NCAA Game 2: Gophers v Ducks (3-18-17)

Ignatius L Hoops

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http://www.espn.com/womens-college-...e-most-exciting-players-women-ncaa-tournament

It's 32-10 Oregon mid way through the 2nd quarter so I'm calling the game for the Ducks.

Oregon lost one home game this season, 65-78, to Stanford after losing a 9 point half time lead.

Here's Voepel on Oregon and especially Sabrina Ionescu:

It was a few hours before one of Oregon's biggest games of the season. Coach Kelly Graves, whose team tends to play calmly confident in a reflection of him, was multi-tasking. As he wrote the Ducks' focus points and objectives for that night on a large dry erase board, he also talked about spectacular sophomore Sabrina Ionescu.

"She's so much fun to watch," Graves said.

He's experienced something like this before: A close-knit, successful team that had an especially skilled guard whom viewers' eyes were inevitably drawn toward. That was at his previous program, Gonzaga, with Courtney Vandersloot, now one of the top playmakers in the WNBA...

..."Her overall skill is incredible in every phase of the game," Graves said. "And I see what she's done for our crowds. They're coming out because we have a really good team and other good players. But it's like at Gonzaga, when we started to grow, grow and grow because of Courtney. She was such an iconic player for our program, and people wanted to see her...


...The 5-foot-11 Ionescu is the key ingredient that has made Oregon's offense so potent. The Ducks are third in the nation, behind UConn and Baylor, in points per 100 possessions (117.20) and have the second-best true shooting percentage (59.7) behind UConn, according to herhoopstats.com. All five starters -- Ionescu, Ruthy Hebard, Maite Cazorla, Satou Sabally and Lexi Bando -- average in double-figures scoring.
 

Both their posts are mobile & agile. Not sure Edwards and Pitts are much of match for them.

They're going to get as much rest as they want in their first round matchup.
 

Short of a miracle, the quacks will most likely smoke us. Sabrina I is really an amazing player who is passer akin to Lindsay Whalen in her prime. The PAC refs really protected her and allowed her to get away with carrying the ball........a lot. That being said, she can get anywhere with the ball and deliver great bounce passes in traffic. Ruthy Hebart will probably be the difference in the game. She is another fantastic talent and deadly in the low post. Lexi Brando is a very good 3 point shooter, but has a goofy leg kick when she shoots that looks like a frog jumping. This is a deep and talented team.
Unlike the men, the PAC women's teams are really good and this is a battle tested team. Nothing would make me happier to see the Gophers beat the guacks, but I don't see this happening. Graves has put together some great recruiting classes, but that basketball floor is an abomination.
 

Lol, their court is horrendous. I have friends and family who are O duck fans and I tell them all that Nike $$$ but 0 national championships and no taste. I have watched them play a few times and Ionescu is the real deal.
 




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Oregon won three close battles versus UCLA this season. Minnesota should be able to learn something from Bruins.

7 January in Los Angeles Oregon won 70-61: The Ducks opened the game on a 9-0 run and led 27-23 at the half. However, the Bruins rallied to lead 59-58 with a minute remaining before Oregon’s Lexi Bando hit a three giving the Ducks a lead they never relinquished. Scoring for the Ducks: Hebard 19 points, Ionescu 18 points and Cozorla 17 points.

19 February in Eugene: Oregon won 101-94 in overtime: Oregon, hitting their first seven shots, raced to a 31-21 first quarter lead which they extended to 57-41 at the half. But, not so fast my friend, the Bruins cut the deficit to 78-71 at the end of three and tied the game at 90 before missing a buzzer beating layup at the end of regulation. Given a reprieve, Ionescu took over in OT scoring 7 of her 23 points. Other Duck scorers: Sabally 25 points, Cazorla 24 points and Hebard 14 points and 11 rebounds.

3 March in Seattle: Oregon won 65-62 in the PAC 10 Semis: This time the Bruins made the hot start leading 19-14 at the end of one and extending that lead to 32-19. The Ducks responded cutting the deficit to 32-27 at the half. Nevertheless, UCLA led 62-55 with 5:28 remaining in the game. Then the Bruins went dormant while Oregon scored 10 for the win. Oregon scorers: Ionescu 17 points, Hebard 15 points and 13 rebounds and Cazorla 14 points.

In conference play Ionescu averaged 38.5 minutes/game, Hebard 33.3 minutes and Cazorla 35.3 minutes. With the possible exception of Sabally none of the players appear particularly foul prone.
 



