We are missing Barnes in this one. We could use her size instead of going with a four-guard line-up.

Puff playing great the last 4 minutes of the 3rd quarter. Great drive, great assist and now a great offensive rebound. Down 1 going into the 4th.

I'd give credit to Virginia Tech also. They played strong defense throughout the game. And they knew our tendencies.

Gotta give VT some credit there. They had a game plan on both sides of ball and stuck to it.Well balanced team, it wasn't even the 2 players that I thought might beat us. Suffren was averaging 8.7 and had 19

Cal's offense was just disjointed. Forcing passes into the paint when the play is not there...drives where the driver stops and there's no outlet. Offensive fouls just trying to get position. Zero flow.

Tough to score when all the guards struggle. Tough to score when you have 22 damned TOs.

VA Tech is a very solid team and they deserved this game. They were the better team.

Corrective measures? Well, it's pretty clear Cal's game plan is the entry pass to the post. It's also pretty clear the other team knows. So the defense sags. The second and third defenders should be guarding their players too, right? This is where Cal's players need to move without the ball and be relentless about it. No plays off. Spacing is an issue...but in order to gain spacing, you have to create that space. Staying static or not making decisive cuts makes it really difficult to score. Passing the ball around the perimeters looks like you're playing offense but unless it's pass and move, it's wasted energy.

Too many times, the Bears are static. Waiting for someone else to do something. That ain't gonna work. So then it's a drive where there's already 2 or 3 defenders...and again if no other players move when the drive is in progress, you're doomed to fail.

It's also very clear that the other team is going to attack Lulu. She's just not quick enough. Unless she has an equal offensive game, it's pretty tough.

Bright spot was I thought Grace played well in her minutes. She looked like she could stay with the VA Tech guards and made a nice cut for a layup. Since Lola left the game with another apparent leg issue, does this open the door?

Now it's time to go to FLA and take both games. Cannot afford a split.

like our men's team, VT hedged every time Lulu touched the ball taking away her three and making it more difficult to drive. She made some nice passes into the post, but as others have said that strategy became too turnover prone

for many seasons Cal has gone into the post a ton, and it's been successful when the ball gets there, but also results in lots of turnovers

Not sure the risk/reward is there, but this team has limited shooters so it's probably the best strategy for this team

The wild card has been Giselle. She has been the X factor that teams couldn't defend, but VT defended her well

So with Lulu and Maul limited we don't have enough offense to make it up

Credit VT for one of the best defenses we faced

HoopDreams said:

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like our men's team, VT hedged every time Lulu touched the ball taking away her three and making it more difficult to drive. She made some nice passes into the post, but as others have said that strategy became too turnover prone

for many seasons Cal has gone into the post a ton, and it's been successful when the ball gets there, but also results in lots of turnovers

Not sure the risk/reward is there, but this team has limited shooters so it's probably the best strategy for this team

The wild card has been Giselle. She has been the X factor that teams couldn't defend, but VT defended her well

So with Lulu and Maul limited we don't have enough offense to make it up

Credit VT for one of the best defenses we faced

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All valid points and yes, VA Tech is very good. I guess my point is there needs to be better judgement when to enter the ball into the post. If the post has the defender sealed? Or if it's a 1-1 matchup? Sure.

But when the double or triple team is already there? There has to be a secondary option if the action isn't there.

Now...when the Bears did get the ball to Sakima or Naya 'on time' and with them in good position, they killed it - look at their efficiency today! But too many times it's "let's just throw it in there and hope for the best" and it was the difference could have been a two possession game at the end...then at least you have a chance with a score, a stop and a score.

HoopDreams said:

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Don't misunderstand my point. I agree we too often make extremely risky passes into the post, especially when doubled (or even tripled) and/or when a player stares down our post signaling to the defense where the ball is going

My point is our shooting isn't probably good enough to score enough points without significant post scoring (we are different than last season's team) … and Walker and Naya are strong post scorers

gljone said:

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HoopDreams said:

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like our men's team, VT hedged every time Lulu touched the ball taking away her three and making it more difficult to drive. She made some nice passes into the post, but as others have said that strategy became too turnover prone

for many seasons Cal has gone into the post a ton, and it's been successful when the ball gets there, but also results in lots of turnovers

Not sure the risk/reward is there, but this team has limited shooters so it's probably the best strategy for this team

The wild card has been Giselle. She has been the X factor that teams couldn't defend, but VT defended her well

So with Lulu and Maul limited we don't have enough offense to make it up

Credit VT for one of the best defenses we faced

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All valid points and yes, VA Tech is very good. I guess my point is there needs to be better judgement when to enter the ball into the post. If the post has the defender sealed? Or if it's a 1-1 matchup? Sure.

But when the double or triple team is already there? There has to be a secondary option if the action isn't there.

Now...when the Bears did get the ball to Sakima or Naya 'on time' and with them in good position, they killed it - look at their efficiency today! But too many times it's "let's just throw it in there and hope for the best" and it was the difference could have been a two possession game at the end...then at least you have a chance with a score, a stop and a score.

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I think we're on the same page. You're right - this team doesn't have the firepower. I guess that makes it that much more difficult to mask the mistakes. This team has to fight and claw a lot more than last season's team.

If asked if the Bears would be in this position this late in the season where they kind of control their path forward, I would have doubted that.

Now?

They have an opportunity and I really hope they do take advantage.