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Post by skyrider on Mar 11, 2019 8:46:04 GMT -8
No doubt a lot of it is due to my pessimistic outlook in general, but it would appear to me that we are going into these playoffs playing perhaps our worst basketball of the year.
Our defense is suspect, our 3 point shooting is way down, our best scorer is not scoring as well as she was (Destiny) and the our senior leader is shooting "bricks". I could go on but I would rather hear voices telling me how wrong I am and why!
Otherwise I am stuck with a bad feeling that this will be one of those years (like the year Gonzaga beat us in the first round at Gill, or they year where Long Beach State deserved to beat us at Gill).
It seems like it's been a long time since we won a game by any appreciable margin. Boy could we use the competitive fire of a Jamie Wiesner or Sydney Weise right now!
The frustrating thing about this situation is we are not being totally wiped out in these games, so a solution is clearly feasible.
I still feel like this has been a really good year for the Beavs, but man do they seem to be struggling now.
Go Beavs!
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Post by 411500 on Mar 11, 2019 9:37:36 GMT -8
Just a few quick hitters here....
1. Beavs are always tough at Gill and their toughest opponent may have travelled from the East Coast for their game at Gill.
2. "We could use competitive fire of Jamie or Sydney...." Probably, but even more importantly we could use another Pac-12 All Star like Jamie or Sydney...It's hard do do, but I try never to confuse talent with mindset.
Beavs don't lack competitive fire, but they could sure use additional star power now that the NCAA's are here....
3. A lot of good teams got dumped in their conference tourney this year - so we're not alone on that one....
4. Basketball is a complex game, but sometimes it gets real simple, for example, when two of your top shooters go 1 - 16 in a game settled in the last 4 seconds...
5. I like the Beavs chances in Gill - -but, like several others on this board, I really don't see them having the overall team talent to win a game in the Sweet 16....Love to see it, but will not bet on it...
6. Just bought plane tickets and reserved motel rooms for the 1st round, so I'll be there in person....
GO BEAVS !!
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Post by ricke71 on Mar 11, 2019 10:39:45 GMT -8
"4. Basketball is a complex game, but sometimes it gets real simple, for example, when two of your top shooters go 1 - 16 in a game settled in the last 4 seconds..."
That's the one that drove me nuts. No way is Aleah (or Katie) going to have trouble sizing up the rim/background at Gill.
Maybe they were both pressing - Aleah having just been named to an all-Conference award, and Katie in her final PAC 12 Tournament. I don't know??? But there's no way it happens again!
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Post by green85 on Mar 11, 2019 10:51:56 GMT -8
No doubt a lot of it is due to my pessimistic outlook in general, but it would appear to me that we are going into these playoffs playing perhaps our worst basketball of the year.
Our defense is suspect, our 3 point shooting is way down, our best scorer is not scoring as well as she was (Destiny) and the our senior leader is shooting "bricks". I could go on but I would rather hear voices telling me how wrong I am and why!
Otherwise I am stuck with a bad feeling that this will be one of those years (like the year Gonzaga beat us in the first round at Gill, or they year where Long Beach State deserved to beat us at Gill).
It seems like it's been a long time since we won a game by any appreciable margin. Boy could we use the competitive fire of a Jamie Wiesner or Sydney Weise right now!
The frustrating thing about this situation is we are not being totally wiped out in these games, so a solution is clearly feasible.
I still feel like this has been a really good year for the Beavs, but man do they seem to be struggling now.
Go Beavs!
Reasons Beavers get to Sweet 16 again: 1. Coaching 2. Aleah Goodman 3. Grymek 4. GILL! GILL! GILL! OSU has everything to win two at Gill - no matter who the opposing teams are. I expect Aleah Goodman to shine. I expect Coach R will have the guards and wings feeding Grymek the ball on O. Grymek's presence in the middle is intimidating for any opponent. Washington and Morris can give good minutes, especially on defense. I expect Coach R and staff to prepare the team very well. Destiny will create her own shots and shots for others. OSU fans should be optimistic. |
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Post by beaverstever on Mar 11, 2019 12:01:58 GMT -8
I unfortunately feel similarly that this team isn't built for a deep run, or at least being very confident it will have one. They certainly have the ability to get hot and make a deep run, but that leaves a lot to chance.
IMO, this team's makeup doesn't fit Rueck's style real well. Specifically, we are deep at the guard positions, and could benefit by more of a transition game. However, Rueck doesn't like to deploy the gambling style that would create more transition opportunities (like UCLA does), and so don't get as much benefit of being so deep at guard as we could. Additionally, we don't have the prolific inside scoring threat we have had in the past, particularly last year, where Rueck can deploy his preferred inside-out half-court game. Our recent recruiting classes are certainly shaping up to have that type of team, but it's not there now in a fashion that can challenge the top teams well.
