Oregon Postgame Thread

[cbraarj]

#1 point guard, a bit better than Ionesco coming out of high school..

Sabrina has been better than Dangerfield from day 1!

 

[bantamlaker]

I think the early 3 pt barrage from players other than Sabrina early really messed with the psychology of the team and started a viscous cycle that we could not really recover from.

Now I understand what wrong on Monday night. It’s really hard to get going when you’re stuck in that viscous cycle.

 

[eebmg]

Now I understand what wrong on Monday night. It’s really hard to get going when you’re stuck in that viscous cycle.

 

[iri10]

Now I understand what wrong on Monday night. It’s really hard to get going when you’re stuck in that viscous cycle.

Joking about defeat, deleted scene #1: "No wonder the team defense looked like it was stuck in the mud last night..."

 

[eebmg]

Joking about defeat, deleted scene #1: "No wonder the team defense looked like it was stuck in the mud last night..."

Boy, you guys are vicious (not viscous).

 

[domerduck]

Sabrina has been better than Dangerfield from day 1!

But on Monday, Crystal was the best player on UConn and Sabrina didn't have to be the best Oregon player, she just did what was needed for her team to control the game and win, despite being the focus of Geno's game plan. The other 4 all outplayed their UConn counterparts and played well. Makurat contibuted well on offense off the bench as did Griffin on defense, but so did Oregon's Chavez in the 4th qtr helping keeping UConn to 7 points when Crystal was tired trying to carry her team. Oregon won every quarter with a strong start inthe 1st building up a 10 point lead (22-12).

 

[Jingo]

Anna is not really “bench”

No .. Ania is the new part of our Big Three - Liv, Ania & Danger

 

[WestCoast]

No .. Ania is the new part of our Big Three - Liv, Ania & Danger

I understand the recent disappointment for UConn fans that Williams hasn't progressed more this season. However, don't give up on the hope that she will be a difference maker this season. She has the tools to lift the Huskies during the postseason.

Walker has not played big in the biggest games this season, but will likely be a Third Team All-American or better by year end.

 

[the Q]

Oregon moves the ball like the UConn of old.

current uconn is far too stagnant offensively

 

[WestCoast]

The only starting foreign player is Satou as the other 4 are from the states (Sabrina & Moore-California, Hebard-Alaska, & Boley-Kentucky) . Jaz Shelley from Australia is usually the third sub after Chavez from Arizona and Giomi from Washington. It's true half his team is foreign, but the other 4 don't play that much including Satou's sister who is hurt. The other hurt player who also didn't get eligibility is Prince from Texas. Next year all 5 recruits are McDonalds AA and from the states, so I would argue he doesn't really rely on foreign players, but gets the best players he can get.

Will be interesting to see how life in Eugene is for the Ducks after Ionescu, Hebard, and perhaps Sabally are drafted in April. There has to be a dropoff in '20-'21 as the incoming talent and returnees figure out their new roles.

 

[eebmg]

Will be interesting to see how life in Eugene is for the Ducks after Ionescu, Hebard, and perhaps Sabally are drafted in April. There has to be a dropoff in '20-'21 as the incoming talent and returnees figure out their new roles.

I would think Stanford takes over the PAC12 for a while.

 

[Floridaduck]

Sabally is going nowhere imo. She wants to play with her sister, Nyara who is an amazing talent herself at post. So Boley and Satou return. Top subs Chavez, Shelley, and Giomi return. Sedona Prince will be a strong presence. Winterborn and 6’5” Cochran have a year under their belt. And here comes five 5* recruits, the top class in the nation. The cream of that group will rise through the ranks.

No tears for Kelly Graves. Stanford, UCLA, AZ, ASU, and OS will have their hands full trying to take the PAC 12 crown away from Oregon.

 

[Magy Cannon]

Dangerfield 2016, Walker 2017, Williams 2018 ... Danger was a coupla spots higher than Ionescu in 2016

Lauren Cox was the #1 player in 2016. Joyner Holmes was #2. Crystal Dangerfield was #3. Ionescu was #4 and Erin Boley was #5.

 

[Carnac]

There is clearly increased competition in this sport now. When I began watching it was Geno and Pat. Some talented players would go play for Gail at Duke but she wasn't a great coach. It was UConn and Tennessee. Than it was UConn and Notre Dame with some Stanford teams to worry about (but as good as Tara is she hasn't won since 1992 for a reason.) In between you'd have a Maryland or Texas A&M or LSU have their moment but they could never sustain it.

