Friday night lights: Big East and Pac-12 action

[WestsideWaltz]

Now that’s an upset!

Sabrina, pushes her teammate after she gives up offensive rebound with 10 seconds left, then throws a temper tantrum and walks towards locker room. A complete meltdown for Oregon in the 2nd half.

Sabrina came back for the handshake line, albeit while shaking her head. And I rewatched the final seconds and she did indeed give some not friendly contact to Gildon after she allowed Burke the rebound.

Golden Girl got a few flecks peeled off tonight. But I do think that whatever the season result, that's it for her at Oregon. She's WNBA bound and she should be.

 

[kenja]

Oh good grief, Charlie! It will sort itself out during the conference tournaments just as it always was going to do anyway. Bracketology is a dog and pony show. And don't be all surprised if last year's Final 4 teams return to Tampa despite the "7 to 9 teams" blather. They aren't going to put any of those teams in the same regional because the NCAA/ESPN want those 4, or Baylor, to go far. Not to mention they're the best teams.

 

[TheFarmFan]

Tonight demonstrated just how deep and competitive the PAC-12 is. On any night, 9 of the 12 teams can threaten any other team. Hurts the conference's chances for a 1 seed, but definitely makes for weekly conference excitement. The conference tournament this year will just be brutal - no easy matches from final 8 on.

 

[Plebe]

What happened? Did coach make the mistake of reminding them that Hebard was missing during halftime? This just looked like a complete meltdown in the second half.

And for Oregon it doesn't really matter if they get a first or second seed as long as they are seeded above the rest of the Pac12 - they will be in the Portland region

It's one thing to play well without your interior anchor for 20 minutes. It's another to do it for 40.

Aside from just points and rebounds, it cannot be overstated what a stabilizing influence Hebard has on this team.

 

[bballnut90]

Wow lots of upsets tonight. Not to hijack the thread but this puts more pressure on Tennessee now that bubble teams UCLA, Cal, Butler, and Utah all won. UCLA should be a lock now, Cal's resume got stronger, Butler may be in the mix and Utah is right there too.

Also worth noting is Indiana could jump Tennessee with their statement win over Iowa last night.


Oregon should be on the outside looking in for a top seed now. The committe historically isnt forgiving when teams lose largely due to a star being out (see South Carolina last year). Theyll likely still be in Portland unless OSU goes on a surge and wins the Pac-12 tourney.

Marquette is now dropping to a 4 or 5 seed IMO. They're great when they're on but their resume doesnt scream top 4 seed right now, especially with the recent losses.

Such a hot mess of unpredictability in women's basketball this year. It has been a ton of fun.

 

[bbballfan23]

Tonight demonstrated just how deep and competitive the PAC-12 is. On any night, 9 of the 12 teams can threaten any other team. Hurts the conference's chances for a 1 seed, but definitely makes for weekly conference excitement. The conference tournament this year will just be brutal - no easy matches from final 8 on.

Pac-12 is good but let’s not make an excuse for Oregon. Albeit, without Hebard but you’re a top 4 team & have supposedly the clear cut best player in the country & lose to unranked team at home after being up 22!? Bad bad bad.

 

[Plebe]

Wow lots of upsets tonight. Not to hijack the thread but this puts more pressure on Tennessee now that bubble teams UCLA, Cal, Butler, and Utah all won. UCLA should be a lock now, Cal's resume got stronger, Butler may be in the mix and Utah is right there too.

Also worth noting is Indiana could jump Tennessee with their statement win over Iowa last night.

Good points. The bubble did just get stronger in the last two days. I still think Tennessee's in decent shape with its wins over Missouri and Texas. But yeah, the margin for missteps has narrowed.

Oregon should be on the outside looking in for a top seed now. The committe historically isnt forgiving when teams lose largely due to a star being out (see South Carolina last year). Theyll likely still be in Portland unless OSU goes on a surge and wins the Pac-12 tourney.

Not sure I'm quite on board with the point about SC. I suppose you're referring to their two losses to Tennessee when Wilson didn't play. But they were still given a #2 seed in the tournament, and it's not clear to me that their placement was downgraded by those two losses.

 

[TheFarmFan]

Pac-12 is good but let’s not make an excuse for Oregon. Albeit, without Hebard but you’re a top 4 team & have supposedly the clear cut best player in the country & lose to unranked team at home after being up 22!? Bad bad bad.

Ok, but according to Massey, UCLA is 26th in the country - second best AAC team after UConn is all the way down at #44. So Oregon's playing 8 teams in the top 50, most of them twice, and UConn is playing one, UCF. That's it.

