[jonnyss]

Rueck previews tonight's game:

https://oregonstate.rivals.com/news/watc...anford-cal

He says Stanford may be the best team in the country.  He repeats several times, Rueck-style, that having the film from their loss to us is a big help.  Like Tara, Rueck is a film junkie and has no doubt watched that film half a dozen times and broken down our offense and defense player by player quite thoroughly.  He will have new plays and new wrinkles.  We should too.

High praise for TVO.  He notes she is both more physical and quicker than most opponents realize.  A big, strong guard does not always come across as a quick guard, but she is quicker than most realize.  I'm still curious why she played so little against us the first game.  It will be a gigantic factor if she plays her normal time and is effective for them, as she has been in her last few games.  "Catch and shoot with unlimited range, but also the physicality to get where she needs to go."  "She finishess so well."  Rueck could not compare her to any single prior OSU guard, but had to use a combination of greats to describe her qualities.  "Talia could be the best I've ever coached.  Every coach is looking for that combination--someone who can do all the things." 

Again, it bears repeating that TVO played 14 ineffective minutes against us the first game.   I can't see that happening again.  Maybe she was not feeling well, but at the least Rueck will have studied exactly how we defended her and drilled her in techniques to overcome it.  We should be prepared with a curveball or two of our own.

A touching story about OSU's Andrea Aquino.   This 6'9" Paraguayan was the #7 ranked high school recruit in her class and the highest ranked recruit ever to go to Oregon State, and she has never been able to play in college.   You may remember that she was victimized in high school by being part of an athletic trafficking ring that left her abandoned and half starving in New Jersey, shuttled from house to house and missing meals.    
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2913...ne-anymore
After coming to Oregon State, she was never cleared to play.  She has had foot and ankle injuries, but "an undisclosed medical condition" has prevented her from ever taking the floor.  Someone here might know more, but I don't.  Despite this, she has stayed on athletic scholarship all 4 years, and Rueck defended that on the basis of ethics and commitment, and noted that she could have gone other places to see if she could find a program that would clear her medically to play (reminiscent of Jamie Carey for us) , but she has stuck with Oregon State.  She will go to Senior day on Sunday.  Apparently there has been some discussion about finding a way to get her safely into a game for a brief moment so she can enter a box score.  I remember Tara doing that for one of our players years ago--anyone remember who that was?  We did not do that for Ally Beebee as I recall, but perhaps it was Hannah Donaghe?

thanks for linking the story on andrea aquino!

[jonnyss]

Rueck previews tonight's game:

https://oregonstate.rivals.com/news/watc...anford-cal

He says Stanford may be the best team in the country.  He repeats several times, Rueck-style, that having the film from their loss to us is a big help.  Like Tara, Rueck is a film junkie and has no doubt watched that film half a dozen times and broken down our offense and defense player by player quite thoroughly.  He will have new plays and new wrinkles.  We should too.

High praise for TVO.  He notes she is both more physical and quicker than most opponents realize.  A big, strong guard does not always come across as a quick guard, but she is quicker than most realize.  I'm still curious why she played so little against us the first game.  It will be a gigantic factor if she plays her normal time and is effective for them, as she has been in her last few games.  "Catch and shoot with unlimited range, but also the physicality to get where she needs to go."  "She finishess so well."  Rueck could not compare her to any single prior OSU guard, but had to use a combination of greats to describe her qualities.  "Talia could be the best I've ever coached.  Every coach is looking for that combination--someone who can do all the things." 

Again, it bears repeating that TVO played 14 ineffective minutes against us the first game.   I can't see that happening again.  Maybe she was not feeling well, but at the least Rueck will have studied exactly how we defended her and drilled her in techniques to overcome it.  We should be prepared with a curveball or two of our own.

A touching story about OSU's Andrea Aquino.   This 6'9" Paraguayan was the #7 ranked high school recruit in her class and the highest ranked recruit ever to go to Oregon State, and she has never been able to play in college.   You may remember that she was victimized in high school by being part of an athletic trafficking ring that left her abandoned and half starving in New Jersey, shuttled from house to house and missing meals.    
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2913...ne-anymore
After coming to Oregon State, she was never cleared to play.  She has had foot and ankle injuries, but "an undisclosed medical condition" has prevented her from ever taking the floor.  Someone here might know more, but I don't.  Despite this, she has stayed on athletic scholarship all 4 years, and Rueck defended that on the basis of ethics and commitment, and noted that she could have gone other places to see if she could find a program that would clear her medically to play (reminiscent of Jamie Carey for us) , but she has stuck with Oregon State.  She will go to Senior day on Sunday.  Apparently there has been some discussion about finding a way to get her safely into a game for a brief moment so she can enter a box score.  I remember Tara doing that for one of our players years ago--anyone remember who that was?  We did not do that for Ally Beebee as I recall, but perhaps it was Hannah Donaghe?

thanks for linking the story on andrea aquino!