That said, Rueck has a pretty good history of getting his team into the right head-space for the post-season, so if they come out loose and shoot well, we've seen this team be able to compete with anybody. But this team isn't built to weather an off-night like some of our previous teams`zz
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Post by willtalk on Mar 11, 2019 13:15:25 GMT -8
They should win their first two games no matter where they are played. But then again they should have beaten Washington. Still again Washington had some good players who when they were on could give any team problems.
People need to realize that better teams have better defensive players who tend to shut down individual players attempting to create their own shots. It's about matchups. Relying on players on this team to break down the D for scores is less reliable than them relying on 3pt shooting. The team definitely needs to break out of their 3pt slump. While also begin playing better defense. The defense has been weak all year, but was less noticeable when they were scoring more points.
It would also help if they had more off the ball movement. While the ball handlers try to create off the dribble everyone else just stands around. Perhaps it's because they don't know what the ball handler is going to do and want to stay out of their way. That is a consequence on free lance over dribbling. When the ball handlers take what the defense gives them the other players have a better idea as to where they need to be. All in all the offense is seldom all in sync.
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Post by skyrider on Mar 11, 2019 13:54:09 GMT -8
I hate to sound like a broken record, but fairly recently they lost in the first round to Gonzaga at Gill and should have lost to Long Beach State at Gill in the first round another year.
The part about the dribbling is right on, but the perplexing thing to me is that Destiny has been able to break down her defender and penetrate the lane almost at will and many times has made excellent passes to team mates for baskets.
However on too many times as you have mentioned, it just seems to be aimless dribbling.
Anyway, Go Beavs!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2019 16:38:51 GMT -8
I unfortunately feel similarly that this team isn't built for a deep run, or at least being very confident it will have one. They certainly have the ability to get hot and make a deep run, but that leaves a lot to chance. IMO, this team's makeup doesn't fit Rueck's style real well. Specifically, we are deep at the guard positions, and could benefit by more of a transition game. However, Rueck doesn't like to deploy the gambling style that would create more transition opportunities (like UCLA does), and so don't get as much benefit of being so deep at guard as we could. Additionally, we don't have the prolific inside scoring threat we have had in the past, particularly last year, where Rueck can deploy his preferred inside-out half-court game. Our recent recruiting classes are certainly shaping up to have that type of team, but it's not there now in a fashion that can challenge the top teams well. That said, Rueck has a pretty good history of getting his team into the right head-space for the post-season, so if they come out loose and shoot well, we've seen this team be able to compete with anybody. But this team isn't built to weather an off-night like some of our previous teams`zz "this team's makeup doesn't fit Rueck's style real well" - may be the most accurate point I've read for a while. A post the other day mentioned how much "this team loves the 3" which is also a fav style of SR. We had moments in the recent games we lost when a quick transition game would have been a better gamble than same 'ol same 'ol. Sitting DS when she's our top scorer and trying to play for the 3, slow set play, coach taking up 3 seconds on the half way line telling the pg to play then dribbling for 20 seconds - all Rueck's style. But it all falls away without a serious inside threat which we simply don' have. I love Jo and i would have her as most improved by a country mile, but she ain't Ruth or Marie, a fact that i think SR may not know how to handle.(IMO) Let em run! (in spurts) But i don't think coach trusts the girls enough to let that happen. watching Iowa vs Maryland - they got the ball up quick and had 6 passes before 15 seconds and usually got an open look/bucket. We are running the clock way to close in the tight games and forcing good not great shots. UCLA are great at it, and the coaches let them run the plays. We put a lot of emphasis on the players but i think the coaches play just as big of a part and as per the flavor of this post - "this team's makeup doesn't fit Rueck's style real well", i agree. All that said, we have a great team with amazing young women giving their all every week, an awesome coaching staff and support team, the BEST college in the US (bias okay here) and the best supporters so feeling blessed really. |
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Post by Werebeaver on Mar 11, 2019 17:44:43 GMT -8
Playoffs!!??
Are you kidding me?
Playoffs??
I just hope we can win a game.
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Post by beaveragain on Mar 11, 2019 17:58:20 GMT -8
"this team loves the 3" That's odd, because there are 6 teams that had more 3 attempts in the Pac-12 this year.
If UCLA is so great at running plays then why did the Beav's beat them twice in a row this season?
