Oregon Ducks living up to their potential
Oregon should be a super team, and the Ducks are finally looking like it
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By Megan Gauer
Oregon returned home from a victorious 4-0 road trip, and added another statement making win with a 33-point defeat of Arizona. The Ducks’ 18-point victory at Gampel Pavilion last Monday night may have come as a shock to many, but it feels more and more like them finally living up to their potential. Over the last two and a half weeks, Oregon has been on a tear through the top ten opponents, which has cemented their place among this year’s top tier programs. Their Civil War weekend sweep of Oregon State has been bookended by routs of Stanford and UConn on either side. Crushing #12 Arizona adds to the dominant streak.
Behind that is the Ducks’ core of stars. Sabrina Ionescu, Ruthy Hebard and Satou Sabally are the best trio in college basketball since UConn’s 2012-2016 ‘Big Three’. They’re not as dominant as Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson, and Morgan Tuck were - we probably won’t ever see three players that are - but they are without a doubt three first round WNBA draft picks. If Sabally chooses to declare this year, she and Ionescu would both be lottery picks. Even with Ionescu being the projected No.1 pick, Sabally may be the most pro-ready of them all.
Ionescu, Hebard and Sabally are Oregon’s three-headed offensive monster. Like the three headed dog in Harry Potter, it takes quite a bit of brilliance to tame. Only two teams have managed the feat this season and neither were the US National Team. Louisville beat Oregon with a genius defensive game plan featuring center Kylee Shook on the perimeter. That caught the Ducks by surprise over Thanksgiving, but likely won’t again. The loss at Arizona State was more about a lackluster performance from Oregon than anything else. That loss, however, seems to have lit a fire under the Ducks and I’ll be surprised if any team is able to outmatch them, like Hermoine did Fluffy, again before the Final Four.
What makes Oregon’s offense so lethal is not unlike what made UConn’s big three so dominant. Containing the focal point is difficult enough and often requires a double team, but stifling the other weapons simultaneously is nearly impossible. That was on full display at UConn last Monday night.
The Huskies did a decent job of limiting Sabrina Ionescu, thanks largely to the disruptive defensive presence of freshman Aubrey Griffin. Although she flirted with a triple-double, it was just one of four games this season where Ionescu has been held to ten or fewer points. On this night, though, the Huskies had no answer for the Hebard-Sabally tandem.
“Hebard and Sabally are too good for us,” said Geno Auriemma after UConn’s loss. “We don’t have anyone at that level. And we certainly didn’t have anyone at that level tonight”.
Hebard especially shined with a 22-point and 12-rebound double-double, facing little resistance in the paint. She asserted herself as one of the best forwards in college basketball,not that there was any question that she belonged among that group. It was a performance even Auriemma had nothing but praise for.
“People say she can only score from like five feet. That’s like saying Bob Cousy could only go right, but no one could keep him from going right,” said Auriemma of Hebard. “Ruthy gets the shots she wants, and knows how to get them. She gets them as many times as she can, and then makes it. That’s the sign of a helluva player.”
Hebard is one of three ‘helluva players’ that should make the Ducks the favorite for the national title this year. Their performance at UConn on Monday shouldn’t be interpreted as a fluke, but instead as an assertion of dominance in this year’s field. The talent and experience on their roster is unmatched. Oregon finishing anywhere short of a national title this year should be considered an upset.
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