Ducks Can't Overcome Slow Start And Turnovers, Lose In Arizona

[30Duck]

 

[Charles Fischer]

That would be quite a Birthday present!

[30Duck]

As far as birthday presents go, that game has to be the worst. The football team played better in the Fiesta Bowl.

[ICamel]

Ducks actually played Zona close in quarters 2, 3 & 4 being down just 1 over that time frame. But that 1st quarter was UGLY!

The aggressive defense played by both UCLA and Arizona seems to affect the Lady Ducks.

Edited January 15, 2021 by ICamel

[30Duck]

10 minutes ago, ICamel said:

Ducks actually played Zona close in quarters

There was some good to to take out of the game. The Lady Ducks never quit, they never stopped playing hard. I didn't see any Duck with her head down, or act out of frustration. It wasn't their day in a big way, but they took it as a team. I Think Kelly has demonstrated that he's the perfect coach for this situation and he and the players will move on. 

[30Duck]

Slow start dooms Ducks

[30Duck]

The Ducks got off to their worst start of the season.

[Mallard]

Only one fantastic element of this game:  SEDONA PLAYS!!

[BigDucksFan]

IMO the Ducks are still shaking from the UCLA and Stanford losses. They need to clear their heads and move on. (Quickly)

[Guest]

13 hours ago, ICamel said:

The aggressive defense played by both UCLA and Arizona seems to affect the Lady Ducks.

Aggressive & physical: lots of grabbing, pushing, slapping that simply isn't called. Same in UCLA game. I'm guessing AZ saw the UCLA tape and went with it. Expect to see it a lot more.

[30Duck]

 

[John Charles]

I took my daughter to watch Oregon play Stanford for the Pac-12 Championship in Seattle in 2018. That team exuded confidence, discipline, & execution in all phases of the game--including an assassin like ability to knock down free throws from the top to the bottom of their line-up. After the game we went out for a late dinner and were surprised to see Coach Graves a few tables away from us. I remember thinking how fortunate we were to have him. It was truly painful to watch his press conference after last night's game, on his birthday no less. Hoping this team can turn that pain into gain and get back to the standard set by that team.

 

 

Edited January 15, 2021 by John Charles

[30Duck]

It seems for the first time this season really, we saw what can happen to a team so young and still trying to get its footing. Its also the case that no other team in the conference feels sorry for the Ducks. I can't remember what the time frame it was, but Arizona hadn't beaten Oregon in a long time. 

[John Charles]

I watched a WA girls basketball playoff game a couple of years ago and they were perfect from the line. Something like 23 for 23. How is that even possible? Lady Ducks shot 53 percent from the line last night. How is that even possible?

 

[30Duck]

1 hour ago, John Charles said:

How is that even possible?

It has always baffled me. It really seems, with any work at all a player should be at 70% on free throws. Rick Barry finished his NBA career with a 90% average. In part he believes because he found that shooting them underhanded gave him more control, and he was able to repeat the motion easier, so much he could do it with his eyes closed.

 

[Charles Fischer]

I agree; a 70% mark is achievable and should be done.  Rick Barry was amazing...

[30Duck]

34 minutes ago, Charles Fischer said:

I agree; a 70% mark is achievable and should be done

Ronnie Lee @ Oregon: 73.8

[nogerO]

I finally had a chance to watch the game and a few things jump out at me.  First I thought the women had turned a corner after destroying Cal.  Hate to use "youth" as an excuse but, we are a pretty young team.  Our inability to break and finish against a press was a shock to me.  Either they're not getting the message or they don't have that killer instinct yet.  When you attack a press you will inevitably get the numbers in your favor as soon as you defeat a double team with the dribble or a pass.  You have to attack all the way to the basket with numbers in your favor and then pass off for usually a lay in off of positive numbers.  I was disappointed with Pao Pao and her inability to dribble/pass break the press by Arizona. If you don't attack all the way to the hoop and settle for lazy cross court passes under pressure you get turnovers.  Enough said.

Second, our beloved ladies couldn't throw a beach ball into the ocean if they were waist deep in salt water.  It happens, but the whole team having a massive shooting slump in the same game was unexpected.  It happens, especially on the road against a good team.  Give AZ credit, they played suffocating defense and helped along by a head scratching differential between the amount of fouls called against the home team and the exact same calls not being made at both ends of the floor didn't help.  Every time the Ducks made a small run and were in position to get the lead down to 2-4 possessions, a momentum swinging 50/50 call seemed to rear it's head.  KG needs to get a technical once in awhile to wake his team up and send a message to the refs that he isn't pleased with the questionable calls. And the Pac-12 needs to hire some college level referees for the women's games!

Our defense was lazy.  This shocks me as they have played great defense so far.  Our free throw shooting needs to be improved.  I get it that Kelly is still looking to get his young players time on the court, but by doing that in a game like this, wasn't effective.  Frustration is a powerful thing and I kind of expect that from the freshmen, but was disappointed to see in in Boley, Mikesell, Chavez and Shelley and a little bit in coach G.

On the bright side, Sedona is back and needs to get into shape and sinc with her teammates.  The team fought back and never seemed to give up even with everything going against them.  There will be a lot of video to watch and a lot of coachable moments to learn from.  I would let the team watch the whole thing without saying a thing if I was Coach G and then let the ladies kind of dissect it themselves.  Then I would destroy the video and never speak of it again and move on.  This team has everything and just needs to get more experience and confidence.  I still expect us to compete evenly later in the year.  

