People will probably ask,"Why are you still writing about basketball, Angry?"
or bark,
"Robinson is incompetent! Who cares about basketball!?"
Well, I do. I've seen flashes of good play that make me tune in for more. Masochist? Perhaps.
In Berkley, they're calling Craig Robinson "Hope-in-Law"; that's moderately funny. Hey, I still have a little hope. Let me enjoy it for a few more hours, jerks.
Anyway, what do I know about Cal? Not much. I saw them playing someone the other night…I think it was USC. They had a kid named Harper Kamp who was causing all kinds of problems down low. He impressed me, so I wrote his name down on a piece of paper that said "Talk about this guy when Oregon State plays Cal." So, I am. Another guy, Jorge Gutierrez, was causing problems as well. He's a Troy Polamalu clone; you guys probably remember him from last year…the awkward looking guard who out-hustles people. Now apparently he can score, too.
So…that's my analysis of this game because that's all I know. I may have some hope for this season, but I'm not going to spend a lot of time researching these players, games, or match ups, and I'm definitely not going to spend time analyzing them. Not until the games are meaningful at least.
Anyway, I figure this will be a loss since Kamp was uber aggressive and effective down low–I don't see the Beavers matching that fellow's intensity. I also hear he is a good chess player. See, now that is my kind of guy. Why can't we recruit chess players!? (note: I'm ranked 6,500 in the world on chess.com if anyone wants to give it a go). :)
When: 8pm
TV: FSN
Radio: Kpam
Stream: none
Oh, and on a side note: Robinson said he doesn’t play man to man defense because the Beavers don’t have depth should they get in foul trouble.
I thought that was an interesting (i.e. convoluted) thought process. -1 for CR on that strategy.
Against Oregon, Jared Cunningham was in foul trouble early on, sat out much of the first half, and I don’t think the Beavs played man-to-man until late in the 2nd half – with great success. I know nothing about coaching basketball, but does common sense factor into it?
Between twittering, facebooking, and blogging, I think the players must have picked up on the conversation surrounding CR’s coaching ability. Are there any quotes from other coaches? Nothing formal or in print, of course, but there must be some rumors – good or otherwise.
I have also sometimes wondered if the confusion on the court is between doing what CR tells them to do and what they might have been coached to do in the past – assuming they had adequate to good coaches.
In any event, I have no expectations for a win. Hope I’m wrong.
Hey Angry, I imagine you look like Quentin Tarantino. Am I right?
No, more like Mark Ruffalo.
I can see against a deep front court team not wanting to play man but against the Ducks we could have played 4 guards (and did in fact). We had the depth to play man verse Oregon. Dumb excuse.
Angry, I saw that quote on the man defense. That doesn’t make sense. Good for you on the -1. Against Oregon it was effective and should have been used more. I could agree when we play a team like Washington that has more ability than OS, but against lesser opponents, why make a 35% 3 point shooter into a 45%? That is what we do every game. Open looks are easier than those with guys in your face.
The man defense question is just dumb. Against better teams, a mix at worst should be the rule. If they see nothing but zones, they adjust throughout the game to find the soft spots. Mixing in a man set prevents that comfort.
Against lesser teams like Ducks, we should do the same, but lean toward more man and just harass the crap out of them. They wilt under that kind of pressure.
Even lesser teams can find a rhythm against a zone given a little time.
Only USC has shown that they can’t figure out the zone.
I have a good feeling about this game and even Saturday’s game against Stanford. I don’t know why, but I think we might see a lot more good in the next two games than we’ve seen all year.
Then again….
seems like whenever you start to believe in the Beavers let you down and whenever you give up they surprise you.
I have absolutely no faith that the Beavers will win a game on this 2 game trip to the bay area. Since Coach Rob came to OSU, they’ve had a lot of success vs Cal but I don’t see that continuing tonight.
I just have a bad feeling about this trip. Probably because they start games so terribly and just lost to a really bad team at home.
At this point, the goal for me is to see them win more games than last year. That would be a success in my eyes.
No talk of maika ostling? Good addition, great to have a post coming in and a post that will only get better over the next year and a half.
