Well, there's no really no place to go but up. 11th!
Ok, Coach Smith - it's up to you!

Anyone still wondering why LG took the assistant's job in Cleveland?

annarborbear said:

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Anyone still wondering why LG took the assistant's job in Cleveland?

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No. Seems to me she's responsible for this situation.

Charmin may turn out to be a great coach and recruiter. Something like 8th or 9th and a solid recruiting class this year would be a good start. Have to hope, wait and see.

Today is women's media day but I could NOT find Cal listed on Comcast (CH #823) from 2 pm PST forward. The first team that I caught was Utah at 2 pm. Ten teams were listed. It must mean that two teams were in the one o'clock hour (Cal & Colorado)? I noticed that it was not advertised on the official Cal website nor here.

Schroeder71 said:

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Today is women's media day but I could NOT find Cal listed on Comcast (CH #823) from 2 pm PST forward. The first team that I caught was Utah at 2 pm. Ten teams were listed. It must mean that two teams were in the one o'clock hour (Cal & Colorado)? I noticed that it was not advertised on the official Cal website nor here.

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Most of the interviews were done online or on the PAC-12 app. Coach Smith and the two players were also on the Pac12 network at 12:30 today for 15 minutes. Each team was allotted 15 minutes.

If you go to women's basketball on the Pac12 website, you can do a search for the Cal interview videos.

Two things surprised me about the interviews:

1. Sara A was featured and sounds ready to play. Charmin described her as a scorer.

2. Charmin talked about using some new terminology on defense and putting in some changes on offense. So it does look like there will be something different, although not yet sure how much.

Also said that J. Brown is temporarily out with some concussive symptoms.

annarborbear said:

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Two things surprised me about the interviews:

1. Sara A was featured and sounds ready to play. Charmin described her as a scorer.

2. Charmin talked about using some new terminology on defense and putting in some changes on offense. So it does look like there will be something different, although not yet sure how much.

Also said that J. Brown is temporarily out with some concussive symptoms.

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I wondered what happened to Jaelyn Brown because I believe she was supposed to be there with CJ. The Pac12 network was showing her stats from last season prior to the interviews at 12:30.

Thanks for the update.

A number of the other PAC-12 coaches said some nice things about Charmin in their interviews. Our media staff need to package those comments into a new Cal recruiting video.

I watched Tara, and Charmin interviewed, plus the Stanford and Cal players. I was wondering why Jaelyn Brown
wasnt there. I hope she recovers fully....she could have a terrific senior year eventhough CAL is expected to come in 11th in the Pac-12. I love going to the games. Thry are fun!! I need to buy my season pass tomorrow.
What a terrific deal for Seniors....I think it is $40.00 for the season......GO BEARS and surprise us this season!!

ncbears said:

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Well, there's no really no place to go but up. 11th!
Ok, Coach Smith - it's up to you!

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Not only that, she faces teams in the conference have legit final four chances. Women moving the opposite direction than the men's. Good and deep.

SFCALBear72 said:

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annarborbear said:

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Anyone still wondering why LG took the assistant's job in Cleveland?

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No. Seems to me she's responsible for this situation.

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Rather than recruiting talented players for the last few years, LG was distracted by pregnancy, baby, wedding, Southwest Airlines and other things. LG left the cupboard very empty.

Go Bears!

calbear80 said:

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SFCALBear72 said:

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annarborbear said:

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Anyone still wondering why LG took the assistant's job in Cleveland?

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No. Seems to me she's responsible for this situation.

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Rather than recruiting talented players for the last few years, LG was distracted by pregnancy, baby, wedding, Southwest Airlines and other things. LG left the cupboard very empty.

Go Bears!

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The decline started four years ago.

I personally don't mind Stanford winning over the quacks!

me too

GATC said:

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The decline started four years ago.

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I'd say the rest of the league improved dramatically so we've declined relative to that rather than in an absolute sense.

Changes I'd like to see going forward:

Better scouting. We've had our share of highly-rated players but not all have performed up to their ratings. Also we seldom find unheralded gems. Finally we seem to have valued athleticism over skill.

Better intensity. Our defense and rebounding have declined as the level of effort hasn't matched that of Coach Boyle's players. I'm hoping Mi'Cole and Jaelyn can set a higher-energy example for the others.

On the positive side I'd like to keep our recent improvements in outside shooting and turnovers. Don't know how that likely will be with so many new players.

As we now appear to be at the bottom of the league this year, Charmin will need to convince a few key recruits that something different is now going on here. It is going to take some high-level personal selling,

One difficulty Charmin faces is that she's been at Cal all along, and that it's hard for her to escape some of the blame for the present situation. It's not as if she's a new broom sweeping clean, to use a phrase that definitely puts my birth year in the middle of the 20th century.

But she was a convenient and relatively cheap hire, and she is a quality person with lots of experience. Whether she's a top-shelf P5 head coach is another question, and for Cal to reverse the trend, they absolutely need a top-shelf P5 head coach.

ClayK said:

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One difficulty Charmin faces is that she's been at Cal all along, and that it's hard for her to escape some of the blame for the present situation. It's not as if she's a new broom sweeping clean, to use a phrase that definitely puts my birth year in the middle of the 20th century.

But she was a convenient and relatively cheap hire, and she is a quality person with lots of experience. Whether she's a top-shelf P5 head coach is another question, and for Cal to reverse the trend, they absolutely need a top-shelf P5 head coach.

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We will find out. She inherited roster (1 junior (Styles) and 0 sophomores) that is not ranked in the top 100. LG on the other hand inherited a top 5 roster.

I don't know if she should be given any of the blame for the current situation. The CalBears article credits her with most of the recruiting success we have had. Other articles have credited her with development of players. In practices I've seen her teach techniques that I don't see the other coaches do.

I don't know if she is the best hire ( she probably is) but she should be given a chance and all the support we can give.

"crediting with recruiting" success is damning with faint praise ...

ClayK said:

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"crediting with recruiting" success is damning with faint praise ...

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Sorry, I didn't put it in the proper light. I was referring to this in the Calbears.com.

"Of the 14 McDonald's All-Americans in Cal women's basketball history, Smith has helped sign 12 of them since joining the Cal staff in 2007, including an impressive haul in 2009 with a class that featured four All-Americans that served as the foundation to the Bears' 2013 NCAA Final Four run. Cal has put together five top-20 recruiting classes in Smith's tenure, which includes top-five classes in both 2009 and 2011."

I have faith in Charmin. LG was the HC, she called the shots. I just like Charmin, and am confident she will suceed in time. The players love her. Also, she worked all of the time with Kistine Anigwe and C.J. West. C.J. can move, has size, and can score. This is her year, go for it!!! Every player will have the opportunity to score so keep practicing your shots girls......GO BEARS!

calbear80 said:

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SFCALBear72 said:

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annarborbear said:

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Anyone still wondering why LG took the assistant's job in Cleveland?

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No. Seems to me she's responsible for this situation.

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Rather than recruiting talented players for the last few years, LG was distracted by pregnancy, baby, wedding, Southwest Airlines and other things. LG left the cupboard very empty.

Go Bears!

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Can someone explain to me *** was the deal with LG and SW Airlines? Heard it mentioned here a few times. An in joke?

calbear80 said:

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Rather than recruiting talented players for the last few years, LG was distracted by pregnancy, baby, wedding, Southwest Airlines and other things. LG left the cupboard very empty.

Go Bears!

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Same kind of distractions Ben Braun had his last few seasons at Cal.