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Oregon Women’s Basketball Searching for Identity

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The Oregon Women’s basketball team is going through a stretch that we as fans have not seen from them in some time. With a record of 3-4 over their last seven conference games, the Lady Ducks already now have more conference losses this season than in each of the past three seasons. Right now, the Ducks seem to lack an ...

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Yes, the woman's basketball team looks kind of lost. Great players that just need to get organized and find there place. 

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Completely agree about centering the offense inside, there was no doubt in the game against Arizona. The Lady Ducks shot 20% on 3's, but inside, Prince and Sedona are very hard to stop. The 3 doesn't need to be eliminated, but by running the offense inside-out, it will draw the defense under the basket, making the 3 even more open.

The great teams and coaches play to their strengths, and for this team it's Prince and Sabally.. Prince reminds me of Bill Walton, especially when she tosses in her turnaround jumper at the basket, she is also a very good passer. Nyarra isn't her sister, who is? But, particularly against UC Davis, she has shown the ability to take over a game, in all sorts of ways.

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Thanks for the fine article, coach.  I think your analysis and your strategic suggestions are spot on. 

I would only add one comment and also reinforce one of yours.  As you suggest, Mikesell should not be playing PG.  She makes the really obvious plays and leaves us scratching our heads over most of them.  She has an abundance of talent...just not at PG.  Second, the bigs, including Prince, do not seem very athletic.  They frequently fumble with passes and look like they can be all thumbs on rebounds.  (Sabally seems the most athletic of the bunch, however.)  I don't know how to fix that.  Hopefully I'm wrong ... and it was just the teams playing them that made them look a bit uncoordinated.

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36 minutes ago, Mudslide said:

and it was just the teams playing them that made them look a bit uncoordinated.

I think a part of why, "they look a bit uncoordinated" is that for the majority of the time, the plays have broken down, and Prince and Sabally are scrambling, trying to salvage something out of a possession. By focusing the offense through them, finding, the identity, they, and the entire team, will appear much more coordinated. 

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One problem the ladies have had is simply the interruptions that COVID has made throughout the season.

Normally, teams have regularly scheduled practices and games. There is a rhythm That flows throughout the week. When we see that one person can't play due to "protocols", that person might have practiced all week with the team but a positive test pulls them out of the game. All that practice with her on the floor is lost for that game. She may be out of practice for the whole next week, but then be eligible to play the following weekend - but without the benefit of practice!

I think it has been twice this season that the entire team was sidelined with all team activities "suspended".  How does that help the team rhythm??? They finally get back to practice and the first game they play in a week and a half or two weeks is against a top ten team.

You get my point. We have no clue who can or cannot practice any given day, and that affects how well the whole team plays together when the game is on the line. I trust Coach Graves, his staff, and his team are giving it their very best every day.

 

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1 hour ago, 30Duck said:

I think a part of why, "they look a bit uncoordinated" is that for the majority of the time, the plays have broken down, and Prince and Sabally are scrambling, trying to salvage something out of a possession. By focusing the offense through them, finding, the identity, they, and the entire team, will appear much more coordinated. 

Add in that when we're content to clang 3's off the backboard and rim the ball takes weird, strong bounces which will "get on you" before you're ready, causing you to look uncoordinated at times. This is a young team searching for it's identity right now.  I agree totally,  KG needs to go to the inside-out where our shooters (?) can get the ball in spots where they are comfortable and in rhythm.  Dugalic needs more minutes, especially when Boley pulls one of her no-show games like this one.  Inside-out offense might just fix her problems...

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Something I wish to give Coach Nordy kudos for and to alert everyone to?  How many articles about Womens Basketball have you seen where the writer states the problem (or what is going well) and then gives and opinion about how to proceed from here from an analysis standpoint?  Answer: None. Most articles are simply reporting the game or what Coach Graves is stating in his interviews, but you do not see what Coach Nordy provided in his article.

Then to add to it--he makes it real easy to understand, and for a basketball novice like me--I now know what to look for.

Wonderfully done Alex, and I hope you keep giving us your highly informed opinions like these!

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In the morning paper in Eugene....Coach Graves acknowledged the "leader-less" problem, and felt that it had to be a natural-organic process where the women decide among themselves who the team leader is.  Between freshmen reluctant to step forward, or veterans not shooting well, or injuries or simply personalities....(Boley is naturally a quiet person)....a leader has not emerged.  Graves stated that "great some games, and not so in others" would continue to be the team performance until more leadership is established.

My own thoughts are that it is doubtful that this will be solved this year, but next year--some confident freshmen will no longer feel like newbies and establish their will.  In fact we might have several current freshmen vying for that role....

Womens Huddle.jpg

Mr. FishDuck

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Very true, a coach can't coach up a leader, KG is right, it has to be organic. Sabrina Ionescu, among her abundance of skills, had leadership from the start.  We're seeing again how hard it is to appreciate where this current team is, when Oregon's best basketball team in history, is still so fresh in our minds. 

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