"Roaring back from a two year slumber" sorta says it all...don't miss what these women are doing!

 

Oregon Women's Basketball: Gritty and Worthy of a Certain Ionescu

FISHDUCK.COM

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We interrupt all this talk about football to alert you to something you might be missing. Oregon women’s basketball is roaring back from a two year slumber.

 

Thanks Drex for your insights into the Duck Women's basketball team! Your writing is a joy to read.

 

I think you have hit upon the key to recruiting - choosing players to fill specific needs not just looking at their "stars".  Going after players who will mesh together into your system is crucial!

Many thanks for writing this terrific article, Drex. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.  To be honest, I have just started paying attention to the women's team again and find them so much fun to watch. You're right, they are gritty and fight for their points. 

 

I remember being so impressed when Graves brought in all those 5-stars. It was a hard lesson for him and us to learn, but unless there is team chemistry, the stars don't matter. GO DUCKS!

I love watching our womens basketball team!  Go Ducks!

Has anyone else noticed how the team jelled after Sedona retired?

On 12/15/2022 at 9:33 AM, dksez said:

Has anyone else noticed how the team jelled after Sedona retired?

It's true.

 

Thanks Drex, as it is fun to watch their growth and dream about their upside.  Sweet Sixteen?  Elite Eight?

It's really tough to say what their upside is right now, we'll know a whole lot more after the games against Arkansas and UCLA, split those and I think getting to the second weekend becomes more of realistic expectation than just a upside hope.

 

One thing that that really strikes me is that the Pac-12 is good and deep this year.  Stanford, Utah, UCLA, Washington, USC, and Arizona all have either 1 or 0 losses.  Nobody in the Pac-12 is .500 or under, it's going to be a dog fight in conference this year, could see at least half the conference get into the tourney depending on how it goes.

I think it's a little unfair to talk about jelling "after Sedona retired" since we never had a chance to see what this team might have looked like with her.  That said, it's certainly true that Philly has made the most of the added minutes, and maybe Grace as well.  And, as much as I feel bad for Sedona, that's a very good thing. 

 

I think most fans have theories about what went wrong with the heralded top rated class of 2020.   My sense is that what (to me) initially looked like a major plus--the fact that 3 of them were best buds before coming to Eugene and, as such, sort of a package--turned out to be really bad for team chemistry, and perhaps even for the three of them as well, since Parrish and Watson seem to be doing better at their new locations. 

 

But, in any case, this years group is very different and a pleasure to watch; I also think they have a far higher upside as well (discounting Tehina; I'd love to hear her take on the 3 that transferred at the end of last season.)   Other than Tehina, there was no one in the 2020 class comparable to Grace or Chance or even Jenna, and I think Jackie Nared Hairston deserves a lot of credit for that. 

I have yet to see one player on the team that plays poorly when on the floor.