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Post by 411500 on Aug 21, 2017 7:51:03 GMT -8
This story caught my interest, so perhaps it will be somewhat interesting to others. What caught my eye about this story was what an elite high school talent Valerie Higgins was. I don't think Oregon State has EVER recruited a player with such outrageously great h.s. credentials. YET here she is after one year at USC - having started about half the games last season, scoring about 4 points per game - transferring to Pacific where she will join one of her h.s. teammates. A few things struck me in this article. The first is how much exceptional talent USC has stockpiled on their roster. Higgins would be the highest rated recruit in the history of OSU and she doesn't even start at USC. (Who knows the reasons for this, I sure don't). The second is the fickle relationship between h.s. talent and university performance. Higgins is a player who should have been university-ready the minute she walked on the floor at USC. Great athlete, great h.s. program, great attitude. Yet, she's one and done. Interesting. What all this means, I'm not sure. Probably not much more than I'm bored and restless - and somewhat irritated by the fact that the Beavs have not yet announced their schedule and I can't make my winter travel plans until they do. At any rate, for you WBB and out there here's an the story that made the day for every Pacific WBB fan. I know it would excite the hell out of Beaver fans if she transferred here. www.pacifictigers.com/sports/w-baskbl/2017-18/releases/20170819m56vuf |
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Post by bennyskid on Aug 21, 2017 8:25:08 GMT -8
USC is such a mess. The coach resigns (perhaps to avoid getting fired), they take *forever* to find a new coach (it must be soooo hard to get coaches interested in coming to USC), and they end up hiring the guy that they had forced out nine years before. Nothing that comes out of that school surprises me anymore.
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Post by beavershoopsfan on Aug 21, 2017 12:20:41 GMT -8
Valerie Higgins did have a stellar high school career at Chaminade Prep and a solid AAU career, finishing it out on a very memorable team (Cal Stars Nike Elite along with Kat Tudor) that captured the 2015 EYBL national title. I liked what I saw from Higgins earlier during her freshman season in '16-'17 prior to her getting hurt. I believe she suffered a sprained ACL that seemed to limit her quickness and vertical the remainder of the season. Higgins has never been a standout shooter. Her FG% (37.6%) and FT% (51.4%) as a freshman were no surprise to those who have seen her play during her youth. She handles the ball well for a 6'0" guard/wing and made a living prior to college getting her points in transition. I believe that the transfer of Mariya Moore from Louisville to USC may have played a significant role in Higgins' decision to transfer. Moore is the more dynamic and physical player of the two. Higgins played in the same AAU program that produced Moore and likely recognizes the writing that is on the wall. With Minyon Moore (Mariya's younger sister) being a fixture in the USC backcourt for the next three years, the ball is far more likely to wind up in Mariya's hands than be passed to Higgins. I really don't think that USC is as much of a mess as others may think it is. With a load of talent already on that roster and with the periennial opportunity to recruit prime talent in its own backyard, USC will be very good in '18-'19 if not next season. www.espn.com/high-school/girls-basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/197976www.maxpreps.com/athlete/valerie-higgins/iVvg5YRnEeW-8KA2nzwbTA/gendersport/girls-basketball-stats.htm |
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Post by 411500 on Aug 21, 2017 12:40:53 GMT -8
Solid info bhf - you always add a depthful touch that increases the information flow - in a good way.
Before I read your comments I did not draw the connection between Moore's transfer-in from Louisville and Higgins' transfer-out from USC, but it makes sense, at least on the face of it.
I'm with you on USC-is-not-in-bad-shape. For the past 3 years their players have that prime athlete look, the one that scares you during warm ups.
The Pac is gonna be loaded again this year.....Rueck needs to get impressive performances from his 3 incoming players....
Off topic - but not totally. I wonder if the delay in getting the pre-season schedule out is because of last minute efforts to finalize the contracts on the Biggie Game you have referred to a time or two....
Over and out........
