Beavs Travel to LA to Play USC & UCLA
Feb 15, 2020 9:50:01 GMT -8
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alphiebeaver and osu82 like this
Post by beavadelic on Feb 15, 2020 9:50:01 GMT -8
- Mik was almost trying to do too much this game - led to the dribble stops under the basket in traffic, some uncharacteristic turnovers and fouls. Some of that might have been.....
- DS was trying to do too little in this game until the 4th quarter. Either our offense or their defense led to her not being a factor in 75% of the game. I think DS still has potential and headroom to grow, but I have always wondered if her "freelance" style, where she is at her best, meshes with the SR choreography
- Speaking of, SR sure has upped the in-game play calling, though it eats precious shot and game clock seconds, and not conducive to playing from behind
- From my cheap seats, Maddie seems to have taken a step backward this season. I wonder why that is - she started ~19 games last season and was more of a presence.
- Wishing does nothing, but I sure wish we had given Morris much, much more playing time early....though of course that could have hindered the progression of KB and TJ
- Janessa seemed to be more energetic and aggressive last season as well - she passed up several opportunities against UA that last season she might have taken
- KB missing is bad, but we were also supposed to get Jelena back after a "minor" injury......
- Many of the 'investments' SR made have not paid off this season, while in years past one or two "Kolbie Leaps" would happen, this year any leaps have been backwards.
- Setting screens remains a challenge for this team.
- Ball security remains a challenge for this team
- TJ progression and growth has been a bright spot
- Between our walking wounded bigs and our outside shot leaving town, we are likely more of a middle-of-the-Pac team, and that may still be an amazing coaching job by SR.
- Agree now with some posters who said this year would be a bit of a transition, turning out that way.
- We need a very vocal, visible leader on the court - this year that has been SR, and that is not good
- We have been spoiled - WBB in the Pac-12 is a thing now, and many of the schools have gotten great talent on the court and sideline and "caught up" or passed us: challenge now is to remain upper-tier (Cal/UW show what can happen in a New York minute).
This off season will certainly one of licking wounds, getting healthy and reinventing ourselves, but still much season left right now, and I hope the Beavers can make a run.
Go Beavers!
Thank goodness for a couple of heroic plays by Mik in the wins over the Arizona schools, or we could be pushing to finish above .500 in conference. This team is so out of sync right now, and in the best conference top to bottom in America, there is no room to breathe. Injuries, underwhelming play by veterans we depended upon to be difference-makers, the aforementioned emotional setbacks with the deaths of important people in our women’s hoops community, and difficulty matching the physicality of others in the league, we aren’t who we (and most of the country) thought we were in November. Outside of some individual efforts at times, there has been no magic as a team.
At this point, it feels somewhat like last year’s baseball season. High (probably unrealistic given the immense amount of talent we lost from our NC squad) expectations that gave way to disappointment and frustration down the stretch as we that team just didn’t have “it”. By tourney time, we were not even a top 25 caliber team. I’m wondering about our women’s hoops team as well. Our conference is a meat grinder, but our only wins against teams of equal or perhaps better potential have been those two in which Mik made plays to pull out nail-biters.
I don’t blame SR for being frustrated. Maybe the “mature” thing to do it is just swallow it and keep grinding and maybe voice concerns about the cheap crap that other teams employ to the league in private, but he’s human. While we shouldn’t be myopic about our coach and think he’s deity, we also shouldn’t be too harsh, IMO, when he acts human. This has been incredibly trying and we can’t seem to catch a break. For all of the claims that losing Taya wasn’t monumental, she’s a veteran who brings good things and leadership to the table. She’s started in a bunch of big games for us. Losing KB just makes it even worse. If nothing else, these things throw your rotations off and create big problems in the depth department.
I’m an eyelash from completely moving on emotionally to baseball, because it flat out hurts to see this team limp down the stretch, with confidence getting shaken more by the week. Maybe some of our high profile targets on the recruiting trail will see what Sabrina saw in choosing Oregon 4 years ago. They can come in and get us over the hump again. In our case, we are not far off, but something is missing. I’m confident that everyone from SR to the last player on our roster will pour themselves into getting back on track. I won’t give up on this year’s team, but I look for a major bounce back in terms of tenacity and mental focus next year.
