OSU vs UW. WBB PAC-12 Tournament Quarterfinal.

osu82, I'm not saying you are giving up, but when some of the comments about the Beavs are "their done", it kind of sounds like some fans are giving up. I'm only saying the Beavs were good enough to beat UCLA (twice), and play the ducks tough twice, with one being a win, and there are some among us that think the team has no chance in the tournament, while UCLA fans think their team is ready for a run despite losing to OSU, and to Oregon last night. Just a different perspective from two different fan groups.

With that said, I think we as fans, and I am definitely including myself, think the team is better than they are when there is a big win, and think they are worse than they are when they lose.

As for comments I've seen about 3pt shooting. After Kat went down, the Beavs only had 2 or 3 "good" 3pt shooting games. Take a look back at the stats. This has not been the 3pt shooting game of years past, yet, this team still only lost 4 in conference games. The team was impressive despite not being good at the triple. Had Kat been around this team may have only lost a game or two, but all teams have to deal with injury.

Whatever we may all say and think, I believe this team will be ready for the next game, and whoever they are playing better be on top of their game, or they will lose to the Beavs.

One more comment, Washington played a very good game, and hit their 3's just enough to win that game. I'm not sure I watched a team play as hard as Washington did, and I give them credit for coming out on top....despite hating the outcome.

While this loss was a definite downer, count me in the camp that thinks, (a) we're still going to host, and, (b) we'll win them both.

As somebody else pointed out, all the other teams ranked in the 11 to 16 range also lost, so who, and, more importantly, how many, can leapfrog over us? We might well still be a 3 seed, but I think a 4 definitely.

I recognize that we just lost to a Washington team that that isn't very good, but Washington plays very, very tough PAC 12 competition every night. They're used to playing the best. The 13 or 14 seed we'll play in the first round will be from a much weaker conference, and they'll never have played in an atmosphere like Gill.

Admittedly, the 5 or 6 seed we'll play after that will be tougher, but no tougher than the steady diet of UCLA, Cal, Oregon, Arizona state ... that we play all the time. And I would remind you we were 15 - 1 at Gill this year, with the one loss being double overtime. So I expect a another sweet sixteen.

With respect to next year, my guess is that the 5 position will, at the beginning of the season, contribute about what it has this year, and, by the end of the season when whoever plays it is more seasoned, much more than this year. And the wing? Much as I like Katie Mac, I'd rather have Kat playing it anyway. If nothing else, you don't have to beg for her to take a shot. So I have extremely high hopes for next year. This year we had to wonder who can fill Marie's shoes, and the answer was nobody. We don't have that question at any position next year.

One other note. Prior to the start of the PAC 12 tourney, I opined that we couldn't win 3 games unless Taya woke up offensively. Well, she did so, and I think Scott will build on that in the game against the 14 seed. Look for them to call Taya's number a lot, so she'll have 2 very solid games, and her confidence back, as we move deeper into the tournament.

SR tends to play the odds - the mobile center had the hot hand and she did not cool off like her season statistics suggested she would (I think the announcers said she was having the game of her lifetime) - statistics are great, but anomalies happen.

I notice there are other schools that tend to try to shut down the hot hand (i.e. ASU chasing Goodman all over the court), but we tend to assume the hot hand will cool. Works most games, UW game sadly it did not......we also don't have much by way of defensive stoppers of the Gabbie Hanson mold on the outside this year.....that said, JG was not willing to step much outside of the key, and the UW player was beyond the arc, which created the instant mismatch (and did nothing to accelerate the hot hand cooling).

Go Beavers!

Jo was not the problem in this game. People tend to focus on her because she was considered to be the weak link so when they lose the focus on what she does not do rather than what she adds. The center position is a trade off, there are definitely areas that Jo is weak in, but she compensates by her presence in the middle. When the team plays a small line up the other team attacks the center which the do not do with Jo in. I certainly felt that the team should have given Morris more court time. Perhaps Scott feels she does not know the offense enough, but again it's a trade off. they would not attack the center with her in the paint like they do when they play the small lineup.

I also feel the passes in to Jo are not as good or consistent as they could be. Granted her hands are not that good, but watching where the ball ends up in relation to her hands they certainly could have made it easier on her. Not naming names but certain players are just hesitate even pass her the ball even when she has her defender at a real disadvantage.

The ball handlers do make good passes to their open teammates, but are very inconsistent in that area. It seems to me that when they see an open team mate they think before making the pass. They do that not only in respect to Jo. When a player is open you just pass the ball and do not hesitate and decide first if you are going to make the pass. That is what negates offensive flow. The game should be instinctive and second nature and less about decision making. It is that hesitation that allows the defenders to react and negate any offensive advantage. Earlier in the season there were games ( or at least parts of games) when that ball went quickly from one player to the other until it found the open player. If a player does not have an open shot or an open lane-- pass the dang ball. The defense is not suddenly going to create an opening for you if you hold the ball long enough. When the shot clock is running down then you have to make something happen and even force a shot, but not with plenty of time left. Just pass the ball. Especially if a team mate is making an effort to move without the ball. Reward the effort by getting them the ball every now and then. Often players just quit moving without the ball because their efforts are never rewarded. It can often become a " catch 22 " cycle.

Ah, so Reese going 4/13 from the 3 cost the Beav's the game? Really? But Aleah/McWilliams going 1/14 had no effect? Anything to make it Jo's fault huh?