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Post by beavershoopsfan on Aug 22, 2017 10:40:31 GMT -8
I saw the post below on the Bear Insider website for University of California women's basketball fans. Speculation on that site noted that with Jordan Adams being granted a sixth year of eligibility, there will be an even bigger logjam at guard for the Trojans next season. When the Benny's House posts/threads are slow in coming, bearinsider.com is often entertaining to find out how the Bears fans are feeling about the development and direction of that program. bearinsider.com/forums/showthread.php?108141-Pac-12-Transfer-out-of-USC-to-Pacific-Val-Higgins"Maybe the arrival of Mariya Moore had something to do with Val's decision to transfer. I'm also curious why she chose UOP. LMU and Pepperdine would be closer to home. With Mariya Moore transferring in and Jordan Adams given a 5th year, she could have easily been playing behind Moore, Moore, Adams, Edwards and Mazyick." |
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Post by believeinthebeavs on Aug 22, 2017 13:22:20 GMT -8
I can't see us signing another undergrad transfer, we will have nine returning players next year and adding our 4 freshmen, assuming they all sign, and Destiny will make 14. While we have one more scholarship to give out, Rueck has said that he likes 12 or maybe 13 players, otherwise the bench gets too long and not enough playing time to make everyone happy. Also makes for a difficult year or two when we lose 3-5 players a year back to back. This year we will find out what it is like to lose 9 in two years. |
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2ndGenBeaver
Sophomore
Posts: 1,837 
Grad Year: 1991 (MS/CS) 1999 (PhD/CS)
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Post by 2ndGenBeaver on Aug 23, 2017 9:52:17 GMT -8
I am really intrigued by this year's team.
On paper, the replacements are youthful but more highly ranked.
Likely this will come down to whether we can find that new emotional leader (Syd's role), and how quickly we gel.
Since the Pac-12 is loaded, I would not be surprised if we took a bit of a step back this season, but I also wouldn't be surprised if we remain an upper-echelon (top 2-3) team.
And we are setting up for some really talent-laden teams the next couple of years.
I guess I will distract myself with soccer, VBB, football until we get around to answering these intriguing questions.
I am also really surprised by how big the transfer option seems to be getting in WBB.
Go Beavers!
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Post by beavdowg on Aug 23, 2017 10:29:51 GMT -8
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I don't feel like we'll take much of a step back. I don't necessarily think we'll win the conference again but I bet we stay in that top 2-3. I believe that Rueck has created a program here where winning is the expectation and the reality so, though we won't be dominant again, my bet is that we are still near the top and at least a 2 rounder in the tourney.
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Post by 411500 on Aug 23, 2017 14:46:32 GMT -8
I'm with you 100% in hoping for a 2nd or 3rd place finish this year. That would probably get Rueck another COY award...
The PAC will be stronger top to bottom this year, with WSU & UO both likely to be significantly improved from their PAC-12 play last year.
Cal, UCLA, ASU & Stanford will again be VERY tough. No way to get around it - the PAC is loaded....
Here is what I try to remember: The team that got us to the Final Four had 3 future WNBA players; the team that got us to last year's Sweet 16 had one.
This year's team looks to me like it has none (at least right now). Don't pooh-pooh talent. Coaches can't win without it. Wooden himself said it many times.
The analyst's question for the Beavs this year: Where's the talent? And by that the Analyst means Big Time talent. Players that will be considered among the best in the conference.
The players that will end up in WNBA. The players who are in the running for conference POY and conference Def. POY...Who on this year's Beaver team do you see filling these Big Time jerseys?
Right now, at least as I see it, we need major jumps from KT Mac and Gulich - -if they develop impressively (not modestly) and M. Pivec improves continues to improve along her predicted trajectory, the Beavs will be tough. Really tough.
Along with this 3 player nucleus the Beavs then need impressive (and I mean really impressive) contributions from Tudor, Kalmer and Corosdale. If Goodman and Washington and for real we get bonus points and everyone's life gets a little easier.
So here it is August and we got this all mapped out. Sure !! Hey, it's August.
