[triangle2]

Kennedy Brown to Duke!

What the h@#$ is happening to Oregon State?  What has gone wrong for Rueck?  There were always aspects of his personality I did not care for, but he seemed like a highly successful coach who had taken his team from the cellar to the top.  But his players are acting like the wheels have fallen off.

My sense is that Rueck has a bit of Mike Montgomery in him - he doesn't suffer fools well, he seems happier trying to win with the scrappy players rather than managing expectations for five star recruits, and he prefers a slower, high-ball screen scheme on offense that doesn't showcase certain kinds of players. I generally find his system to be smart and he's a good strategist in-game. Although I appreciate the thoughts above about his blow up with refs, I have to be honest when I say that I'm surprised that more Pac-12 coaches haven't had spectacular meltdowns given the dearth of quality officiating in the league.

It seems evident that some of the recent higher profile players Rueck recruited didn't buy in to his system and are departing; on the other hand, some players seem very committed, including Van Oelhoffen. OSU has a couple of genuine players coming in (Gardiner and Beers). I've seen Beers play. She's just what Rueck needs: a big body, screen setter to run pick and roll with Van Oelhoffen. Beers and Gardiner strike me as both high IQ players.

I do think that COVID made team-building very difficult for a lot of teams, and we are seeing a perfect storm where the transfer portal has opened up easy switching, players have a COVID year to burn, and there seem to be a lot of homesick players returning to teams closer to home.

So, I think for a lot of teams including OSU and Oregon, rebuilding the team is as much about rebuilding team culture as it is staffing for the roster departures. Some Pac-12 teams seem to be doing this better than others.

[triangle2]

Kennedy Brown to Duke!

What the h@#$ is happening to Oregon State?  What has gone wrong for Rueck?  There were always aspects of his personality I did not care for, but he seemed like a highly successful coach who had taken his team from the cellar to the top.  But his players are acting like the wheels have fallen off.

My sense is that Rueck has a bit of Mike Montgomery in him - he doesn't suffer fools well, he seems happier trying to win with the scrappy players rather than managing expectations for five star recruits, and he prefers a slower, high-ball screen scheme on offense that doesn't showcase certain kinds of players. I generally find his system to be smart and he's a good strategist in-game. Although I appreciate the thoughts above about his blow up with refs, I have to be honest when I say that I'm surprised that more Pac-12 coaches haven't had spectacular meltdowns given the dearth of quality officiating in the league.

It seems evident that some of the recent higher profile players Rueck recruited didn't buy in to his system and are departing; on the other hand, some players seem very committed, including Van Oelhoffen. OSU has a couple of genuine players coming in (Gardiner and Beers). I've seen Beers play. She's just what Rueck needs: a big body, screen setter to run pick and roll with Van Oelhoffen. Beers and Gardiner strike me as both high IQ players.

I do think that COVID made team-building very difficult for a lot of teams, and we are seeing a perfect storm where the transfer portal has opened up easy switching, players have a COVID year to burn, and there seem to be a lot of homesick players returning to teams closer to home.

So, I think for a lot of teams including OSU and Oregon, rebuilding the team is as much about rebuilding team culture as it is staffing for the roster departures. Some Pac-12 teams seem to be doing this better than others.