Sometimes the numbers tell the tale: Cal has the worst shooting percentage of any team in the conference, and has the worst defense when measured by shooting percentage (and points) in the conference.

In addition, only Washington is worse handling the ball, but shoots it better.

The eye test has said that Cal just doesn't have the horses to compete, and the numbers back it up.

Cailyn Crocker's last four games may be cause for hope, though. She's shooting the ball better and has a 10/6 A/TO.

Sara Anastasieka just isn't a Pac-12 level player (among others), and Crocker may turn out to be, which could help next year. Unfortunately, Jaelyn Brown, the only player to average more than 8.6 ppg in Pac-12 play, will graduate,

Jazlyn Green will need to take a big step forward, but that's certainly a possibility -- but as much as I respect Mi'Cole Cayton and what she's been through, I think it's unfair to expect her to be able to return and play at the Pac-12 level after missing so much time. It would be great, but realistically, improvement has to come from the recruits and Crocker and Green.

Charmin Smith and staff did a good job with what they had, which is the mark of good coaching, but next year might not be that much better, given the realities of the league and the adjustment young players have to make.

ClayK said:

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Sometimes the numbers tell the tale: Cal has the worst shooting percentage of any team in the conference, and has the worst defense when measured by shooting percentage (and points) in the conference.

In addition, only Washington is worse handling the ball, but shoots it better.

The eye test has said that Cal just doesn't have the horses to compete, and the numbers back it up.

Cailyn Crocker's last four games may be cause for hope, though. She's shooting the ball better and has a 10/6 A/TO.

Sara Anastasieka just isn't a Pac-12 level player (among others), and Crocker may turn out to be, which could help next year. Unfortunately, Jaelyn Brown, the only player to average more than 8.6 ppg in Pac-12 play, will graduate,

Jazlyn Green will need to take a big step forward, but that's certainly a possibility -- but as much as I respect Mi'Cole Cayton and what she's been through, I think it's unfair to expect her to be able to return and play at the Pac-12 level after missing so much time. It would be great, but realistically, improvement has to come from the recruits and Crocker and Green.

Charmin Smith and staff did a good job with what they had, which is the mark of good coaching, but next year might not be that much better, given the realities of the league and the adjustment young players have to make.


Cal can compete in the first half of the game, but as you said it doesn't have the horses to be competitive in the Pac-12. Jazzy Green was a big scorer last year as a senior. Hopefully, she will catch on fire next season. Utah, Colorado, and especially USC are recruiting excellent players. Arizona has done well with transfers from other D-1 schools. WBB nationwide has so many talented players, hopefully, Cal will get its share. The team has improved on defense. The shooters need to score for sure, but Cal will have taller and bigger forwards next season under and near the basket. It's been great to watch Cailyn play so well, and score points the last three games. I spoke to Cailyn briefly yesterday. She is always smiling and is so personable.... Pac-12 coaches speak highly of Charmin, and talk about her building a team, and noting it takes time. I have faith in Charmin going forward.....GO BEARS....

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ClayK said:

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... realistically, improvement has to come from the recruits and Crocker and Green.

Charmin Smith and staff did a good job with what they had, which is the mark of good coaching, but next year might not be that much better, given the realities of the league and the adjustment young players have to make.

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Good points. I'll add my opinion that perimeter play is more important than post play. If you can't score from outside then defenses can collapse on your posts. If you can't get the ball to your posts then they can't score. If you can't defend the perimeter then you'll be giving up penetration and threes. I know there were other factors but in four years with Kristine, arguably the best post ever to play at Cal, our conference record was just 30-42.

Don't get me wrong, I love our 2020 class with 4 top bigs. Maybe one of them can play inside and out like Courtney Range. Maybe Leilani or Mi'Cole or Naje or Ornella will step up. I'm hoping in particular for experience to lead to better perimeter defense. Anyway I expect another year of building and growing, if all goes well results could be better than this season.

ClayK said:

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Sometimes the numbers tell the tale: Cal has the worst shooting percentage of any team in the conference, and has the worst defense when measured by shooting percentage (and points) in the conference.

In addition, only Washington is worse handling the ball, but shoots it better.

The eye test has said that Cal just doesn't have the horses to compete, and the numbers back it up.

Cailyn Crocker's last four games may be cause for hope, though. She's shooting the ball better and has a 10/6 A/TO.

Sara Anastasieka just isn't a Pac-12 level player (among others), and Crocker may turn out to be, which could help next year. Unfortunately, Jaelyn Brown, the only player to average more than 8.6 ppg in Pac-12 play, will graduate,

Jazlyn Green will need to take a big step forward, but that's certainly a possibility -- but as much as I respect Mi'Cole Cayton and what she's been through, I think it's unfair to expect her to be able to return and play at the Pac-12 level after missing so much time. It would be great, but realistically, improvement has to come from the recruits and Crocker and Green.

Charmin Smith and staff did a good job with what they had, which is the mark of good coaching, but next year might not be that much better, given the realities of the league and the adjustment young players have to make.

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Agree with all of this. We will really miss Brown.

With good health we should be able to reach the middle of the bottom six which is an improvement. Amazingly we return only 1 senior, 0 juniors and 4 sophomores so we have to be patient.

What has impressed me is that the Bears reduced their turnovers to single digits the past 3 games.

vs. Utah 9
vs. Oregon 8
vs. Oregon State 9

The one thing that stood out for me in the Oregon and OSU games was how slow some of our players were. Sara, CJ and Chen looked like they were playing in slow motion much of the time. With the influx of new bigs next year, I hope some of them at least are athletic and mobile. That alone would make our defense more effective.