GO BEAVS.
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2ndGenBeaver
Sophomore
Posts: 1,837
Grad Year: 1991 (MS/CS) 1999 (PhD/CS)
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Post by 2ndGenBeaver on Aug 23, 2017 20:14:40 GMT -8
Great question 411500 - where's the Big Time talent? Note you forgot about a Big, and hopefully a talent in the form of Joanna Grymek. Here was my analysis a while ago, I still think this holds true: I agree that we have three Pac-12 starter-level talent McWilliams, Gulich and Pivec already identified..... My predictions for Orum-esque breakout potential (stack ranked): KTMac - She had quite the sophomore slump - it all started with that missed game winner against Marquette.....and then not seeing the court enough to define her role and get it out of her system. Well, no Syd this year, so I suspect we will see more of the KT that led us to 7-1 when Syd was out her freshman season, and I suspect we will see more games like the 29-pointer she had against Lamar. Been in the system long enough, coach's kid, length, speed, range, D ability..... Taylor Kalmer - one of the few Beavers who can create her own shot, is aggressive and "instant offense". I suspect what has kept her away from major minutes is 1) her D and 2) Gabby being relied on heavily by SR and eating all the minutes for perimeter D. While I loved Gabby's D, her O (even FTs) was a liability and allowed the opponents to adopt a "make Gabby prove she can beat us" mentality and help on Syd or anyone else not named Gabby. With Gabby moving on, there are some perimeter minutes to be had by guards who play D, and I suspect SR may have to rely on scoring more than shutdown D this season, making Taylor even more valuable. Taya Corosdale - I think comparisons of Deven Hunter with a better three shot will be coming our way soon thanks to Taya, but she *is* a frosh. Luckily, we have another physical forward to help in Maddie, but I put her later in the list just because of the limited body of work we have to go on.... Kat Tudor - there is a short twitter video out there of Kat working out with Syd in LA recently.....Kat has the right idea. I actually think Kat is very fundamentally solid (coming from the program she did, not much to doubt), and I like her length, speed down the court, nose for the ball (watch her positioning on rebounds), her energy level, and her outside shot. Develop a midrange, and the "get the defender to leave her feet at the 3 point line, take a dribble or two and nail the 15-17 footer" becomes a good weapon in the arsenal. Just needs to not rush those shots from the outside, but even with that, she displaced Jamie Scott from the #5 slot for made threes by a freshman......I debated putting her higher on this list. Maddie Washington - every time she was on the court for meaningful minutes, she made something good happen. Just weren't a lot of minutes. This was not the case with Kolbie (creating so much good) early on necessarily, giving me hope for early Orum-esque behavior emerging from Maddie, even as a soph. Love the motor, and just think she will figure much more prominently this season. I actually also hope Grymek just doesn't take too big of a step backward with the uplevel in talent she will face in the Pac-12. If she shoots 50% instead of 60% and still corrals the boards and blocks the shots, we will be among the top 4 or 5 teams: you can't coach 6'8". We need Janessa and Green to stay healthy and hopefully contribute some minutes. And I didn't put Goodman in the list, but note that Kelly Sopak (the AAU coach who has seen some serious talent on his teams) said Goodman was the "steal of the signing class", which gives me hope for some good contributions from her this season as well. We actually have huge potential to surprise this year, but I just think UCLA, Stanford, Cal, ASU, tsdtr, etc all have either a ton of incoming or returning talent as well, and by the time we get it all figured out, a few of them might get out to a long lead in terms of conference standings.......much as I abhor this comparison, I wouldn't be surprised if our season resembles that of the team down the road last year - good run at the end, bunch of "still figuring it out" games before that. As long as we still sweep them, all is well. On the flip side, pondering the talent while generating this loooong message gives me the flickering of hope that we might contend again if the pieces come together soon enough, especially with SR on the sidelines. Go Beavs! |
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Post by believeinthebeavs on Aug 24, 2017 20:55:45 GMT -8
