Sabrina Ionescu

[nwhoopfan]

Plus the Sabally sister joins the team next season. Recruiting should spike because of current team success. Triple doubles are great for individual recognition, but Ionescu having to do so much doesn't say that much for the team. As the team improves, that should change. This rationale might be a stretch for some, but that's what I'm going with.

There are only 2 Sr. on this team, so the make up of the team for next year isn't going to be much different. The younger Sabally is going to have her work cut out for her finding many minutes w/ so many established players. There are only 2 Jr. on the current team. So in 2 years, it's going to be a Sr. dominant team w/ a nice group of experienced Jr. as well. Barring some kind of mass exodus, there just isn't much room for any new players to come in for the next 2 years. The make up of the team now is largely going to be the same in 2 years. Right now Ionescu is simply a better rebounder than most of Oregon's bigs. That might change, but it might not.

Just a bit north in Corvallis, OSU's PG Pivec is also her team's second leading rebounder and grabbing 7 boards/game. Maybe it's just something in the water in the Willamette Valley.

 

[Dillon77]

There are only 2 Sr. on this team, so the make up of the team for next year isn't going to be much different. The younger Sabally is going to have her work cut out for her finding many minutes w/ so many established players. There are only 2 Jr. on the current team. So in 2 years, it's going to be a Sr. dominant team w/ a nice group of experienced Jr. as well. Barring some kind of mass exodus, there just isn't much room for any new players to come in for the next 2 years. The make up of the team now is largely going to be the same in 2 years. Right now Ionescu is simply a better rebounder than most of Oregon's bigs. That might change, but it might not.

Just a bit north in Corvallis, OSU's PG Pivec is also her team's second leading rebounder and grabbing 7 boards/game. Maybe it's just something in the water in the Willamette Valley.

Well, if it's in the water, it must also be in the St. Joe's River that goes through South Bend, Indiana, as well. Notre Dame's Jackie Young, who is listed as a guard, is a 6-footer who spends a lot of time in the lane and it shows in her rebounding totals of 7.6 per game, trailing only Jessica Shepard's 8+ per game.

Speaking of ND, they will indirectly be making a contribution to Oregon next year when Erin Boley becomes eligible. Boley can most certainly add some offensive firepower to the team and I can see Ionescu setting Erin up for unguarded threes, at which she's lethal. BTW, Boley is a willing battler under the boards, as well.

 

[ME Husky Fan]

Certainly a lot of potential in play here but I'll await a performance against a top 5 opponent before I canonize her.

 

[jonson]

There are only 2 Sr. on this team, so the make up of the team for next year isn't going to be much different. The younger Sabally is going to have her work cut out for her finding many minutes w/ so many established players. There are only 2 Jr. on the current team. So in 2 years, it's going to be a Sr. dominant team w/ a nice group of experienced Jr. as well. Barring some kind of mass exodus, there just isn't much room for any new players to come in for the next 2 years. The make up of the team now is largely going to be the same in 2 years. Right now Ionescu is simply a better rebounder than most of Oregon's bigs. That might change, but it might not.

Just a bit north in Corvallis, OSU's PG Pivec is also her team's second leading rebounder and grabbing 7 boards/game. Maybe it's just something in the water in the Willamette Valley.

Next year, I think Sabally will take Bando's place in the starting lineup. How her sister will fare is unclear, but--assuming the awards and statistics from her Euro league are good predictors of her talent (as they were for Satou), I could imagine her taking some substantial minutes form McGwire or maybe even starting in McGwire's place. Imo the team's major weakness has been a an overall lack of speed; SS--and the two other freshmen--have helped address that, and I am hopeful that Satou's sister, who is supposed to have a skill set similar to Satou's, will continue the improvement. I agree that Ionescu's rebounding is remarkable, if not as spectacular as her assists; she is really tough and has a good nose for the ball. And she doesn't seem all that invested in scoring. But I also think that, among the frosh, both Sabally and Maley have some potential there as well. Graves started Sabally in place of McGwire on Sunday and one of the things he got was 8 rebounds and 2 blocks, along with 12 points (about her average)--the downside was foul trouble (she played only 17 minutes, albeit very effective ones). I'm not sure how Boley will fit into all of this, but, over the past two years, Graves has been very good at finding ways to bring new players along from day 1. Not Geno's way, that's for sure. But it seems to be working for Oregon.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I keep forgetting about Boley. That will change the mix a bit next season. I did see that Sabally started instead of McGwire in the last game. Previously it seemed Graves was fairly committed to using Satou as a wing more than a post player. We'll see if that changes moving forward. I'm thinking Boley is another wing w/ good size. Same story w/ Maley. I liked what I saw from her the last game, she seems to have plenty of potential. Maybe some of them will lose playing time next season, but the Ducks have a deep pool of post players w/ Hebard, McGwire, Gildon, Campisano and Giomi (those last 2 are barely playing as it is). Kind of ridiculous that they could have 3 wings 6-2 or taller in elder Sabally, Boley and Maley. Never mind younger Sabally, not sure where she will fit in. Guard rotation seems a little thin by comparison, but I would guess Ionescu and Cazorla get the bulk of the minutes. That leaves Yaeger and and Ayuso and one other incoming freshman next season.

