|
|
Post by beaveragain on Dec 12, 2021 21:15:44 GMT -8
Villanova has been without their best player, Maddy. In the two games Maddy has been back she is averaging over 30 points a game. This is not the same team as it was before. Don't know how good they will end up, but it is a very different team from how it has been.
If the Beav's guards can hit some shots it will be a very good team indeed. 1/11 from the three is not going to be the norm for this group.
And on all of this quickness worship, Paige and Clark are arguably the best two PG's in college ball currently. Which one would you claim is "quick"?
Adams is plenty quick, but her game is best when she slows it down and plays under control.
|
|
beavsteve
Freshman
Posts: 985 
Member is Online
|
Post by beavsteve on Dec 12, 2021 23:20:15 GMT -8
This team will be VERY good in ‘23-‘24! Final 4 material. Tea will be gone and neither of the freshman guards coming in can be expected to take over the PG position. Either Talia or Greta needs to become a solid point guard and inject some energy or we are in danger of having the same problem next year. |
|
|
|
Post by lotrader on Dec 13, 2021 6:20:59 GMT -8
Villanova has been without their best player, Maddy. In the two games Maddy has been back she is averaging over 30 points a game. This is not the same team as it was before. Don't know how good they will end up, but it is a very different team from how it has been. If the Beav's guards can hit some shots it will be a very good team indeed. 1/11 from the three is not going to be the norm for this group. And on all of this quickness worship, Paige and Clark are arguably the best two PG's in college ball currently. Which one would you claim is "quick"? Adams is plenty quick, but her game is best when she slows it down and plays under control. Clark & Bueckers are both far "quicker" than TvO, and, have much better handles (dribbling skills). Have you watched an Iowa or UCONN games lately? Both Clark and Bueckers run the floor like gazelles. Tea Adams did very well when she came into the game. I'm afraid we would have lost by 10+ had Tea Adams remained on the bench. |
|
|
|
Post by sparty on Dec 13, 2021 7:16:13 GMT -8
This team will be VERY good in ‘23-‘24! Final 4 material. Tea will be gone and neither of the freshman guards coming in can be expected to take over the PG position. Either Talia or Greta needs to become a solid point guard and inject some energy or we are in danger of having the same problem next year. The portal is your friend in situations like this. It is to fill holes in your recruiting cycles. |
|
|
|
Post by Judge Smails on Dec 13, 2021 9:10:20 GMT -8
It means we’ll have trouble ever getting back to the final 4. And it is such an easy thing to do. So that's where you put the bar. Have you ever been in the top 4 in the country in anything? Does it matter that Rueck does a great job recruiting and developing phenomenal young women that think of others and not just themselves. And he coaches up these players so that a mid 60 ranked player can be drafted in the wnba, he actually has a decent record of his players continuing play after college. Players that I'd want my daughter or son to look up to. In that time we did have an elite 8 and at least one sweet sixteen, does that count for anything? Why do we have a football team? Do you think they will ever make the top 4 at the end of the season? I'd bet that we'd experience the next ice age before that happens. Or how about the men's basketball team? Volleyball, wrestling, track and field, cross country, softball? The Men's BB team was one game away from the final 4 last year. They suck this year and people already want Tinkle fired. But, I guess Rueck just gets a pass because his players are "good people" His trajectory is not going in the right direction. I've said that could change in the next couple of years with the recruits coming in, but the league is a lot tougher than it was 4-5 years ago. |
|
|
|
Post by beaversrock on Dec 13, 2021 9:16:04 GMT -8
I agree with you about Rueck but to compare him to Tinkle is a joke. Rueck has a winning record both total games and Pac-12. Has won 3 season long Pac-12 titles. Tinkle has a 6 game sample size that you Tinkle apologists use at every opportunity. Rueck can recruit but has not recruited speed in the back court. Tinkle cant recruit. I do think Rueck can turn it around with an emphasis on quickness in the back court. Tinkle is a waste of energy to believe in.
