Bonner got hurt in the LMU game. I thought it looked bad, but she was in good spirit the next game against Montana. Sounds like her injury is more short term than long term, because I had thought she might have tore something when she went down at LMU (from my uneducated look but a lack of info despite sitting right behind the Cal bench).
I am hoping for a WNIT berth, but even that requires the Bears to play consistently well to even win a third of the games in a tough Pac-12 conference. On the other hand, I would hope that the lack of postponement this year (how many of them were there last years?) will allow this squad to grow and play more consistently.
First, you buried the lede… you should have led with telling folks to come out to see the women play instead of ending with it. As Charmin keeps saying, bring a friend.
Bonner was in a boot and the next game ‘only’ a brace, so hopefully it’s a minor injury. I’m more concerned about Langarita. She got smacked in the head pretty hard against Ark-PB and hasn’t been seen since she left that game. I suspect concussion protocol. I hope she returns in time to practice and prepare for ‘Furd. It feels like something ‘clicked’ for Claudia after the ND game, and she’s been improving immensely. I hope this doesn’t set her back.
Martin has been a great pickup from the portal. I suspect she is minute-limited due still recovering from prior year injuries. There have been games where she didn’t appear late when we could have used her. The minutes she does play are awesome, though.
Similarly with Bush with regard to minutes. I believe she has various health issues that limit her playing time but she brings an uplifting spirit that put her at the top of the +/- list for a large part of last season. (Bush is also an amazing human being, and I could see her being president some day. 🙂)
Daniels leaving is a loss, but she was really inconsistent. If she was in the zone, she played well and we tended to win. If she was checked out, it hurt us. Her +/- was lower than you might think last season. So, while a loss, I think we picked up some awesome replacements via the portal. (IMO, I’d rather have Martin than Daniels any day.)
My big concern is that we seem to start slowly each game, and it’d be nice if we could figure it out from the get go.
We have a deep rotation, and I have high hopes for what’s possible with this team. They’re way, way more exciting to watch than the men. Attend a game in person and bring a friend.
Slow starts are something that really do plague us - I'm not sure why we seem to lack focus at the start. In the few games I've watched, we run a lot of action for Evelien early, but if she's not hitting - and we seem to collectively as a team be really bad at layups, except for Lei - then we fall behind 6-8 points and expend a lot of energy trying to catch up.
Nice job, gentlemen. I'm not sure what to hope for or expect out of this team. A WNIT berth is realistic, making the tourney seems a long shot. Not sure how many conference wins are attainable. I'd be thrilled with eight or nine. I think we definitely got a net gain out of the transfer portal, although Daniels had a huge upside. One of the bigger concerns is like of height at guard when McIntosh and Curry are both playing, which is usually the case. The team will need a lot from Oniyah which means she's got to stay out of foul trouble. More offense from Mastrov would help. She often comes on when the team presses and is a disrupter. I've been pleased with the team so far but I'm hoping for more from Ortiz and think Langarita could end up being a key player. Looking forward to the rest of the season and more write-ups from you two.
I'm hoping Bonner will be able to help with height in the backcourt - one of the depth issues we have is that we tons of depth at wing but not so much at post and guard, so we've gotten into trouble a couple of times when pressed and either Lei or Jayda is dealing with foul trouble or injury or something.
Bonner got hurt in the LMU game. I thought it looked bad, but she was in good spirit the next game against Montana. Sounds like her injury is more short term than long term, because I had thought she might have tore something when she went down at LMU (from my uneducated look but a lack of info despite sitting right behind the Cal bench).
I am hoping for a WNIT berth, but even that requires the Bears to play consistently well to even win a third of the games in a tough Pac-12 conference. On the other hand, I would hope that the lack of postponement this year (how many of them were there last years?) will allow this squad to grow and play more consistently.
She was wearing a very light splint and jumping in celebration in the Arkansas Pine-Bluff game, so I think it's pre-cautionary.
First, you buried the lede… you should have led with telling folks to come out to see the women play instead of ending with it. As Charmin keeps saying, bring a friend.
Bonner was in a boot and the next game ‘only’ a brace, so hopefully it’s a minor injury. I’m more concerned about Langarita. She got smacked in the head pretty hard against Ark-PB and hasn’t been seen since she left that game. I suspect concussion protocol. I hope she returns in time to practice and prepare for ‘Furd. It feels like something ‘clicked’ for Claudia after the ND game, and she’s been improving immensely. I hope this doesn’t set her back.
Martin has been a great pickup from the portal. I suspect she is minute-limited due still recovering from prior year injuries. There have been games where she didn’t appear late when we could have used her. The minutes she does play are awesome, though.
Similarly with Bush with regard to minutes. I believe she has various health issues that limit her playing time but she brings an uplifting spirit that put her at the top of the +/- list for a large part of last season. (Bush is also an amazing human being, and I could see her being president some day. 🙂)
Daniels leaving is a loss, but she was really inconsistent. If she was in the zone, she played well and we tended to win. If she was checked out, it hurt us. Her +/- was lower than you might think last season. So, while a loss, I think we picked up some awesome replacements via the portal. (IMO, I’d rather have Martin than Daniels any day.)
My big concern is that we seem to start slowly each game, and it’d be nice if we could figure it out from the get go.
We have a deep rotation, and I have high hopes for what’s possible with this team. They’re way, way more exciting to watch than the men. Attend a game in person and bring a friend.
Slow starts are something that really do plague us - I'm not sure why we seem to lack focus at the start. In the few games I've watched, we run a lot of action for Evelien early, but if she's not hitting - and we seem to collectively as a team be really bad at layups, except for Lei - then we fall behind 6-8 points and expend a lot of energy trying to catch up.
Nice job, gentlemen. I'm not sure what to hope for or expect out of this team. A WNIT berth is realistic, making the tourney seems a long shot. Not sure how many conference wins are attainable. I'd be thrilled with eight or nine. I think we definitely got a net gain out of the transfer portal, although Daniels had a huge upside. One of the bigger concerns is like of height at guard when McIntosh and Curry are both playing, which is usually the case. The team will need a lot from Oniyah which means she's got to stay out of foul trouble. More offense from Mastrov would help. She often comes on when the team presses and is a disrupter. I've been pleased with the team so far but I'm hoping for more from Ortiz and think Langarita could end up being a key player. Looking forward to the rest of the season and more write-ups from you two.
I'm hoping Bonner will be able to help with height in the backcourt - one of the depth issues we have is that we tons of depth at wing but not so much at post and guard, so we've gotten into trouble a couple of times when pressed and either Lei or Jayda is dealing with foul trouble or injury or something.