Save Us From Sabrina Ionescu

[nwhoopfan]

No one is talking, though, about Maite Cazoria, who played 40 minutes with 15 points and only one turnover. She was particularly effective early, as she was then the primary ballhandler and took it to the basket a couple of times.

Oregon really has 2 PG w/ Cazorla and Ionescu. They are both good passers who generally make good decisions on the floor.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I suspect your PAC 10 reference reveals the amount of attention you may have recently paid to the PAC 12

I can't believe how many people on this site keep calling it the Pac 10. It expanded in 2011. Does news travel slowly to the East Coast? Or maybe it's because the Big 10 and Big 12 didn't change their names, regardless of how many teams each conference contains, so they're assuming the same of the Pac.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Is anyone really saying the balance of power is shifting to the West? That's a bit dramatic. I think there's been a considerable upward trend to be certain. For years Stanford was the only program out West that could compete nationally. The last couple seasons have shown several other teams from the West are capable of making deep runs in the Tourney.

 

[Blueballer]

She is a revelation. She is a coach on the floor, very athletic and nimble, she's got Larry Bird eyes, she can shoot and she isn't afraid to set her teammates straight when she's not happy with what they're doing.

Brenda Frese will have nightmares about her for the foreseeable future, I'm sure.

I had the volume down during most of the Oregon v. Maryland game and, frankly, wouldn't have watched very much of it if Maryland hadn't been losing for almost the entire game. I kept expecting Brionna Jones, et al to right the ship and step (figuratively, of course) on Oregon's neck. Never happened. Every time Maryland seemed to gather itself for a run, Sabrina found someone for an open shot, penetrated and scored or got fouled.

When I turned the volume up at the end of the game, I discovered she's a FRESHMAN!

I am 100, well 99.9 percent, sure Geno, CD, Marissa and Shea are cooking up a plan for her, but unless it involves an abduction I'm afraid we're all in for a long night Monday.

INDEED on all counts. And like you said the most amazing thing is to get all those ingredients in a freshman. Astounding.

 

[jonson]

Umm yes, she is good but let's not anoint her the second coming of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Breanna Stewart! My goodness, I worry you may need more meds or stronger glasses to take a longer look at her season stats. Again they are good but your over exuberance on her is perplexing.

This is certainly true. And Ionescu certainly makes her share of freshman mistakes. But it's also true that Ionescu's season stats don't tell the whole, or maybe even the most important part, of the story. For one thing, she broke her thumb on her shooting hand in December, missed (I think) 4 games, and then didn't shoot very well for several games after that. For another, I think you would have to watch her in game after game (as I have) to understand how important she is to Oregon's overall success. To me her impact is reminiscent of DT's on the UCONN teams a decade and a half ago. I'm not saying that she has DT's talent (who does?), but she does bring something like the toughness, competitiveness, smarts, and confidence that made Diana so important to her teammates' success.

 

[augustaTC]

I can't believe how many people on this site keep calling it the Pac 10. It expanded in 2011. Does news travel slowly to the East Coast? Or maybe it's because the Big 10 and Big 12 didn't change their names, regardless of how many teams each conference contains, so they're assuming the same of the Pac.

Good response!!! Whatever they call themselves they have some good coaches & players. Tara's not going to have her pick of all the west coast girls anymore.

 

[Ellie]

Give me a break !

No breaks, just hyperbole!

 

[huskyd]

UCLA was the first game this year where I thought we played a talented team with as much or more athleticism at every position on the floor as Uconn has and it showed in the 'struggle' of a fifteen point win that never got to single digits in the second half. It showed in players showing some signs of being tired during the game. It definitely showed in the number of tipped passes as well as the number of steals and turnovers. And it showed in openings that closed quicker than expected and led to more contested shots. It was a pretty new experience for this team and they didn't handle it quite as well as they should have. Their coach got it right - it was a game of inches and not feet, and Uconn is used to a game of feet even against the top five teams we have played.

Oregon is a very good team playing with reckless abandon. But they are a team like all the others we have faced that will be slower and less athletic than Uconn at almost every position on the floor. They are well coached (like ND), they have more size (like almost everyone), they have good guards (like ND), but they do not present a new/different challenge to Uconn, one they haven't experienced before.