|
|
|
|
Post by ricke71 on Dec 13, 2021 9:22:07 GMT -8
Tea will be gone and neither of the freshman guards coming in can be expected to take over the PG position. Either Talia or Greta needs to become a solid point guard and inject some energy or we are in danger of having the same problem next year. The portal is your friend in situations like this. It is to fill holes in your recruiting cycles. original comment referenced '23-'24, not '22-'23 ...so, PORTAL (which has a built-in advantage, since it means a more experienced D-1 player)....or is it still possible that the Class of '23 will include a talented Freshman PG? |
|
|
|
Post by beaverwbb fan on Dec 13, 2021 9:29:02 GMT -8
My thoughts:
1. The biggest factor for next years team will be whether or not the staff can land a really good guard out of the transfer portal. Expectations were really high coming into this season, which was a bit surprising considering how heavily the team would be leaning on two freshmen guards. Not all freshmen are ready from day one and it looks like a beneficial situation for Greta would have been one where she gets to ease into things. Adams and Codding were good, but not great mid-major players, which was a sign that they wouldn't be impact players at the Pac-12 level. Need to get a high-level guard for next season.
2. Sasha and Aleah were both able to create opportunities for themselves (and Aleah for others) relatively consistently and we haven't been able to do that this year.
3. Recruiting. Scott had been struggling a bit to recruit top level guards resulting one really impactful guard in the 2017, 2018, and 2019 classes (and now 2020) combined -- Aleah. That's pretty dreadful and has led to the lack of experience this year. Has also resulted in people playing out of position (SG playing PG, SF playing SG, PF playing SF, etc.). That was a major issue last year that was mostly corrected when Talia arrived and moved Sasha to SF and Ellie/Taya to PF. 2024 will be an important recruiting year for guards with Blakes, Olson, Spreen, and Gibb, but we'll need the transfer portal these next few years.
4. If we can start knocking down the three consistently (like last season) and tighten up some other areas, I still think we could be an upper half Pac-12 team.
|
|
|
|
Post by rmancarl on Dec 13, 2021 9:44:52 GMT -8
Wow, so most everyone has given up on Talia as a point guard?! All because of quickness? Seriously, Talia would be great as a two guard, but that doesn't mean she can't play point. Take a look at recent OSU point guards and other than Destiny, who was so much quicker than Talia that you could actually tell a difference? Mik? Aleah? Syd? Katie Mac? The real key is having someone to pass the ball to that can be a danger to the other team. When Talia gets doubled, there isn't another guard/wing that is productive enough right now to hurt the other team. Until someone can start hurting the other team, Talia is going to get doubled.
As for Tea handling the pressure, duh, she's played college ball for four years. She's started three years. That's why my initial guess at starting lineup for the Beavs would be Tea and Talia in the backcourt. I still think that is the best combo most of the time, but if you had someone at the 3 who could give offensive production that would make a world of difference.
I would have really loved to see this team with Aleah, Sasha, and Talia as your starting guards/wings with Taylor and Kennedy and Jelena, Taya, and Ellie up front.
|
|
|
|
Post by shelby on Dec 13, 2021 9:49:08 GMT -8
Thank you for that well reasoned and factual response. I also love the touch of optimism.
I think, at some point, Coach Rueck was all in on going big ( to the extent of bypassing point guard types )... this may be me reading too much into the actual situation.
However, if I was a point guard, and had the transfer portal available to me - OSU would be among one of my top targets.
Tea has shown the most promise , but her efforts have gone for naught because we can't hit kick out shots AND, we can't even finish easy shots at the hoop .
The turnovers are approaching the point of obscene as TVO, Greta and others are unable to control the dribble or penetrate.
Hitting the three , like last season,, would feel 'magical', after this year's poor start.
Still, obviously a strong supporter of wbb , but loaded with disappointment at this point .