The time to set a rotation is here.  Put your 5 best out there and let them play.  Sub in one at a time and go with a 10 player rotation.  Get Sedona involved again and play defense and attack the full court press all the way to the rim.  All the other teams noticed our struggle with that and you can bet they will be pressing us until we break it as we certainly are capable of doing.  I would break up my practice into 4 areas for the week to come (in no particular order).  Free throw shooting.  Breaking a press (man and zone variations of this) shooting the basketball from deep and mid-range especially is lacking. Passing the ball instead of dribbling, with exception of getting deep penetration before passing in a press-break situation without trying to dribble break a double team and going to get the pass instead of waiting for it to come to you, ouch!

Was it a train wreck?  Yes.  Was it indicative of how this team will play?  No!  I still stay the future is bright but we are a bit spoiled by what we're used to.  This team will grow into their potential and I can't wait to watch it!

GO DUCKS!!!

[30Duck]

2 hours ago, NogerO said:

When you attack a press you will inevitably get the numbers in your favor as soon as you defeat a double team with the dribble or a pass. 

NogerO, thanks a lot for finally watching the game, and then pointing out so many things that took place during it, including this about the reaction to the press. This above all shows the difference between this team and last season's when teams didn't dare use the press, as it would have been met with exactly what you indicated.
 

 

2 hours ago, NogerO said:

a momentum swinging 50/50 call seemed to rear it's head. 

I'm pretty sure you aren't alone in having that reaction, imagine what it would have been like had there been a packed house of Arizona fans in attendance? Ref's get caught up in the game, they favor the more aggressive, that clearly was Arizona in this game. I remember specifically an Oregon player being called for blocking when she appeared to have been set perfectly, only to see a Duck be called for charging later under the same circumstances, that was maddening, along with the touch calls. After all this I agree with you when you say to just burn this tape. 

[Charles Fischer]

2 hours ago, NogerO said:

I finally had a chance to watch the game and a few things jump out at me. 

Outstanding post!  This is the type of critical analysis I love, where credit and blame is given where deserved with solutions offered.  And even a "sky is still bright" encouragement for us fans who do not know basketball as well and hope for the best for the Women Ducks.

I love this kind of post whether in victory or defeat, as I learn more as a fan and thus enjoy the next games that much more. THANKS NogerO.

[nogerO]

In regards to a starting 5.  Right now if we're playing a team that goes big, 3 forwards and 2 guards,  I would go with three guards and two forwards and try to speed up the game with a full court press and aggressive run outs off of defensive rebounds.  In that instance my starters would be Pao Pao,  Shelley/Chavez (tough to pick between these two, but I think Shelley is better off the bench so far) and Mikesell with Sedona and Sabally at forward.  If we start getting beat on the boards then /Boley Dugalic comes in for Chavez/Mikesell leaving who has a hot hand in the game.

If we're playing a team that goes small, 3 guards and 2 forwards,  I'd start Pao Pao, Chavez, Boley, Prince and Sabally.  I think this team could run with an opposing small lineup in addition to outrebounding them.

I would rank who plays the most minutes roughly along these lines-nothing in stone, just what I've seen so far. 

Sabally, Bolely, Paopao, Mikesell, Prince-20-25 mpg.  These ladies are my starters going forward, unless Boley is having one of her rare cold streak games-10-15 mpg.

Chavez, Parrish, Dugalic, Shelley and Watson. 15-20 mpg.  Love this lineup and with some experience will be a force as a second unit against almost everybody else's second unit. Chavez would come in when Boley is struggling,  Scherr when any of these five are struggling.

Scherr, Giomi and Wilson-5-10  mpg and to get minutes as needed or in case of blow outs.  Scherr really needs more minutes.  Giomi can be effective at times but she is also not real strong and loses a lot of balls in scrums for rebounds because of that.  Wilson is a work in progress.

I would give whomever is playing the best defense the benefit of the doubt where in other areas players are about equally talented.

Coach Graves has 10-12 players he can get good minutes out of in most games.  Good problem to have.

Just my 2 cents.

As always, GO DUCKS!!!

 

Edited January 16, 2021 by NogerO

[30Duck]

3 minutes ago, NogerO said:

Good problem to have.

Nailed it. Even if Graves's plan is to tighten the rotation, your post shows how, with the depth this team has, there are so many variations available. 

[Guest]

4 hours ago, NogerO said:

Every time the Ducks made a small run and were in position to get the lead down to 2-4 possessions, a momentum swinging 50/50 call seemed to rear it's head.  KG needs to get a technical once in awhile to wake his team up and send a message to the refs that he isn't pleased with the questionable calls. And the Pac-12 needs to hire some college level referees for the women's games!

This part has been driving me crazy. Arm bars and push-offs by opposition players are being called as fouls vs Ducks, while upper arm hacks, holds, pushes, & blatant moving screens vs  Ducks are routinely ignored. Even the Pac12 announcers noted, but tried to soft peddle, some of the worst instances - like the pathetic blocking call you cited. Not sure what's going on with this, but am trying to take a silver lining view in that the Duckettes will be well prepared for biased/inept officiating in the tourneys by learning to play through this nonsense.

Kelly did get T-ed up in second half of AZ but post game owned it, and deflected to his frustration with the performance. Never a word about the refs. He is notably stoic during most games while other coaches (notably UCLA & ASU) seem to consider near constant commentary to the refs and histrionics played to the crowd (when their players flop) as part of their job description and coaching skills. Off putting to me, but they do get results.

[Charles Fischer]

1 hour ago, NogerO said:

Just my 2 cents.

Great information to provide NogerO, THANKS!