 

[willtalk]

I keep forgetting about Boley. That will change the mix a bit next season. I did see that Sabally started instead of McGwire in the last game. Previously it seemed Graves was fairly committed to using Satou as a wing more than a post player. We'll see if that changes moving forward. I'm thinking Boley is another wing w/ good size. Same story w/ Maley. I liked what I saw from her the last game, she seems to have plenty of potential. Maybe some of them will lose playing time next season, but the Ducks have a deep pool of post players w/ Hebard, McGwire, Gildon, Campisano and Giomi (those last 2 are barely playing as it is). Kind of ridiculous that they could have 3 wings 6-2 or taller in elder Sabally, Boley and Maley. Never mind younger Sabally, not sure where she will fit in. Guard rotation seems a little thin by comparison, but I would guess Ionescu and Cazorla get the bulk of the minutes. That leaves Yaeger and and Ayuso and one other incoming freshman next season.

I believe his starting Sabally in place of McGwire was sort of an experiment to adjust to a situation like they faced against Miss. St. McCowan just killed them on the offensive boards. She had 12 and those resulted in easy put back points. In that game he faced a catch 22 situation where he either had to commit a post to box out McCowan or supply help defense for his guards to help contain the quicker MS. players. This was made more difficult by VV being hot from outside which did not allow them to sag off her and therefor exposing them selves to her penetration with no defensive post help inside. Now McGwire is not quick enough to do both, Neither is Hebard. Graves tried putting a body on McCowan with some of his shorter quicker players but McCowan was just too tall and was able to get the rebound over them and then just put it back up.

Graves is very offensive oriented. McGwire is a really good mid and long range shooter adding a lot of offensive firepower to the team. She is, however, not very quick and that often makes her a defensive liability against certain teams where help defense is required. I believe his inserting Sabally into the starting lineup was an attempt at looking for an answer to what he faced against Miss St. In that game he went with McGwire far too long before bringing in Sabally. Sabally might be their best defender, is tall and quick enough to cover a lot of ground and supply help defense. If Graves has any future plans for advancing far into the NCAA he needs to deal with players like McCowan. Baylors Brown is an even better O- rebounder and an O- rebound by players like them is a sure two points.

Whether Sabally is even capable of doing the job is another question, but Graves wants to see if she can because with her he loses no offense. In this Graves is just being to stubborn and locked into his mind set. The player he could have used to keep McCowan off the boards didn't even see the court. He has the ,6'6" Giomi, who from what I have seen is good at and always willing to put a body on her defensive assignment. All she needed to do was keep her self between McCowan and the basket since her extra length would not allow McCowan to reach over her for the O-rebound as she did with the 6'3 and under players Graves attempted to use to box her out. Gildon is a very physical post but is really short at 6"1". Giomi is not very polished or effective offensively and that is why Graves is loath to use her, but when you are in a situation where a player like McCowan or an even better offensive rebounder like Baylors Brown can destroy you it is time to make some concessions towards defense. Giomi is also even by Graves own admission the fastest player on his team and looks quick enough to cover enough ground to supply a lot of help defense. He should have at least tried her.

Graves is obviously in love with offense, but you can not always outscore you opponents. He needs to find answers to teams like Baylor and Miss. St even if it requires him to compromise his offense a bit. Hey Miss St. beat Uconn last year because they had no answer for McCowan. although this year they can counter with Stevens. And I am also convinced that both Brown and McCowan negated each other and that was why Miss St was able to beat Baylor. Basketball is about Timing and match ups and those sort of teams are night mare match ups for Oregon for which the now have no answer for. Graves needs to think outside of his own self constructed box.

 

[LoTrader]

There are only 2 Sr. on this team, so the make up of the team for next year isn't going to be much different. The younger Sabally is going to have her work cut out for her finding many minutes w/ so many established players. There are only 2 Jr. on the current team. So in 2 years, it's going to be a Sr. dominant team w/ a nice group of experienced Jr. as well. Barring some kind of mass exodus, there just isn't much room for any new players to come in for the next 2 years. The make up of the team now is largely going to be the same in 2 years. Right now Ionescu is simply a better rebounder than most of Oregon's bigs. That might change, but it might not.

Just a bit north in Corvallis, OSU's PG Pivec is also her team's second leading rebounder and grabbing 7 boards/game. Maybe it's just something in the water in the Willamette Valley.

Pivec is also an amazing, versatile, 1/2 on the court for Scott Rueck. Only a sophomore, but has been asked to play the point this year, and still gets 7 boards/game. Pivec is the Beavers' Sabrina. Does everything well. Can't wait to see these 2 players go against each other this year.