I totally agree with you that Oregon needs to find a way to win, but UCLA is a legit team that failed to put it all together in a single game - until tonight. Just ask every SEC and ACC team this season how hard it is to run the table when you're playing good teams week in, week out. It's not surprising to me that Baylor and UConn are now #1 and #2 - they're the two teams that face almost no serious conference competition. Again, that doesn't excuse Oregon for losing when it shouldn't have, but it does serve as a reminder that when you play a lot of extremely solid teams in a row, eventually you will run out of gas or have an off night. PAC-12 doesn't forgive that in the way that some conferences do.

 

[maccca3232]

Sabrina came back for the handshake line, albeit while shaking her head. And I rewatched the final seconds and she did indeed give some not friendly contact to Gildon after she allowed Burke the rebound.

Golden Girl got a few flecks peeled off tonight. But I do think that whatever the season result, that's it for her at Oregon. She's WNBA bound and she should be.

Looked like Sabrina was already annoyed at Gildon for not intentionally fouling a little earlier which forced Sabrina to commit her 4th foul, then on that missed rebound Sabrina again had to intentionally foul and therefore fouled out. Gildon had zero fouls.

 

[Plebe]

Looked like Sabrina she was already annoyed at Gildon for not intentionally fouling a little earlier which forced Sabrina to commit her 4th foul, then on that missed rebound Sabrina again had to intentionally foul and therefore fouled out. Gildon had zero fouls.

Which is ironic because Gildon typically has a hard time NOT fouling in her usually limited minutes.

 

[Dokey]

Tonight demonstrated just how deep and competitive the PAC-12 is. On any night, 9 of the 12 teams can threaten any other team. Hurts the conference's chances for a 1 seed, but definitely makes for weekly conference excitement. The conference tournament this year will just be brutal - no easy matches from final 8 on.

Make that 10 now that Kennedy Leonard at Colorado is back from injury. Even with her out, they nearly took down Stanford. No one gets out of Pac-12 unscathed.

 

[LETTERL]

Tonight demonstrated just how deep and competitive the PAC-12 is. On any night, 9 of the 12 teams can threaten any other team. Hurts the conference's chances for a 1 seed, but definitely makes for weekly conference excitement. The conference tournament this year will just be brutal - no easy matches from final 8 on.

It has been a wild conference to follow on Fridays, for sure. And once again, I am sad that although the Pac 12 games show up on my cable system, there is an upgrade fee in order to watch them. This season, perhaps I should have paid for the upgrade.

 

[willtalk]

Which is ironic because Gildon typically has a hard time NOT fouling in her usually limited minutes.

Greaves played Gildon 33 minutes and Giomi only 7. Gildon was just over matched. She is not only short but does not have the speed nor skill set to compensate for her lack of height. Greaves lost this game for Oregon by not playing Giomi more, especially at the end of the game. It's not like Gildon is an offensive threat. Giomi is a far better defender, blocks out really well and would definitely have gotten that rebound. She is the fastest player on the team at 6'6" and covers a lot of defensive ground.

I have always wondered what Greaves has against Giomi? Or why he would favor Gildon over her. Then I realized that both her an Greaves came to Oregon at the same time from the same place. The high school Gildon is from is an affiliate of Gonzaga University. She went to Gonzaga Prep. Greaves might be a good offensive coach, but he is a defensive numsskull and knows little about using or developing a center. Sabrina should have gotten angry at him and not Gildon. She is what she is, Greaves is the one that put her in position that was beyond her. If Scott Rueck was a stupid as Greaves Mattie Washington would still be getting the vast majority of the post minutes and Grymek would get a few minutes a game. And Washington was far more effective than Gildon. He is even playing the freshman Morris over Washington at center now.

 

[HuskyNan]

In Colonial Action. James Madison (11) @ Husky Nan's Elon Phoenix. JMU is up 42-23 at the half. I'd thought about driving over to catch the game.... but I figured it would be a blowout (the dukes dropped a 50 piece on them in the previous matchup) plus its a cold, rainy Friday evening.

Well get ‘em next year.

Elon vs James Madison is becoming something of a rivalry game in all sports. My son says the Elon pep band gets treated rather rudely on the JMU campus. The football rivalry is downright ugly

 

[jaydee602]

Wow! Oregon, Marquette, & ASU lost while Oregon State & Stanford barely escaped with victories. All were playing unranked teams. We should probably expect several more upsets before determining the final brackets.

 

[oldude]

This assures UConn of not being leaped by Oregon in the rankings as long as we take care of business.

