(and possibly the Beijing Normal game as well):

https://calbears.com/news/2019/10/25/womens-basketball-tip-off-event-cancelled.aspx

UPDATE: Leeza Cruz at Cal Athletics writes:

"Sunday's (10/27) exhibition match vs Beijing Normal University will NOT be played in Haas Pavilion. We are looking into relocating this game. To stay up to date with the status of this game, and for the most up to date information please monitor CalBears.com and the Cal Women's Basketball social media channels (@CalWBBall) for updates."

PG&E execs are probably getting some sadistic pleasure out of these huge blackouts.

It's like they're saying, "You people sued us for not shutting off the power. We're bankrupt now, and have nothing left to lose, so here's what you suckers get."

We should just play our guests from China with the power off in Haas if we have to.

BearBint said:

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(and possibly the Beijing Normal game as well):

https://calbears.com/news/2019/10/25/womens-basketball-tip-off-event-cancelled.aspx

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Thanks for posting this. I was going and looking forward to the hot dog and cotton candy and talking to the players like last time.

Bummer. I like the preseason practices and postseason banquets but for various have not been able to attend any for a few years.

No blackouts in the Central Valley. They can move the games there.

The open practice has been re-scheduled for Saturday, November 2, at Noon.

SFCALBear72 said:

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The open practice has been re-scheduled for Saturday, November 2, at Noon.

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I'll be there. It's interesting to talking to the players. Only about half came out to mingle last year but I suspect that all will this year.

Please give us a report. I'm out of town and will miss yet another open practice. But I should be able to make the game tomorrow.

Back from the practice. But don't have my notes.

Anyhow, the freshmen all look good. All are very athletic. I think we are quicker than last year. The only freshman I didn't see was Green as she was sitting out with a concussion. Should be back soon.

Schipholt is the real deal. Very fast and athletic. Much better looking than her video from Europe. Didn't shoot the three but handle the ball very well.


McIntosh and Crocker will be our point guards. Not sure who would be if one was hurt. Maybe Sara.

Brown looked great as far as being athletic. She could have a big year this year.

Sara looked very athletic. She was very fast and very tenacious. I remember talking to Cowling's mom a few years ago and she said that Sara was very athletic. But who would know since no one has seen her for two years and two back surgeries. Well she looked as athletic as anyone sept maybe Brown on the floor. She didn't shoot well, but the most important thing is how did she move. She may regain her shooting touch. Caldwell did after starting our miserably.

Charmin stated that they would be better defensively this year. I personally wonder about offense as I don't think they will shoot the three as well.

There was a European at the practice. As Charley Brown would say, that cute little red haired girl. Defintely a guard and there was optimism about her signing. Might be even a 5th player, but they hope for four for sure.

Styles looked pretty fast, and might have lost some weight. Her outside shot looked better. Chen Yue looked even quicker and I would hope so as she will have to play some.

Charmin said she is only coaching women who want to be there. And all the new recruits want to be there.

Didn't ask about transfers.

That is all for now.

Thanks for the report! Sounds good, especially the part about Sara and the freshies being ready to play. Hope Mi'Cole is OK.

A couple of more things.

Charmin said we had a home and home with UConn for four meetings. We will meet them though not next year but in the following year. Charmin prefers that as she expects to be better then with these new players.

Also read elsewhere that someone talked toM'Cole after the practice and she said she hoped to be back in December. I was beginning to think we might not see her for the whole season. But even if she plays , she will be rusty and probably struggle.

Also, the women's team needs donations. They need to raise 160,000dollars to do certain things. I already make a donation to the women's team. But maybe S 71 can help.

"There was a European at the practice. As Charley Brown would say, that cute little red haired girl. Defintely a guard and there was optimism about her signing. Might be even a 5th player, but they hope for four for sure."

A snippet referencing the recruit that was visiting the Cal basketball scrimmage yesterday. Wets the interest but lacking in specificity. Looking forward to more informed information to quantify whether she is the type of talent to provide an immediate leadership infusion at the guard position.

I am reporting only what I saw. I don't know who she was or what country she was from. One questioner asked Charmin if the possible recruit was from California. And she said she wasn't. I might be able to figure out who that was if it was from the USA. But overseas, who knows? Someplace where they have red heads.

One thing, if you like the new recruits who are here now and the three big ones that have verbal led, then you probably have confidence that Charmin has brought in a quality recruit. I'm guessing they are a shooter but who knows.

