Final Score: Arizona State 56, Oregon State 46
Here comes the time when I'm forced to eat my words-- to take all the optimistic thoughts I've been having over the past few days and flush them down the drain.
In a game that featured many badly missed shots, air-balls, missed layups... you name it... the Beavers showed brief flashes of brilliance, but ultimately failed to assert themselves offensively. The most glaring number on that stat sheet is Oregon State's field goal percentage, which was a meager 23.6 percent. The Beavers were 14-for-57 from the field. That's about all you need to know.
The Beavers had a very good game handling the basketball-- they only turned the ball over six times. SIX TIMES! This gave them even more opportunities to score... but they flat out couldn't .
Calvin Haynes led the Beavers with 15 points... but it was an ugly shooting night for Calvin. He had to go high-volume to get those points: he was 5-of-22 from the field, and 2-of-9 from deep. Omari Johnson, who had seven points, was 2-of-12 from the field.
The difference in the game was 10 points, which is essentially the equivilent of 5 possessions. Could the Beavers have been 5 possessions better tonight? Absolutely. Could they have been 10 possessions better? You bet.
That is what's frustrating, especially in a year when the Beavers could really take advantage of the lack of invincable teams atop the conference standings.
Quotes from the head coach after the break.
--Jake | (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)
Head Coach Craig Robinson
Poor shooting on a night when you handled the ball well...
A lot of them were easy shots. You can't beat a team as good as ASU on their own court when you miss wide open layups, fast breaks, you can't close them out. It's a shame. It's funny-- given all the bad luck we had with execution, it felt like we were a couple of plays away from being right back in the game and we couldn't execute.
Weathering the rough start...
That's the kind of play you have to have when you're on the road. You can't let them get back off their heels. We had them on their heels-- we did a much better job on the 1-3-1 and on their three point shots. They ended up 33% from behind the arc on the game, and even worse in the second half. We have to make plays ourselves, and that has been the tough part of our play over this season.
The missed layups, the little things...
I don't even think execution is the problem. That's nerves. You've been playing this game since you were in fourth our fifth grade-- a layup is a layup. If you can get in a position to shoot one, it should go in. If it doesn't go in, I say it's nerves. They weren't trying to block shots. We missed a couple of real easy layins.
Points left on the table at the free-throw line...
Kevin missed a couple of front ends, so did Roeland. When we started getting the ball inside we started getting fouled and we had to make those. We could have cut it from eight down to six. That puts a little more pressure on those guys, then you don't have to foul them to get the ball back.
Are you satisfied with how you defended?
I am, but there were entirely too many offensive rebounds that gave them second chances. When you have guys who can shoot 50% from the field-- every second chance you give them, half of them are going in. You cannot win that way. I was very happy with our positioning and our pressure, but it's still not enough. You have to get the rebound.
On Saturday's game against Arizona. You're still in a position to have a good road trip...
Brining it out on a consistent basis is what I have to be better at. It isn't enough just to have them play well and lose. We can't do that. We have to play better. We have to take games that were there for the taking. I felt like this game was there for the taking, and we didn't take it.
--Jake | (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)