So here we go. ESPN women's basketball staff ranks the top four in this year's PAC12 to be Stanford, Arizona, Oregon and UCLA. We are picked 11th or 12th, contending with Washington State, the other team at the bottom.

This is actually probably good for our young team - better to be in a position to exceed expectations. But also shows how tough the league is proving to be. Let's climb over at least a couple of the teams ranked above us this year to get our momentum going.

Cal was 3-15 in conference last year and has negligible scoring returning (especially w/o Crocker). Oregon has five McDonald's All-Americans and is picked only 3rd behind Stanford & Arizona. Obviously, top rated recruits doesn't pre-suppose victories. I have no idea where Cal will get scoring from this season w/o Jaelyn Brown.
Even with her last season, the Bears often had quarters where they had difficulty throwing a rock into the ocean (scoring 10 points).

Charmin Smith has 24 Pac 12 league match-ups this year. Cal faces top rated Stanford four times while matching up with the other ten teams twice each. The three OOC games should provide a good indication whether the Bears can compete in conference.

https://calbears.com/news/2020/11/16/womens-basketball-pac-12-matchups-announced.aspx

GO BEARS!

Schroeder71 said:

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Cal was 3-15 in conference last year and has negligible scoring returning (especially w/o Crocker). Oregon has five McDonald's All-Americans and is picked only 3rd behind Stanford & Arizona. Obviously, top rated recruits doesn't pre-suppose victories. I have no idea where Cal will get scoring from this season w/o Jaelyn Brown.
Even with her last season, the Bears often had quarters where they had difficulty throwing a rock into the ocean (scoring 10 points).

Charmin Smith has 24 Pac 12 league match-ups this year. Cal faces top rated Stanford four times while matching up with the other ten teams twice each. The three OOC games should provide a good indication whether the Bears can compete in conference.

https://calbears.com/news/2020/11/16/womens-basketball-pac-12-matchups-announced.aspx

GO BEARS!

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no doubt the bears will have a tough go against the top of the conference, but so will everyone else

Today was Media Day for Pac-12 WBB. Two polls were also released.

The Bears are picked to finish 9th by the media (ahead of Colorado, UW and WSU)

The Coaches poll has us finishing 10th, ahead of UW and WSU.
.

https://pac-12.com/article/2020/11/16/stanford-picked-2020-21-pac-12-womens-basketball-favorite-preseason-polls

2nd Division of the Pac 12:
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Utah is ranked 8th. Who do they have? USC is ranked 7th & 6th by the media and coaches, respectively. Troy has had two solid recruit classes in succession. It appears that Colorado & Cal are rated about equal (9th & 10th places), leaving Washington and Washington State at the bottom...

Schroeder71 said:

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Cal was 3-15 in conference last year and has negligible scoring returning (especially w/o Crocker). Oregon has five McDonald's All-Americans and is picked only 3rd behind Stanford & Arizona. Obviously, top rated recruits doesn't pre-suppose victories. I have no idea where Cal will get scoring from this season w/o Jaelyn Brown.
Even with her last season, the Bears often had quarters where they had difficulty throwing a rock into the ocean (scoring 10 points).

Charmin Smith has 24 Pac 12 league match-ups this year. Cal faces top rated Stanford four times while matching up with the other ten teams twice each. The three OOC games should provide a good indication whether the Bears can compete in conference.

https://calbears.com/news/2020/11/16/womens-basketball-pac-12-matchups-announced.aspx

GO BEARS!

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Coach Smith needs to show that she can win games and be competitive in a very tough Pac-12 Conference sooner or later. If not this year, then next year (which is her third year as Cal's Head Coach). At the end of the day, it is all about wins and losses. I am rooting for Coach Smith to turn things around.

Go Bears!

P.S. How long has the U of A Coach been there? Arizona WBB used to be at the bottom of the Pac-12 until their current coach got there. All of sudden, for the last two or three years they have leaped to near the top of Pac-12. What a difference the right coach makes.

calbear80 said:

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P.S. How long has the U of A Coach been there? Arizona WBB used to be at the bottom of the Pac-12 until their current coach got there. All of sudden, for the last two or three years they have leaped to near the top of Pac-12. What a difference the right coach makes.

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Arizona has done it mostly by overhauling their roster in a short period using any method possible. They now have five transfers from other schools and five international players, and they recruited over most of their previous players right from the beginning. They obviously have less of a need to find players who are a good academic fit, and can go after pure talent. And Barnes bringing McDonald with her from Washington was a huge advantage in starting out. It has certainly worked, and this year they are in many people's top 10 rankings. With our academic requirements, we can't do it quite that way.