Go Beavers !
|
|
|
|
Post by lotrader on Dec 13, 2021 9:54:21 GMT -8
My point has nothing to do with who starts in the backcourt...but when in game we have a quick defensive team double teaming/trapping our freshman guards, and they can't handle this pressure, we need to bring in Tea quicker to relieve the pressure. Tea did a great job making Villanova pay for pressing, double teaming. They could not trap her, and a couple of times Tea drove the entire length of the court and got to the hoop. Just have to get smarter with which players we put on the floor depending how we are being defended.
|
|
|
|
Post by mordecait4 on Dec 13, 2021 10:04:27 GMT -8
I hope that this upcoming Pac12 conference season is an anomaly and not a downtrend. I envision our team being on the wrong end of some serious blowouts. And while we aren’t a fast team have we ever been? Or is it a product of Scott’s half court offense? Can’t worry about players we don’t have and coach up those we have. I’m just thankful to watch games in person again.
|
|
2ndGenBeaver
Sophomore
Posts: 1,830
Grad Year: 1991 (MS/CS) 1999 (PhD/CS)
|
Post by 2ndGenBeaver on Dec 13, 2021 10:31:08 GMT -8
What effect does losing 2 assistant coaches have on the state of the program? I actually think this is a key difference in our start this year. I pointed out that we have gone from very high-octane assistants (like Katie) who was out-cheering the players on the bench to folks who are.......well, very reserved. I actually think that has made a difference in our start. And I am also concerned about some of what a top notch "big" (Big Sky Conference MVP, top 5 scorer in history at her school) like Katie was teaching to our post players missing going forward. For example, the one area Jalena needs to improve in (and note, I too think she was one of the bright, shining stars on this road trip) is awareness of where she is in the paint. She has the ability and range to go straight up on some rebounds, and on some she is too far under the rim, and her dribbling after getting the ball via pass or rebound (I think) is to reacquire situational awareness of where she is with respect to the rim (players like Taylor who lived close to the basket their entire career seem to have that innately). I know Katie's background would lend to developing more of that positional awareness - will our current assistant coaches be able to provide that? Those 2 assistants were doing amazing work, so it is a big area to be filled in! Both Jenny and Deven have their strengths and are well regarded and thought of, but there is certainly a "settling in" process...... Go Beavers! |
|
|
|
Post by beaverstever on Dec 13, 2021 10:38:26 GMT -8
The hand-wringing is strong here.
I did not catch the game, so I can only go by the stats sheet. TvO had 1 TO (and 2 assists on a terrible team shooting night), so weird that she's being blamed for the TO margin. Taya and Greta were the TO machines; one is a frosh that is learning about east-coast defensive aggression, and the other is probably trying to be a senior leader in a game that's going poorly.
There's no doubt they stunk it up on this road trip. They also stunk it up in their last game of the season last year that was a similar road trip (against a much better team obviously, but that also had quick guards that worked us over and where we couldn't hit the broad side of a barn).
The trip was a dose of reality of the NCAA tourney experience, and we again seemed to thing the court dimensions were different than Gill. Only getting out on the road and experiencing that will help fix that issue.
As for the Rueck trend, maybe a reminder that Tara VanDerveer had an incredible start to her career where she basically did no worse than Elite 8 for a decade and won 2 titles. She followed that up with a decade where she couldn't do better than the Elite 8, and had lots of first and 2nd round exits. There were lots of chatter at times about the game passing her by as well. And btw, I don't recall their championship team last year having a lot of real quick players; I do recall them having a ton of length though.
Meanwhile, Rueck hasn't had a single missed NCAA tourney, nor a first-round exit since he first got his team to the post-season in his 4th year, and had his team well positioned last year to make at least the sweet 16 (and I was thinking Elite 8 was likely entering the tourney) if it wasn't for crappy seeding that was undeserved, particularly given their team's Covid impact.
No question this team has issues, but count me as one that has confidence SR will figure it out.
|
|
|
|
Post by beaversrock on Dec 13, 2021 11:00:44 GMT -8
Williams and Wilson are extremely quick and the twins would be the quickest players on our team. Stanford was much quicker than us and yes also long
|
|