Interesting to note that CR did not address specific strategy with zone vs. man against the Ducks, he was talking in generalities in the GT article I read. Playing man for 4 minutes at the end of the 1st half was brillant, not playing it the rest of the game was puzzling at best.
Prediction: Beavers carry all that awesome momentum from the Oregon game….
and lose
Cal 73- OSU 58
I think it is pretty slim chances OSU loses by 15 to Call tonight.
No reason OSU can’t win tonight. I’m hoping Burton/Brandt have big games
What was that? no chance we lose by 15?
I hate being right. Robinson is not the guy for OSU.
Oh well, I’m glad I have better things to do tonight than watch this shit.
How do you get no chance from slim chance?
Good call, its just a shame because this would be a tight game/beaver lead if OSU played even half-decent tonight.
Robinson not the guy for OSU? I guess you want the Beavs to fire him. Lose all of his recruits, have several transfers, pick up an OOC football game against Texas to pay for it and then pick up who? Indiana State’s coach? OSU’s failures are not on the coaching but the athletic department.
Not a very good start. Beavers missing a lot of shots in close(Brandt) and giving up consistent layups. bad recipe there.
oh my, very very sloppy by beavs. deep shots, bad passing, terrible defense
Beavs can turn this around quickly though
The effort to start the game was pretty good, but Joe Burton came in and did a few dumb things (as is his wont) and now they’re down double digits. This seems to be the formula.
The two players, Gutierrez and Kamp, I was worried about on Cal are having a field day thus far.
Collier is so solid…can’t wait to see him in a few years when he’s matured.
there we go beavs, burton/collier combo down low
That was such a ticky tacky foul!
I’m done with the game tonight. This is extremely painful to watch.
The team will lose by 20+ but I can’t say it will be a surprise.
nelson continues to struggle. Cunningham has been very quiet as well.
28-15 now. No reason beavs can’t get into this but that “swagger” from the Arizona series seems so long ago
There we go Jared, nice drive. Sanders-Frison is a liability for the Bears
Man, the Beavs get down by 5 possessions in every game.
Watch this game and you can see why OSU lost to so many poor out of conference games.
Nelson, you are better than that deep 3 you just missed badly on.
At least the Blazers are hanging with Boston.
Anyone else souring on Starks? He’s not a true point at all, and due to his lack of height almost all his passes get intercepted. If he isn’t hitting 3s he is pointless, which is not good for a point guard.
I don’t think this is necessarily on Starks. Nobody on this team are improving, especially the younger guys who are apparently “more talented and athletic” than our seniors.
Jesus Christ.
oh, and Bak Bak, a guy we missed out on, looks pretty good.
I’m not blaming him for the results so far. He’s just not a true point guard, and we were told he was one. He’s also just…too short.
I completely agree, Angry, but I’m saying that the onus is on Robinson to coach Starks up, which he doesn’t do.
Re: Starks
Another player who seems to be regressing under CR. He is a shooter, but needs some screens to get open. He is not going to get anything with the Beavs stand around the perimeter zone offense.
I have been saying all along that Starks is better off the ball. Starks and Robinson are like oil and vinegar. Something has to give. I think if Rob tries to mold him too much it will take away from Stark’s game. A player like that either shouldn’t play or should get the green light when he does.
As far as a distributor goes. I fear our best distributor is probably Burton. Cunningham shows flashes but he really is more of a scorer. Then again it is college ball and with athleticism you can somewhat hide these things.
Bears shooting 65%. Might want to change up the D.
Nice, man D.
I think he was a little overhyped coming out of high school where he was a role player on the state title team.
I thought he would be a much better shooter than he has shown but I think given two-four years of college and he’ll be a solid role player for the Beavs and probably an excellent leader. Losing Wallace and Haynes should change the the guard dynamic a lot. Haynes and Wallace shoot a ton of threes, maybe Starks will take some of those next year and be able to hit them more consistently.
Clearly Cunningham and Collier are the top prospects on the team. I think Robinson is slowly coming to trust collier more and more, especially on offense, as the season has gone on.
Meanwhile Oregon is winning.