Because they don't have a Ruth or Marie the team is driving to the basket much more than in the past and having great success doing so. I think Rueck's "style" is winning games and he will use the capabilities of his team based on that.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2019 20:26:26 GMT -8
"this team loves the 3" That's odd, because there are 6 teams that had more 3 attempts in the Pac-12 this year. If UCLA is so great at running plays then why did the Beav's beat them twice in a row this season? Because they don't have a Ruth or Marie the team is driving to the basket much more than in the past and having great success doing so. I think Rueck's "style" is winning games and he will use the capabilities of his team based on that. you missed the point, bit like our 3's lately  |
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Post by beaveragain on Mar 11, 2019 21:07:55 GMT -8
I pointed out that what you said about the Beav's depending on the 3 is not correct throughout this season. You had some other point? And Destiny sits when they are trying to hit three's? Destiny sits due to her defense, not her offense.
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Post by Werebeaver on Mar 11, 2019 21:08:19 GMT -8
No doubt a lot of it is due to my pessimistic outlook in general, but it would appear to me that we are going into these playoffs playing perhaps our worst basketball of the year.
Our defense is suspect, our 3 point shooting is way down, our best scorer is not scoring as well as she was (Destiny) and the our senior leader is shooting "bricks". I could go on but I would rather hear voices telling me how wrong I am and why!
Otherwise I am stuck with a bad feeling that this will be one of those years (like the year Gonzaga beat us in the first round at Gill, or they year where Long Beach State deserved to beat us at Gill).
It seems like it's been a long time since we won a game by any appreciable margin. Boy could we use the competitive fire of a Jamie Wiesner or Sydney Weise right now!
The frustrating thing about this situation is we are not being totally wiped out in these games, so a solution is clearly feasible.
I still feel like this has been a really good year for the Beavs, but man do they seem to be struggling now.
Go Beavs!
Well whatever happens you've guarded yourself against disappointment so congratulations...I guess. |
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Post by beaverstever on Mar 11, 2019 22:08:37 GMT -8
"this team loves the 3" That's odd, because there are 6 teams that had more 3 attempts in the Pac-12 this year. If UCLA is so great at running plays then why did the Beav's beat them twice in a row this season? Because they don't have a Ruth or Marie the team is driving to the basket much more than in the past and having great success doing so. I think Rueck's "style" is winning games and he will use the capabilities of his team based on that. A few counters on a couple of points: - OSU's shooters are less open when you don't have a post needing double-teaming to stop. I'm not sure that's the larger issue given that we've been missing some open 3s of late. - UCLA couldn't beat OSU because OSU is very tough to turn over with pressure, especially compared to previous years - and UCLA's whole strategy depends on creating TOs. Having two top-tier PGs will do that. It's a style that will work against a lot of teams, but OSU is pretty unique this year in being able to counter UCLA better than almost anybody in the country. I'm personally not saying Rueck should be changing his strategy, I'm saying the current personnel isn't ideal for what he wants to do. I expect that to change next season. In the meantime, I see this team as more vulnerable to a bad matchup/bad night than some of OSU's recent teams also highly rated. But they are of course also capable of getting hot and/or favorable matchups and making a deep run. It just feels like a team with a larger variance than a typical Rueck team. |
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2ndGenBeaver
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Grad Year: 1991 (MS/CS) 1999 (PhD/CS)
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Post by 2ndGenBeaver on Mar 12, 2019 4:17:52 GMT -8
My optimistic outlook:
- Returning to the friendly confines of Gill Coliseum, motivated by that last second loss to the Huskies, and buoyed by the near-sellout crowds, the Beavers "find themselves" - the outside 3s start falling at a 40%+ clip again, the other team's 6'1" center can't cope with Jo, Taya has another double double, Destiny drives all night and we even win the center tip off. The elite 8 awaits....
My pessimistic outlook:
- Still hung over from the last second loss to the Huskies, still missing the deep 3, and letting Aleah tip center again, we survive an initial overtime game, but get upset in the second round Gonzaga style. While enjoying all of the team's accomplishments, fans wonder if we could have had more.....had Kat been healthy, AA been healthy, Janessa been healthy.....and we start looking forward to next year's top 10 team as we head to Goss for some top 10 baseball.....
(Pretty dang cool that my optimistic scenarios involve deep tourney runs and even my most pessimistic scenarios have us advancing in March Madness and getting to watch a top-10 baseball team! Why, we could be like those foul fans rooting for that other team and starting a pool for "which teammate will our superstar push next after fouling out?" and wondering if the curse of the buried jersey will ever be lifted.......).
Good times! Go Beavs!
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