So Uconn had three off games this year - FSU followed by Baylor, Tulane followed by Temple, and UCF followed by USF in the conference tournament - a bad game followed by pretty brilliant outings. UCLA was a bit of an off game as well, and I suspect it too will be followed by a pretty brilliant outing. The alternative is that 110 games/9 FF/4 NCs has finally crept into their heads and the fatigue displayed yesterday was more than playing a different type of team. I am inclined to go with option one, an off game to be followed by continued brilliance.

And in terms of Oregon's run, they struggled against a decent Temple, beat an injured (and slow) Duke team, and handled a talented MD team with ease. An MD team that hasn't won an important game since Lexie Brown transferred. An MD team that while better than the version they put out 5 years ago that never played defense, is still not that interested in playing 40 minutes of defense. An MD team that thrives on transition and fast break offense, loving to run up the score on a schedule of grossly over matched teams as opposed to actually working on half court offense in those games. And an MD team that spent the last two weeks complaining about seeding, and regional assignment, and a lack of tickets, and dreaming about revenge against Uconn with a pretty mediocre game coach leading them.

Oregon is a really young, brash team led by a really good coach, with a lot of talented young players. They are playing really well and shooting really well. But Uconn has played teams like them before this year, and there are not going to be surprises. Sabrina is very good and poised, but she is not the physical challenge that Jordan was, Kia with a bad wheel will not be overmatched. They are a smart team, and those are always challenging, but Uconn teaches classes in basketball IQ.

So Oregon is definitely worthy of being in the elite eight and a team to be taken seriously (there aren't any bad teams left) but as long as mental fatigue has not set in, I am less concerned with this game than yesterday's.

Very sound and thoughtful, Uc. Two comments: first, Brenda hasn't won an important game in 15 years (you were too generous), and, second, Geno says he loves to play teams with which he isn't familiar and which don't know his team. Coach reckons that teams that haven't seen UConn aren't likely to be prepared for the level of play the Huskies achieve. He's got his wish. Dead Ducks comin' up.

 

[toadfoot]

Making reference to Oregon's prior losses has no relevance. As their coach said in their post game presser, they have improved tremendously over the year and defense is the key for them....it is the area where they have improved the most. Oregon is long and they will be a tough rebounding team. Our saving grace is they have never played us and have never been at this stage of the tournament. We will need our A game and stay out of foul trouble to win. I have every confidence we will prevail, but it will be a challenge. Assuming we do win, it will be a good tune up for us as we look down the barrel at Baylor.

While Oregon may have improved greatly I think a lot of people forget how much UConn has improved since the start of the season. I'll be stunned if this isn't a 20+ win.

 

[tomcat]

Is anyone really saying the balance of power is shifting to the West? That's a bit dramatic. I think there's been a considerable upward trend to be certain. For years Stanford was the only program out West that could compete nationally. The last couple seasons have shown several other te ,ams from the West are capable of making deep runs in the Tourney.

I don't know it is the trend that the earlier poster predicted, but there certainly are good/great players committing to PAC teams, and not just Stanford. Part of it also is the new wave of coaches, including Graves at Oregon, the guy at OSU, etc. It is no longer the case that when you see a PAC team in the NCAAs, you can assume they play Basketball Lite, which you could as few as five years ago.

 

[Carnac]

[QUOTE="Sonny44, post: 2119143, member: 742"]They have 13 losses don't they, and play in the pac 12, right? I'm not losing sleep over this one.[/QUOTE]

Exactly!!!! No disrespect to Oregon. Take them seriously, yes. Fear them, no. If UConn can't beat a double digit loss team (20/13 - /8/10) with a sub .500 conference record, the they don't deserve to advance. Please do not allow yourselves to become prisoners of the moment. Oregon had 10 losses in conference play. If those teams could figure Oregon out, why can't Geno and staff? I'll bet the entire staff is watching Oregon game film right now!!!

Oh ye of little faith - What???????, all of a sudden Oregon has become a Juggernaut, and now they're invincible? Please!

Allow me to share an observation here: Is anyone assuming that the 13 teams that beat them play a better brand of defense than UConn? Pardon me, but I'm not familiar with any team in the Pac 12 whose defense comes close to rivaling UConn's. Let's not forget what Geno said yesterday in a presser, if they (UConn) can score 90 points, then he'll trust his defense to make those 90 points stand up. He also said that he would much rather prefer to play a team that they didn't play this year. Ding ding ding!!! Oregon qualifies here.

Oregon as not seen the likes of UConn this year. They can watch all the film they want to. They can't replicate what UConn is going to bring to the court in a walk through, or a short practice. You don't prepare for UConn in 1 day.

