#20 Ducks vs. Northwestern (Nov. 7, 2022)

[StevensTechU]

The Ducks' WBB starts the year with a big victory, 100-57 over Northwestern.

The Ducks started 2 true freshmen in Chance Gray and Grace Vanslooten. Vanslooten led all scorers with 20 points.

Northwestern had a winning record last season and went 8-8 in Big Ten conference play.

[greenyellow]

Nice start for the FR, especially Isai and VanSlooten. Only negative was Basham's knee injury.

[GrandpaDuck]

So after one exhibition and 1 Power 5 game I'll give my premature hot takes.

This is the best Freshman class since Sabrina's. Watson, Parrish and Scherr transferred out and we upgraded with true freshman at all 3 spots.

Scherr was a good defender but shot less than 25% inside the 3 point line whereas Chance Gray too can defend and disrupt but also can drive and get off shots around the basket and pass in the paint.

Jennah Isai as a scorer may not be as good a 3 point shooter as Parrish but she is great at going to the hoop and drawing fouls. In just 2 games she has shot 15 free throws. Last year Parrish shot 40 in 32 games. Isai does not need her 3 pointers to be dropping to be an offensive contributor. Also she might be close to as good at 3's but we'll need a bigger sample.

VanSlooten though is a whole nother story. She reminds me most of Angela Duliic (the second best of the Fab 5) but is way ahead of where Angela was at the start of their Freshman year. Grace is very likely to lead the team in minutes played this year because of the lack of bigs because of Prince's injury but also because she is going to be really good. Her 20 points in 23 minutes tonight weren't do to hot shooting but repeatable skills like positioning, finishing in the paint and running the court like a freight train. I can easily see her as top 3 on the team in scoring this year.

As far as the team goes, the Prince injury is really going to hurt. With her they could give everyone in the conference a tough game. Philli is going to have to go for less blocks and stay in the game. It would be great if we had more bigs to let her be a paint intimidator but that's not the case, she needs to block less (foul less) and be a double double machine.

[Greenblood]

I was there and I liked what I saw.

Really liked the defensive intensity from the Ducks in the first quarter. Hopefully they can learn to maintain it more throughout a game and even raise it a notch when the other team starts to get hot.

I actually thought Kyei demonstrated a bit more skill with the ball near the hoop early in the game than I was anticipating. Yes, like many bigs at this level (male or female), she will need to learn to move her feet, keep her arms up more near shooters, not reach over
the top on rebounds when she's clearly boxed out, and not "follow through" so much on block attempts. Part of it is learning what refs tend to call. It seemed like she did get discouraged after the her early fouls. I really hope Graves gives as much PT as possible in the early season because I think she could be an excellent contributor over time.

Generally speaking, and other than the injury to Basham (looked like her knee, so holding my breath on that), I really liked how they looked. I feel like I can maybe tell why Graves seems optimistic about his team.

[gogreen55]

other than the injury to Basham (looked like her knee, so holding my breath on that)

Did she walk off the court on her own?

[Greenblood]

other than the injury to Basham (looked like her knee, so holding my breath on that)

Did she walk off the court on her own?

I would say "barely." It looked like she was trying to put next to no weight on it thereafter (e.g., when leaving the bench after the game). I think she had an ice pack on the knee,.

[bigsugarduck]

Liked what I saw. As incredibly talented as Prince is, her consistency left alot to be desired and was often lacking as a rebounder. All the players Oregon lost in the past few years did not deliver in some way or fashion. They didn't click. After one game, I'm already convinced this team will be more competitive and consistent. Go ducks! Keep it going ladies!

[greenyellow]

Looks like Basham is going to be out for a while. They really can't afford another injury up front since Kyei is their only true post left.

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[GrandpaDuck]

Looks like Basham is going to be out for a while. They really can't afford another injury up front since Kyei is their only true post left.

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So sad for her. She has had to deal with a lot of injuries in her young career.

[gogreen55]

Good lord.