Oregon 2020 vs the UConn championship teams

[bantamlaker]

I saw what I saw. Oregon plays like UConn use to play. Great team!

It was great to see a team at Gampel playing Geno's offense and executing it perfectly.
Too bad they were wearing green and yellow.

Many other posters also noted that this was a fine Oregon team and they played UConn basketball. I started wondering how this Oregon team would do against our 11 national championship teams. There have been six undefeated teams (1995, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2014 and 2016). If you think of the players on these very talented teams the advantage in my opinion definitely goes to UConn.
The 2000 team was 36-1. The loss was by 1 point to Tenn which they avenged by destroying them 71-52 in the national championship (probably my favorite game). That team had Sveta, Shea, Schumacher, TASS and if the frontcourt needed a break Hansmeyer or Sauer could come in and block the lane. That team would have handled Oregon.
Two of the championship teams in the Stewie era did not go undefeated. The 2013 team was 35-4 with three of those being heartbreaking losses to ND and the other being a close loss to Baylor with Griner. Besides the freshman (Stewie, Moriah and Morgan) that team had Faris, Dolson, Hartley, KML and Stokes. The 2015 championship team was 38-1 with the only loss being an early season OT loss to Stanford. KML and Stokes were seniors and Kia and Gabby were freshman. I would favor all 4 teams of the Stewie era over Oregon.
That only leaves 2003 and 2004 which were the teams Diana led to the championship. They included Conlon, Battle, Moore, Strother, Turner and Crockett. One might make a case for Oregon with a “generational“ player in Sabrina but I would put my money on UConn with the GOAT.
I welcome your comments or you could just think about these teams and appreciate how lucky we are to be fans of the greatest program in basketball.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Both the Oregon team of this year and the Notre Dame teams of last year and the prior season looked very, very good. Before the season started, it looked as if they could run the table. But all of them had multiple losses. Several UConn teams has NO losses.

 

[Centerstream]

Apples and Oranges...

 

[UcMiami]

I think the 2003 and 2004 teams were the weakest and the outcome both years was 'lucky'. I also think that first of the four run was not as strong as the next three. But Oregon is in my mind not a lock to win out this year - a few bad calls, a few missed shots, or just an off night (which they have already experienced twice) can knock them out.

Single elimination tournaments are never guaranteed - look at Baylor the year Louisville beat them. Or Uconn the year MsSt ended their run. Uconn has had 6 teams that really were overpowering 3 with Stewie, 2 with Maya (one of which they survived the worst ever first half!) and the 2002 team. 2000 was pretty close but the others could have been derailed.

 

[Figurehead]

Many other posters also noted that this was a fine Oregon team and they played UConn basketball. I started wondering how this Oregon team would do against our 11 national championship teams. There have been six undefeated teams (1995, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2014 and 2016). If you think of the players on these very talented teams the advantage in my opinion definitely goes to UConn.
The 2000 team was 36-1. The loss was by 1 point to Tenn which they avenged by destroying them 71-52 in the national championship (probably my favorite game). That team had Sveta, Shea, Schumacher, TASS and if the frontcourt needed a break Hansmeyer or Sauer could come in and block the lane. That team would have handled Oregon.
Two of the championship teams in the Stewie era did not go undefeated. The 2013 team was 35-4 with three of those being heartbreaking losses to ND and the other being a close loss to Baylor with Griner. Besides the freshman (Stewie, Moriah and Morgan) that team had Faris, Dolson, Hartley, KML and Stokes. The 2015 championship team was 38-1 with the only loss being an early season OT loss to Stanford. KML and Stokes were seniors and Kia and Gabby were freshman. I would favor all 4 teams of the Stewie era over Oregon.
That only leaves 2003 and 2004 which were the teams Diana led to the championship. They included Conlon, Battle, Moore, Strother, Turner and Crockett. One might make a case for Oregon with a “generational“ player in Sabrina but I would put my money on UConn with the GOAT.
I welcome your comments or you could just think about these teams and appreciate how lucky we are to be fans of the greatest program in basketball.

And the worst New England Patriot Super bowl team is better than this years Super Bowl winner. Do you think KC fans care?

 

[noirwestern]

This year's Oregon team benefits greatly from what has been an uneven, some might say, overall down year in quality of play. I can't imagine them beating any of the UConn championship teams under any circumstance. Sure, they're a good team. Great team? Ehhh

 

[bballnut90]

I think they could go toe to toe with some of the best teams of all time if they're playing their A game. Their offense is stellar and they're well built with so many outside threats and a fantastic finisher inside in Hebard. Everyone is unselfish. The problem is, Oregon doesn't always play its A game. They didn't against Louisville or the Arizona schools. If we're being honest, they didn't against UCONN either. A lot of UCONN's title teams consistently played at a higher level, so edge to the Stewart teams due to consistency. Oregon physically matches up well with almost anyone though with 2 really athletic and talented 6-4 girls, a big PG in Ionescu, a stellar on ball defender in Moore and a slew of really good perimeter shooters in Boley/Shelley/Chavez. Graves is also a fantastic offensive coach.