Fucking kill me.
much like the oregon game, beavs get within striking distance at half. Hope coach rob has another shouting session for the beavs at half.
Its nice to see Haynes make some shots but he must have three turnovers. For the minutes he’s played thats a concern. Two travels I think.
Collier 3-5 has been a savior at times.
Nelson’s shooting percentage has got to be terrible for this game. Lots of ugly shots too.
Cal’s starters are killing – guiterrez has about 6 points off break aways alone. Crabbe’s been hitting shots. Kamp’s gotten to the line.
It is me or has Nelson looked a half a step slow all season? He never seems to be able to get off a clean shot. He never cuts to the basket either. I mean compare him to Crabbe, it is no contest right now and I think they were comparable recruits, right?
Yeah, I’m not sure how long he can play the year and a half (out of ball) trump card. He looks uncoordinated and slow driving. His stroke from the 3 point area is good, but he stands about ~2ft too deep.
He was a legend down here in SB.
ya I think Crabbe was a little more highly rated. You also have to consider what each have been asked to do.
I like the step slow comment. Lots of off-balance shots
Great, if OSU loses UO will be tied in the standings with OSU (and technically hold tiebreaker).
Not to mention they’ll also be tied with Stanford
Beavs look much more energized in the man to man. Is it time for CR to say screw it and turn the horses loose? If Cunningham fouls out (which is what CR is worried about if he would admit it), so bet it. It is not like this season is going anywhere anyway.
UGLY, at least cal hasn’t been sharp either or this could be more of a 16-17 point lead
The Beavs make the routine play look difficult; Cal makes the routine play look…routine.
damn, that statline says it:
assists:
cal: 15
OSU: 4
OSU also 1-9 from three
I think I figured out the Beavs:
They play without urgency. It’s almost as if they think the other guy is going to miss so they don’t exert a lot of effort defending him. Also, they seem to think it’s no big deal if the other guy makes a shot, because they can go down the floor and answer.
Then they miss a bunch of shots, and the game is 5 possessions in a flash.
Cal, meanwhile, has urgency. They want the win. These teams simply exert their will via effort onto the Beavs, who don’t understand the value of each possession.
That’s it in a nutshell.
Oregon is now 10-10 on the year…hah.. Wow. Baseball starts soon. Baseball America had the Ducks at 14 and the Beavs unranked. Fun fun fun.
Rankings in baseball are meaningless. Beavers have better team. That’s all that matters.
Beavs lineup is pretty weak. It’s going to come down to whether we get good pitching. Guys like Osich and Sam G were inconsistent to bad last year. I like Boyd a lot as a pitcher; hope he’s a starter this year. I’m curious to see what Poyer can do as well. He might add some needed pop.
Boyd is a hitter as well, he has some pop in his bat. I’m interested to see how Poyer does.
Is Jordan Poyer playing baseball this year? or are you talking another Poyer?
Beavs don’t know how to battle. As soon as the other team counter punches they curl in the fetal position. This is like Biff beating on George Mcfly.
terrible job by the beavs tonight. Cal is not a good enough team to be leading by 21. Wasted opportunities for OSU tonight. With Stanford and UW coming up we can only hope they regain some focus.
The announcers sait it all. Oregon State is just “too passive.” The song remains the same. Getting old. I hate to say it, but I think Oregon State athletics is broken. My vote goes towards change. Replace the AD and force Riley to either win 8 games next year or he too has had 11 years and definitely already peaked. We CANNOT continue to be the slowest school to evolve in the PAC. Bill Moos is getting bolder at WSU and implementing some uniform and scheduling changes etc. He is getting creative and listening to fans. With BDC and Riley you can say all you want but you never really know if they take any input at all and the evidence seems to suggest they are just stuck in their ways and think of Corvallis as their own personal economies where they can deliver mediocre and OFTEN less and get away with it. Nice for them..but sucky for the rest of Beaver Nation. :(
Gawd, I just hope they make 50 points b4 the game ends.
Apparently the Beavers circa 2007-2008 showed for the game tonight.