Last thought: A quick revue of the this year's schedule shows that no team scored 90 points on UConn. One team (Maryland) scored 81. Only two teams (Florida St 76 & UCLA 71) broke 70. If UConn can score in the high 80's or low 90's, they'll be in deep cotton, and on their way to Dallas.

 

[01Neaggrad02]

Williams will defend her.... don't you think?

 

[nwhoopfan]

Pardon me, but I'm not familiar with any team in the Pac 12 whose defense comes close to rivaling UConn's.

Only two teams (Florida St 76 & UCLA 71) broke 70

There are some fairly stingy defenses in the Pac 12. UCLA was held under 70 8 times by Pac 12 teams, including 3 times by Oregon St. and twice by Arizona St. OSU held them to 53 and ASU held them to 55 in their lowest scoring games.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Williams will defend her.... don't you think?

Then KLS would have to defend one of Oregon's post players. Is that very likely?

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Too many Boneyarders are like petrified meerkats on steroids. I am glad we have players with strong, confident, and positive attitudes.

 

[Carnac]

A few random observations from being at the Oregon-Maryland game:

Kept waiting for a run from Maryland that never came. Flat doesn`t begin to describe how they played. It looked like they tried to turn the energy up briefly midway through the fourth quarter, but too little too late.

We remember Slocum as the player who lit us up big time in the fourth quarter in December. How does that player only shoot one three pointer in 38 minutes? Team as a whole 0-6 from three? Makes no sense.

Frese played right into their hands when for some reason she went 2-3 zone for the third quarter. Who does that against a team that is trying to slow the game down? More importantly, it also got Lexi Bando in the game. Against man to man, she was totally ineffective and only got one shot off in the first half, I think. She is not especially quick and does not play off the dribble, so tight man to man is a problem for her. But a great long distance shooter and the zone allowed her to get open and hit three threes, also missed some other open ones. Great strategy, Maryland.

I am really impressed with Ionesco. She is a step slow and their offense has too much dribbling, but she can really pass, is a very good shooter, and a fearless competitor. No one is talking, though, about Maite Cazoria, who played 40 minutes with 15 points and only one turnover. She was particularly effective early, as she was then the primary ballhandler and took it to the basket a couple of times. From Spain, plays kind of like the USF players but she is quicker and better.

The arena was rooting for Oregon. Obviously, in major part rooting against Maryland but also a recognition of a solid, young, well coached team that is easy to root for. They earned a lot of respect yesterday.

We will win on Monday but we better come out hard from the opening tap. If we let them hang around, that means they are setting the tempo and there could be some seat squirming. If we get way up early, they will not have the luxury of playing slow.

You said: "We remember Slocum as the player who lit us up big time in the fourth quarter in December. How does that player only shoot one three pointer in 38 minutes?"
I guess UConn brings out the BEST in their opponent's game. It sure seems that way. Slocum played like she had the Midas touch that evening.

You said: "we better come out hard from the opening tap. If we let them hang around, that means they are setting the tempo and there could be some seat squirming".
Agreed!!! The last time we let a team "hang around" was against Tulane. We all remember how that worked out for us.

 

[Carnac]

While Oregon may have improved greatly I think a lot of people forget how much UConn has improved since the start of the season. I'll be stunned if this isn't a 20+ win.

Toadfoot, It takes one to know one. YOU look like a "seer" to me. I (and the rest of the yard) hope your prediction comes true. I think it will.

 

[Los24]

[QUOTE="Exactly!!!! No disrespect to Oregon. Take them seriously, yes. Fear them, no. If UConn can't beat a double digit loss team (20/13 - /8/10) with a sub .500 conference record, the they don't deserve to advance.
[/QUOTE]

Let's also remember that 60% of their starters are freshmen. To your point, if we can not beat a majority freshman team then they do not deserve to win. Regardless of how talented they may be....

 

[Charliebball]

Another common opponent was Temple. Oregon only beat Temple by 1 point.

Ionescu averaged 11 points per game in the 11 loses she played in for Oregon, she scored 18 in their 76-63 loss to UCLA earlier in the season and scored 11 in their 84-75 win over UCLA more recently..........I'm undecided whether it is better to concentrate on stopping her from scoring or whether it might be better to let her shoot and not allow her to get the ball inside to Hebbard or on the wing to Bando.........I suppose that's why they pay Geno & Co. the big bucks