Now you got Oregon, Baylor, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Louisville, Oregon State with legit coaches who are recruiting and developing talent. None of these programs are going anywhere. Even NC State, UCLA, Arizona, Northwestern, Indiana, etc are showing signs of taking their programs seriously. I watched an Arizona game the other night and they had a sold out rabid crown in Tuscon. These types of crowds were never thought to be possible outside Connecticut and Tennessee 20 years ago. The sport is getting better. We will have to be at the top of our games to win a title. It's exciting but certainly more nerve wracking. Nothing will be guaranteed anymore.

I don't think we can be too surprised that we are not as good as Oregon and Baylor this year. This is our "down year". Sure we can be dissapointed with the development of certain players but it was always coming down to Oregon and Baylor this year. And last years team probably went as far as they should. Baylor was schooling ND before Cox went down and ND was supposed to be better than us. We blew a lead which sucked but we probably finished where we should have.

What I think really adds to the angst is how our 2017 and 2018 seasons ended. UConn had legit shots to win those years and made huge errors to cost themselves the games vs Miss State and ND which resulted in heartbreaking OT losses at the buzzer. I think that still lingers with the fans and maybe the players and coaches.

In spite of this, there are still those "naysayers" that say "women's college Basketball, who cares?' I don't listen to them. They're NOT fans of the game.

 

[Jingo]

Lauren Cox was the #1 player in 2016. Joyner Holmes was #2. Crystal Dangerfield was #3. Ionescu was #4 and Erin Boley was #5.

yeah Danger was the #1 point guard so UConn with three #1's has a higher talent level than Oregon .. also Liv was a #4 to add to the talent level, eh?

 

[Littlemin]

Not exactly. There are right (assigned) spots to start all the UCONN sets. There are definitely "right spots" which ensures the correct spacing on the floor and makes the defense have to guard the entire floor. There are also right spots that have to be synchronized with the movement of the players. The offense is not designed for "any" player just move to "any" open spot. It is designed to react to how you are being defended. That spot on the floor was open for a reason. If it still does make sense think about Aubrey's air ball last night. Aubrey was open middle of the lane, got the ball 8 feet from the basket and shot an air ball. That was not where Aubrey was suppose to be. Aubrey needed to be on the move to or closer to the basket as she was earlier in the game when she got a pass from ONO on the baseline side. Anna was not in the right spot on those plays because she is not used to set high ball screens in that part of the floor.

That’s all well and good but sorry, I don’t buy it for a second. This offense has little movement and almost no synchronization. I am not going to argue where a player should be to start a set because I don‘t know. Evidently you do. But the fact is Makurat moves without the ball more than any other Uconn player and doesn’t see the ball nearly as much as she should. She is by far the best passer on this team and the lack of trust it seems Dangerfield, Walker, and Williams have in her is to the detriment of this team in my opinion. I posted a while ago that I think Makurat should run this offense and I have seen nothing to change my mind. One of the obvious deficiencies of the Uconn offense is that the ball “stops” whenever Walker, Williams and to a lesser extent because they see it less, Ono and Griffin touch it. They are all players who do not have quick ball movement in their games and as a result the team does too much standing around. I have seenmore 30 second violations thus year than Uconn has had in the last decade total. So if you think it is a good reason to not move the ball to an open player because they are in the “wrong spot”, we just disagree.

 

[CocoHusky]

That’s all well and good but sorry, I don’t buy it for a second. This offense has little movement and almost no synchronization. I am not going to argue where a player should be to start a set because I don‘t know. Evidently you do. But the fact is Makurat moves without the ball more than any other Uconn player and doesn’t see the ball nearly as much as she should. She is by far the best passer on this team and the lack of trust it seems Dangerfield, Walker, and Williams have in her is to the detriment of this team in my opinion. I posted a while ago that I think Makurat should run this offense and I have seen nothing to change my mind. One of the obvious deficiencies of the Uconn offense is that the ball “stops” whenever Walker, Williams and to a lesser extent because they see it less, Ono and Griffin touch it. They are all players who do not have quick ball movement in their games and as a result the team does too much standing around. I have seenmore 30 second violations thus year than Uconn has had in the last decade total. So if you think it is a good reason to not move the ball to an open player because they are in the “wrong spot”, we just disagree.