Two things became more likely last night:

- UConn’s chances to be the #2 overall seed.
- Pheesa’s chances of winning the NPOY

I like the way things are shaking out for the Huskies.

 

[huskeynut]

Sit back and enjoy the show.

People were screaming for parity and its here, at least for this season. There will be more upsets.

 

[PAHuskeyFan]

Two things became more likely last night:

- UConn’s chances to be the #2 overall seed.
- Pheesa’s chances of winning the NPOY

I like the way things are shaking out for the Huskies.

Mojo...

 

[MainefanSC]

Sit back and enjoy the show.

People were screaming for parity and its here, at least for this season. There will be more upsets.

Ah yes, the much hoped and screamed for parity. The entertainment value is skyrocketing and I'm liking it. I am surprised and quite disappointed with the reaction from Sabrina. I certainly understand the emotions but there is such a thing as controlling one's emotions. This can't be the most rage she has felt???!!! playing WBB. Has no one discussed and/or taught how one handles disappointment/defeat. I understand that she is a kid but this does not bode well for all the young kids that hold her up as a role model. As much as I've enjoyed watching her, I have mixed feelings about rooting for anything she may have coming her way in the area of awards. I know it's unfair but how can anyone reward such behavior? I must say that I am encouraged that she pulled herself back together enough to come back out for handshakes. Am I too narrow minded here? Is this old fart's "pie in the sky" too much to expect?

 

[Vowelguy]

Oregon’s chance at a 1 seed is gone

Not at all. Win the PAC tourney and they're a 1.

 

[oldude]

Not at all. Win the PAC tourney and they're a 1.

If Baylor, UConn, MS St and either Louisville or ND win out, Oregon is not necessarily guaranteed a #1, even if they also win out.

The Ducks might still end up in Portland as a #2 seed, which would certainly not sit well with whoever the #1 seed is for that region.

 

[jaydee602]

If Baylor, UConn, MS St and either Louisville or ND win out, Oregon is not necessarily guaranteed a #1, even if they also win out.

The Ducks might still end up in Portland as a #2 seed, which would certainly not sit well with whoever the #1 seed is for that region.

Very true! Let's not forget that UCONN was headed to the Albany region as a #2 seed until the latest upsets. No team wanted to be the #1 seed in Albany!

 

[Dillon77]

Greaves played Gildon 33 minutes and Giomi only 7. Gildon was just over matched. She is not only short but does not have the speed nor skill set to compensate for her lack of height. Greaves lost this game for Oregon by not playing Giomi more, especially at the end of the game. It's not like Gildon is an offensive threat. Giomi is a far better defender, blocks out really well and would definitely have gotten that rebound. She is the fastest player on the team at 6'6" and covers a lot of defensive ground.

I have always wondered what Greaves has against Giomi? Or why he would favor Gildon over her. Then I realized that both her an Greaves came to Oregon at the same time from the same place. The high school Gildon is from is an affiliate of Gonzaga University. She went to Gonzaga Prep. Greaves might be a good offensive coach, but he is a defensive numsskull and knows little about using or developing a center. Sabrina should have gotten angry at him and not Gildon. She is what she is, Greaves is the one that put her in position that was beyond her. If Scott Rueck was a stupid as Greaves Mattie Washington would still be getting the vast majority of the post minutes and Grymek would get a few minutes a game. And Washington was far more effective than Gildon. He is even playing the freshman Morris over Washington at center now.

Can't help but think Mallory McGwire would've come in really handy the last game and a half for Oregon with her inside presence.

Yes, I get the reason why she probably transferred: diminishing playing time due to Hebard, the Sebally sisters, Boley, etc. But, me thinks she could've helped the Ducks.

 

[bbballfan23]

If Baylor, UConn, MS St and either Louisville or ND win out, Oregon is not necessarily guaranteed a #1, even if they also win out.

The Ducks might still end up in Portland as a #2 seed, which would certainly not sit well with whoever the #1 seed is for that region.

I agree. I can see Louisville & ND both being 1 seed if ND wins conf tournament. Along with Baylor & UConn. Could see Louisville being sent to Portland to face Oregon.

 

[Plebe]

An interesting footnote: With ASU's loss to Cal and UCLA's win over Oregon, UCLA now takes a half-game lead over ASU in the conference standings:

This is especially important because the difference between 4th and 5th place is the difference between getting a first-round bye in the Pac-12 tournament and not getting it.

In that sense, the cancellation of the game at Washington did not at all play to ASU's favor.