Friday games

[jonson]

My other observation from the AZ-OR game was that Oregon plays tough defense, and they play hard - hard like a championship team plays. Their intensity seemed higher than when I’ve seen them play last year and the year before. Like they have ‘learned’ to play hard.

I was particularl impressed with Cazorla. I never considered her to be very athletic, but she really gets after it, and on defense too. Nobody takes any plays off. I sort of sensed this is because that’s what Sabrina demands of her teammates. She is definitely the dominant personality

I agree. Oregon has come a long way defensively (and had a long way to come)--and they have matured. It's easy to forget how relatively young they were last year, and I think the Notre Dame game, especially, was an eye opener for the team. I also think that, until the recent injuries, the limited roster has been a plus. As for Cazorla, she seems to be sneaky fast at times, especially when driving to the rim. Maybe her generally placid demeanor is something of a disguise. Or maybe it's necessary to balance her backcourt partner. I'm sure there will be dissenters, but--when everyone is completely healthy--I think this is the best team to come out of the Pac 12 in a while, with Graves--and, again, I suspect I'm in a minority here--deserving more credit for how the team plays than he tends to receive.

 

[mbr33ct]

The stats I looked at last were not updated through last night's game, so Aari must have shot better than usual. But I'm not sure how you can say that Aari stats are better. They shoot the same overall from the field, but Arike is somewhat better from 3 and the FT line. Ari has more rebounds and slightly more assists, but she plays more minutes and has far more turnovers. Arike's assist/turnover ratio is far superior. Ari has more steals. At best it seems a wash.

But as you state, Aari shoots more than Arike, so if anyone is a gunner in this scenario, it's Aari. And Arike, while not a PG, has better PG stats.

Agree the stats are pretty much a wash from one another. I didn't really say McDonald's stats are better than Arike's. I mentioned if a "blind test" was conducted I would believe the majority would select McDonald's stat line over Arike's...reason, IMO the one overriding stat, at least for me, is the 24.9pts/gm for McDonald vs 21.3pts/gm for Arike. Otherwise, to my eyes they are both on same par with each other...just looking at their stats. Haven't seen McDonald play but next time I get the chance I will.

 

[j66kicker]

I agree. Oregon has come a long way defensively (and had a long way to come)--and they have matured. It's easy to forget how relatively young they were last year, and I think the Notre Dame game, especially, was an eye opener for the team. I also think that, until the recent injuries, the limited roster has been a plus. As for Cazorla, she seems to be sneaky fast at times, especially when driving to the rim. Maybe her generally placid demeanor is something of a disguise. Or maybe it's necessary to balance her backcourt partner. I'm sure there will be dissenters, but--when everyone is completely healthy--I think this is the best team to come out of the Pac 12 in a while, with Graves--and, again, I suspect I'm in a minority here--deserving more credit for how the team plays than he tends to receive.

Why wouldn’t Graves get the credit? He’s done a great job. Geez, this type of performance doesn’t just “happen itself.”

 

[Plebe]

My other observation from the AZ-OR game was that Oregon plays tough defense, and they play hard - hard like a championship team plays. Their intensity seemed higher than when I’ve seen them play last year and the year before. Like they have ‘learned’ to play hard.

I was particularl impressed with Cazorla. I never considered her to be very athletic, but she really gets after it, and on defense too. Nobody takes any plays off. I sort of sensed this is because that’s what Sabrina demands of her teammates. She is definitely the dominant personality

I really think that the turning point for Oregon's defense was their loss at Michigan State, where they gave up 88 points and allowed MSU to shoot 57%. Graves called out his team's lack of effort:

"They made a layup, they shot a wide open 3, or we fouled them. That was basically the whole game," Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. "We just kind of went through the motions defensively. We're not a very good defensive team anyway, and when you play with that kind of effort, that's what's going to happen."​

In Pac-12 play they have only given up 62 points per game, which represents a huge improvement.

 

[triaddukefan]

where is the saturday game thread @Plebe

 

[Plebe]

where is the saturday game thread @Plebe

View attachment 40387

Ha I'm working on it. Was watching the UConn game. It'll be up in about 5 minutes.

 

[nwhoopfan]

But as you state, Aari shoots more than Arike, so if anyone is a gunner in this scenario, it's Aari.

Arike has Shepard, Mabrey, Young and Turner next to her in the starting lineup. Aari has...not much. The fact that Arike is shooting nearly as often as Aari despite having all that talent next to her should tell you something.