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Post by rmancarl on Feb 22, 2021 20:29:28 GMT -8
How much credit are you giving Talia for the Beavs turnaround? Taylor got off to a bit of a slow start this season, but has picked it up in recent games. Does Talia get some of that credit? Ellie Mack has improved her play in recent weeks. Does Talia get any of that credit?
I think it's obvious that Talia's ability to handle the ball, and score have helped take some pressure off Aleah.
This board was full of comments about the team being slow, poor rebounding, poor defense, and too much dribbling on offense. Now, the team has beaten a fairly fast team (UCLA), a team with a lot of young talent (USC) etc.
Remember the comments that there was something 'major' wrong with this team. Remember that the Beavs were getting little to no production from either the '3' spot or the '4'?
So the question remains, was that "major" thing that was missing just one person who could handle the ball, pass, rebound and score from all three levels? Was it just adding one more player who could make all the others better?
How much credit do you give to the coaching staff? To the players themselves who have improved? Or to Talia?
Truthfully, I've been saying all along that the team would look different next year when Talia, Greta, and Kennedy joined the program, but one of those three joined the team early, and the Beavs are already showing a glimpse of what is to come over the next few years?
Thoughts please.
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Post by beaverwbb fan on Feb 22, 2021 20:46:06 GMT -8
I think Talia allows everyone to be more comfortable.
Aleah has another strong ball handler in the backcourt, Sasha gets to focus on her natural strengths (slashing, shooting, and defending), Ellie and Taya get to focus on shooting and rebounding and inside passing, and so on.
I never felt like there were "chemistry" or "deeper" issues as others had mentioned, I simply thought we had too many players not playing the right positions -- and Talia fixed much of that.
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Post by believeinthebeavs on Feb 22, 2021 21:04:41 GMT -8
I think most of the credit is that the team is finding itself. Definitely part of that is the addition of Talia, she is really good. But this is a fairly young/new team. We only have two returning starters from last year.
According to Rueck, Mack has got to the point that she is claiming the team. That has a lot to do with her improvement.
Taylor is going to get better every minute she is on the court, that is just Taylor.
The biggest issue OSU has had this season is the ability to play or even practice as a team. They are just now starting to get into some kind of routine. I would love to see Aleah and Ellie back next year.
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Post by beaveragain on Feb 22, 2021 21:44:39 GMT -8
On defense, I don't think Talia's been around long enough to know the defense herself. So no, she isn't helping the defense.
On rebounding, Talia's been in there banging with the rest of the crew and that's been a help. How it's all come together isn't obvious other than a team all working at it.
On scoring, Talia has provided a much needed boost as Taya and Jaz have ceased to score at all lately. Jaz I suspect her hand is bothering her again as she started off the season great and now she is reluctant to shoot at all.
On passing, Talia's passes from anywhere to everywhere is finally not surprising her teammates and now the team is clicking much better.
On goofiness, Aleah and Mannen have that completely covered and no help needed.
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Post by beaverstever on Feb 22, 2021 22:15:49 GMT -8
Listening to SR, he speaks like he expected this to happen regardless, once the team was able to get some games in. He has said that Talia helped for sure though (this is from the UCLA postgame: However, I personally think Talia has a lot more to do with it that what's been said. IMO, she's having somewhat of a Steph Curry effect. Specifically: - Her range is so deep that it really stretches the defense to an extreme. If you watch the shot that put OSU up 60-57, UCLA was in a zone that just wasn't comfortable extending that far, and it was uncontested. It's extremely difficult to play the top of a zone to 3 feet beyond the arch - it's exhausting. -Early in the season, teams were defending Taylor at the rim and defending the 3 point line, giving up the mid-range jumper. That was a recipe for success given we don't really have a lot of mid-range efficient scorers. However, instead of attacking at the middle of the zone and flexing it in, Talia forces defenders to go out that much further - and there's subsequently less help on cutters. vs. UCLA, Aleah turned the corner multiple times and had a clear path to the hoop. That doesn't happen without the zone having to respect the 3. When they did try to help, Aleah did thinks like find Mack spotting up wide open - nobody even close to being able to rotate over. - While Talia does't appear particularly quick, she's unstoppable going to the rim against guards, as she can just bully players to the basket, and knows how to score at the rim. They have to send help if she goes - but the problem with helping on her is that she's very good at finding open players. So you not only have to player her deep, you can't pusher her towards the rim either. - Add to that she has our best FT% at 89%, and now we have two players on the floor that you absolutely cannot foul. She's just a really problematic player to game plan against. I don't think it's any coincidence that we're getting a lot more open looks at 3s, and defenders seem to be a lot less willing to help double/help off-screen defend Aleah when Talia is on the floor. And while Sasha has been really good, her 35% 3pt shooting just wasn't as big of a problem for teams to plan against. And nobody else has shot the 3 enough this year to stretch the D, although again with Talia on the floor, Mack is getting more looks as well, and been quite efficient (41.7%). Let's put it this way. Aleah is shooting an absolute absurd 52.1% from 3pt land, putting her 3rd in the nation. However, if Talia had enough shots in the books, her 48.1% would put her 5th in the nation - and a decent chunk of those have been really deep. Teams know that - and they have to gameplan for two top-5 3pt shooters! Maybe if we had Katie back this year, this team might have gelled earlier. Otherwise, we just weren't creating enough of a perimeter threat for our strengths to get daylight. Bottom line for me - no question she's been the secret ingredient. 3 pt leaders www.ncaa.com/stats/basketball-women/d1/current/individual/109 |
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Post by shelby on Feb 23, 2021 8:41:37 GMT -8
I watched the UCLA replay last night. Talias passing skills and 'touch' based on proximity to her targets are amazing.
