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So the Beavs will be stuck on 3 National Titles for the foreseeable future.

My thoughts on women’s basketball: they became overconfident, thought they just had to show up. More specifically, they were not physically or mentally tough, and relied too much on the outside game and the guards bailing the team out. In both the PAC and NCAA tournaments they showed little heart, very little will to play intense defense, and seemed to think Weise and the 3 ball would bail out the lack of effort. That being said, it was a great season, and pretty amazing given where the program was just a few years ago.

Regarding baseball: As I said in my pre-season writeup, this team had the talent, talent trumps experience, and success would be a matter of how quickly they gelled. They gelled quickly, and now we see a good team. I still see problems. Specifically the Beavers have no clear 4 or 5 hitter. I doubt Pat Casey reads AB, but I think this should be the strategy:

1. Versus poor pitching, bat Gabe Clark 4.

2. Versus good pitching, give Gillette and Howard or Cary a R/L shot at a platoon. I realize Carey has been a disaster thus far, but he has a fantastic swing and hit something like .550 in high school. If the coach doesn’t like that option, go with Gillette/Howard.

3. Move Clark down to 5 or 6 and hope for the best.

Can’t just keep slotting Clark into the 4 hole irregardless of the pitcher.

Another option would be to use someone other than Hendrix in the leadoff slot, keep Morrison 2, and move Hendrix to 3. This would extend the lineup. Nobach could possibly  hit leadoff to make that work.

Heimlich is coming around. But I thought that once before, and he took a step backward. He has huge upside.

Regarding football: Andersen will sign a top 35 class this year. We’re seeing how aggressive these guys are on the recruiting trail, and how it’s panning out with early returns. I watched the [supposed RB commit] film this morning, and he is an impressive player. I haven’t watched the other guys, but I can tell the type of athlete they are going for; they aren’t projects. They are true under the radar players in that they give max effort, high motors, physically gifted, etc. I don’t see any projects, in the Riley sense of the word, being recruited.

Feel free to discuss any of this or whatever you want.

 

91 COMMENTS

  1. Spot on about the basketball team, Angry. Last night they played hard when they dug themselves in a hole and tied it up at 64. But then they coasted or ran out of gas, letting Gonzaga go on a 12-0 run to end the game.

    This team had the skill to be in the Final Four, but didn’t play hard. I attribute that to it being the program’s first time dealing with high expectations, and specifically Scott Rueck’s first time coaching a team that was so good.

    Hamblin needs to fight for tough rebounds and work on her inside shooting. The whole team needs to learn to draw fouls or score when the opponent packs it in around the key. Early in the season, I saw the team slashing inside for a lot more baskets, and that’s when opponents figured out that they could force OSU to take outside shots, and the Beavs never figured out how to beat that.

    I have confidence that Scott will learn from this and do everything he can next year to have them playing hard. I know much less about the personalities of the players than I do about Scott, however, so I think the question is whether the players learn from this and give more effort in tough situations next year.

    • Agree with all except the comment “… first time coaching a team that was so good …”. Rueck won a National Championship! Granted in Division III, but in perspective I submit his natty team was as good or better than this year’s Beavs. He can coach.

      Somehow he lost the players. Or they just forgot they still had to PLAY, like I said in the last thread.

      Hamblin still needs work. She’s slow & can’t jump. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a good player, but size only counts for so much…

      • You’re right, that sentence was ill-considered on my part.

        What I was trying to say is that it’s probably the first time he’s had a team that was good enough to sleepwalk through games and still win most of the time. How does Scott, as the coach, teach the players to play hard even when they don’t “have” to? As good as the George Fox team was, I doubt they had the luxury of imagining themselves big fish in a little pond, so this is why I think this is a new challenge for Scott.

        • Good (albeit short) discussion by you two; one of the things that makes this board entertaining and educational.

          Now, “How does Scott…teach the players to play hard even when they don’t have to”? I’d say we saw the beginnings of the answer yesterday when he had Marie in for Ruth down the stretch. He’ll likely follow Casey’s mantra…”the players make out the lineup card (by their performance).