With players now having an extra year of eligibility, one potential talent pool that will increase in the future is available grad transfers. We might want to jump start a bit more by bringing in a few more of those in 2022. But overall, we are probably going to have to do it the old-fashioned way through high school recruiting.

Adia Barnes seems to me to be on track to be a superb college coach. She has made things happen in a state that has not produced many P5 players in recent years by taking advantage of every opportunity (including lower academic standards), but in part that happened because she's charismatic and works really hard.

Charmin Smith doesn't quite have the sizzle Barnes does, and Cal has its restrictions, so it's understandable she hasn't improved the program as much or as quickly, but Arizona's quick rise has certainly raised questions about other P5 coaches who haven't succeeded as rapidly.

Then again, comparing Charmin to Adia might be like comparing Justin Wilcox to Dabo Sweeney ... just because you're not that good doesn't mean you're not good.

ClayK said:

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Adia Barnes seems to me to be on track to be a superb college coach. She has made things happen in a state that has not produced many P5 players in recent years by taking advantage of every opportunity (including lower academic standards), but in part that happened because she's charismatic and works really hard.

Charmin Smith doesn't quite have the sizzle Barnes does, and Cal has its restrictions, so it's understandable she hasn't improved the program as much or as quickly, but Arizona's quick rise has certainly raised questions about other P5 coaches who haven't succeeded as rapidly.

Then again, comparing Charmin to Adia might be like comparing Justin Wilcox to Dabo Sweeney ... just because you're not that good doesn't mean you're not good.

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"it's understandable she hasn't improved the program as much or as quickly."

Seriously?? Give me a break.

Coach Smith has been head coach for ONE
season. She brought in a top 10 recruiting class
her first time out on the recruiting trail as a head coach.

She also beat Coach Barnes and her Wildcats on their home court the first time they met last season. How's that for "sizzle"?

Barnes' first two seasons at Arizona:
14-16
6-24

She had a winning season in her third year. And then last year's splash season


What were your expectations for Coach Smith in her first season??

Barnes is a solid coach. But she was 6-24 in her own second year at Arizona. One will always look like a much better coach once you have some talent. It will be interesting to see if she can live up to her team's high ranking this year, and how she will do in the future once she no longer has McDonald.

I thought I said "it was understandable." Doesn't that imply that no final judgement has been made?

calbear80 said:

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Schroeder71 said:

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Cal was 3-15 in conference last year and has negligible scoring returning (especially w/o Crocker). Oregon has five McDonald's All-Americans and is picked only 3rd behind Stanford & Arizona. Obviously, top rated recruits doesn't pre-suppose victories. I have no idea where Cal will get scoring from this season w/o Jaelyn Brown.
Even with her last season, the Bears often had quarters where they had difficulty throwing a rock into the ocean (scoring 10 points).

Charmin Smith has 24 Pac 12 league match-ups this year. Cal faces top rated Stanford four times while matching up with the other ten teams twice each. The three OOC games should provide a good indication whether the Bears can compete in conference.

https://calbears.com/news/2020/11/16/womens-basketball-pac-12-matchups-announced.aspx

GO BEARS!

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Coach Smith needs to show that she can win games and be competitive in a very tough Pac-12 Conference sooner or later. If not this year, then next year (which is her third year as Cal's Head Coach). At the end of the day, it is all about wins and losses. I am rooting for Coach Smith to turn things around.

Go Bears!

P.S. How long has the U of A Coach been there? Arizona WBB used to be at the bottom of the Pac-12 until their current coach got there. All of sudden, for the last two or three years they have leaped to near the top of Pac-12. What a difference the right coach makes.

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Losing to SJSU IS NOT a step in the right direction at all, no matter what the excuses are. When was the last time we lost to SJSU in WBB or in anything?

Go Bears!

Cal is a bizarre program.. Last year I went to an early season contest and saw Cal play a terrific game in a win over a ranked Arkansas squad. The game was a track meet and I was blown away by the execution and skill Cal showed. They never came close playing like that again.
I like Charming as a coach a lot. I just don't think it's going to translate to wins for at least two more years. The second tier teams like Utah, Wash and Colorado have better chemistry then Cal.

Lost to San Jose State. We never lose to SJSU in anything.

Lost to Cal State Bakersfield. Are you kidding me?

"We just got ran over by a moped and some trucks are coming" Coach Joe Kapp in mid-80's (a couple of years before he was fired).

Unfortunately, playing WBB in the super-powerful Pac-12 Conference, a lot of loaded 18 wheelers are coming.

Go Bears!