A few topics to discuss on a Tuesday morning...
It's been a long week for Oregon State's basketball team, but a very rewarding week for everyone involved. That's why today's day off is well deserved by Oregon State's players and coaches.
Craig Robinson said after last night's game that the Beavers will take today off, go through a light workout on Wednesday, then practice Thursday and Friday for Saturday's 4:30 Civil War.
Robinson, who has logged nine wins at Oregon State, has never witnessed a Civil War event in person. He was on the road in Fresno when the football Civil War was played, but he was able to watch the game on television at a restaurant, and definitely knows what the games means to his players and fanbase.
He also knows that the Ducks, who are 0-8 in the Pac-10, would like nothing else than to beat the up-and-coming Beavers at Gill Coloiseum. He also notes that no matter how the teams are doing coming into the game, the result is always close:
"It's going to be a tough game. What I remind the guys is that last year, when this team wasn't playing well, we still played well in the Civil War. So it's going to be the same thing for [Oregon]. I expect [the Ducks] to be at the top of their game, and for them, what better way to break out of a slump to break out on us. So we have to match the intensity and the physicality. I'm confident that our guys will be ready. They're learning how to be a good team. "
Today's day off and tomorrow's light practice will be much-needed for a team that hasn't really had a chance to catch it's breath recently, playing three games in five days.
After the game, Craig shed some light on the scheduling aspect of the game and how his team got through it in his post-game interview with Mike Parker:
"This game was scheduled before we got here. We would have never scheduled a game after a road trip like that. And I apologized to [the team] for that, becasue they were dog tired. We had two very rough games on the road, then the travel, and our legs were just shot and we could have easily folded up. They just willed themselves into getting rebounds and preventing [Cal State Bakersfield] from doing what they wanted to do. And to their credit, [CSUB] made some big shots. They made some very big shots, and we could have easily thought, 'okay, this is a game that we just can't handle'. This was a toughness game, it was a maturity game, and it was a game for a team who has a winning mentality."
More quotes from the coach that send chills down the spine:
It was very obvious that the guys were inordinately tired because I know the time that they normally need blows. Daniel [Deane] and Omari [Johnson] were both fighting the flu, so they were dragging a bit. Nobody complained, they just did their jobs with toughness and fought though it. It's another step forward for us.
The Beavers did everything they needed to do to win the game, the reason it was so close was because Bakersfield was able to drain three-pointers at an alarming rate. The Roadrunners scored more three-point field goals than deuces, which is rarely heard of. Oregon State still managed to rebound fairly well, create turnovers, score off of turnovers, and get points in the paint.
It will be interesting to see if this win helps the Beavers out against Oregon on Saturrday, as they're a team who also like to shoot the long ball. The Beavers will be better rested for sure, but they've proven they can win, even if their opponent does go 7-of-11 from three-point range... in the second half.
--Jake (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)