          This, from Scott’s post game words, “There was a level of aggressiveness I would have liked to see a little bit more from (Hamblin), no question”.

        • No question comparing Div I & Div III is sorta like comparing apples and bananas. That’s why I mentioned perspective…in Div III Rueck’s teams were extremely competitive for a number of years and it looks like it will be the same here.

          I agree it’s a new, bigger, and different challenge and he is learning just like the players. Just like we all do as we march through life. I’m very excited for the future of all sports at Oregon State.

          • I agree whole-heartedly. I advocate giving coaches several years to learn and grow. I wasn’t happy with CR’s performance, but I’m glad he got four years (he should have been out after four, though—he wasn’t learning and growing). Scott has grown so far and it’s been a lot of fun to watch the program develop over the years.

            I’m fairly sanguine about being a sports fan. To me, the point is to be entertained. A good regular season is the most important thing, and postseason is gravy. If the WBB team goes to the big dance every year but doesn’t get past the second round, I’m OK with that and I think Scott should stay around. I don’t personally feel any need to go for broke to win the national championship, but again, to me, entertainment is what I’m after, not being a fan of the BEST team.

            Lots of folks don’t feel the same way, and that’s fine if they do. I’ll just keep watching the games and having fun, and this team was a lot of fun even though they were struggling at the end. They would have been more fun to watch without those struggles, but I got my money’s worth this season.

      • I have a different take, I give them that they may have gotten tight due to the pressure, however what I saw was a tired team mentally. This team fought hard from the beginning of the season trying to prove themselves and they did that. But to be able to keep up that intensity for the length of the season is what took its toll. Physically maybe they were a little banged up or fatigued, but mentally they didn’t look like they had the “edge” or the grit they had played with for the season up until the last month. I think they were drained emotionally.

      • You just said, “natty.”

        You immediately lose. Go to jail. Do not pass go.

        Holy fucking shit. Even Nikegon die-hards should be distancing themselves from “natty,” “We smoked it all,” and “little brother.”

        You can’t say one without identifying with all of them. Therefore, you lose… or Duck life. They’re both the same… so whatever.

        Ruth isn’t soft. She’s bigger than everyone else, so refs unfairly cal her for maybe 6:5 more fouls. That’s a huge number when you’re aware of your game. She’s aware of her game.

        The problems is… the team came to rely on Ruth too much. She can dominate on O all she wants and as long as teammates feed her. She can work on her footwork and lowering her base. But that’s about it.

        What was apparent in this and a couple of the last games was that defenders were waiting for Ruth to make a play so they could run it out. I’ve seen it before. You play D so you can shine in transition. Transition isn’t just a moment where posters are made. It is the adrenaline rush of hoops.

        But if only one person is playing interior D, then only one person is playing interior D. Reaches don’t even pretend to cut it when it comes to help D. Standing around watching and waiting counts less than just reaching. Don’t know what to say to make feet move. If I did, maybe I would be a coach.

          • Between that and the Wiscy men not being good enough to beat that team… or any team… you’ve got one championship.

            But no Bumpo for you!

          • One down and one to go. If they can get past Duluth in the first game they have a good shot.
            Wilcox is finally playing like the Wilcox of last year and Mike Reilly is just an awesome player.
            The series with Michigan this year was great hockey. They have some really skilled guys, unlike the rugby on ice practiced by the red clad skunks to the east.

          • I don’t have high hopes for UND without McMillan. I think Mankato State and Miami will be the teams to beat now… with an outside shot for St. Cloud State.

          • Yes. A real one. An Olympic one. They are actually pretty good. The main difference is the shots are much slower so you can actually see them, unlike the guys. Plus they can do a triple Lutz on breakaways!

  2. Dejavu. Exact same problems vs Gonzaga and South Carolina from previous year=too slow and lots of turnovers. It seems like they turned off the switch at half time in the 2nd Duck game and only hit the ignition switch a few times thereafter. A year of experience will not cure problems of speed and sloppy ball handling. Great team and great year. They need a bit more than wishful thinking to go farther next year.