My Beavers had won 14 in a row against the Quacks, including the game this year at Gill, until losing the second Civil War game this season in Eugene. The way to beat them is to play tough D, run when available, and make them play D for extended periods. You also need a low post scorer to make their bigs work on the defensive end and pick up some fouls. Unfortunately, the Goph's style of play is like taking a revolver up against a submachine gun. Our three guards are the only players that would make their roster. The talent differential at the forward and center positions is huge. With no viable low post threat, the 3 ball is going to be contested. It would take some serious flukes to get a win and I suspect Stalling's matador defensive style leads to a blowout. Sorry to be negative, but they really have a loaded team. The senior class at UCLA was the #1 rated recruiting class BTW.
 


Massey Ratings favors Oregon by 10.5 pts.
 






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http://www.startribune.com/gophers-...t-in-women-s-basketball-tournament/477188643/

Paige Buecker-bringing people together.

EUGENE, Ore. – One of the biggest fans of Marlene Stollings’ Gophers offense just happens to be the coach she will be facing in Sunday’s second round of the women’s NCAA tournament.

Oregon coach Kelly Graves was invited to view Stollings’ practice last fall when he was in town recruiting Hopkins sophomore star Paige Bueckers.

“Very impressed with the speed with which they play,” said Graves, who stole one of Stollings’ fast-break drills. He called it fate that Minnesota ends up playing Oregon at Matthew Knight Arena.

“Two very good offensive teams with a lot of stars, a lot of really good shooters,” he said. “It should be a fun, fun game for everybody...


...Junior Kenisha Bell is the perfect orchestrator of Stollings’ offense because she only knows one speed: the maximum. Minnesota has the fastest tempo of any team in the nation, according to analytics site Her Hoops Stats.

Bell, who had 26 points in Friday’s 89-77 comeback win against No. 7 Green Bay, drove the ball right at the opposition and drew fouls time and time again. She went 14-for-17 from the foul line, including 11-for-12 in the fourth quarter.

Bell reminds the Ducks of UCLA guard Jordin Canada, a semifinalist for the Naismith Award given to the nation’s top player.

She and fellow starters Carlie Wagner, Gadiva Hubbard and Destiny Pitts are all similar in size at around 5-9, 5-10. What they lack in height, they make up for with shooting and driving ability and speed.
 


I'm in town for the game. I hope it isn't as big of a blowout as is being predicted! Even if we don't win, I'm hoping for a competitive effort from our team. Of course, a win would be fantastic!!


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FiveThirtyEight gives Minnesota a 5% win probability.
So your saying there is a chance. Edwards, Fernstrom, Bello will all have to make Oregeons post play hard and body them up. Somehow Gophers bigs will have to stay out of foul trouble. Edwards is going to have to play mire minutes than she is used to. Bello has to avoid fouling as they will need her length in the pist. Hopefully the Gophers shots are falling. Somehow I hope the Gophers can pull off the upset.

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So the reason we have to have such a late game is so ESPN2 can fit in a 2nd round Men's WNIT game. :mad:
 


Ducks and Gophers are the FEATURE GAME! :)

We switched to 1-1 D for a couple of series. After watching OR. run lay up drills on the back side we may want to keep switching. We are going to have to shoot at least 50% from 3 to stay in this one.
 

Wagner has a 6’4 player guarding her. She might need to move around more. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be her night.

Wacky refs or what? Bell gets mugged in the paint= no call. Ionescu falls down after shooting a three pointer = foul.
 

Yup. Home cooking which they do not need an additional advantage. The women's game needs to evolve to the point where the best teams are not playing home games.
 

Wagner has a 6’4 player guarding her. She might need to move around more. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be her night.

Wacky refs or what? Bell gets mugged in the paint= no call. Ionescu falls down after shooting a three pointer = foul.
One of the refs used to play soccer for the Gophers.
Sabrina has been getting calls all year.
 

Yup. Home cooking which they do not need an additional advantage. The women's game needs to evolve to the point where the best teams are not playing home games.
Better attendance when the top seed gets to host. It's purely economic. We'd love it if we were the top seed.
 

One of the refs used to play soccer for the Gophers.
Sabrina has been getting calls all year.

We were down by 15 @ the half and then come out flat. Knew this was a long shot but would have been nice to keep it close. Wagner had a nice career.
 

We were down by 15 @ the half and then come out flat. Knew this was a long shot but would have been nice to keep it close. Wagner had a nice career.

She really did and it was cool to see this team exceed expectations at least in my opinion.
I remember watching Wagner and Rebekah Dahlman at the state tourney four years ago and thinking that Wagner was definitely the better player. Glad she played for the Gophers and the team is heading in the right direction thanks to her.
 




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