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Message: [QUOTE="jonson, post: 3119170, member: 6034"] About Oregon: I think one of the positives for Oregon fans is that the returning players still have a ways to go to reach their potential. I believe that this is true even of Ionescu, who is sure to spend her summer addressing/obsessing over the "challenges" of the Kobe Bryant scouting report on ESPN+. It's easy to forget how raw Hebard was when she arrived in Eugene, and, although she's obviously come a very long way, her offensive game certainly could be more diverse. S. Sabally has likewise improved considerably since her freshman year---she was voted all Pac 12 after all--but, as both she and Graves have said, there's still a lot to be added/improved: focus, aggressiveness (minus the charges), avoiding silly fouls, and getting better at involving her teammates (assists). And Boley needs to do more than camp out on the 3 point line, not to mention (imo) improve her conditioning, rebounding, and defense. Graves has proved to be very good at developing (most) players in the program, and I believe that will continue. The other major positive is depth, which Oregon clearly didn't have all season and which really hurt the team after Hebard injured her knee during the second game against Oregon State and Chavez was sidelined for the remainder of the season a few games after that, reducing the roster to 8 players, one of them with back issues. Although Cazorla will indeed be a substantial loss, Graves is very high on Chavez, and Jaz Shelley is supposed to be the real deal, having won all sorts of awards in Australia this past year: defensive POY, MVP, "golden hands" (assists + steals - turnovers). But perhaps the biggest addition will be inside. According to Graves, and from what I've seen in FIBA videos, the younger Sabally, who was the MVP of the last two European tournaments in which she played, is a cross between her sister and Hebard: a bigger and stronger inside presence than the former, but a better ball handler and much better shooter from distance (including the 3 point line) than the latter. I suspect she won't start--at least initially--but she will get a lot of minutes, and it's possible that, at times, Oregon could field a frontline of Hebard + the two Sabally's, all of them 6'4" and with very diverse skill sets. And when one adds an incoming 6'5"/6'6" Australian post who outplayed both Aquira DeCosta and Olivia Nelson-Odda in Australia's victory over the US in (I think) the U17 FIBA Tournament, Oregon should finally will have some depth up front. Whether all of this will add up to a stronger team next season remains to be seen of course, but I suspect it will. [/QUOTE]

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