    • re: turnovers. I didn’t count but there were several times the ball was simply taken out of the Beav players’ hands. Some of the passes were sloppy enough but they couldn’t seem to actually grip the ball. I thought the 2 bigs on the floor together wasn’t such a bad idea but apparently they hadn’t practiced it very much.

      All along, we thought the mbb had run out of gas – guess it was wbb.

      • It was the first time I watched a game excluding highlights and I was kind of surprised at how “non-athletic” they were. I guess they must have out shot most of their opponents. It seemed like there were numerous times when Hamblin could have taken the ball strong to the basket and she quickly passed it back outside. In the end, they still won 27 games so what the hell do I know, but it’s tough to lose at home to a much lower seed. Those kind of chances don’t always come back around.

      • re: turnovers; I’ve tried to watch most of the WBB games and have never seen Syd lose the ball as much as yesterday. A couple very ill considered passes, not in her nature to date.

  3. Howland to Mississippi St. Will be watching his performance closely. Like Tinkle but also think Howland would have elevated Beavers basketball.

    Hope to see some of you at the Football Spring Game. An actual game which I am very pleased to pay $6 to see. Less than a HS game on Friday night and helps support our band, etc.

    Very excited for Football this fall and getting our first tangible taste at the April 18th Spring Game. Players will be hitting hard while Riley’s NU squad practices air tackling.

    • Illinois Chicago hired Steve McClain. Also of note the Beavs will play Howland’s Bulldogs next season in Starkville

      • Was CR ever a serious candidate for these jobs or just rumour? I can’t see how he gets a job at the D-1 level again if anyone watches game film. Maybe if they need fundraising, he can land something.

        • According to the last articles I read he was in consideration for the Holy Cross job and did interview for the Illinois Chicago position

      • There will be plenty of time in the years ahead to compare Tinkle and Howland. Tinkle has impressed me, but I do hold just a little bit of my enthusiasm in reserve until he shows what he can do AFTER the coaches sons are gone. In five years from now if there is no drop off, then he will be the man.

        It’s somewhat of a unique situation with two sons of coaches, but it’s the kind of situation Beaver hoops desperately needs to get the “Tourney Monkey” off of their backs. Howland can also show what he can do with a somewhat downtrodden program in that same timeframe. Maybe they will be facing each other in the round of 32 in a couple of years?

  4. As I look to the Twitter feed (great addition) the one thing that really stands out to me this year is the kind of collateral they are sending to their recruits. Real step up from previous regime. I like the ESPN magazine covers, seen this type of material sent out from the ‘ucks previously, nice to see that we’ve caught up a little bit.

    • agree, theyre getting more creative with the marketing materials they send out, and the kids who get them always tweet them out to their followers which helps increase the program’s exposure. another thing I’ve seen alot of is recruits love receiving “edits” from fans. (an edit is basically a photoshopped picture of the player with a cool OSU related background, some logos, etc) they share that stuff with their followers too.

    • I don’t see much difference in the amount of things. Riley’s crew sent out a bunch of stuff too, I remember seeing a tweet some years ago about a kid receiving nothing but hand written notes from everybody on the staff, and not just one but multiple.

      What I have noticed is the staff seems to be very focused on recruiting, offering 2017 and 2016 prospects. They look like they have done their homework on these kids, and the attention to detail seems higher. Riley was big on face-to-face visits with the coaches and then the players. The current staff seems to be building on their current relationships and getting directly involved with the kids at a much earlier in the process.

  5. Everyone loves to be flattered, and who wouldn’t want a soccer trophy? But, the vast majority of recruits were attracted to OSU thru personal relationships, or opportunity…not thru slick offers of time shares. New coaches are less market and more beef…though marketing does have a place.

    • Is there any marketing I can target at you to convince you to finally tell me how my life would be better had the quackers won the football NC?