Also worth noting, this is definitely a down year for women's basketball. WBB just graduated two outstanding classes (2018 and 2019), and the 2020/2021 classes do not look nearly as strong. Looking at last year's Elite 8:

Baylor-lost 2x All American Kalani Brown and Final Four MOP Chloe Jackson.
Notre Dame-lost its entire starting 5 who made up over 90% of their scoring.
UCONN-lost the highest scoring teammate tandem in NCAA history.
Oregon-only lost 1 starter who was the team's 4th most important player.
Louisville-lost 2x All American and another starter
Stanford-lost its All American starter
Iowa-lost the NPOY who averaged 28 ppg
Mississippi State-lost its top 3 players including a dominant 2x All American.

Oregon is the only team who wasn't decimated by graduation. A lot of teams lost multiple leading scorers while the Ducks returned their best 3 top scorers, and only lost 1 significant contributor who was replaced by a great transfer. All that said, I'm still not convinced they're better than Baylor this year. Baylor is really really difficult to score against with Cox in the lineup and they also pass the ball well offensively.

 

[bantamlaker]

Both the Oregon team of this year and the Notre Dame teams of last year and the prior season looked very, very good. Before the season started, it looked as if they could run the table. But all of them had multiple losses. Several UConn teams has NO losses.

UConn has gone undefeated six times since 1995 which is another ridiculous stat from the UConn program. Other than UConn this has only been done 3 times by 3 different schools since 1982 - Texas in 1986, Tennessee in 1998 and Baylor in 2012.

 

[Cedar]

I think they could go toe to toe with some of the best teams of all time if they're playing their A game. Their offense is stellar and they're well built with so many outside threats and a fantastic finisher inside in Hebard. Everyone is unselfish. The problem is, Oregon doesn't always play its A game. They didn't against Louisville or the Arizona schools. If we're being honest, they didn't against UCONN either. <snip>

I agree that Oregon has problems with consistency. They didn’t bring their A game when they lost to Louisville and to Arizona State. But when the Ducks bring their A game, they are very good indeed.

If Oregon can beat Team USA by 7 points, as the Ducks did in November, then they are capable of beating the UCONN championship teams.

A skeptic might argue that Team USA did not have Stewie and Tina Charles when Team USA lost to Oregon, both of whom played for Team USA against UCONN. However, Diana Taurasi did not play for Team USA against the Huskies, but she scored 17 points against the Ducks.

Moreover, Oregon had a more dominant victory than Team USA did when both teams played UCONN recently. UCONN had a two-point lead over Team USA at 9:05 of the fourth quarter, before Team USA went on a 25-8 run to win, 79-64. In contrast, the Ducks led the Huskies for all but the first 45 seconds of the game, culminating in an 18-point victory for Oregon.

As you said, this Oregon team could go toe to toe with some of the best teams of all time if the Ducks are playing their A game.

 

[bballnut90]

I agree that Oregon has problems with consistency. They didn’t bring their A game when they lost to Louisville and to Arizona State. But when the Ducks bring their A game, they are very good indeed.

If Oregon can beat Team USA by 7 points, as the Ducks did in November, then they are capable of beating the UCONN championship teams.

A skeptic might argue that Team USA did not have Stewie and Tina Charles when Team USA lost to Oregon, both of whom played for Team USA against UCONN. However, Diana Taurasi did not play for Team USA against the Huskies, but she scored 17 points against the Ducks.

Moreover, Oregon had a more dominant victory than Team USA did when both teams played UCONN recently. UCONN had a two-point lead over Team USA at 9:05 of the fourth quarter, before Team USA went on a 25-8 run to win, 79-64. In contrast, the Ducks led the Huskies for all but the first 45 seconds of the game, culminating in an 18-point victory for Oregon.

As you said, this Oregon team could go toe to toe with some of the best teams of all time if the Ducks are playing their A game.

I don't think you can put any stock in the Team USA games....the squad hasn't been playing together consistently and has been giving varying level of efforts. Both Charles and Stewart were more detrimental to Team USA too in the UCONN game than they were helpful. I didn't see the Oregon game, but in the games I have seen, it looks apparent that they are fun exhibition games rather than meaningful games that you can draw conclusions from.

 

[Cedar]

I don't think you can put any stock in the Team USA games....the squad hasn't been playing together consistently and has been giving varying level of efforts. Both Charles and Stewart were more detrimental to Team USA too in the UCONN game than they were helpful. I didn't see the Oregon game, but in the games I have seen, it looks apparent that they are fun exhibition games rather than meaningful games that you can draw conclusions from.

I agree that Team USA hasn’t been playing together consistently. The team has also had changes to its lineup, which affects chemistry. That said, I wouldn’t dismiss the games against Team USA. In the television and online interviews that I saw, Cheryl Reeve and some of the professional players made it clear that they were playing to win in their exhibition games against college teams. My fundamental point is that if Oregon can decisively beat a team composed of WNBA all-stars, then Oregon is capable of beating an NCAA championship team, assuming the Ducks bring their A game.

