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Post by markwbeaver on Dec 18, 2023 11:14:27 GMT -8
Agreed on Dom. I really want to see more of her as the season unfolds.
I'm not sure she is faster than Jasmine Simmons was down the court, but Dom is the fastest we've seen in a few years. I enjoyed Simmons' time on the team, but she makes the point that speed isn't everything.
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Post by grayman on Dec 18, 2023 11:22:26 GMT -8
The Beav's are shooting an EFG% of 54.9, good for 14th in the country, and their opponents are shooting an EFG% of 37.1, good for 8th in the country. And on quickness/speed. The fans of every team in the country complains about how their teams are unathletic and slow. I've never heard a coach or player comment about how the other team was faster or more athletic. Really, it's not a thing. Paige Bueckers was asked about Uconn's speed on defense and she looked very impatient and said "it's got nothing to do with speed. It's about knowing where you are supposed to be, getting there when you are supposed to be there, watching your lanes, and playing with heart." I think every D1 coach in the country would agree with her. "95% of D1 players have all the speed they need to be good defenders". I can't remember if that's a Wooden or a Knight quote. I'm one of the few that agree with you about speed. It never hurts to have speed, but just because you have seed doesn't mean it helps. I haven't seen anybody on the floor this year for the Beavs who can get up and down the court as fast as Bendu did last season, but Bendu was always just an average player, especially offensively. She could drive to the hoop, but in her 5 years of playing college ball, she never became a great finisher at the basket. She'd beat me any day of the week, though. Team quickness is mostly about anticipation, being in the right place, and recognizing what is going on. I always think about Mik. She didn't have flashy speed or great jumping ability, but she was a great rebounder because she knew where to be, anticipated where the ball would come off the rim, and knew how to position herself. Basketball skills and "IQ" are very important but the very best players also have speed/quickness. Caitlyn Clark has both and is IMO the best college wbb player in the country by a pretty wide margin. Mik was far from slow and was a great athlete. A player with a little less speed/quickness can overcome it to a pretty high degree on offense. You can use a variety of fakes and lots of players have a quick enough first step on a drive to gain an advantage against a defender. I would put Talia in this category. She's way more effective once the half-court offense is set. She's not as effective trying to run with a fast team or trying to handle the ball against quicker defenders while bringing the ball down the court (which also invites double teams). As far as team speed, I saw LSU run past the Beavers like they were nothing last year. I saw Stanford do the same a couple years ago. If you want to go somewhere as far as getting into the tournament and then actually winning some games, team speed gives you a better chance. Especially now as opposed to 10 years ago. Anyway, I think adding Hunter, Shuler, Paurova and Rees has bumped up OSU's team speed noticeably, and that's a good thing.
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Post by lotrader on Dec 18, 2023 13:04:30 GMT -8
As Ralph Miller pointed out over & over the pass is the fastest way from backcourt to frontcourt. And one of the reasons I was so excited about Donovyn and Kennedie when I saw them in the HS Playoffs. Donovyn's/Kennedie's first instinct is push the ball quickly and best of all, both have their eyes downcourt with every intent to pass the ball vs dribble on the fast break.
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Post by grayman on Dec 18, 2023 13:16:35 GMT -8
As Ralph Miller pointed out over & over the pass is the fastest way from backcourt to frontcourt. And one of the reasons I was so excited about Donovyn and Kennedie when I saw them in the HS Playoffs. Donovyn's/Kennedie's first instinct is push the ball quickly and best of all, both have their eyes downcourt with every intent to pass the ball vs dribble on the fast break. It's nice to have point guards who can break one on one pressure on their own but yeah, it's great that Rueck has this team on top of getting the ball across midcourt with passes.
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Post by rmancarl on Dec 19, 2023 11:38:09 GMT -8
Following up on defending the 3. For the first 8 games, the Beavs are holding their opponents to .258 shooting from 3pt range. Yes, against overall weak teams, and that number will likely go up once they play a Pac12 schedule that has a lot of good 3pt shooters. It's a number to keep an eye on though. Here's the Beaver record the past 11 seasons and opponents 3pt percentage: 10-21 .318 24-11 .282 27-5 .292 32-5 .284 This season they also allowed the fewest attempts from 3 at 12.3 per game. This was the final four season. 31-5 .282 26-8 .289 26-8 .298 23-9 .294 12-8 .355 17-14 .304 13-18 .321
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