Kelly Graves Previews the Oregon WBB Season

Oregon women’s basketball is gearing up for the start of the season. There will be a lot of new faces in Eugene but one of them will not be at head coach.

A couple years back Graves faced a lot of criticism. He bounced back last season and is looking to build on that this year. The Ducks have one of the deeper teams they’ve had in a while.

Graves talked about that depth and previewed this coming season.

Opening Statement:

“Yeah, really like where our team’s at right now, and how we’re practicing, well today aside. You know, we’ve had great consistency and effort and production, and I really like what I see with this group. So there we go. Let’s get it.”

On what he’s looking for to improve:

“Yeah, well, today it was a little bit of energy and focus. You could just tell we were a little out to lunch. We haven’t had many of those days, so that’s why it was a little rough. But yeah, so far, I think we’ve had great production from a lot of different people. You know, we played Seattle U the other day, and the outcome was pretty ugly. Good on our side, and we got production from a lot of different players.
That’s kind of been our M.O. all fall. We’ve had a bunch of different players playing well. We’re shooting well.

In fact, in the 40-minute scrimmage, we had a morning session with Seattle U about an hour and a half, offense-defense situations. And then we had an afternoon 40-minute game. Big Ten officials came in, and we were 19 of 25 from the three-point line.

Defensively, we were on point. We just played really well. So that’s kind of been our MO all fall. We’re shooting well. Our pace has been really good. We’re trying to get out and run a lot more. Defense, we’re creating some turnovers. I think that night we had 19 steals. We converted 13 of those into baskets.”

On the Depth:

“So, yeah. Last year, you guys had a lot of depth, especially when injuries kind of came your way and get you wet in the storm. Do you feel like you have even more depth this year to where we could see even more production all across the board?

I do. Right now we have 12 players that I would feel very comfortable in playing. The cream is starting to rise, though. We have some players that are clearly winning some spots, and we’re honing in on that starting five. I think I’ve got four of the five figured out right now. There’s still a battle for one of the positions, but I don’t think that’s going to matter. I truly do think we’re nine or ten deep in terms of, like, in crunch time, we’d feel good with any of those players out on the court.

So, you know, as a coach, it’s good and bad. It’s a good luxury to have. Sometimes it’s tough because a lot of kids want to play and feel like they should play and are capable of playing, but you only have 200 minutes to play. You talked a little bit already this year about how much confidence you have and the reasons you’re going to a four-barrel lineup.”

On the Strength:

“Well, it’s funny. Yeah, we’re playing certainly kind of a five-out offense, really. But I thought our strength was going to be in our guards, and definitely it is. We’ve got some that are really playing well. Sophia Bell has been incredible this fall, playing well at both ends of the floor. Both Katie Fiso and Elisa Mevius, I think, at the point. And even Astera (Tuhina). We’re really good at the point. I had some questions on who was going to step up inside, and really they all are.

You know, Sarah Rambus has had an awesome fall. I think right now she’s, you know, winning that inside spot for us. Mia Jacobs has been terrific, has maybe been our best overall player for the whole fall. Ehis Etute is playing well. Philippe is playing well. Amina Muhammad. We’ve really got some depth inside.
I knew what we had outside. I didn’t know what we had inside, and they have really surprised me and played well. So I’m not sure we’re not going to be able to go two bigs. Even though they’re playing outside and running the floor, we’re not going to be a traditional back two bigs.”

On Philosophy Changes:

“Well, without that size, we’re less predictable, you know? We’re able to do more things. Our posts can really run the floor, which makes them, I think, a threat. And it allows us to do a lot more defensively. We’re trapping a lot more. We’re sprinting. We’re changing our defenses. We’re spreading our defense out. We’re doing a little bit more full court.

We’re just trying to create some havoc because we do want to get up and down the floor. And if we can create some offense off our defense, then I think we’ll be at our best in that kind of a game.”