Cal Plays Total Basketball, Destroys Stanford

First of all, I’m sure if you had been there, you would have come away with a different attitude towards the program. She is a very impressive person and left me feeling confident about the future of the program, when I had been grappling with some of the same doubts you mentioned.

Charmin mentioned the fact that they are all freshmen and sophomores, aside from two seniors who play sparingly. One of the frustrations with a young team is that they have mental lapses, which can cost them – she mentioned the game at ASU in particular, and how that put them into a tailspin. She thinks that they are now back on the right track, with a win over OSU and a game first half against the furd (“I love Tara [VanderVeer], but one of my favorite things is watching her shake – we definitely had her nervous in the first half, talking off her jacket, pacing around…”)

She addressed the leadership issue – you are right on with questions about it. She said that the sophomores aren’t really the leadership types and the freshmen have been timid to step on the sophomores toes. She singled out Lindsey Sherbet as someone who asked her “why aren’t we doing this..why isn’t anyone saying anything” and Charmin encouraged her to step up: “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.” I would expect to see a much more cohesive unit next year, even starting now.

I asked if she had spoken to Lauren Greif (in light of my fantastic interview), and she said, basically, no. She gave her a hug at the game, but now Lauren’s on the other side, and that’s the end of that. Smith is definitely a full fledged golden bear now, and it was impressive to hear her passion for the program.

Frankly, I share a lot of your concerns. I even asked Lauren about the differences between the Cal and Stanford coaching staffs, hoping to glean some insight, but she didn’t want to discuss it. However, after hearing Charmin speak yesterday, I am reasonably reassured that our program is on the right track.

Look for two point guards next year, Boyd from Berkeley high and Abigail Cohen from Israel (who Charmin also singled out as a natural leader; unfortunately she has been out all year) to run the show, which will allow Clarendon to move to her natural 2 guard spot and hopefully be a more effective scorer. Charmin said that if Eliza develops an outside shot (and she needs to put a ton of time in at the gym this summer to make it happen), she’ll be able to play in the WNBA – she’s that talented (and if you’ve seen her run and play defense, you’d agree). Stanford was the first team to simply stop guarding Pierre on the perimeter, and that has really hurt us because everyone has copied that blueprint. Hopefully Pierre can add that outside jumper to her game, because it will really open things up for the team.