Preview: Oregon
In the last Pac 12 regular season game we will ever play, we take on Oregon in Eugene Saturday at 2pm. We have secured the top seed in the Pac 12 tournament, but a bad loss might be troublesome for our NCAA seeding, and so there is still plenty of incentive to play well.
Oregon is having a down year after a couple of years of devastating transfers. (They lost Prince to TCU, Paopao to South Carolina, Rogers to Texas A&M, and Isai to BYU just last year.) Last night they suffered a loss to Cal on their home floor. They are 11-19 overall, and in sole possession of last place in the Pac 12 at 2-13. Oregon has sunk to 68 in Massey’s ratings, and NET is down to 105.
This will be senior day for Oregon, but Oregon is a very young team. None of their starters will be graduating. The senior with the most minutes is Ulla Chamberlain at 14 mpg, who is on her third school. But there are others lower on the roster, so it might be an emotional send off. On the other hand, Oregon has been losing far more players to transfer than to graduation of late.
The last time we played Oregon, at Maples on January 19, we won 88-63 in a game where Brink played only 6 minutes. Five other players were in double digit scoring, and Oregon was two dimensional with Chance Grey and Philippinna Kyei carrying the scoring load. You can read my previous preview and our thread of that game here:
https://thecardboard.org/board/showthrea...tanford+88
Last night Chance Grey scored 17 points and nearly pulled out a fourth quarter victory. Grace Van Slooten, who did not play well against us last time, seems to be on track again and had 14 points last night.
I can almost hear Tara now: “The most important thing is to stay healthy and happy.” I hope we have the wherewithal to grab a big lead, to rest our starters, and to give everyone else an opportunity. That would be ideal, going in to the Pac 12 tournament. It also might be a time to work on certain problems that we have seen exposed late in the season. We certainly don’t want to move ahead with a hangover from the last game.
Stepping back from the preview, I can’t help but feel strangely sad about where Oregon is. Graves has clearly been a very good—even a great—coach in the past, dating all the way to St. Mary’s and Gonzaga. And he should have had a national championship but for COVID. But somehow the transfer bug has been very, very unkind to Oregon. I’m not sure why, whether it is something about Graves, or about Oregon weather, or just randomness. But the changes in college sports, which we have so often bemoaned at Stanford, seem to have been even worse for Oregon WBB, leaving them a shell of their former selves. Which would make it even worse for us if we do not show up and play well.
In the last Pac 12 regular season game we will ever play, we take on Oregon in Eugene Saturday at 2pm. We have secured the top seed in the Pac 12 tournament, but a bad loss might be troublesome for our NCAA seeding, and so there is still plenty of incentive to play well.
Oregon is having a down year after a couple of years of devastating transfers. (They lost Prince to TCU, Paopao to South Carolina, Rogers to Texas A&M, and Isai to BYU just last year.) Last night they suffered a loss to Cal on their home floor. They are 11-19 overall, and in sole possession of last place in the Pac 12 at 2-13. Oregon has sunk to 68 in Massey’s ratings, and NET is down to 105.
This will be senior day for Oregon, but Oregon is a very young team. None of their starters will be graduating. The senior with the most minutes is Ulla Chamberlain at 14 mpg, who is on her third school. But there are others lower on the roster, so it might be an emotional send off. On the other hand, Oregon has been losing far more players to transfer than to graduation of late.
The last time we played Oregon, at Maples on January 19, we won 88-63 in a game where Brink played only 6 minutes. Five other players were in double digit scoring, and Oregon was two dimensional with Chance Grey and Philippinna Kyei carrying the scoring load. You can read my previous preview and our thread of that game here:
https://thecardboard.org/board/showthrea...tanford+88
Last night Chance Grey scored 17 points and nearly pulled out a fourth quarter victory. Grace Van Slooten, who did not play well against us last time, seems to be on track again and had 14 points last night.
I can almost hear Tara now: “The most important thing is to stay healthy and happy.” I hope we have the wherewithal to grab a big lead, to rest our starters, and to give everyone else an opportunity. That would be ideal, going in to the Pac 12 tournament. It also might be a time to work on certain problems that we have seen exposed late in the season. We certainly don’t want to move ahead with a hangover from the last game.
Stepping back from the preview, I can’t help but feel strangely sad about where Oregon is. Graves has clearly been a very good—even a great—coach in the past, dating all the way to St. Mary’s and Gonzaga. And he should have had a national championship but for COVID. But somehow the transfer bug has been very, very unkind to Oregon. I’m not sure why, whether it is something about Graves, or about Oregon weather, or just randomness. But the changes in college sports, which we have so often bemoaned at Stanford, seem to have been even worse for Oregon WBB, leaving them a shell of their former selves. Which would make it even worse for us if we do not show up and play well.