For what it's worth, I went back and looked at international recruits in college women's basketball over the past several years. There were quite a few Canadians that have done well, and a few Australians like Allana Smith at Stanford. But very few Europeans have been difference-makers, especially at the guard position. Carzola of Oregon via Spain was one exception. One factor is likely the good-paying professional positions available to players in Europe at a young age. There have also been a few programs who have been able to match players up with a particular system and do well, like the Australian players recruited by St. Mary's. And Oregon clearly now has an international pipeline.

Again, don't know what it all means, But you probably need to get lucky when you are pulling players from that far away, and when you are relying mostly on recruiting services and videotape.

annarborbear said:

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For what it's worth, I went back and looked at international recruits in college women's basketball over the past several years. There were quite a few Canadians that have done well, and a few Australians like Allana Smith at Stanford. But very few Europeans have been difference-makers, especially at the guard position. Carzola of Oregon via Spain was one exception. One factor is likely the good-paying professional positions available to players in Europe at a young age. There have also been a few programs who have been able to match players up with a particular system and do well, like the Australian players recruited by St. Mary's. And Oregon clearly now has an international pipeline.

Again, don't know what it all means, But you probably need to get lucky when you are pulling players from that far away, and when you are relying mostly on recruiting services and videotape.

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Red head? Any potential guards from Ireland on the international recruiting list?

wvitbear said:

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A couple of more things.

Charmin said we had a home and home with UConn for four meetings. We will meet them though not next year but in the following year. Charmin prefers that as she expects to be better then with these new players.

Also read elsewhere that someone talked toM'Cole after the practice and she said she hoped to be back in December. I was beginning to think we might not see her for the whole season. But even if she plays , she will be rusty and probably struggle.

Also, the women's team needs donations. They need to raise 160,000dollars to do certain things. I already make a donation to the women's team. But maybe S 71 can help.

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Great report. Glad you added the information about Mi'Cole and the donations. She was sitting on the training table most of the practice and she was walking around effortlessly afterwards. She also led the team in the dance routine so she looks good. Charmin commented in the group talk that she had a setback with her knee and didn't have a timetable of when she will be back. I talked to Mi'Cole afterwards and told her that we really missed her. I said that she is the only one that can guard Sabrina. She said that Jaelyn and Celeste are the only other players that have experience so she is anxious to get back and help the team. I wished her well and she gave me a big hug.

Charmin talked about The Golden Way and that she needed to raise the money to perform necessary functions for the program. I told her that I will contribute and she was very grateful.

Charmin made it clear that she wants players that wants to be here and are willing to work hard. I was impressed with the practices and to me it looked like the practices were quite different from the past. One guy commented to Charmin that the fast break drill seemed faster. What seemed different to me is that there were more players on the drill and that they counted the passes and the last pass was a bounce pass. Charmin told the guy that she wants to do all the drills as fast as possible not only to simulate game conditions but also to get the players in better shape. She said that none of returning played many minutes and if you want to play hard for a full game you have to be in better shape. She said that even Boyd (who appeared to go a full game at full speed) was sucking wind her freshman year. I told her that the drills appeared to simulate game conditions more, especially the drill where they would rotate and pass the ball three times to set up a 3. Charmin said that she likes to do that and the practices seem to go by faster. What was interesting was that on that drill she said that West and Yue will shoot 2's and asked Schipholt whether she was shooting 2's as well. She said she's shooting 3's.

Charmin talked about West missing a layup then missing the follow-up and was very upset. Charmin told her that all she expects is maximum effort and that that is good enough for her. She mentioned that West had not been practicing (presumably due to an injury) and she has just gotten back and is rusty. But it was nice way to explain her philosophy and what she expects out of the players.

I worry about our front court, and West is really are only one who can play vs the starters in the pac12

yet she probably won't be 100% all season and probably can't play real heavy minutes

chen has to play a lot but she just isn't a good matchup against a lot of players/teams

I don't know the scholarship count. But with three five-star posts coming in next year, we need to be selective over this next two-year period at the guard and wing positions and have these three recent commits help recruit their future running mates. Let's give this year's freshman guards as many minutes as they can handle, see what they have, and then move on from there. However, we simply have to get some people who can shoot from the outside.

The three freshman guards will get plenty of experience. As will Schipholt. Throw in the transfer of the S Diego State player and the Euro plus maybe M'Cole and we will have a plethora of guards. Six guards and 4 bigs still leave 5 scholarship players. I think we could be fussy on who we take. But definitely need shooters. We had them last year and now they are gone. We replaced them with defenders.