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Post by beavheart on Oct 3, 2019 8:49:16 GMT -8
The biggest thing holding Jalena back will be the speed of the game. It's understandable that Jones and Brown are both better suited to step right in and compete at this level as they already have the quickness needed, and probably have a better idea about what D-1/Pac-12 level of play is all about.
Jalena has far more basketball skill than either Grymek and Hamblin coming in, but she is slower than either of them. If Jalena can ever get to the kind of athleticism that Jo had as a senior she will be a force to be reckoned with. I think Rueck is holding back about Jalena mostly because of her knee. Shes hasn't been able to participate, so there's just not much to talk about with her. Just my opinion, but I expect to see her out there later in the season after she has healed up.
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Post by bvrbooster on Oct 3, 2019 10:15:53 GMT -8
I fear that those of you expecting great things from Jelena this year are setting yourselves up for a letdown of significant proportions. How many times have you seen a highly hyped freshman come in to a program to great expectations, and then perform like, well, a freshman. And she's not even highly hyped.
Jasmine Simmons last year comes to mind. Going by what I read on this board a year ago, I thought I might see the second coming of Michael Jordan, with the game, court sense, and maturity of a seasoned veteran. Instead, I saw an unsure freshman - and she didn't even have a bum knee.
I have only seen about a minute of a highlight reel of her play, and I never judge anything by those things. But, if she's slow and ponderous getting up and down the court, and made more so by her knee's effect on her conditioning, that doesn't bode well for her getting many minutes.
Hope I'm wrong, and she's a key factor in leading us to the promised land, but I still see a redshirt in her future.
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Post by beavheart on Oct 3, 2019 10:39:44 GMT -8
I fear that those of you expecting great things from Jelena this year are setting yourselves up for a letdown of significant proportions. How many times have you seen a highly hyped freshman come in to a program to great expectations, and then perform like, well, a freshman. And she's not even highly hyped. Jasmine Simmons last year comes to mind. Going by what I read on this board a year ago, I thought I might see the second coming of Michael Jordan, with the game, court sense, and maturity of a seasoned veteran. Instead, I saw an unsure freshman - and she didn't even have a bum knee. I have only seen about a minute of a highlight reel of her play, and I never judge anything by those things. But, if she's slow and ponderous getting up and down the court, and made more so by her knee's effect on her conditioning, that doesn't bode well for her getting many minutes. Hope I'm wrong, and she's a key factor in leading us to the promised land, but I still see a redshirt in her future. I certainly don't expect big things from Jalena this year. Maybe down the road when she works on her straight line speed, but right now she is, like you said, a candidate to redshirt. I would suggest that has more to do with her knee, than her not being able to contribute because of her lack of skill or physicality. If she gets healthy enough to play I would not be surprised to see her play this year at all. Rueck has said as much himself. Hard to say what kind of hype there would have been around her had she been playing in the US as a recruit, but it almost certainly would have been more than she got as a Serbian in soft leagues. Will she ever be a "great" player as a Beav? Hard to say, but I do stand by my opinion that she is showing up with way more tools as a baskeball player than at least a couple of our past bigs who did become at least starters. Also, if there is anyone who wants to see her play an actual game there is no shortage of video out there... www.bennyshouse.com/thread/12414/mitrovic-signed?page=4 |
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Post by Werebeaver on Oct 3, 2019 11:10:40 GMT -8
I fear that those of you expecting great things from Jelena this year are setting yourselves up for a letdown of significant proportions. How many times have you seen a highly hyped freshman come in to a program to great expectations, and then perform like, well, a freshman. And she's not even highly hyped. Jasmine Simmons last year comes to mind. Going by what I read on this board a year ago, I thought I might see the second coming of Michael Jordan, with the game, court sense, and maturity of a seasoned veteran. Instead, I saw an unsure freshman - and she didn't even have a bum knee. I have only seen about a minute of a highlight reel of her play, and I never judge anything by those things. But, if she's slow and ponderous getting up and down the court, and made more so by her knee's effect on her conditioning, that doesn't bode well for her getting many minutes. Hope I'm wrong, and she's a key factor in leading us to the promised land, but I still see a redshirt in her future. I think it was just one poster who thought Jasmine would be OSU WBB’s best freshman ever and “Pivec on steroids”. Most everyone else was waiting to see how she performed at this higher level of play. |
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Post by beavershoopsfan on Oct 3, 2019 11:26:55 GMT -8
I think it was just one poster who thought Jasmine would be OSU WBB’s best freshman ever and “Pivec on steroids”. Most everyone else was waiting to see how she performed at this higher level of play. The poster who was overly enthusiastic about Simmons prior to last season got duped a bit by photos of Simmons grabbing rim with apparent ease at OSU. What that poster didn't know is that Simmons had grabbed the net and had climbed her way to the rim prior to those photos being taken. Simmons is a quality athlete and one of the best athletes on the team. She continues to work on gaining strength in the weight room. Added strength will allow her to become more competitive for minutes on the floor and lead to increased offensive production. Beaver fans should be encouraged by the videos of the four games that Simmons put together in Italy. She showed more confidence in her outside shooting and continued to display her notable ability to run the court and finish fast breaks. If Simmons does arrive as hoped as a sophomore for the Beavs this season, then the Beavs may well have the best backcourt in America as several national women's basketball analysts have already put in writing in their preseason rankings. |
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Post by 411500 on Oct 3, 2019 12:06:31 GMT -8
"If Simmons does arrive as hoped as a sophomore for the Beavs this season, then the Beavs may well have the best backcourt in America as several national women's basketball analysts have already put in writing in their preseason rankings."
