Maui Classic games

Nice game by Greta. 5/6 from the field, 3/4 from 3. 2 blocks, 4 rebounds, 2 assists. Stepped right up and hit some key shots in 4Q.

Well considering that we missed a bunch of point blank shots again, and fired up a bunch of air-ball 3's, and our post players kept putting the ball on the floor and getting the ball batted away ....I would say this was a pretty solid win against a good team. Greta saved us by making 3 of her 4 3's, and Corosdale was excellent tonight....she was moving really well on the court and creating havoc on defense blocking shots and was solid offensively including a great quick post move where she faked one-way--turned the other way and scored and also making a clutch 3 in the 4th Q when N-Iowa was rallying. If they could just start making more of those point blank shots and get their 3-pt mojo back then I think we could make some noise in the Pac-12 again this year.

You pretty much summed up what it will take for the Beavs to "make some noise". Hit a higher percentage of 3's and sink the point blank shots. The defense looked great, but I'll be curious to see how well they can get out on the 3 point shooters once Pac-12 play begins. That will be a key. So far, it's looked like just about every team has out hustled the Beavs, but I think much of that is the Beaver players doing their job and staying in their lanes, and sticking with their assignment.

I'll agree with you on Taya, although only credit for one rebound. If Greta can play like that during Pac-12 play, that would be a game changer.

I'll say this again, this team is passing the ball much better than the beginning of the season. If they can keep that improvement going, things will really be looking up. I'm not convinced yet this team is ready for Colorado and Utah, but I think they could be by the time they arrive. 

We are passing better, but it is over much shorter defenders in the past 2 games. Some of those passes cross court will be tipped/stolen by better defending teams. But the Beavers are playing better, and can see their confidence growing as they get more time on the floor with each other. AJ and Jelena saw very little PT tonight...wonder why? Emily Codding isn't taking advantage of the time the coaches have given to her. Too many wide open shots that don't hit the rim. Once the rotation gets shortened, I'm not sure she is going to get many minutes. I have been impressed with Noel Mannen when she is in the game--she does make the most of her minutes.

Did you ever seriously think we were in danger of losing? Basketball is a game of runs - one team starts making a few shots, the other team goes cold. Then, a little bit later, it's reversed. Generally, we had a double digit lead most of the way, and we answered their runs. Held them to 34.4% shooting, outboarded them by 9 (in spite of them getting a bunch of offensive rebounds on long caroms off the rim), and blocked 9 of their shots.

If we played them again, it would be the same story. Maybe a few of our good looking 3's go in instead of popping out, and we beat them by 20. If we played them a 3rd, 4th, and 5th time, we'd beat them by double digits then too. Yes, indeed, they were overmatched.

Talia is an talented player offensively who has the potential to score 2,000+ points during her OSU career. She effectively hunts shots and is wise beyond her years as to how to score. She is a better shooter than what we have seen (38% from the field and 32% from distance) from her this season through the first 10 games. She is finding out what it is like to be a focus of an opponent's scouting report.

Talia needs to clean up her ball handling and passing habits that have resulted in her averaging 3.8 turnovers per game and an assist-to-turnover ratio of less than 1.0 (currently 0.87) so far this season. Her distribution numbers aren't the numbers of a successful point guard at this phase of her career. I like the fact that Rueck has allowed Greta and Tea to initiate the offense so that Talia can share the burden of being a playmaker with teammates who appear to be better suited to play the one position. 

A few thoughts:

— All in all, that was a very solid win. After losses to Villanova, Notre Dame, and Michigan, OSU sorely needed a win against a team with a solid NET ranking, and UNI was that (No. 41 entering yesterday's game). They're a solid, skilled mid-major team with some experienced pieces (four of their top five scorers are playing either their fourth or fifth season there). They didn't have a great big, but a few strong and quick guards and forwards helped make up for it. They took a really good Iowa St. team to the very end a few games ago.

— It would have been nice to see OSU put them away earlier (they managed to get within 7 with 6:42 left and 8 with 3:54 left), but it was nice to see OSU converting down the stretch late in the game with some inside passes to Jones and Greta and Taya (who had numerous rim around and drop out) hitting threes. We missed some defensive rebounds that we needed to secure late in the game that resulted in free throws or kick out three pointers for UNI. Jones was visibly frustrated with Mack for missing one at one point in the fourth quarter. UNI is a solid rebounding team and OSU managed to end the game +9 on the glass.

— I think Téa Adams will be an important key to Pac-12 success. I seem to trust her more than Talia handling the ball, so I like that Rueck has put her into the starting lineup and gotten her more minutes. She makes things happens and averaged six assists to two turnovers in 20 minutes in our two games on Maui. Early in the year she was only being used as a sub for Talia, and our offense wasn't quite as good with her out there because it isn't as good when Talia is on the bench.

— As someone mentioned, I can't recall a season with so much uncertainty in the rotation at this point in the season in recent memory. It'll be interesting to see if Scott sticks with this starting lineup in which, IMO, everyone is playing their natural, best-suited position. Greta emerged as a consistent, reliable three-point threat in Maui which will hopefully hold true this season. As a team I thought we got some really good looks from three—we'll need those to fall during Pac-12 play.