cal needs to land Sabrina Ionescu or they will finish in the second division in the conference in recruiting...I reviewed ESPN HoopGurlz 2016 over the weekend and I was astounded how well the rest of the Pac 12 is recruiting...Ten *5 stars* have commited but Cal has been shutout so far. Nine 4 star players have been added with one (Brown) from da Bears. Gottlieb & Co desperately must get the Miramonte star or else. The rest of the league is picking up the pace in recruiting and a record of one out of 19 five + four star
national recruits will NOT cut it. Oregon has really picked it up and is undefeated (10-0) this season. Their class is currently rated #6 but imagine if they land Ionescu?

annarborbear-my reason for additional personnel is that women get injured more often than men. The game before last Courtney Range went down by herself with a sprained ankle. On Tuesday, Gabby Green also sprained her ankle. As I stated in my prior post, six player rotations can not survive injuries or young players fouling out. It was a miracle that Cal survived to win in double OT. Cal had a couple of players play 50 minutes. The Bruins had PG Canada go 43 but nobody else above 38 minutes...GO BEARS!

Schroeder71;842621359 said:

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Yes-you switched the positions of the two players: Jaelyn Brown (6-1 southpaw forward) & CJ West is a Bakersfield post player (6-3 or 6-4). Cal needs to land Sabrina Ionescu or they will finish in the second division in the conference in recruiting...I reviewed ESPN HoopGurlz 2016 over the weekend and I was astounded how well the rest of the Pac 12 is recruiting...Ten *5 stars* have commited but Cal has been shutout so far. Nine 4 star players have been added with one (Brown) from da Bears. Gottlieb & Co desperately must get the Miramonte star or else. The rest of the league is picking up the pace in recruiting and a record of one out of 19 five + four star
national recruits will NOT cut it. Oregon has really picked it up and is undefeated (10-0) this season. Their class is currently rated #6 but imagine if they land Ionescu?

annarborbear-my reason for additional personnel is that women get injured more often than men. The game before last Courtney Range went down by herself with a sprained ankle. On Tuesday, Gabby Green also sprained her ankle. As I stated in my prior post, six player rotations can not survive injuries or young players fouling out. It was a miracle that Cal survived to win in double OT.
Cal had a couple of players play 50 minutes. The Bruins had PG Canada go 43 but nobody else above 38 minutes...

GO BEARS!

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My point is that we had a bigger roster, and are still winning even after two unexpected departures. So our depth has absorbed the problem to a high degree. But who else would be winning big games after seeing two players leave, and have equivalent players to replace them? Not many. I would say, though, that we will now need to play Mosely more and also to get some minutes out of KC. However, Nothing is easy when you had five guards, and then suddenly have three.

True. I know that I didn't expect Mercedes Jefflo to disappear off of the roster. Breanna Cavanaugh was also a nationally ranked player so she could have contributed. I guess that I may have been a bit overly harsh on coach Gottlieb. It just generally seems that the Bears have undersized rosters as compared to every team that they play...Chen Yue is also injured. GO BEARS!

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

annarborbear;842621407 said:

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My point is that we had a bigger roster, and are still winning even after two unexpected departures. So our depth has absorbed the problem to a high degree. But who else would be winning big games after seeing two players leave, and have equivalent players to replace them? Not many. I would say, though, that we will now need to play Mosely more and also to get some minutes out of KC. However, Nothing is easy when you had five guards, and then suddenly have three.

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Last time we had an 11 player roster, two people transferred.

Schroeder71;842621456 said:

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True. I know that I didn't expect Mercedes Jefflo to disappear off of the roster. Breanna Cavanaugh was also a nationally ranked player so she could have contributed. I guess that I may have been a bit overly harsh on coach Gottlieb. It just generally seems that the Bears have undersized rosters as compared to every team that they play...Chen Yue is also injured. GO BEARS!

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Actually, one reason we have been able to survive thus far is because the coaches have gotten creative - using Cowling at guard on defense and having Courtney handle the ball and bring it up against the press. Fortunately, both are great athletes and have come through. But we are one injury way from disaster after being two players down already. And we do need to find one more guard for next year from somewhere, some way.

annarborbear;842619944 said:

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The KC Waters mystery now takes on legendary proportions. They couldn't even give her a few minutes in this one when some of our players were barely able to walk?

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I don't understand this either. Waters is probably never going to get starter minutes but she can be a useful role player. Gottlieb should be developing Waters for this role.....she wouldn't have hurt in an OT game where the Bears were getting killed on the offensive boards.

jyamada;842622007 said:

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I don't understand this either. Waters is probably never going to get starter minutes but she can be a useful role player. Gottlieb should be developing Waters for this role.....she wouldn't have hurt in an OT game where the Bears were getting killed on the offensive boards.

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If she totally sucked in her few brief appearances, that would be one thing. But her 40 minute stats this year are just below 17 ppg, 12 rpg, and 67% from the field. How does that translate into "not a useful player", especially with a depleted roster. And it's somehow better to run our starters into the ground and put them at heightened injury risk rather than to use her for simply 10 minutes a game? This is a player that was the MVP on a top-level California high school championship team. And, again, she seem to do o.k. when she finally does get in.

jyamada;842622007 said:

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.....she wouldn't have hurt in an OT game where the Bears were getting killed on the offensive boards.

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There were a number of occasions where our defensive player just stood around the 3-point arc while the UCLA player went for the offensive rebound. Add me to the list of those wondering why not KC? To her credit, KC has been the most vocal player on the bench. Bless her for her positive attitude!

SanseiBear;842622094 said:

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Bless her for her positive attitude!

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+1 . The way we were being killed on the offensive boards, it would had been nice to have given KC a chance. The few chances she was given a chance, she has produced!

OBear073akaSMFan;842622133 said:

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+1 . The way we were being killed on the offensive boards, it would had been nice to have given KC a chance. The few chances she was given a chance, she has produced!

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When I re-watched the game, I did not see a single effective box-out by any of our front-line players on those UCLA .offensive rebounds. That alone would have caused me to put KC in there for a few minutes. The only way to avoid offensive rebounds is to put a body on somebody.

..and with Gabbty's bad foot, she couldn't block out or go for the rebound. She was also a liability on the D, getting beat on a back door.