As the team continues to gel, the targets are going to get much better at expecting and looking for her to feed the ball to them. She made several no look passes that were mishandled - nothing wrong on either end, just unexpected feed that even faked the target out. Once this gets cleaned up - watch out !
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Post by rmancarl on Feb 23, 2021 9:32:03 GMT -8
Listening to SR, he speaks like he expected this to happen regardless, once the team was able to get some games in. He has said that Talia helped for sure though (this is from the UCLA postgame: However, I personally think Talia has a lot more to do with it that what's been said. IMO, she's having somewhat of a Steph Curry effect. Specifically: - Her range is so deep that it really stretches the defense to an extreme. If you watch the shot that put OSU up 60-57, UCLA was in a zone that just wasn't comfortable extending that far, and it was uncontested. It's extremely difficult to play the top of a zone to 3 feet beyond the arch - it's exhausting. -Early in the season, teams were defending Taylor at the rim and defending the 3 point line, giving up the mid-range jumper. That was a recipe for success given we don't really have a lot of mid-range efficient scorers. However, instead of attacking at the middle of the zone and flexing it in, Talia forces defenders to go out that much further - and there's subsequently less help on cutters. - While Talia does't appear particularly quick, she's unstoppable going to the rim against guards, as she can just bully players there, and knows how to score at the rim. They have to send help if she goes - but the problem with helping on her is that she's very good at finding open players. So you not only have to player her deep, you can't pusher her towards the rim either. - Add to that she has our best FT% at 89%, and now we have two players on the floor that you absolutely cannot foul. She's just a really problematic player to game plan against. I don't think it's any coincidence that we're getting a lot more open looks at 3s, and defenders seem to be a lot less willing to help double/help off-screen defend Aleah when Talia is on the floor. And while Sasha has been really good, her 35% 3pt shooting just wasn't as big of a problem for teams to plan against. And nobody else has shot the 3 enough this year to stretch the D, although again with Talia on the floor, Mack is getting more looks as well, and been quite efficient (41.7%). Let's put it this way. Aleah is shooting an absolute absurd 52.1% from 3pt land, putting her 3rd in the nation. However, if Talia had enough shots in the books, her 48.1% would put her 5th in the nation - and a decent chunk of those have been really deep. Teams know that - and they have to gameplan for two top-5 3pt shooters! Maybe if we had Katie back this year, this team might have gelled earlier. Otherwise, we just weren't creating enough of a perimeter threat for our strengths to get daylight. Bottom line for me - no question she's been the secret ingredient. 3 pt leaders www.ncaa.com/stats/basketball-women/d1/current/individual/109Can I say, I always enjoy listening to SR. Aleah was quite enjoyable as well. Now that the Beavs are playing a bit better, I hate that the season is just about over already. |
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Post by qbeaver on Feb 23, 2021 14:37:04 GMT -8
TVO just makes everyone better. That is a rare find,and a skill in itself. She allows everyone to play their natural positions and in their comfort zone... the proof is in the pudding. 5-2 says a lot. TVO by her play never gives me the impression that the moment is too big for her. The sky is the limit.
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Post by markarmour04 on Feb 23, 2021 14:44:21 GMT -8
Talia has been great, but her biggest contribution is simply that they were one good player short. Their guard rotation is such that I am never disappointed by who is on the floor. Earlier in the season, when Aleah sat down I was watching through my fingers.
The biggest missing piece on this team right now is Kennedy Brown. Without that injury she's an all-Pac12 player this year and we would be a threat to just about anyone. Hope she recovers fully.
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hof99
Freshman
Posts: 182 
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Post by hof99 on Feb 23, 2021 15:23:12 GMT -8
She will - seems we are giving her all the time necessary to get back to 125% or wherever she is comfortable. In the meantime, she is getting a great education on next years team with her on the floor.
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