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Post by skyrider on Feb 4, 2019 14:24:14 GMT -8
As Coach Rueck has stated this appears to be the best offensive team he has ever had at OSU.
Destiny is an incredible talent, and the supporting cast is very, very good.
That being said I believe for OSU to continue to win the emphasis must be on the defense.
Oregon, Stanford, and perhaps California probably have more talent than we do. Utah and ASU are very much improved, and at times we have struggled with WSU.
That has often been the case in the past also, but our teams in the past focused heavily on team and individual defensive fundamentals because they knew that is what they must do to win.
This team is so good scoring wise, that I hope they still realize that for them to match the achievements of past OSU squads they need to play the same kind of defense that have been the foundation of success for the last several years.
As always will be interested to hear from other Beaver fanatics!
Go Beavers!
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Post by rmancarl on Feb 4, 2019 15:38:32 GMT -8
Before the season began, and even through much of the first half of this season, a lot of us were concerned about the post position, and points in the paint (and defense/rebounding). The Beavs don't have an elite player there, but I think most of us have to be pretty happy with how things have improved so far. Jo is showing better hands, better court awareness, and shooting well. Maddie is playing tough, getting some baskets, and grabbing rebounds. The Beavs are getting points in the paint (and outlet passes) because of the ability of Destiny and Mikayla to get to the basket, and recently Aleah and Taya are showing improvement in that area as well. Although it would be great to have a dominate Post player, this team has found a way to get in the paint and make things happen.
Defense is the key though. Despite a couple poor shooting nights, this team has dominated lately thanks to a renewed commitment to defense since the Arizona St game. There are still some concerns for me.....Is Maddie going to be too short when we face Stanford, Cal, and Oregon? Is Jo too slow against the bigs from those teams? Do we have enough bigs to hold their own against the size of Hebard and Sabally?...or the quickness? We'll find out the answers in the next two weeks, but if this team is going to make a run in the tourney, they will need to to play, as you say, "the same kind of defense that has been the foundation of success".
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Post by skyrider on Feb 4, 2019 16:30:34 GMT -8
Thanks for the excellent comments and for responding!
Go Beavs!
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Post by jegerklog on Feb 4, 2019 16:55:35 GMT -8
Thanks for starting this thread. I thought Mancarl’s second paragraph skillfully summarizes the problem. Perhaps we can get away with a little double teaming against Cal. Handling Oregon’s Hebard and Sabally seems like a nightmare to me. But if we do not have any shooting slumps and keep up the intensity and quick thinking on defense......
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Post by Werebeaver on Feb 4, 2019 20:26:19 GMT -8
Watching Taya play this season is a revelation.
As good as she played last season as a Freshman, only now, as we see her playing to her full capabilities, is it clear that she was playing less than 100% last year.
She may not make all PAC-12 first team but in my mind she is one of THE elite players in the conference.
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Post by beaveragain on Feb 4, 2019 20:28:46 GMT -8
Yes, the key is team defense. When Huff found herself against a team and not just one player she was shut down. That isn't easy to do or everyone would do it. Lets hope that the Beav's can keep it up.
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Post by Werebeaver on Feb 4, 2019 20:31:31 GMT -8
Before the season began, and even through much of the first half of this season, a lot of us were concerned about the post position, and points in the paint (and defense/rebounding). The Beavs don't have an elite player there, but I think most of us have to be pretty happy with how things have improved so far. Jo is showing better hands, better court awareness, and shooting well. Maddie is playing tough, getting some baskets, and grabbing rebounds. The Beavs are getting points in the paint (and outlet passes) because of the ability of Destiny and Mikayla to get to the basket, and recently Aleah and Taya are showing improvement in that area as well. Although it would be great to have a dominate Post player, this team has found a way to get in the paint and make things happen. Defense is the key though. Despite a couple poor shooting nights, this team has dominated lately thanks to a renewed commitment to defense since the Arizona St game. There are still some concerns for me.....Is Maddie going to be too short when we face Stanford, Cal, and Oregon? Is Jo too slow against the bigs from those teams? Do we have enough bigs to hold their own against the size of Hebard and Sabally?...or the quickness? We'll find out the answers in the next two weeks, but if this team is going to make a run in the tourney, they will need to to play, as you say, "the same kind of defense that has been the foundation of success". A certain poster who shall remain nameless posted the following during the early OOC schedule: “Jo has no upside”. I hope he’s happy to have been proved wrong. And I’m happy that opponents are still dismissing her abilities. Let them find out the old/fashioned way. |
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2ndGenBeaver
Sophomore
Posts: 1,837 
Grad Year: 1991 (MS/CS) 1999 (PhD/CS)
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Post by 2ndGenBeaver on Feb 4, 2019 22:04:17 GMT -8
The 'ucks seem to have a spectacular starting 5, between Hebard, Sabally, Boley, I, .....
What I don't know if how prone they are to fouling. And if they have a bench.
I also don't know how good we are at drawing fouls.
If we were trying to draw fouls with Utah, the refs were not cooperating, and it also may have led to us hesitating to cash in on open outside shots in Q1 that led to us being in a hole......I was upset that KTMac passed up some wide open 3's early, whereas when Aleah had the opportunity against Colorado she quickly put them in a 6 - 0 hole. Then the whole team either followed suite with KTMac and went tentative, passing up good looks for less optimal drives/dishes......which is kind of out of character for the Beavers, which leads me to also wonder if they were trying to get into Utah's bench early.
I will have to go see if this came up in the SR post-game debrief.
We just need to come out on fire, both on O and D, against the 'ucks. I would be thrilled with a split or us sweeping them, the alternative being too unpalatable to ponder. But we have been a bit inconsistent still (DS goes for either single digits or 20+, for example), which also means there is still room to grow. Fun times!
Go Beavers
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Post by beaveragain on Feb 4, 2019 22:34:39 GMT -8
Probably a fantasy of mine but...SR has this last chance against a good but not great team. He knows that he's got Stanford and Duckies coming up. Those teams know that the Beav's can hammer them outside. How about have the team work hard at going inside against Utah. If he's fairly confidant that they can win then the team can work on their weakness and then be that much better to go in the big games coming up. Naw, fantasy. He couldn't have been that confidant about beating Utah...could he? Naw.
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2ndGenBeaver
Sophomore
Posts: 1,837
Grad Year: 1991 (MS/CS) 1999 (PhD/CS)
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Post by 2ndGenBeaver on Feb 4, 2019 22:48:43 GMT -8
The most vocal and animated I have seen SR ALL year was against......Colorado.
And he was also putting in a new play or two - for example the one where he stacks both of his bigs to give the 3 point shooter more of a cushion and eliminates almost any chance of the on-ball defender fighting through the screen.
He also has the post getting some rest with hands on knees screen play that has not made many appearances but I bet we see soon.....
For all I know he is setting up for Kat's return next season - or he is adding pages to the playbook for this stretch coming up.
Go Beavers!
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