Or maybe circa 1940s or whatever we are promoting to 18 year old kids with those awful stupid murals in Gill that just perpetuate the idea that OSU is always behind the times and hardly ever relevant in the present. This is the 21st century. To an 18 year old recruit anything older than a couple weeks is ancient history. BDC is clueless.
Well, their performance sure flashed back to three years ago and hey there is Jay John on the sideline!!!!
I’m sure Jay John had the thought “Wow, this seems really familiar, I wonder why…..”
It’s tough being an OSU grad who cares about sports.
If 80% of the player posters in your gym are black and white and 30 years or older than it tells the world that you have not been a relevant program for MANY decades. How many more decades are we going to keep selling this antiquated and pathetic image which says we have not competed at a high level since color TV and stuff came around? Are we really this foolish. Fire BDC and hire a man with a plan to turn the image upside down and get the Beavers and Oregon State nationally relevant CONSISTENTLY in major sports and maybe even setting a trend or two that could be admired as bold and fresh or new and exciting!!!!!!
I think I am the man for the job tbh.
I would like to focus on the basketball practice facility, not the dumb murals. I haven’t donated to the bb facility yet, but when I do I hope there’s a way to mention the angrybeavs network so it’s understood I’m doing more than complaining.
I want to be excited about the BB practice facility and would be except for the fact I believe BDC will find a way to design it so it seems outdated and older than it should from day one. It should be a modern masterpiece opprtunity for Oregon State to inject life but I already heard they are going to do plenty of old player and coaches murals in there too. BDC knows how to ruin a great idea and it will end up much less ideal than it should and could have been. He has the exact opposite of the Midas touch.
Then people should object beforehand if there is confirmation that that is the plan. Easier to curtail than to change.
It will be interesting to see how CR spins this one.
Probably talk about he had them prepared but they just didn’t get it done. I love it when he refuses to take accountability.
I am going to shut up about the man to man because apparently CR was right, they cannot play that defense either (although I think it would have got them past the Ducks). How can Cal lose four good seniors and not skip a beat with their competitiveness, the Beavers lose one senior (Seth Tarver) and completely fall apart defensively as a team?
Devon Collier #44 was the only brightspot on a very dark performance from OSU. Will we make it to the NCAA tournament 20 years from now, and make it 40 years since making the tournament? OSU athletics are a complete joke this year! Epic failure. Is it too much to ask to at least one, just one successful sport to follow, stand behind, and be proud of?
Collier has hustle and energy, but does not have a clue on how to play interior defense and that is on CR at this point in the season. Good lord, how many practices have they had by now?
He did have 3 block shots but a lot of these don’t know how to play interior defense. That is on Coach Rob though. They are never prepared to play and don’t play with aggressiveness or intensity, things are bad right now.
I do like that Coach Rob took the blame for this pitiful effort.
Yeah, I read the Oregon Live article so that was good to see, but did you notice he still had to throw something out there that the young guys may have hit a wall or something? Ok, if 18 or 19 year olds are hitting a wall after 19 games, you have a problem CR. Did not seem like any of the Cal freshmen had hit a wall.
Also, I should have pointed out the Burton and Brandt are much worse they Collier on the interior. At least Collier has the length to block shots. It still boils down to the coaching or the players are not listening.
Colliers more a 4 than a 5. Although I guess he could play some 5 in the right situation. I like Burton as a change of pace guy. He would be great if he was playing 10-15 minutes just so teams had to scout his couple of moves and be alert for his passing but really we don’t have a reliable starting 5. I am wondering if we are going to continue to lose if it doesn’t make sense to see what Chris Brown can do with some extended run. I guess we can all say “just wait for Gomis” but he is no guarantee he will pan out and he isn’t exactly lighting it up, granted his team is deep and guard-centric but still.
I watched most of the games when we had David Lucas and Lamar Hurd and they played way smarter and with an organized plan. CR has the team playing like schizos out there and everything seems haphazard. They are not playing with any confidence that they can execute their gameplan and win with good execution of said plan. They just look like a bunch of chickens running around with their heads chopped off..
Hurd was at least a true pass first point guard who would get the team into their offense. Lucas was a beast his senior season on the inside. 2004-05 was the best team since Payton left (how sad it that?).
