#1 Notre Dame vs. #9 Oregon State

[LoTrader]

Oregon St. could certainly win a rematch just as they could have won this game. They always play ND tough. That being said...

It was the first ever game for the starting 5 of Mabrey-Ogunbowale-Young-Shepard-Turner. Only the 5th game together for the frontcourt tandem of Shepard & Turner.

Notre Dame is still figuring some things out, too, especially defensively. They ended up in the zone out of necessity last year. Now ND has Turner as a rim protector again, which makes man more viable, but the execution of the man-to-man defense needs work. Playing good teams like Oregon State that have multiple weapons and good shooters will help.

Not sure how Rueck is going to "solve" the 5 position unless Aquino is able to play. But even then you're counting on a true freshman and she is missing out now on valuable experience. Rueck is a great coach but it seems like he is limited by the quality of the personnel in that department.

You are absolutely right. Rueck needs to make a decision NOW about the 5. If he doesn't change the current strategy with the 5, OSU won't win PAC12, and will be vulnerable in every NCAA TOURNAMENT game.

 

[Plebe]

I thought I pointed out that Pitt was not good, only better than last season. I was impressed that they only lost to a pretty good UCF team by 3. Last season they finished 10-20, but maybe this season they will do worse? Perhaps I'm weighing that UCF game too heavily. I didn't assess every ACC team, and yes, Wake Forest looks terrible. I doubt they will match last season's 14-17 record. But I think BC is much better. It's true that their schedule has been very weak, but they have been destroying that competition, which says something. Their only game they did not win by at least 20 points was @Houston (64-57). Their Massey rating has climbed to 70th, which is great for them! Last season they finished ranked 212th in Massey.

Just a follow-up data point on Boston College: They lost at home tonight to Providence, which was picked to finish 9th out of 10 teams in the Big East. Granted, Providence may well be better than expected, seeing that they've taken close losses to Penn State and Quinnipiac.

 

[Fightin Choke]

Just a follow-up data point on Boston College: They lost at home tonight to Providence, which was picked to finish 9th out of 10 teams in the Big East. Granted, Providence may well be better than expected, seeing that they've taken close losses to Penn State and Quinnipiac.

This is certainly a data point that does not fit my narrative. We will see if it it is an outlier or a harbinger of doom soon. BC escaped the B1G/ACC challenge, but hosts #20 Minnesota on 12/9.

 

[HopJim]

Notre Dame looks to have no more of a bench than UConn. Coombs is just as good as, if not better than, Gilbert and Prohaska. Nelson-Ododa and Camara are just as good as Patterson, Cosgrove, and Vaughn. Muffet just uses her bench more.

ND and UConn's bench have about the same skills? Wish you were correct

 

[DaBball]

ND and UConn's bench have about the same skills? Wish you were correct

How not? Maybe I’m higher than most on ONO and Coombs, but I think those two are as good as anyone ND brings off the bench.