Three Oregon women’s basketball players are gone from last year’s team: Guard/forward Rita Kollo graduated, center Ellie Manou left school and returned to her native Australia and guard Darriel Gaynor transferred out of the program. In their place are four new players — junior college transfers Kristi Fallin and Candyce Flynn, guard Aliyah Green and walk-on guard Laura Stanulis.
Having 10 returning players is a positive for any basketball team, let alone one that has seen as much turnover as Oregon’s. Beyond that, cast everything you thought you knew about this team aside.
Gone is the conservative, defense-oriented style of Bev Smith. In its place is the
liberal, high-octane offensive style of former NBA and WNBA head coach Paul Westhead. Smith is one of Oregon’s all-time greats; Westhead is a champion coach at basketball’s highest levels who has never before coached a women’s college game.
Last year’s offensive scheme heavily emphasized the post players, having them receive the ball even in the most basic sets. Westhead’s offense tends toward democracy: Who can get down the floor the quickest? Who can find the open player? Who can take the shot before the defense can get set?
More confounding than the type of team the Ducks are expected to be is their expected place within the Pacific-10 Conference. Last year, Oregon finished 5-13 in conference (9-21 overall, the most losses in school history); the next three teams above them, both Los Angeles schools and Oregon State, each won nine conference games. Last year’s Pac-10 pitted haves against have-nots. Stanford — the reigning conference champion — Cal and Arizona State all figure to remain in their respective positions, leaving the remaining seven teams fighting for any sort of recognition beyond the top tier.
Lest we forget, even that seventh-place mark was misleading to an extent. Oregon earned the dubious distinction of losing its first-round match-up to Washington State in the Pac-10 Tournament, the first seven-seed to lose to its 10-seed opponent in the first round in the conference tournament’s history. The Ducks finished last in the league in seven categories, including scoring, rebounding and turnover margin. They never really hit bottom until their season came crashing to an end, and Smith was fired after eight seasons.
This season will be run at a breakneck pace, with plenty of quick-trigger shots and split-second decisions. The Ducks are certainly not lacking in depth, which will suit them well in their inaugural season within Westhead’s system. The mastermind himself will prefer to stay behind the curtain. His contract allows him days away from Eugene to be with his family, and he’s been busy scouring the nation for high school prospects; the Ducks have three commitments for the class of 2010 in Ariel Thomas (Sacramento, Calif.), Deanna Weaver (Santa Clara, Calif.) and Danielle Love (Everett, Wash.).
Beyond securing the future of the program, Westhead was hired by former Athletic Director Pat Kilkenny to assure fans of the present. His message to the skeptics: “Come out and see us.”
However this season plays out, the dramatic shift in on-court identity will be worth the price of admission.
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Oregon awash in uncertainty
Daily Emerald
October 14, 2009
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