I don’t think anyone has questioned Jay John’s x and o abilities.
JJ could not recruit. I guess it was just Lute getting all of those great players at Arizona. JJ must have just stuck to coaching.I think JJ even got lucky with David Lucas, didnt he start out as a walk-on?
Yeah Lucas kind of fell into his lap. Jay John had no control over his team. I was at OSU in the JJ era and those kids were always out partying.
BTW angry, here is a chatroom plugin for WordPress that takes like 5 seconds to implement… we could use this on game days or any time. you could always have a link to it in your menu bar or your side bar:
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/phpfreechat/
Cool, I will try it.
That was a pathetic effort. We just didn’t run an offense. Passing around the outside while standing and watching is just not an offense. And the CR says during halftime that we are not a 3 point shooting team. What are we? If we are not stealing the ball and running out, we are not a scoring team. I’m tired of our best offensive possessions being a slow motion drive by Wallace. If the rest of the team had his heart, this team would be much better. He has been a warrior since the Pac 10 season has started. Unfortunately, he is an inferior athlete.
That is why I have been so hard on CR as a strategist and call bullshit again. He was using the excuse that they worked so hard in practice on offense that they let the defense slide to explain the poor defense earlier. So I say…..WHAT OFFENSE??? Did you see the difference between Cal and OSU in attacking a zone? Did you see any hard screens from Beaver players? A lot of this is just fundamentals, right? I am sorry, but these guys may be athletes, but they are bad basketball players right now. Did they all play free lance offenses in high school? Did their HS coaches team any fundamentals? Cal had the same amount of freshmen on the floor last night at times. What a stark contrast. It boils down to coaching, right (or else the players are not buying in)?
Personally, AAU causes the lack of fundamentals. it encourages 1 on 1 basketball and doesn’t really run an offense and they don’t teach hard nosed defense.
Coach Rob for whatever reason isn’t hammering the fundamentals into these guys and that’s why they lose games. They don’t make layups or make free throws. 2 easiest shots in basketball and they suck at them. That’s inexcusable. I would love to go to a OSU practice to see what truly goes on. I question whether or not fundamentals really get hammered into the players.
This team looks like the 2007-2008 team. They’re starting to give up and Craig is sounding like Jay John.
I’m fully expecting to see the Beavers on Saturday just lay down for the Cardinal.
My starting lineup for Stanford:
Cunningham
Collier
Wallace
McShane
Deane
I would then try to work that first team into a bit of a lather before taking the court. We would have very limited basketball skill on the court but have McShane and Deane just do their thing and go beserk. Stanford wouldn’t know what hit them. Let the other normal starters see effort. This team needs a shakeup. Put two bulls in the Stanford china shop and see what happens.
That is so bat shit crazy it might actually work.
But that assumes Deane even cares any more…or this team for that matter.
I feel bad for Deane, but could anyone questions his effort? He always plays hard, tries his best to defend and also rebounds. I wish he could make a layup and hold on to the ball! With the way the current bigs defend inside, I see no reason why Deane is not getting his 5-7 minutes per game. If you are going to be pussies inside and least foul hard. I think Deane will do that.
No point in playing Dean now.
Funny too how everyone it on edge about the Ducks. I think a lot of it is the players care again after they gave up on Kent. Similar to Robinson’s first year. I think they are still a couple of steps away and they lose Catron and Stowbridge next year and Singler and Simm the following year. They may stuble much like the Beavers this year… though probably not as bad.
And really this is not our mothers P-10 anymore. Anybody can beat anybody else on any given night excluding the Huskies. Get a few stops,make a few 3 pters your team does not usually make and you win the game.
Beavs need a beat reporter that doesn’t man crush the coaches and players.
The only reporter who has been mildly critical of CR has been Kerry Eggers, but he annoys me with his man-crush on Mike Riley. It is time for guys like Hampton and Buker to get to the bottom of what is going on.
Oh No!!! We Suck Again!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4jGSvxCRp4&feature=related
Unfortunately, this is us. This is OSU athletics currently.
I was cynical about the Craig Robinson hire in the first place. How to explain it other than the in-law connection?
