WBB NCAAA S16: #6 Oregon vs #2 Louisville (Sun 4 PM ESPN)

[greenyellow]

A good 3rd quarter by the Ducks but they may dug themselves too big of a hole in the 2nd quarter to pull this out.

[Duck07]

Nyara goes down and the team brings it to within 6.

[greenyellow]

Valiant effort to get this far but with all their injuries, I'm not seeing how they come back in this game.

[greenyellow]

The Ducks' season has come to an end. Time for them to rest, heal up, and get to improving their games for next season.

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[Duck07]

Sweet, but not Elite. I think they met expectations for this season, may have exceeded in some areas and not so much in other areas. It was a weird season coming off a disappointing N/A for last year's super team so I'm focused on the positives and hope it's all fuel during the off season for them as the develop more chemistry and confidence.

[duck023]

I was worried after those Arizona games but I might have underestimated Arizona. This team is so young and they replaced one of the greatest players of all time. Oregon State had a hard time replacing Sydney Wiese but the freshmen guards were really good considering they were replacing Sabrina.

[Bigwaved]

They had better practice entry passes into the post. They are practically inept at it. Boxing out would come in as a close second.

[bigsugarduck]

I was worried after those Arizona games but I might have underestimated Arizona. This team is so young and they replaced one of the greatest players of all time. Oregon State had a hard time replacing Sydney Wiese but the freshmen guards were really good considering they were replacing Sabrina.

One? Probably the three greatest players to play for the program...or at least the greatest and two top 5 players all time.

[bigsugarduck]

They had better practice entry passes into the post. They are practically inept at it. Boxing out would come in as a close second.

Been spoiled from 4 years of top notch entry passes from Cazorla and Sabrina...made the terrible passes all the more jarring this year.

[duck023]

I was worried after those Arizona games but I might have underestimated Arizona. This team is so young and they replaced one of the greatest players of all time. Oregon State had a hard time replacing Sydney Wiese but the freshmen guards were really good considering they were replacing Sabrina.

One? Probably the three greatest players to play for the program...or at least the greatest and two top 5 players all time.

I agree with that but even if Satou would have stayed I think the transition from not having Sabrina would have been similar. Hebard is one of the greatest Oregon players of all time but Sedona Prince has been very impressive. Also Satou's sister Nyara has lived up to the hype. The toughest part of the transition is that they relied on Sabrina for so much including leadership. However I was happy to see Sedona pick up that leadership especially in the tournament. Sabrina is not only the one of the best Oregon players of all time but one of the best of all of woman's basketball. She was so good that I think it really helped recruiting with all the great freshman guards.

[DmoneyDuck]

We were definitely spoiled by last year's squad (I think they would've ran through the Tourney last year and watching games this year, no team looks like they would've been on their level), but bringing in all these new faces, starting and stopping the season due to the pandemic, and seeing injuries take place down the stretch really hinders the ceiling of a team. I thought getting to the Sweet 16 and upsetting Georgia was a huge success. I'm really looking forward to next season and seeing how the Frosh progress!

[shoparound]

They had better practice entry passes into the post. They are practically inept at it. Boxing out would come in as a close second.

Yes to both of these ^^
and also find a way to score because these players had these issues all year long

[duckfan96]

So was Chavez hurt? She doesn’t seem like the same player, even remotely close, that she was. Is that cause she was playing with the big 3? Not blaming her just asking.

Looking forward to this team in the next couple of years.

[GrandpaDuck]

Now comes the transfer season.

I am expecting a lot of exits off the team. I don't have any particular player that I fully expect to leave the program, yet there isn't any that I would be be shocked to hear that they are going. The team played tight and frustrated and so many struggled to find comfort in their roles. That usually leads to some looking for a fresh start. 5-8 wouldn't shock me.

I am not calling for or going to speculate on any individual players and there are not any I want to leave. If there are a bunch of transfers we'll need to snag some incoming transfers as we don't have a lot of Freshmen coming in.

[DmoneyDuck]

They had better practice entry passes into the post. They are practically inept at it. Boxing out would come in as a close second.

Yes to both of these ^^
and also find a way to score because these players had these issues all year long

I think we were just spoiled having two elite creators in Sabrina and Satou last season. Looking back, it was probably unrealistic to expect Erin, Jaz, Taylor, etc. to take the leap and become those lead-playmakers. The roster was (rightfully so) built around Sabrina and Satou creating with Ruthy being an elite pick and roll finishers. Defenses had to pay so much attention to our Big 3 that it allowed Erin, Taylor, and Jaz to roam the 3-pt line and knock down open shots. With our Big 3 gone, those looks disappeared.

You're right, though. The Ducks need to find a way to create good scoring opportunities. Although that is much easier said than done. After watching a bunch of the women's tournament, those creators are few and far between and the elite teams have at least 1-2 on their roster; it's one of the reasons chalk always seems to prevail.

With that said, I liked what I saw from Te-Hina before the injury as the lead guard. Kylee showed promise in the post and Angela looks like she can be a Swiss army knife out there. Maddie may never be a lead playmaker, but you can always use a lockdown defenders (see Minyon last year) on the perimeter. I didn't notice Sydney as much as the other four but she was the highest rated of the bunch, so hopefully with a year under her belt and a more defined role, it will all start to click.

Sky's the limit for this team next year, especially if Sedona and Nyara can continue to stay healthy.