 

[noirwestern]

I'm not going to try and change another's online opinion but am also disinclined to leave this be. I've followed UConn since the days of Lobo and if I was only allowed to take one thing away from all of those games it would be how utterly, thoroughly, decisively their defense decided the outcome of game after game. Bring whatever alphabetized style of play you'd like, it's not going to work like that here. As I said before, Oregon is the beneficiary of a somewhat down year and could possibly win it all unless Baylor decides they want it enough. Who knows? South Carolina backed into one championship, maybe they'll do it again. It's still a crapshoot at this point but one thing is for sure and that's the thought of the current squad Oregon puts on the floor taking it to Stewart, DT, Moore and crew is amusing to say the very least.

 

[Figurehead]

I'm not going to try and change another's online opinion but am also disinclined to leave this be. I've followed UConn since the days of Lobo and if I was only allowed to take one thing away from all of those games it would be how utterly, thoroughly, decisively their defense decided the outcome of game after game. Bring whatever alphabetized style of play you'd like, it's not going to work like that here. As I said before, Oregon is the beneficiary of a somewhat down year and could possibly win it all unless Baylor decides they want it enough. Who knows? South Carolina backed into one championship, maybe they'll do it again. It's still a crapshoot at this point but one thing is for sure and that's the thought of the current squad Oregon puts on the floor taking it to Stewart, DT, Moore and crew is amusing to say the very least.

It is all ways a down year when your team is not in it. Just ask the New England Patriots about the chiefs.

 

[cbraarj]

I agree that Oregon has problems with consistency. They didn’t bring their A game when they lost to Louisville and to Arizona State. But when the Ducks bring their A game, they are very good indeed.

If Oregon can beat Team USA by 7 points, as the Ducks did in November, then they are capable of beating the UCONN championship teams.

A skeptic might argue that Team USA did not have Stewie and Tina Charles when Team USA lost to Oregon, both of whom played for Team USA against UCONN. However, Diana Taurasi did not play for Team USA against the Huskies, but she scored 17 points against the Ducks.

Moreover, Oregon had a more dominant victory than Team USA did when both teams played UCONN recently. UCONN had a two-point lead over Team USA at 9:05 of the fourth quarter, before Team USA went on a 25-8 run to win, 79-64. In contrast, the Ducks led the Huskies for all but the first 45 seconds of the game, culminating in an 18-point victory for Oregon.

As you said, this Oregon team could go toe to toe with some of the best teams of all time if the Ducks are playing their A game.

The better Uconn teams would have buried this Uconn team by 35 or more easily! Stewie played but it was her first game back. She can't jump that well and her cuts are a little hesitant! But with the injury she had that is expected right now. Imagine a badly sprained ankle and multiply it by 100. Some players never make it back!

 

[hoophuskee]

I agree that Oregon has problems with consistency. They didn’t bring their A game when they lost to Louisville and to Arizona State. But when the Ducks bring their A game, they are very good indeed.

As you said, this Oregon team could go toe to toe with some of the best teams of all time if the Ducks are playing their A game.

But this doesn't mean anything. Heck, Louisville has the biggest upset ever by beating Baylor. So a team like Louisville who plays their "A Game" can beat Baylor, sure Oregon can win. But 1st off Oregon isn't even a champion.

Secondly, regarding the undefeated champs-- they never took games off and allowed weaker teams to beat them. You're using a one-game exhibition as if it means anything. You're putting way too much emphasis on exhibition basketball when I think over-and-over you've seen team play overcome individual stars. So what that Team USA individually tried hard. They aren't a TEAM yet.

This is a two-loss Oregon team. They don't have the pressure of going undefeated. They showed they couldn't handle it early on. They haven't even showed that they are a champion yet. The undefeated teams are "greater."

Another point is -- consistency makes greatness. Two losses by a team more talented than everyone else is a weakness.

 

[cbraarj]

But this doesn't mean anything. Heck, Louisville has the biggest upset ever by beating Baylor. So a team like Louisville who plays their "A Game" can beat Baylor, sure Oregon can win. But 1st off Oregon isn't even a champion.

Secondly, regarding the undefeated champs-- they never took games off and allowed weaker teams to beat them. You're using a one-game exhibition as if it means anything. You're putting way too much emphasis on exhibition basketball when I think over-and-over you've seen team play overcome individual stars. So what that Team USA individually tried hard. They aren't a TEAM yet.

This is a two-loss Oregon team. They don't have the pressure of going undefeated. They showed they couldn't handle it early on. They haven't even showed that they are a champion yet. The undefeated teams are "greater."

Another point is -- consistency makes greatness. Two losses by a team more talented than everyone else is a weakness.

Good post! Isn't it funny how much teams or fans think of themselves after beating Uconn! Sabrina even told Holly Rowe that Oregon is the team people should emulate now not Uconn! LMBO!!!

 

[nwhoopfan]

taking it to Stewart, DT, Moore and crew

Remind me which year had Stewart, DT and Moore playing together.