#1 Notre Dame vs. #9 Oregon State

[LoTrader]

But ND isn't just going to stand still and not get any better over the next 100 days. They will be even more experienced 1-5, especially more experienced playing with each other. They should be "wicked good" by then.

Agreed that ND could be better, but they have all been playing together for quite some time. I hope OSU & ND meet again this season in the NCAA tournament.

 

[PAC-12HoopFan]

I’ve witnessed her execute dirty plays before in other games. When a rebounder goes up high for a rebound, she’ll bend down and go into their legs and upend them. Very dangerous play. Seen her do it a couple times.

Arike's antics during the first half of the championship game were actually worse than has been inaccurately reported in the media accounts of what transpired near the end of the first half. Arike was fouled on a drive to the basket by OSU's Janessa Thropay as both players fell to the floor. It was actually Arike who kicked at the head of Thropay rather than the other way around as was incorrectly reported in the AP release. Thropay's head was facing away from Arike and appeared to move as Arike extended her foot into Thropay's head.

The video review by the refs following the foul that was called on Thropay also looked at the prior Arike elbow that had knocked Thropay to the floor at the opposite end of the court on the previous OSU possession. During the review timeout, Arike attempted to view the screen that the refs were viewing and was asked to return to her team's huddle. It was apparent that Arike was worried that the video review would result in a Flagrant 1 or 2 call. She was lucky that her kick to Thropay's head was ruled as "incidental." It certainly appeared from my vantage point that it was intentional as well as the elbow that she had connected with on the other end of the court. The refs had to call the Arike elbow on the prior possession an "unsportsmanlike" act and rightfully did so. If Arike wasn't the star that she has become, the refs would have been more likely to eject her for one or both of those incidents.

Arike will mess up again at some point this season with her behavior and the refs will give her less benefit of the doubt at that time. The word has been out on her for a while now.

 

[CocoHusky]

Arike's antics during the first half of the championship game were actually worse than has been inaccurately reported in the media accounts of what transpired near the end of the first half. Arike was fouled on a drive to the basket by OSU's Janessa Thropay as both players fell to the floor. It was actually Arike who kicked at the head of Thropay rather than the other way around as was incorrectly reported in the AP release. Thropay's head was facing away from Arike and appeared to move as Arike extended her foot into Thropay's head.

The video review by the refs following the foul that was called on Thropay looked at the prior Arike elbow that had knocked Thropay to the floor at the opposite end of the court on the previous OSU possession. During the review timeout, Arike attempted to view the screen that the refs were viewing and was asked to return to her team's huddle. It was apparent that Arike was worried that the video review would result in a Flagrant 1 or 2 call. She was lucky that her kick to Thropay's head was ruled as "incidental." It certainly appeared from my vantage point that it was intentional as well as the elbow that she had connected with on the other end of the court. The refs had to call the Arike elbow on the prior possession an "unsportsmanlike" act and rightfully did so. If Arike wasn't the star that she has become, the refs would have been more likely to eject her for one or both of those incidents.

Arike will mess up again at some point this season with her behavior and the refs will give her less benefit of the doubt at that time. The word has been out on her for a while now.

I still have not seen these videos yet but let me get this one part of YOUR story straight; there was a video review of a kick to the head which was ruled "incidental"?
Does your vantage point really matter after that?

 

[Orangutan]

Agreed that ND could be better, but they have all been playing together for quite some time. I hope OSU & ND meet again this season in the NCAA tournament.

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.

 

[willtalk]

I still have not seen these videos yet but let me get this one part of YOUR story straight; there was a video review of a kick to the head which was ruled "incidental"?
Does your vantage point really matter after that?

While in context to the game the non call doesn't matter, however in respect to Arike's behavior it does. The previous posts were in context to her behavior and dirty play not to the outcome of the game. From my perspective it boiled down to intent. She did hit Thropay in the head with her foot. When that happened the were both stationary on the ground and Arike moved her leg inward and hit Thropay in the head. Even the ND announcer mentioned it as a possible T. It was certainly possible that it was accidental rather than incidental ( incidental is within context of normal play but this was after the play was over). But It also was possible that it was on purpose. I believe the officials might have been somewhat swayed by the fact that that would have given her two T's and forced her ejection so they gave her the benefit of the doubt.

All in all, in context with the direction of the thread Pac 12 fans post was not out of line. They just pointed out their own observation of another factor of negative behavior Arike exhibited in that same game.

 

[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.