Preview:
Oregon has emerged in recent years as a threat to Stanford dominance in the Pac 12. This year, however, Oregon has had some setbacks as it adjusts to a roster which was greatly changed by transfer and injury. Oregon had 5 transfers out and lost Sedona Prince to injury--all of which was somewhat offset by getting Taya Hanson to transfer from ASU and getting top recruits Chance Grey and Grace VanSlooten to mature rapidly. But the cauldron at Oregon seems to have been boiling for a few years now with Graves having to throw in new ingredients on a constant basis.
This year Oregon is 14-6 and coming off a close win up at Cal. They are unranked on the AP, the coaches have them at 23, Massey has them at 22, and they are 14 in the NET. Their first four losses were to ranked teams, including UCLA. But before they beat Cal last night they had dropped two in a row to Washington State and then to Oregon State. Their best win was over #17 Arkansas back in December. So their resume is looking a little questionable.
Oregon's offense is, as usual, its strength. It has four starters averaging double digit ppg, and the fifth is a skyscraper center that has also been scoring well of late.
Leading the way is Endiya Rogers, a 5'7" senior guard (transfer from USC) averaging 16 ppg and 46% (not a typo) three point shooting. She is 40/88 from three point range. Rogers is speedy, quick, can make her own shot, and can score from all three levels. She is point guard and has about a 2.5:1 assist to turnover ratio with more than 80 assists to her credit.
Not far behind is 6'3" freshman forward Grace VanSlooten, the ESPN #13 overall from her class. She is averaging 15 ppg, does not shoot threes.
We are all familiar with Te Hina PaoPao, the 5'9" junior guard who is a natural point guard, but now shares that role with Rogers. She is averaging 14 ppg and shooting 36% from three point range. She also has more than 70 assists, so she and Rogers seem to be almost dual-point guards.
Oregon also starts freshman guard 5'9" Chance Grey, the #7 ESPN overall recruit from her class. Grey has adjusted well to the college level. She is scoring 11 ppg and shooting 34% from three point range.
The fifth starter is sophomore center 6'8" Philipina Kyei, shooting 57% from inside and dominating the team stats in rebounds. She is averaging about 20 minutes per game.
Finally, the aforementioned Taya Hanson, the 5'11" senior guard who was one of ASU's stars before jumping ship and shooting over 40% from three. She also has a killer step-back jumpshot. She is the sixth player and the first off the bench.
Oregon is making 8-9 three point shots a game and shooting 37% from range. We need to come close to that if we want a comfortable win, even though we may have the advantage inside.
This lineup looks very formidable and will require a very strong and deep perimeter defense as well as a a way to control VanSlooten on the interior. It is almost the reverse of how opponents defend us--we need the "pack" the EXterior and blanket Van Slooten. Otherwise the inside-out game will become an offensive buzzsaw.
Against Cal, all five starters were in double digit points, including Kyei, and the bench (including Hanson) gave them very little. But the offensive balance makes it hard to deploy doubles and Tara's typical scouting report defense may simply not work against a team of 5 scorers. No sagging off, so I doubt we can really shut down their offense. To win this game our offense is going to need to step up, and we are going to have to start hitting treys in some quantity--especially if Oregon plays its usual zone. Oregon is not that deep, so getting them in some foul trouble would work wonders.
Oregon has emerged in recent years as a threat to Stanford dominance in the Pac 12. This year, however, Oregon has had some setbacks as it adjusts to a roster which was greatly changed by transfer and injury. Oregon had 5 transfers out and lost Sedona Prince to injury--all of which was somewhat offset by getting Taya Hanson to transfer from ASU and getting top recruits Chance Grey and Grace VanSlooten to mature rapidly. But the cauldron at Oregon seems to have been boiling for a few years now with Graves having to throw in new ingredients on a constant basis.
This year Oregon is 14-6 and coming off a close win up at Cal. They are unranked on the AP, the coaches have them at 23, Massey has them at 22, and they are 14 in the NET. Their first four losses were to ranked teams, including UCLA. But before they beat Cal last night they had dropped two in a row to Washington State and then to Oregon State. Their best win was over #17 Arkansas back in December. So their resume is looking a little questionable.
Oregon's offense is, as usual, its strength. It has four starters averaging double digit ppg, and the fifth is a skyscraper center that has also been scoring well of late.
Leading the way is Endiya Rogers, a 5'7" senior guard (transfer from USC) averaging 16 ppg and 46% (not a typo) three point shooting. She is 40/88 from three point range. Rogers is speedy, quick, can make her own shot, and can score from all three levels. She is point guard and has about a 2.5:1 assist to turnover ratio with more than 80 assists to her credit.
Not far behind is 6'3" freshman forward Grace VanSlooten, the ESPN #13 overall from her class. She is averaging 15 ppg, does not shoot threes.
We are all familiar with Te Hina PaoPao, the 5'9" junior guard who is a natural point guard, but now shares that role with Rogers. She is averaging 14 ppg and shooting 36% from three point range. She also has more than 70 assists, so she and Rogers seem to be almost dual-point guards.
Oregon also starts freshman guard 5'9" Chance Grey, the #7 ESPN overall recruit from her class. Grey has adjusted well to the college level. She is scoring 11 ppg and shooting 34% from three point range.
The fifth starter is sophomore center 6'8" Philipina Kyei, shooting 57% from inside and dominating the team stats in rebounds. She is averaging about 20 minutes per game.
Finally, the aforementioned Taya Hanson, the 5'11" senior guard who was one of ASU's stars before jumping ship and shooting over 40% from three. She also has a killer step-back jumpshot. She is the sixth player and the first off the bench.
Oregon is making 8-9 three point shots a game and shooting 37% from range. We need to come close to that if we want a comfortable win, even though we may have the advantage inside.
This lineup looks very formidable and will require a very strong and deep perimeter defense as well as a a way to control VanSlooten on the interior. It is almost the reverse of how opponents defend us--we need the "pack" the EXterior and blanket Van Slooten. Otherwise the inside-out game will become an offensive buzzsaw.
Against Cal, all five starters were in double digit points, including Kyei, and the bench (including Hanson) gave them very little. But the offensive balance makes it hard to deploy doubles and Tara's typical scouting report defense may simply not work against a team of 5 scorers. No sagging off, so I doubt we can really shut down their offense. To win this game our offense is going to need to step up, and we are going to have to start hitting treys in some quantity--especially if Oregon plays its usual zone. Oregon is not that deep, so getting them in some foul trouble would work wonders.
![[Image: tumblr_inline_pck49dzyof1r9s0qn_640.gif]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/33cb5cfb1c0c6f794d41462e0e383f00/tumblr_inline_pck49dzyof1r9s0qn_640.gif)
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