I have no confidence in the Beavers winning this type of game. That is, a game that matters; a game that takes the respective sport to the next level.
On Friday we watched the baseball team lose this exact type of game. Yes, the baseball team was once elite, but start accepting that the CWS teams were five years ago now.
The past two Decembers we saw the football team lose this exact type of game, twice.
Now I’m supposed to believe the basketball team is ready to win a game that takes the program over the hump? No. The Beavs always fail in these “take the next step” type of games. Never mind a sporadic solid performance; until the Beavers consistently perform when the pressure is truly on I’ll continue to bet against them. There’s no reason they can’t or shouldn’t win this game, but because of all the psychological issues that come with attending Oregon State and playing athletics for Oregon State, they won’t.
71-59, Dawgs
I think Beavers could fall flat. The Huskies need every win they can get to keep their hopes alive for an at large bid and they have not had any trouble with the OSU defense the past two years.
Maybe I am cynical, but is getting to .500 in the league more of a motivator then getting 21 wins ? The Beavers actually came through against Wazzu when there was something at stake (keeping out of the 8/9 game), so like I said we could see a let down. I hope not because it would be cool to see a couple more wins and a NIT bid instead of a chance to defend their CBI title.
This Robinson quote addresses my exact concern:
“OSU coach Craig Robinson: “I think we’re in a good place mentally. As long as we play a good game, this will be a positive for us. I’m not saying we’re looking (to lose) but I want to play this team like we’re on par with this team. I don’t want to play like we’re the little brothers trying to beat the big brothers. I want our guys to feel like, alright, we’re a Pac-10 team, we’re vying for the championship and this is another game.””
At least Craig senses the same thing I do. Maybe he can be a motivational speaker for the football team as well.
The purpose of this blog isn’t to pat myself on the back, but what did I tell you guys…
Beavs are just not ready for the primetime in any endeavor.
“Yes, the baseball team was once elite, but start accepting that the CWS teams were five years ago now.”
Huh?
The FIRST (‘modern era’) team that got to Omaha was in ’05 and, yes, that will be 5 years ago this June, but, OSU won titles in ’06 and ’07.. which was not at all 5 years ago, so there is no reason to ‘accept’ what you say.
Yeah, wow… we’ve ONLY won two NCAA titles in baseball in the past four years, so obviously things have hit the skids. We have obviously fallen off the map compared to all those other teams that have won more than 2 national titles the past 5 years, such as…. {go ahead and fill in the blanks for me}
I know you’ve said you need someone to cover baseball for you (and that becomes more obvious every time you try to say something about that sport), but come on… how seriously can we take you when you start throwing out ignorant crap like you have this time?
LOL at you trying to go so negative that you’d call the baseball team “once elite”. What a douche to try to put that label on a team that in the past 4 years won 2 titles and was in the field of 64 last year, and is in the top 25 of every poll this year. If you want to play the “once elite” card, you need to shoot at USC.
Come on, we know you want to be “angry” and that your gimmick is saying crazy stuff is how you try to suck people in, but don’t be stupid if you want your readers to take you seriously.
So you think this baseball team is elite?
I don’t.
The elite teams began 5 years ago and ended 3 seasons ago, so if you want to nitpick over “5” go for it.
This team is not vintage. The SS/2B are automatic outs and the pitching is just good, not great. There’s a glaring lack of power as well, but that’s not an end-all if 1-9 can hit for average. Most frustrating is that they’ve followed the other sports and have begun to choke in any game with meaning. This is not just the ASU game, but going back over the past few seasons.
You can say “Angry doesn’t know what he’s talking about rah rah”, but the fact of the matter is I’ve nailed my prediction on every baseball game this year, and almost every basketball game. The program is very predictable in their ability/inability to win certain types of games.
I went to the game, left with about 5′ to play. The Beavs were never in this game, I think they caught the lead for a fleeting moment. UW killed them in the paint, they were left alone under the basket multiple times, and made many easy (almost uncontested) layups. No D to speak of for OSU. They really got outplayed in all facets. I can’t say I’m too sorry to see the seniors leaving – exception may be Seth T. Roeland just isn’t a player…he has flashes, but he’s mostly a non-factor everytime I see them play. He certainly was tonight.
Game went how you’d expect though, right?
Turnovers are what killed the Beavs. Turnovers are a sign of nerves and being the little brother. Beavs played the exact game that Robinson feared.
My opinion is it’s just outright lack of talent. Beavs just don’t stack up talent-wise with UW. The only way OSU beats this team is with a precisely executed defensive scheme, career nights for 2 or 3 of the players…and a lot of luck. I will say Burton showed some life and heart…but also inexperience. Cunningham was in foul trouble for most of the second half. They were the only 2 who stood out. Turnovers were there for sure, and the lack therof for UW. UW has 3 studs – Pondexter, Thomas, and their center (#11) who dominated the game, OSU had no answer to them.
Talent is an issue, but there’s a little brother stigma/psychology that runs deep throughout this school. Craig Robinson recognizes it and feared it going into tonight. Every program is on the fringe of big time but every time the get the chance to make the leap they stumble. They need to invest in a sports psychologist.
The ‘little brother’ mentality will go away next year. Our little sister to the south will probably play football next year with a chip on her shoulder. And UW reminds me a lot of the Jailblazers… good but absolutely punkish.
Coach Lorenzo seems like a stand up guy, so I do not get the thug crap from the Huskies, but it is getting old. A case can be made that they seriously underachieved this year, so they should not have that much to front about, but they do it anyway.
The only antidote for the Beavers is to start winning some games against them and shut them up.
Teams that have underachievers with a ton of talent look to bully inferior teams and pound their chest. That’s how they feel good about themselves. OSU let them do it. Will the Beavs let them do it again on Thursday? I think they definitely will. In fact, I think the Huskies put themselves in the Beavs head even more with this past win. Now they’re more than little sisters…they’re little adopted sisters.
I agree that UW was punking it up out there, and there’s only going to be more of it next year when Pondexter leaves. Romar has run into the problem every good coach eventually faces… how to mold fourteen big heads into one team.
By recklessly chasing the ‘top’ prospects, he has found himself with a poor tasting soup in his pot. As long as he has someone so good that nobody questions their role, he can coach the team to some decent wins. But even a Terrance Jones or a Tony Wroten Jr. might not save this team.
10 years is the average life cycle of a good coach’s run at one spot. A great one can push through to the other side by winning championships. Romar’s not going to win any championships with this team for a while.
And I think the Beavs learned more from the last game than what they might have lost. I said before that it looked like Coach Rob was playing possum starting at about the 15 minute mark in the second half. Roo’s injuries looked almost faked. I still hear nothing about any possible injuries.
Burton knows what speed he has to attain for this coming game in order to avoid TO’s. Cunningham is the same for fouls. Roo actually got his leaner working in the lane.
There were some obvious tweaks that needed to be made during the game, and Coach Rob didn’t do them. And it’s not that they were missed or would have changed the eventual outcome. It’s that Calvin Hampton played for extended periods and prevented the tweaks from occurring.
I can see this game going by ten to the Beavs or 40 to the punks. I’m thinking it resembles the first match-up more than anything.