  6. Great analysis on the baseball team, Angry. Like oneoldbeav said above, that’s the kind of added value you can only find here. I’m guessing that Clark will start in the 4 hole for the next two series, and it he stands to form, his line will pick up. If not, then Pat will have no choice but to change him for a spot lower in the order or sit him altogether.

    In yesterday’s wwb game thread I offered some correctives for what the team needs: (1) Ruth has to develop a shot other than trying to lead into the basket. She is simply not strong enough to muscle through; her lay-ups get tossled which is why so few, comparatively, drop. Or, she could work on upper body strength to become the “muscle.” (2) Weisner likes to “juke” with the ball out front hoping to gain a step, but if she doesn’t make the cut the ball is simply out in space for someone to swat at; she lost the ball three times that way yesterday. (3) Weise needs to develop a short range jumper so that when the 3’s aren’t falling she has something to resort to. Lastly, I think the team was stunned by the intensity of tournament play. They’ll make the 16 next year.

    football: don’t you just love Andersen? An actual, hard-hitting spring game. The Riley molly-coddling era is over, and so, I predict, are those sloppy early season games and losses to FCS teams.

    • Seems like women’s softball have a shot at getting to the tourney, they are already at 22 wins. Isn’t around 30 kind of the benchmark for a P-12 team?

  7. The only beaver sports teams that can handle expectations are wrestling and baseball. The other ones just haven’t had enough success recently.

        • The good news… the NCAA will likely start playing regionals at the home ice of the seeded team. There is zero reason UND should be playing at Scheels instead of the Ralph. The FF a couple years back at the Ralph had the best attendance in the sport’s history. And UND wasn’t even involved.

          Why is Mankato State playing in South Bend… or Miami in RI… against Providence?

          • They are pretty dumb. Trying to be like basketball, but without the fan base.
            Perhaps it takes too much effort to hide all those permanent racist logos in the palace of Ralph?

          • “Perhaps it takes too much effort to hide all those permanent racist logos in the palace of Ralph?”

            Yeah… well… you can’t really cover up the arena name. I guess you can just cover up the “Engelstad” part of it. That should satisfy the NCAA concerning anything racist. Most sensible people just Ralph at the guys memory.

            Maybe Fill Night should have been named Ralph too?

        • More like that Canadian team in the WCHA tourney. Coach Fox and Dauber win it?
          Duluth has their number this year, so a bad draw. They are playing so much better now, but the Lucia factor may override that.

          • UMD did have their number this year, as did many real hockey teams… and the US Under-18’s. But I think it’s a blessing to get that draw. Familiarity gives them a chance to do something good.

            The only better draw for them would have been Rochester, and that wasn’t going to happen.

    • Fans and media alike, because of communication variety that is available to all of us, use the slightest positive to project expectations above and beyond. Glowing life stories appear, an Arizona mbb win early in the season has the Beavs in the sweet 16, rankings are an end result, a 4-star recruit (who hasn’t signed yet) will put a team on the map. Constant celebrations occur during the game instead of waiting until the clock shows zero.

      I particularly enjoyed Drew Rasmussen’s perfect game because everyone waited until it had actually happened.

      • I don’t remember the men in the Sweet 16 part. I remember the “IF they win six or seven of their last ten” then “maybe” they get an invite. But Sweet 16? As a Beav, I would say wait until the bracket comes out first. If there’s not a team from Indiana in our sub-bracket, then we can talk about the possibility of advancing.

  8. 2 game series starting today. Need to rack up these non-conf wins .

    I’m expecting a lot of pitchers to get action today and tomorrow.

    I think Tweedt will start one game and probably a bullpen game tomorrow, each guy goes 1-3 innings. Offense will win these games.

  9. Slightly off topic. But, has anyone heard what the new Valley Football Center expansion plans will look like? I hope that the athletic department and University go all out and make it look stylin’ for future recruits! It doesn’t have to be the biggest, but it needs to be among the best.

