Sabrina Ionescu gets a triple-double ...

[Plebe]

... for the second time this season. (Ionescu now accounts for one-third of Oregon's 6 triple-doubles in program history.) But it's one thing to stuff the stat sheet against San Jose State; it's another against a previously undefeated ACC team in a true road game. Her stat line: 23 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists.

Ionescu may well be the front-runner for NFOY, in a year that's already seen some real freshman standouts on strong teams: Jackie Young, Joyner Holmes, Destiny Slocum, and of course Crystal.

Oregon, meanwhile, is validating its newly acquired ranked status. They ran out to a 15-0 start against Clemson, survived a long cold patch in the 2nd quarter, and totally ran away with it in the 2nd half.

 

[triaddukefan]

I looked at the halftime score while I was in the grocery store, and I was like Clemson is giving them a game. Got home. and saw the score again . and well....

 

[Plebe]

I looked at the halftime score while I was in the grocery store, and I was like Clemson is giving them a game. Got home. and saw the score again . and well....

It was a weird game. When I started watching, the score was 20-5 for Oregon. Then Clemson turned on the scrappy defense, Oregon went cold, and Clemson hit some driving buckets and a few threes to trim the deficit to as little as 3 in the 2nd quarter. I'm pretty sure they were 3-of-3 from three in the first half, which would mean they were 1-of-12 in the second. Oregon has quite a bit of depth and likes an up-and-down game. They also shot the 3 well (Ionescu had 5 of the team's 9 total).

 

[HuskyFan1125]

I've said here before.....Kelly Graves will make Oregon revelant. He had some good teams at Gonzaga and now he is at a power 5 school. Give him another season or 2 and he could challenge the PAC12

 

[Charliebball]

I guess Ionescu was worth the wait for Oregon.........she is a real threat........shame she didn't want a Southern New England education

 

[jonson]

I've said here before.....Kelly Graves will make Oregon revelant. He had some good teams at Gonzaga and now he is at a power 5 school. Give him another season or 2 and he could challenge the PAC12

I agree. This is a very young team, but Graves has done a fantastic job, and the team is far better than I expected it to be at this point. Only one senior starts and she doesn't play very many minutes; the core is composed of two freshman, a sophomore, and a junior. The primary subs are almost all freshmen or sophomores. Ionesco sometimes tries to do too much, but she plays with great intensity every minute she is on the court. She can obviously score, is a terrific rebounder for her height, and leads the team in assists. I think she would have been a great fit at UCONN had she been interested in coming east.

 

[donalddoowop]

It was a weird game. When I started watching, the score was 20-5 for Oregon. Then Clemson turned on the scrappy defense, Oregon went cold, and Clemson hit some driving buckets and a few threes to trim the deficit to as little as 3 in the 2nd quarter. I'm pretty sure they were 3-of-3 from three in the first half, which would mean they were 1-of-12 in the second. Oregon has quite a bit of depth and likes an up-and-down game. They also shot the 3 well (Ionescu had 5 of the team's 9 total).

How were you able to watch the game? Where was it televised? I have the Pac 12 Network but I did not see that game listed. I would loved to have seen it.

 

[Plebe]

How were you able to watch the game? Where was it televised? I have the Pac 12 Network but I did not see that game listed. I would loved to have seen it.

It was at Clemson, and therefore shown on the ACC Network. Should be available on replay at WatchESPN (ESPN3).

 

[triaddukefan]

It was at Clemson, and therefore shown on the ACC Network. Should be available on replay at WatchESPN (ESPN3).

This ACC network is a great thing.... I've been able to watch every WCBB squad in the conference (some with more interest than others) with the exception of GaTech and Wake Forest. For some reason.. their home games havent been shown on the network.

 

[Plebe]

This ACC network is a great thing.... I've been able to watch every WCBB squad in the conference (some with more interest than others) with the exception of GaTech and Wake Forest. For some reason.. their home games havent been shown on the network.

The Georgia Tech games vs. Georgia and Michigan were shown on the ACC Network (still available on WatchESPN). Wake Forest, I got nothin'.

 

[donalddoowop]

It was at Clemson, and therefore shown on the ACC Network. Should be available on replay at WatchESPN (ESPN3).

Thank you, Plebe. The ACC Network is not available on my cable package and I have all the sports offered by AT&T. I'll check ESPN3.

 

[Nuyoika]

Not a fan. I'll wait and see.

 

[CL82]

Wow, is her last name pronounced "I owns you?" She would have made a great Husky.

 

[Nuyoika]

Wow, is her last name pronounced "I owns you?" She would have made a great Husky.

No. No she would not have. She only wanted to go somewhere she was the focal point of the offense and not something to be built around (as she stated). She didn't want to be a piece of a program. She wanted to be "the piece". She chose the right school for that. She was NEVER going to a national power with that kind of attitude.

 

[CL82]

No. No she would not have. She only wanted to go somewhere she was the focal point of the offense and not something to be built around (as she stated). She didn't want to be a piece of a program. She wanted to be "the piece". She chose the right school for that. She was NEVER going to a national power with that kind of attitude.

Fair enough, if true.

 

[EricLA]

No. No she would not have. She only wanted to go somewhere she was the focal point of the offense and not something to be built around (as she stated). She didn't want to be a piece of a program. She wanted to be "the piece". She chose the right school for that. She was NEVER going to a national power with that kind of attitude.

How do you know this? From a hoops skills perspective, she seemed like a morph between Faris and Bird. Anyhoo, not saying the attitude thing is untrue, but what makes you say that?

Either way I'll console myself with a consolation prize of Christyn Williams, should we be so lucky. Would love to see her join Charli Collier from the class of 2018...

