[2006alum]

There were a number of times that I saw inadequate effort that cost us rebounds, loose balls, coverage on D, or enough aggression on O. Best way for me to explain is to compare to our MBB. They don't have the equivalent level of talent or depth, but I am awestruck watching how they fly around the court, especially on D. They close out on 3 point shooter as good as anybody (part of reason they lead P12 in 3 pt defense), yet that doesn't prevent them from defending off the dribble. They are either able to close out and still stay with a defender who tries to drive or almost every time, someone else steps in and cuts off the driver. They double, but still get back to their guy after the double. Don McLean has been really complimentary about that. Loose balls? Our guys are after them dogs on a bone, including the floor burns. Agst, Utah last night, I was fascinated at how many times our guys got on the floor to go after the ball AND avoid tie ups to eventually get the ball passed safely to a teammate. They come up with the ball and sometimes even initiate a fast break. They jump passing lanes and on O attack the basket and challenge usually bigger guys like the Utah block machine. The effort and intensity is incredible.

So if we put on a scale of 10, the men are a 10 if you allow for the fact that it's virtually impossible to go at the highest level of intensity for 40 mins., especially in the regular season and with lack of depth. Maybe in an NCAA tournament game a team will do that. If you don't allow it, they are still a 9 and the main reason that there season has been pretty successful despite not having elite talent or depth or size. For WBB, I would give them a 7 or 7.5, an 8 at times this season. But to beat a top team like Oregon, we have to be at least a 9 and possibly a 10. So I agree with you that we aren't that far off, but without the effort (and making FTs and NOT making stupid passes), we can't make that next level to get to the top. I have thought since preseason that we would finish below Oregon in the regular season, but rise up in the P12 tournament and beat them for the title. I didn't think we could beat them 3 out of 3 or 2 out of 3, but I do think we can beat them 1 out of 3. So I do believe that Tara can get the troops ready in the P12 tourney. Of course that means (and Tara knows) that we can't afford to stumble before reaching the finals. 

Still haven't had time this week to watch the game, but according to Massey, for their respective leagues, our women's team is just as dominant defensively as our men's team:

Team     | Overall | Offensive Power | Defensive Power
Men      | 48 | 105 | 15
Women  | 8 |  14  | 13

So our women are better defensively among women's teams than our men are among men's. I honestly think the eye test here is just not very useful, because men are faster, stronger, leaner, longer, and taller. In other words, of course they close out better on a stationary outside shooter. 

The Oregon women's team is also the #1 rated offensive power team in the country, per Massey, so our women couldn't have had a more difficult assignment. (The men's most recent matchup, Utah, is rated 127th in offensive power, by comparison.)

[2006alum]

There were a number of times that I saw inadequate effort that cost us rebounds, loose balls, coverage on D, or enough aggression on O. Best way for me to explain is to compare to our MBB. They don't have the equivalent level of talent or depth, but I am awestruck watching how they fly around the court, especially on D. They close out on 3 point shooter as good as anybody (part of reason they lead P12 in 3 pt defense), yet that doesn't prevent them from defending off the dribble. They are either able to close out and still stay with a defender who tries to drive or almost every time, someone else steps in and cuts off the driver. They double, but still get back to their guy after the double. Don McLean has been really complimentary about that. Loose balls? Our guys are after them dogs on a bone, including the floor burns. Agst, Utah last night, I was fascinated at how many times our guys got on the floor to go after the ball AND avoid tie ups to eventually get the ball passed safely to a teammate. They come up with the ball and sometimes even initiate a fast break. They jump passing lanes and on O attack the basket and challenge usually bigger guys like the Utah block machine. The effort and intensity is incredible.

So if we put on a scale of 10, the men are a 10 if you allow for the fact that it's virtually impossible to go at the highest level of intensity for 40 mins., especially in the regular season and with lack of depth. Maybe in an NCAA tournament game a team will do that. If you don't allow it, they are still a 9 and the main reason that there season has been pretty successful despite not having elite talent or depth or size. For WBB, I would give them a 7 or 7.5, an 8 at times this season. But to beat a top team like Oregon, we have to be at least a 9 and possibly a 10. So I agree with you that we aren't that far off, but without the effort (and making FTs and NOT making stupid passes), we can't make that next level to get to the top. I have thought since preseason that we would finish below Oregon in the regular season, but rise up in the P12 tournament and beat them for the title. I didn't think we could beat them 3 out of 3 or 2 out of 3, but I do think we can beat them 1 out of 3. So I do believe that Tara can get the troops ready in the P12 tourney. Of course that means (and Tara knows) that we can't afford to stumble before reaching the finals. 

Still haven't had time this week to watch the game, but according to Massey, for their respective leagues, our women's team is just as dominant defensively as our men's team:

Team     | Overall | Offensive Power | Defensive Power
Men      | 48 | 105 | 15
Women  | 8 |  14  | 13

So our women are better defensively among women's teams than our men are among men's. I honestly think the eye test here is just not very useful, because men are faster, stronger, leaner, longer, and taller. In other words, of course they close out better on a stationary outside shooter. 

The Oregon women's team is also the #1 rated offensive power team in the country, per Massey, so our women couldn't have had a more difficult assignment. (The men's most recent matchup, Utah, is rated 127th in offensive power, by comparison.)