  10. Not sure if I’m not allowed to post here, but I had a question about the Wikipedia pages for Beaver sports. I think it legitimately affects public perception when this is the picture that people see (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gill_Coliseum#/media/File:Gill_Coliseum.jpg) It looks old, out of date and dingy. Wikipedia needs original content or permission. Anyone have any pictures to update this and any other Beaver athletic pages that need a refresh?

  11. Not sure if you’re compiling these quotes from players about the former coaching staff, but here’s another from Richard Mullaney.

    “Maybe it’s the 7 a.m. practices. Or maybe it’s just natural that a new coaching staff would translate into renewed enthusiasm.

    But the Beavers have turned up the intensity, working faster and celebrating standout defensive plays.

    Having coach Andersen and his staff here, they’re awesome,” senior wide receiver Richard Mullaney said. “I love the intensity that they’re bringing and just the change.”

    http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/sports/college/oregon-state/2015/03/25/horowitz-early-impressions-osu-spring-football/70442300/

    • I still am. I’m trying to find that villamin quote. It was the best one. there were also good storm wood’s quotes I need to find.

      • Not sure which quote you’re looking for, but found a few.

        “It feels like a new beginning,” receiver Jordan Villamin said. “The feel out here is a lot different than last year.”

        http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20150303/SPORTS/150309853/101073/SPORTS?template=printart

        from the same article….

        Receiver Victor Bolden said he liked what Andersen and the staff brought to practice.
        “He’s a really up-tempo guy himself,” Bolden said of Andersen. “I’m really liking what he does with us. He’s really interactive. I’m just excited to play for him.”

        Brennan said Villamin caught a slant pass and ran 60 yards for a touchdown.

        But Villamin missed the next signal and when he asked what the play was Brennan said he told him he should have seen the signal.

        “You have to know your stuff pretty well,” Villamin said.

        Also some Villamin stuff in the video here, although it’s pretty vanilla:
        http://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index.ssf/2014/12/oregon_state_football_beavers_91.html

        • I think it was on blitz, behind the pay wall. Saw it during their trail period when GA was first hired. It was an awesome quote.

          there was another quote, forget by whom, but it said something like the players like GA much better (even though they didn’t like Riley). I think it was a recruit who said it. Maybe Noah…

  12. The narrative from players is that Andersen is a must-needed rejuvenation for this team. Mike Riley – OSU’s coach of 14 years and the previous 12 – had three losing seasons in the previous five. The long-time coach departed for the head coaching job of Nebraska eight days ago. Andersen was hired Wednesday.

    Safety Cyril Noland-Lewis said the team “could definitely use that spark,” and wide receiver Jordan Villamin said Wednesday that Andersen will bring more energy and fire to the team.

    Grimble took notice of Andersen all the way back to his days as Utah’s defensive coordinator. Utah was Grimble’s first scholarship offer out of high school, and the Utes’ upset victory against Alabama in the 2008 Sugar Bowl caught his eye.

    This is the first time in his career he will play for a defensive-oriented head coach. The Sugar Bowl performance impressed Grimble, but not as much as Andersen’s introductory press conference.

    “This is probably the biggest bright spot we’ve had in a long time, at least for the time that I’ve been here,” he said. “I can’t speak for a lot of people, I’ve only been here for a year, but for the time that I’ve been here – no disrespect to Coach Riley, I love Coach Riley to death, he gave me another chance to come here and play football – but this is probably the brightest spot we’ve had in a long time. It’s something to look forward to. It gives the team a lot of energy and I think it’s something that’ll bring the team together.”

  13. Read this article on Gimble… very telling of the lax problem Riley ran. We all knew it and we all said it… lack of discipline in Riley era.

    http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/85454/beavers-need-grimble-to-lead-d-line

    “That’s the biggest thing they’ve changed in the program: energy,” Grimble said. “There is no relaxing, taking days off, taking plays off. They don’t let one thing go by, whether it’s a meeting, lifting, a practice.”

  14. Stanford got a pretty good QB today

    kj costello ?@kj_costello 8m8 minutes ago

    It’s been an unbelievable journey. I am proud to announce that I will be playing football at Stanford University???? #nerdnation #StanU

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