I'm not sure from where you conjured this "lack of trust" issue but rest assured it does not exists at UCONN because Geno and CD would have corrected it. Go back and watch the tape the plays where Anna was in the wrong spot you can clearly see Geno motioning to her to get to her right spot. Crystal dangerfield is the best passer on the team and is the one making her way way up the UCONN assist board. Anna is shooting the lowest percentage among the players in the regular rotation so perhaps she should do less running around or get to her right spot on the floor.
I agree that the UCONN offense recently has been suffering from lack of ball & player movement. This is a reoccurrence of an issue the team had early in the season. I'm not sure why it is happening again and neither is Geno if you listen to his post game pressers. IMO the lack of movement has to do with the recent emphasis on Crystal being used as a shooting guard as opposed to being used as a facilitator.

 

[Jingo]

I understand the recent disappointment for UConn fans that Williams hasn't progressed more this season. However, don't give up on the hope that she will be a difference maker this season. She has the tools to lift the Huskies during the postseason.

Walker has not played big in the biggest games this season, but will likely be a Third Team All-American or better by year end.

Based on what I have seen, Danger should be MUCH higher than Walker, eh?

 

[uconnfan68]

I think the main reason Kyla is starting is to take pressure off of Makurat. Makurat is definitely more poised now, but I think Geno made the switch because Makurat was putting too much pressure on herself early on. Maybe come NCAAT time Makurat will be the start given Irwin's minutes have been on the decline in big games.

Who do you think does the most communicating on the floor? Hint, it’s Kyla. That’s why she plays. If our biggest problem is lack of communication, why take out your leader in that area? If she shot more it would make a huge difference. She already all the other things Geno wants.

 

[Reypl21]

I understand the recent disappointment for UConn fans that Williams hasn't progressed more this season. However, don't give up on the hope that she will be a difference maker this season. She has the tools to lift the Huskies during the postseason.

Walker has not played big in the biggest games this season, but will likely be a Third Team All-American or better by year end.

I anointed Walker with being a 1st team AA had the season ended at the new year. Now I agree that she will probably be a 3rd team AA. Which isn't high enough to get on the wall. Her marquee game was against ND, and that game is looking less impressive as the season continues.

 

[LOhunter]

Sabally is going nowhere imo. She wants to play with her sister, Nyara who is an amazing talent herself at post. So Boley and Satou return. Top subs Chavez, Shelley, and Giomi return. Sedona Prince will be a strong presence. Winterborn and 6’5” Cochran have a year under their belt. And here comes five 5* recruits, the top class in the nation. The cream of that group will rise through the ranks.

No tears for Kelly Graves. Stanford, UCLA, AZ, ASU, and OS will have their hands full trying to take the PAC 12 crown away from Oregon.

Agree with the above. Hard to replace Sabrina and Hebard but the Ducks will have a strong core of skill players and should be much larger, stronger upfront with Prince and Nyara Sabally and others. (Ducks have a real physical post in Kylee Watson joining who I think will play early. She is only 6'3"-6'4", but her film shows she loves to bang, and has a lot going for her in her offensive game.) Look for Satou to play some point forward. There should be 4-5 players competing for meaningful minutes in the back court. Most of them will be young and it will take some time to incorporate the incoming freshmen. Will be interesting to see which of the young guards emerges since Graves likes to employ an offense where both guards have to be able to play point and off the ball. Considering all, Oregon should be one of the favorites to win the PAC for the 4th year (assuming they win this year) in a row.

 

[hart2hart]

The players need to pass the ball to Mak more. Period. Botta-Bing,Botta-Boom!

 

[cbraarj]

But on Monday, Crystal was the best player on UConn and Sabrina didn't have to be the best Oregon player, she just did what was needed for her team to control the game and win, despite being the focus of Geno's game plan. The other 4 all outplayed their UConn counterparts and played well. Makurat contibuted well on offense off the bench as did Griffin on defense, but so did Oregon's Chavez in the 4th qtr helping keeping UConn to 7 points when Crystal was tired trying to carry her team. Oregon won every quarter with a strong start inthe 1st building up a 10 point lead (22-12).

I thought Moore played great for them.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I thought Moore played great for them.

She really had a nice career at USC. Many didn't notice because USC was fairly irrelevant. I've actually been surprised she hasn't scored a little more for Oregon, but she's playing nasty defense and has enjoyed having Hebard to dish the ball to almost as much as Ionescu does. I'm not really sure if it's a net loss or net gain compared to having Cazorla in a similar role, but it's close enough to not really be a set back.

 

[Jingo]

I thought Moore played great for them.

Yeah another graduate transfer that killed us just like Chloe Jackson did last year and yet Evina rides the pines...