Ordinarily I would not disagree with bhf because most everything he writes is spot on....But I would say that the Beavs now have the best backcourt in the country even if Simmons never finds the floor this season....Especially if you think of a backcourt not as 2 players, but as 3 or 4....
I don't know of a team in the country that has 4 backcourt players the equal of Slocum, Pivec, Goodman and Tudor.....
I'm pulling for Simmons like everyone on his board, but I think that even if she has an impressive sophomore breakthrough she might not see much game time this season. Ironically, it will be Brown & Jones who take her court time....The more minutes they are on the floor the more the remaining minutes will be divided among our 4 top backcourt players.
When you have 4 players this good, as a Coach you absolutely must find ways to get them as many minutes as possible...
Now, next year is a different matter....Simmons very well could make a big splash in 20/21....Pivec, Tudor and Slocum could all be gone. That creates lots of daylight for Jasmine.
However, if Tudor gets an extra year, and Slocum does not turn pro then next year the Beavs will once again have the best backcourt in America - - especially if Simmons blossoms as hoped.
GO BEAVS !!
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Post by beavershoopsfan on Oct 3, 2019 13:56:03 GMT -8
"If Simmons does arrive as hoped as a sophomore for the Beavs this season, then the Beavs may well have the best backcourt in America as several national women's basketball analysts have already put in writing in their preseason rankings." Ordinarily I would not disagree with bhf because most everything he writes is spot on....But I would say that the Beavs now have the best backcourt in the country even if Simmons never finds the floor this season....Especially if you think of a backcourt not as 2 players, but as 3 or 4.... I don't know of a team in the country that has 4 backcourt players the equal of Slocum, Pivec, Goodman and Tudor..... I don't think that Tudor will be ready to play in games for OSU in November. Simmons should get a chance to show whatever level of improvement is within her early on during November while Tudor continues to strengthen her injured knee prior to making her '19-'20 debut. Tudor suffered her ACL tear (and other related knee trauma) in early January 2019 and did not have surgery immediately as the swelling was allowed to subside. The OSU training staff, orthopedic physicians, and coaching staff would be well-advised to delay Tudor's season debut to allow for added strengthening. Having Tudor ready for PAC-12 play in January would be a good goal. Anything earlier would be a bonus. |
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Post by bvrbooster on Oct 3, 2019 17:02:09 GMT -8
Simmons would be the obvious choice to spell both Pivec and whoever takes Katie's spot in November and December. That should allow her very significant minutes through the first 12 games. After Kat returns, it becomes a function of what she was able to do with all that early playing time. It would be nice if Pivec didn't routinely rack up 35 minutes or so per game.
I tend to look at our team as 2 different groups. One is those who would play the 1, 2, and 3 spots, with 2 and 3 being somewhat interchangeable, and the other is those who play the 4 and 5.
Group 1, then, has 120 minutes per game, and includes Slocum, Goodman, Pivec, Simmons, Tudor, and Mannon. Group 2, with but 80 minutes, includes Brown, Jones, Washington, Thropay, Corosdale, Aquino, Morris, and Mitrovic. Since Tudor won't be available early, and Mannon probably wouldn't figure into much court time, you can readily see that there's plenty of time for everybody in group 1, and not enough for those in group 2. So I imagine Rueck will slide Brown or Jones over to the 3 spot some in the early going to see how it works.
But Simmons should wind up with a lot of minutes, and will almost definitely be a big factor in how far this team goes.