Then he proceeded to go 18-18 in his first season and win the CBI outright. I changed my mind and decided the man could coach after all. The future looked very bright indeed. Plus we were dazzled by his reported recruiting prowess. And it made sense, what black
fwiw – As I recall the rumor going around about Richies hire was before he was chosen the word went out “white coaches don’t even bother applying for the job because OSU is going to hire a black man”.
I can’t help but wonder if that kind of bs thinking was going on this time too.
Personally I don’t give a squat what color the dude is as long as he can recruit and coach. For the kind of money CR is making OSU doesn’t seem to be getting a good return on their money.
And instead of firing the AD the OSU president is considering extending his contract. A few more hairs off the top of my head just fell out when I considered the insanity of it all.
(continued — sorry, I accidentally hit submit too soon)
… kid no matter how vaunted a basketball prodigy he may be could refuse a visit from BHO’s brother-in-law? None that I know of.
That was then, is now.
Two and a half years later: why is the team so inconsistent? Why are we losing to nobodies like Seattle U, Texas Southern, and Utah Valley? Why couldn’t the estimable brother-in-law even get consideration from, let alone an audience with an in-state sure-thing like Terrence Jones? When does the clock begin to tick on CR?
Seattle was due to the officiating. That was probably the second worst game I had ever seen from a hoops standpoint. The other two were just weird. We looked like we weren’t playing with any edge… any respect for the opponent… any importance.
As far as Terrence Jones is concerned, Calipari said it all. He’s just a selfish mother-fucker.
Officiating? Come on. Would Duke have won?
“Weird” don’t matter, these should’ve been wins by any measue. Again, would Duke have lost these?
As for Terrence Jones, he’s a stud. An immature freshman stud? Yes. But you don’t see Calipari cutting him from the squad. Why? Because he’s the best recruit Calipari has seen in a while, that’s why. Right here from good ‘ol Orygone. He looked at UO, but didn’t even give OSU a sniff, and that’s the point: why not?
Look, I like Coach Rob p[ersonally and as a guy, but, hey, this ain’t the Ivy League. This is serious big-time PAC-10 basketball, with a serious OSU winning tradition. The clock definitely
P&C (and everyone else) Report! Let’s talk about something else for now.
Off topic: Does anyone know if our football staff has ever taken a hard look at prospects in the NW? I still see players like Odin Coe, Jarret Finau and Cornelius Edison, Jason Ferguson and Michael Balfour on the board… as well as several others.
I still think CR deserves time. Might as well let it play out. Plus OSU is in no position to buy out coaches.
All of the coaches ARM (After Ralph Miller) got their five years, so I do see why CR would be any different. I guess by about this time 2013, he will either have run out of excuses or shut us all up because his team in sitting on 15 or 16 wins and making a run for post season.
I meant to say…I do NOT see why CR would be any different. Damn typo!
Angry, any chance of getting an edit feature?
Yeah, that is high on the to-do list.
20-20 hindsight: they should have grabbed Ken Bone when they could have, i.e., after the 2007-08 season, a year before Wassu grabbed him. Did they even consider him? Or were they just enamored with the whole idea of getting the First Brother-in-Law as their coach? Like I say, 20-20 hindsight. I don’t know about De Carolis sometimes.
I would rather have Coach Rob and lose than Bone and win. As much as I like winning, I like that our kids are fostered well in a learning environment and taught to succeed outside of hoops. Bone left PSU in a shambles, and from what I hear he’s doing the same to Wazzu.
And in the end Bone will likely end up with as many league titles as Coach Rob if OSU keeps playing like this for the next 2.5 years and Bone coaches there for another two decades… which he will not.
There will be addition by attrition next year. The flailing lost boy look that we have this year will graduate, and if we get nobody but Gomis (who I don’t expect to be a huge factor next year) we’ll be a better team by a factor of four at least.
At the beginning of this year, I thought the seniors would be limited to their talents, but that hasn’t happened yet. A team is only as strong as its weakest link. And if three-fifths of the guys on the floor look like they don’t have a clue or a will or both, then it looks as ugly as it did last night.