Oregon Women's Basketball: Ducks Focus on Frontcourt

The Ducks sure love their Guard play, but injuries, absence, and eligibility could force Oregon Women’s basketball to further develop their frontcourt.

This preseason, Oregon Women’s Basketball Head Coach Kelly Graves joked about how many Guards he could realistically see himself playing.

“Four Guards, for sure. Maybe even go five Guards!” Graves laughed in an interview.

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Even though he added that last bit in jest, it’s honestly not unrealistic when you consider the generational talent Graves has at his disposal.

Sabrina “Sell Her Jersey You Cowards” Ionescu, USC transfer Minyon Moore, freshman phenom Jaz Shelley, Taylor Chavez, Morgan Yaeger, and Holly Winterburn round out an insane Guard list of six players that would absolutely start at any school in the country. Graves should honestly try to play all six at once.

As I outlined in my praises of Minyon Moore last week, the Ducks score like nobody else in the country. That offensive firepower is a result of incredible Guard play, but it’s almost better attributed to the steady scoring presence of Forwards Satou Sabally and Ruthy Hebard.

Ruthy is probably the smartest Forward in the nation, and she has improved in nearly every statistical category each of her three seasons. She has unreal chemistry with Sabrina, but she also seems to gel with any Guard that Graves puts out there.

Satou is the modern evolution of the Power Forward position in basketball. She drives so dangerously, sets perfect picks, finishes strong at the rim, and also just-so-happens to shoot 41% from the three-point line. She is one of the most unique talents in all of college basketball—making the German so hard for teams to prepare for.

I’m going to be so upset when I have to choose who to root for when Satou and Nyara Sabally’s Germany teams face off against Sabrina and Ruthy’s USA teams in the next four Olympic Games.

Speaking of Nyara, she’s unfortunately going to miss this season, too. I feel so bad that she won’t get to ball out with this team, but maybe the idea of playing a full season with her sister could persuade Satou to come back for next year? A boy can dream.

Satou is also going to miss the first three games of the regular season to play with Germany in Europe. Her hiatus could be the ultimate opportunity for Graves to immediately test how deep Oregon Women’s Basketball is at Forward.

Knowing that Oregon is so set at those two starting spots, it’ll be interesting to see who else steps up to add the same depth to the frontcount that we see in the backcourt.

Erin Boley is listed as a Forward, and definitely toes the line between the 3 and the 4 thanks to how lethal she is from three. This season, however, could be where we see her inch closer to something that resembles a true modern 4 like Satou—especially after Oti Gildon’s departure.

Graves himself has talked about how excited he would be to run a 2-3 zone defense that includes three low posts. Boley is a world class ball player, but it would be interesting to see where she would fit into that. She’s as talented as any player in the conference, but if she can take over the post on both ends of the court, she’ll take a step towards transcendent.

Lydia Giomi is another player that seems primed to evolve. She played a bigger role last year, but her size and finishing ability could make her a vital piece in completing this Ducks team. As a 6-foot-6 Junior, she could definitely anchor the center of that aforementioned 2-3 defense.

Giomi missed last week’s Green-Yellow scrimmage with a broken nose, but Graves expects her to be masked-up and ready to go this Saturday vs Team USA. And her evolution is made all-the-more intriguing when you consider whether or not Sedona Prince will be deemed eligible by the NCAA.

It’s kind of insane to say that the Ducks are within a week of the regular season and they still haven’t received word on if the 6-foot-7 transfer from Texas will be available to go this year. If she is available, I think it’s safe to bet that she’ll be in the starting lineup. If she can’t—and even if she can—Giomi will probably be called upon to fill that role.

Either way, Oregon Women’s Basketball isbound to see something new and exciting from that position.

Prince also missed the scrimmage because she is still rehabbing from a broken leg she sustained last year at Texas.

The Guard play is one of the least-pressing questions for Kelly Graves’ Ducks. That’s not to say that I have any true concerns about the Forwards, but every good team has to make those little improvements to become a great team.

And I fully expect them to be a great team.

Go Ducks.

Oregon Women’s Basketball: Ducks Focus Frontcourt Fire Power

By James Vos | Nov 7, 2019

The Ducks sure love their Guard play, but injuries, absence, and eligibility could force Oregon Women’s basketball to further develop their frontcourt.

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