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2ndGenBeaver
Sophomore
Posts: 1,828 
Grad Year: 1991 (MS/CS) 1999 (PhD/CS)
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Post by 2ndGenBeaver on Oct 3, 2019 17:30:15 GMT -8
If Scott and coaches upgrade Jelena to the same level as Gulich and Ruthie, we all have something to look forward to. My guess is that she is not American style inside and prefers to shoot long two’s or three’s, and may not be that proficient with that shot selection.Both Marie and Ruth were great at drifting down into the key and receiving the lob pass for an easier look and score. We certainly had nothing like that last year, except for Maddie’s improved play in short spurts. Brown seems to possess the same ability as both Ruth and Marie, and earlier in her career. So, I think we( in spite of AA missing and Jelena as a question mark ), will be way ahead of where we were last year - starting with game 1. Just Pivec and Slocum are an upgrade because they are a year older. I, personally, prefer a Morris / Corosdale set up to Fill the forward positions and rotating Thropay and Jones into the action. I just want us to DESTROY the sucks and that crooked program along the way. I disagree! From her video's it appears she is very proficient in the low post. She displayed some very good quick moves on both offense and defense in the post. The question mark with her appears to be how well she will be able to run the floor. With her height and size and the moves she displayed, along with her hands, it appears she might be unstoppable in the low post. The guards need to practice their lob passes. That was the problem in respect to Gremik last season. Her hands, though not good, were not as bad as they appeared. She did not jump, so a lot of passes went of the ends of her fingers. Had they hit her hands with lobs she would have caught them. This issue created a lack of trust and so they were hesitant and usually got the ball to her late or not at all. When a post player establishes position, you need to get the ball to them quickly before the defender can begin to push them off their block. That along with drawing other defenders attention. This is a key area where I hope we see considerable improvement on this season - last season, for likely a combination of reasons, we were not good at post entry. On one hand we had Jo, who was not of the same mold as Marie or Ruth before her, and on the other we had a bunch of guards who were a (puzzling) split second late with passes that were not always what one would want from the best back court in the land. Taya was probably our best post entry passer last season. I am curious to see what a new season brings, both in terms of growth in the folks passing in, and the skills and abilities of the new pass recipients. And I think this is an area (along with on-the-court problem solving) where the Italy trip will hopefully pay big dividends in terms of the team having encountered game situations already. Rueck seems to have made this comment in his interview recently, where he observed that the subsequent pass back out by a big that is always a threat to score also drives 3 point percentages. Go Beavers! |
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Post by lotrader on Oct 4, 2019 5:17:14 GMT -8
Simmons will see court time because of her defensive skills. Katie was on the court last season (and seasons before) for her defense, and, passing skills. Rueck is a defense first coach, which is where Jas has special skills. And, as I have observed, nobody can get down the court as fast as Jas for a lay-up on the fast break. That too, bodes well for playing time.
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Post by beavershoopsfan on Oct 4, 2019 8:29:09 GMT -8
This is a key area where I hope we see considerable improvement on this season - last season, for likely a combination of reasons, we were not good at post entry. On one hand we had Jo, who was not of the same mold as Marie or Ruth before her, and on the other we had a bunch of guards who were a (puzzling) split second late with passes that were not always what one would want from the best back court in the land. Taya was probably our best post entry passer last season. I am curious to see what a new season brings, both in terms of growth in the folks passing in, and the skills and abilities of the new pass recipients. And I think this is an area (along with on-the-court problem solving) where the Italy trip will hopefully pay big dividends in terms of the team having encountered game situations already. Rueck seems to have made this comment in his interview recently, where he observed that the subsequent pass back out by a big that is always a threat to score also drives 3 point percentages. From what I observed the past two seasons with Grymek and the Beavers guards, the margin of error for incurring turnovers was pretty low with respect to Grymek catching the ball cleanly in traffic. I perceived that the OSU guards had become accustomed to having to provide Grymek with a near-perfect pass or the ball would be bobbled and a turnover would result. Also, when the ball entered the post last season, it was not coming back out from Grymek quickly enough to allow for a three-point shot on the perimeter. The number of assists that Grymek recorded last year in 670 minutes of play was 3. Morris had zero assists in 110 minutes of play. That should change significantly in '19-'20. I am encouraged that Brown, Jones, and Mitrovic all appear to have much better hands, are better passers, and possess more expansive "catch radii" (as in football) than Grymek displayed during her two seasons in Corvallis. I anticipate that Slocum, Goodman, and Pivec will all be more willing to attempt post entry passes in '19-'20 than they were with Grymek in the post. We should see the ball enter the paint and get kicked out more frequently to the perimeter shooters that OSU possesses in numbers with Goodman, Pivec, Slocum, and Tudor all capable of shooting 38%+ from distance. |
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