 

[jonson]

No. No she would not have. She only wanted to go somewhere she was the focal point of the offense and not something to be built around (as she stated). She didn't want to be a piece of a program. She wanted to be "the piece". She chose the right school for that. She was NEVER going to a national power with that kind of attitude.

Perhaps, but everything I have read suggests that she simply wanted to stay on the west coast and be close to her family in the SF area. That's why--so almost all the published reports have said--her finalists were Cal, Washington, and Oregon, where no one even knew she was coming until the start of fall term.

Your account of her attitude also doesn't fit the Ionesco I've watched for 9 games now. She does take a lot of shots and needs imo to be more efficient in that regard. (She's shooting 40% overall.) And, like many talented freshmen, she sometimes tries to do too much. But she's no Diamond DeShields or Kelsey Mitchell. She's very tough, doesn't take plays off, her teammates seem to like her, and her interviews are always about the team, not her own accomplishments/needs/desires. She is also the second leading rebounder (at 7/game) and the leader in assists (at almost 6/game) on a team which averages nearly 20/game and has (I think) some other potentially remarkable young "pieces" (Ruthie Hebard the most prominent among them). And she plays only about 26 minutes/game. To me, none of this indicates a player with a me-first attitude, nor do I think that Graves would put up with a player who had one.

 

[MilfordHusky]

How do you know this? From a hoops skills perspective, she seemed like a morph between Faris and Bird. Anyhoo, not saying the attitude thing is untrue, but what makes you say that?

Either way I'll console myself with a consolation prize of Christyn Williams, should we be so lucky. Would love to see her join Charli Collier from the class of 2018...

It's hard to think of CWill as a "consolation prize." I still view her as a combo of Ogunbowale, Durr, and Taurasi.

 

[Charliebball]

From what I remember from reading articles while she was being recruited..............she certainly marched to a different drummer.................

 

[ballhawk]

I watched many of her games in high school. She was always about the team and never took a play off. She took a mediocre high school team to the California state finals. A class act.

 

[Plebe]

Thank you, Plebe. The ACC Network is not available on my cable package and I have all the sports offered by AT&T. I'll check ESPN3.

You might try logging in online to WatchESPN with your cable subscriber ID. If you get all the ESPN channels, including the SEC Network, I bet you have access.

 

[Charliebball]

Either way I'll console myself with a consolation prize of Christyn Williams, should we be so lucky. Would love to see her join Charli Collier from the class of 2018...

\

Somebody else is interested in CW.............

CAC and Mount St. Mary's about to time-off here in Conway, AR. Kim Mulkey & Sytia Messer are in to watch Christyn Williams.

CAC Girls Basketball, Christyn Williams, Baylor Lady Bears and 2 others

 

[Nuyoika]

How do you know this? From a hoops skills perspective, she seemed like a morph between Faris and Bird. Anyhoo, not saying the attitude thing is untrue, but what makes you say that?

Either way I'll console myself with a consolation prize of Christyn Williams, should we be so lucky. Would love to see her join Charli Collier from the class of 2018...

I would NEVER just make something like that up. She was quoted saying those words. Her words. Not mine.

 

[Orangutan]

But it's one thing to stuff the stat sheet against San Jose State; it's another against a previously undefeated ACC team in a true road game. Her stat line: 23 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists.

Oregon, meanwhile, is validating its newly acquired ranked status. They ran out to a 15-0 start against Clemson, survived a long cold patch in the 2nd quarter, and totally ran away with it in the 2nd half.

A triple-double against any power-5 team is mighty impressive, but Clemson has stunk the last two years (1 ACC win in 14-15, 0 ACC wins in 15-16) so I felt compelled to check their schedule.

This is who they were undefeated against (Sagarin ranks in parenthesis) - Coastal Carolina (291), Western Carolina (300), Georgia Southern (269), Monmouth (229), LA Tech (167), Loyola Chicago (297) , Wright State (195) and Maine (118). Their schedule rank *after* playing Orgeon (24) is 301 out of 349.

Again, kudos to Ionescu. I just wouldn't take beating Clemson as validation of much of anything.

 

[EricLA]

I would NEVER just make something like that up. She was quoted saying those words. Her words. Not mine.

Sorry but I don't get that from her words. At least not in the negative way you presented it (unless I misunderstood your post)...

"I didn't feel as secure at those schools as I did with Washington and Oregon," she said. "They stuck with me through the whole process and have always been a huge part of my recruitment. I felt like they needed me, and I wasn't really always the one that had to reach out for everything. I felt more special at schools that really needed me."

The opportunity to build a dynasty, rather than become a part of one that has already been established, has been a key factor in Ionescu's recruitment.

She doesn't want to be a cog in the machine, she wants to help build it herself.

"I wanted to be the piece, not a piece in a program," she said. "Both Oregon and Washington help me with that goal. At other schools, I was just 'a piece,' and they would be fine if I didn't go there, because they would have enough tools to still be able to win. Both of those schools make me feel like I'm really needed."

Yes she does talk about being "the piece", but she goes on to explain that she wanted to be part of building something new, not part of an established dynasty, or great program already in place. I think the author nailed it when he talked about her not wanting to be a cog in a machine, but rather being part of building something new.

She also talked about her finalists recruiting her since 6th or 7th grade. Your original post put her comments in a negative light and I didn't see that at all. When you use words like "attitude" and wanting to be "the focal point", you paint a negative picture of the young scholar-athlete, and I think that's taken out of context. If you had added "she also said she wanted to build something from scratch, wanted to stay on the west coast, and wanted to go to a school where she was really needed and that had been recruiting her for many years", I would not have commented.