I hope Charmin sees fit to retain all of our assistants. The last few months must have felt like a roller coaster to them, especially April.

How is the team going to improve if the same coaching staff is retained? I would keep the new coach that replaced Charmin to coach the bigs and was supposed to be an adept recruiter...She has not had an opportunity to demonstrate her skills, yet. I would hope that Charmin has some friends/coaches (maybe former Stanfordites) in the coaching fraternity that she might want to work with to hopefully elevate the program. The offense, defense, intensity & recruiting must be improved to be competitive in the Pac 12.

I was hoping for new blood, new energy, new ideas to be brought into Berkeley but Gottlieb departed really late in the off-season. To give Charmin the HC job might be the best solution for now. I hope that changes are made, however, if Smith hopes to avoid last place in the conference. For the Cal fans here that preferred a female minority hire, you got your wish. Good luck, Charmin, & GO BEARS!

Schroeder71 said:

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How is the team going to improve if the same coaching staff is retained? I would keep the new coach that replaced Charmin to coach the bigs and was supposed to be an adept recruiter...She has not had an opportunity to demonstrate her skills, yet. I would hope that Charmin has some friends/coaches (maybe former Stanfordites) in the coaching fraternity that she might want to work with to hopefully elevate the program. The offense, defense, intensity & recruiting must be improved to be competitive in the Pac 12.

I was hoping for new blood, new energy, new ideas to be brought into Berkeley but Gottlieb departed really late in the off-season. To give Charmin the HC job might be the best solution for now. I hope that changes are made, however, if Smith hopes to avoid last place in the conference. For the Cal fans here that preferred a female minority hire, you got your wish. Good luck, Charmin, & GO BEARS!

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I think the key will be how Charmin runs the organization. Being coached by Tara for 4 years and being an assistant to her for 3 is good training.

Would be nice to have one new coach on Charmin's staff who would have some different ideas about offense and for whom Charmin would have respect for that input. Will be interesting whether she will want to try some new stuff, or simply continue with what we have been doing.

stu said:

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annarborbear said:

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Would be nice to have one new coach on Charmin's staff who would have some different ideas about offense and for whom Charmin would have respect for that input.

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April Phillips is new to Cal and has never worked with Charmin here.

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I would be looking for someone with more experience, especially since Charmin is a first-time head coach.

I'd like to see a specific plan for turning our past four year conference record of 30-42 into 42-30 over the next four. Charmin has the intelligence and drive to do that. But there will have to be some changes.

So where will we be picked in this year's coaches poll? Probably 9th or10th. Maybe 11th. That shows the magnitude of the challenge ahead and why Charmin needs to come up with a plan for something different. Hope that she will use the Tara coaching tree and not the Joanne Boyle coaching tree to come up with a new lead assistant.

Watching Charmin speak at the banquet, I found her to be well spoken and assertive. Knowing she coached
Kristine Anigwe to new heights this past season, I have confidence in her. Also,during the games she is enthusiastic and vocal. I hope she and April bring life to the bench. I sat behind the team bench when Cal played
Pacific at Stanford last Nov. I left the game feeling the head coach was flat as well as the energy from the players. Recee Caldwell and Asha Thomas were the vocal leaders for the season. Kristine Anigwe lit up the fans with her outstanding scoring and rebounding abilities. Yet, Cal was not a great team. Was it the HC system? This will be a tough season for Charmin and April as well as for the players. Hopefully, C.J. West and Jaelyn Brown will spark the team with their scoring abilities. I feel the energy from the coaches can instill a winning attitude for the Women Basketball Program at CAL. Of course, they have to recruit highly skilled players. It will be ineresting to see how Kianna Smith fits into a dynamite program at Louisville. It seemed like she was held back from scoring last season. Lindsay focused so much on plays, there is a point where faith in your players allows them to reach new heights .Pat Summit compelled her players to go out and win the game!

ClayK said:

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Now, look at Cal's recent Pac-12 history, a 30-42 record over the past four seasons
...
And remember, the Pac-12 is the best women's basketball conference in the country

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Correct and relevant. I can't imagine moving up in the conference will be easy or quick.

ClayK said:

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Let's start with who's returning from the 10th place team in the Pac-12:

Jaelyn Brown (started 32 games): 4.1 ppg, 7.9 rpg
CJ West (1 start): 3.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg
Alaysia Styles (0 starts): 1.9 ppg, 2.2 rpg

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I think better statistical measures would be last season, conference only, per 30 minutes. Using those measures I get:

Jaelyn Brown: 10.8 pts/30min, 4.3 reb/30min, 0.7 ast/30min, .483 FG%, .371 3FG%
CJ West: 6.9 pts/30min, 5.2 reb/30min, 1.0 ast/30min, .476 FG%, --- 3FG%
Alaysia Styles: 3.9 pts/30min, 4.7 reb/30min, 0.4 ast/30min, .250 FG%, .000 3FG%

Still not all that good, and we'll have Brown and West for just one more season.

ClayK said:

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Oft-injured Mi'Cole Cayton and seldom-seen post Chen Yue are the other two.

So that's the start: The cupboard is bare, and no elite recruits (as far as anyone can tell) are on the way.

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Even if Mi'Cole is healthy we'll be depending on freshies, especially at guard.

ClayK said:

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Finally, Kianna Smith transferred already, and McKenzie Forbes is in the portal.

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I'll miss Kianna. If Kenzie should stay her stats as calculated above were:

Kenzie Forbes: 8.5 pts/30min, 2.6 reb/30min, 2.9 ast/30min, .348 FG%, .370 3FG%

Given the number of key recruits we have missed on these past several years, combined with Kianna's departure for "better coaching", Charmin does needs to send out a message that it will be a new day at Berkeley. Best way to do that will be to shake up the staff and try some different offensive concepts. Just saying that things are great and that we will continue with the same stuff as in the past would be the wrong strategy for turning around recruiting. Maybe Charmin went to the Liberty because she herself had had enough of what wasn't working.

annarborbear said:

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Given the number of key recruits we have missed on these past several years, combined with Kianna's departure for "better coaching", Charmin does needs to send out a message that it will be a new day at Berkeley.

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Regarding "better coaching": who are you quoting?

annarborbear said:

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Best way to do that will be to shake up the staff and try some different offensive concepts.

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Last season I thought our biggest problem was defense. That's where our Final Four team was better.

There were several people out there quoting family members that Kianna was looking to be better prepared for a potential professional career.

Our defense has fallen off, but we do have a good overall history in that area, and I think it has been more of a question of player limitations than coaching (although we do give up way too many offensive rebounds).The Joanne Boyle offense that Lindsay also adhered to has been a shambles and a TO machine for many years. When we had deluxe rebounders who could clean up missed shots, we could cover for that. But in recent years, it continued with too much looking around, and not enough screening and passing.

annarborbear said:

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But in recent years, it continued with too much looking around, and not enough screening and passing.

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I agree, also I'd love to see a lot more people moving without the ball. I don't think we either executed or defended screens very well so there's room for improvement. I do think we have some high-energy players who could make that happen.