Here is what I try to remember: The team that got us to the Final Four had 3 future WNBA players; the team that got us to last year's Sweet 16 had one. This year's team looks to me like it has none (at least right now). Don't pooh-pooh talent. Coaches can't win without it. Wooden himself said it many times. The analyst's question for the Beavs this year: Where's the talent? And by that the Analyst means Big Time talent. Players that will be considered among the best in the conference. The players that will end up in WNBA. The players who are in the running for conference POY and conference Def. POY...Who on this year's Beaver team do you see filling these Big Time jerseys? I think we have a lot of talent, it just needs to be developed. Exactly what had to happen to Ruth, Jamie, and Syd. Look at their stats from their freshman and even sophomore years. Not exactly stunning. I don't think very many people believed that they would develop into the players they did. There was a major jump in the entire team between the 13-14 and 14-15 seasons, seems they did something special that summer. Ruth came back leaner and meaner, Jamie picked up some muscle, and Syd settled down and started to shed some bad habits she had. The rest of the team made similar improvements. This new team we have now is going to have its own identity. I think they are going to be mentally tougher. I remember in the first couple games of last season, the first game Pivec and another player tied the ball up. The other player tried to pull the ball away after the whistle and ended up being hip tossed to the court. In another game soon after I saw the same thing happen, only this time it was with Tudor. Didn't matter, it was the same result. It reminded me of Jamie just with the dream of having them both on the court at the same time. I don't think it is going to be easy to throw this team off their game. There are going to be starting positions open that in the past couple of seasons weren't, and a lot of minutes for those who don't start. We may not have the star power but what chance has any of the players currently on the roster had, none because we had Jamie, Ruth, Syd etc. With just 10 players on the roster we are going to need to get production from all of them, especially if CR is able to get this team in the open court like he plans on. Fresh legs will be necessary. I think we are going to be OK this season, maybe it's just hopeless optimism, but I have faith in the coaching staff to coach up their players to be much better than expected. Marie is going to be better, hopefully develop her back to the basket game so she can be more effective at the low post. She is going to have more confidence in general. Mik is going to take a leadership role, she is the future. May even see her in the point guard role. She showed moments of brilliance last year, we are going to see much more of that this year. Katie will regain her confidence, I think we need to have her at a wing. She can play positions 1-4 and with a short bench she could be called upon to do so. She appears to be more comfortable in the wing position than the point. Kat is going to get the minutes needed to really feel comfortable. When she gets comfortable she is going to become a three point machine. It would be nice to see her come up with a few fakes but her quick release is amazing. Taylor is a fearless shooter. She will be a threat off the bench to score in bunches. Maddie will continue to inspire the team with her unbridled enthusiasm. She showed an ability to make something happen anytime she was on the court. She is a bit undersized for high post but she made it work for her last year, this year she could find herself there again. I would like to see what she does at the wing. Janessa is an unknown factor. I hope she is able to show us what she can do. Joanna has the size to be a dominant low post, doesn't look like it is easy to move her. She is going to improve her game in leaps and bounds under the tutelage of the best post coach in the country. Taya will be competing against Marie and Joanna for minutes and she will find plenty. These three are the new Marie/Kolby/Bre only with even more potential, way more potential. Taya will be a high post that can stretch the defenses with her ability to hit three point shots. She is also coming in with experience playing at a very high level and being successful. She will be asked to contribute and she will exceed expectations. Aleah is the wildcard, I think she is going to be able to contribute right away. She is a true point guard that by all accounts pushes herself at every chance. She showed in her senior year to be a very strong defender against some very high caliber opponents, keeping Westbrook in check. I believe she will be PG #2. Like every Rueck team, this one will be greater than the sum of it's parts. They are a family, they will find a way to win for each other. Their defense is going to be just as strong as ever, CR knows how to coach defense. The returners also have the advantage of learning from one of the best defensive players in Gabby, I'm sure she did everything she could to instill her knowledge to the younger players. She was not only good but was able to teach as well. |
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