Thoughts in the Aftermath of 2 Civil War W's
Jan 30, 2017 4:12:03 GMT -8
TheGlove, gnawitall, and 5 more like this
Post by 2ndGenBeaver on Jan 30, 2017 4:12:03 GMT -8
Some random thoughts....
The back-to-back format really feeds fan interest (in my mind), and led to 6000+ in Gill. These are the days we will fondly recollect in years to come (after SR has ridden off into the sunset, hopefully with some National Championship banners in the rafters and 4 figure win totals to his credit). And, for you young pups, Gill's rocking electric atmosphere was like that for all the men's games.....granted, with a more muddled sound system.
Oregon has been down, no doubt, so we have put together a great streak. No program with their facilities, finances and jealous determination stays down forever. It has nothing to do with SR's recruiting prowess. All streaks come to an end someday. Let's enjoy this one, but I think the end might sadly be coming in the next few seasons. They have good coaching (Mark "the tool" Campbell notwithstanding), and promising recruits.
SR is an insane recruiter. And a great coach. He is getting really, really good players. Players that can hold their own with (as last year showed) all but the UConns of the world. As this great coaching becomes more obvious (I would have bet a large sum of money before this season that we wouldn't be in the Top 10 or lead the Pac-12 at this point in the season) to recruits, he will put together that team, that year, with those special players equivalent to what Casey did with the baseball team.
I don't know why a Sabrina Ionescu or a Evina Westbrook wouldn't want to play here. Teenage minds are a mystery. But the good news is that Pivec, Tudor, Washington, Thropay, Corosdale, Grymek, Goodman, Mayhue, etc. all DO want to play here. I didn't go check the Stanford board after our first W ever down there, but I am sure there were voices bemoaning the fact SR beat them out for Pivec. And at least watching Ionescu, I noticed some things that make me wonder if there was a cultural mismatch that soured the conversation. I think SR recognizes that the culture, camaraderie and vibe his teams have created is larger than any one recruit, and some seemingly great players might self select away from his system, to the benefit of all.
If you want to see how genuine SR is - go back and watch the few seconds of the game down in Eugene after the game, *after* he shakes hands with Campbell. He visibly shakes off a "yeah, right" sort of reaction......I suspect Campbell said something like "good to see you again, Coach!" or "we'll get you next year!"........
Sydney Wiese is a great leader. We need to find the next great leader - I am sure we have good leaders in the wings, but I still maintain there will be a drop off in leadership absent that player. I know it won't approach the drop off we saw on the men's side with GPII's departure, but we will see it. That says less about our other players and more about Sydney.
Oregon appeared a little better than they are to us due to the fact Pivec and Tudor hit a plateau for both games. We beat Oregon twice despite not getting the 15 points per game those two were bringing to the party. You can see the progression - sophomore Kalmer recovered after 1 game, and came back with 6 points in 5 minutes, her norm. Expect Pivec and Tudor to find themselves again.
Man! The Pac-12 race is tight! There is no room for error, and I am nervous with the fact our freshmen are on a plateau......ASU has gotten roughed up these last few games and will be desperate to get back to winning ways. I keep hoping for a lower tier team to tag a L on Washington, UCLA or Stanford, but haven't gotten it yet.
I wasn't expecting us to contend for the Pac-12 regular season championship, so in my head the keys are still to stay out of day 1 play in the Pac-12 tournament, and to host the first 2 rounds of the NCAA tournament. Everything else is gravy......but that gravy smell is enticing!
I have really enjoyed the progression of the WBB program. I still remember watching the SR introductory press conference, thinking "we sure hit this hire out of the ball park, I hope he gets the 5+ years needed to turn this program around". Clearly, I still have a lot to learn about the game, since SR went from basically no program to the Final Four in about 5 years. Just like my kids are amazed I was in Gill when the likes of Gary Payton played, their kids will be jealous (if they are raised right) of this great time in Beaver basketball lore. And it keeps getting better........13 straight....love it!
Go Beavs!!!
The back-to-back format really feeds fan interest (in my mind), and led to 6000+ in Gill. These are the days we will fondly recollect in years to come (after SR has ridden off into the sunset, hopefully with some National Championship banners in the rafters and 4 figure win totals to his credit). And, for you young pups, Gill's rocking electric atmosphere was like that for all the men's games.....granted, with a more muddled sound system.
Oregon has been down, no doubt, so we have put together a great streak. No program with their facilities, finances and jealous determination stays down forever. It has nothing to do with SR's recruiting prowess. All streaks come to an end someday. Let's enjoy this one, but I think the end might sadly be coming in the next few seasons. They have good coaching (Mark "the tool" Campbell notwithstanding), and promising recruits.
SR is an insane recruiter. And a great coach. He is getting really, really good players. Players that can hold their own with (as last year showed) all but the UConns of the world. As this great coaching becomes more obvious (I would have bet a large sum of money before this season that we wouldn't be in the Top 10 or lead the Pac-12 at this point in the season) to recruits, he will put together that team, that year, with those special players equivalent to what Casey did with the baseball team.
I don't know why a Sabrina Ionescu or a Evina Westbrook wouldn't want to play here. Teenage minds are a mystery. But the good news is that Pivec, Tudor, Washington, Thropay, Corosdale, Grymek, Goodman, Mayhue, etc. all DO want to play here. I didn't go check the Stanford board after our first W ever down there, but I am sure there were voices bemoaning the fact SR beat them out for Pivec. And at least watching Ionescu, I noticed some things that make me wonder if there was a cultural mismatch that soured the conversation. I think SR recognizes that the culture, camaraderie and vibe his teams have created is larger than any one recruit, and some seemingly great players might self select away from his system, to the benefit of all.
If you want to see how genuine SR is - go back and watch the few seconds of the game down in Eugene after the game, *after* he shakes hands with Campbell. He visibly shakes off a "yeah, right" sort of reaction......I suspect Campbell said something like "good to see you again, Coach!" or "we'll get you next year!"........
Sydney Wiese is a great leader. We need to find the next great leader - I am sure we have good leaders in the wings, but I still maintain there will be a drop off in leadership absent that player. I know it won't approach the drop off we saw on the men's side with GPII's departure, but we will see it. That says less about our other players and more about Sydney.
Oregon appeared a little better than they are to us due to the fact Pivec and Tudor hit a plateau for both games. We beat Oregon twice despite not getting the 15 points per game those two were bringing to the party. You can see the progression - sophomore Kalmer recovered after 1 game, and came back with 6 points in 5 minutes, her norm. Expect Pivec and Tudor to find themselves again.
Man! The Pac-12 race is tight! There is no room for error, and I am nervous with the fact our freshmen are on a plateau......ASU has gotten roughed up these last few games and will be desperate to get back to winning ways. I keep hoping for a lower tier team to tag a L on Washington, UCLA or Stanford, but haven't gotten it yet.
I wasn't expecting us to contend for the Pac-12 regular season championship, so in my head the keys are still to stay out of day 1 play in the Pac-12 tournament, and to host the first 2 rounds of the NCAA tournament. Everything else is gravy......but that gravy smell is enticing!
I have really enjoyed the progression of the WBB program. I still remember watching the SR introductory press conference, thinking "we sure hit this hire out of the ball park, I hope he gets the 5+ years needed to turn this program around". Clearly, I still have a lot to learn about the game, since SR went from basically no program to the Final Four in about 5 years. Just like my kids are amazed I was in Gill when the likes of Gary Payton played, their kids will be jealous (if they are raised right) of this great time in Beaver basketball lore. And it keeps getting better........13 straight....love it!
Go Beavs!!!
