Notes from PAC-12 Media Day

All twelve teams gathered in San Francisco at the home of the PAC-12 Network on Wed., Oct. 10. Coaches, players, and broadcasters gave their predictions for the upcoming season. Her Hoop Stats followed along and provided additional statistical information for our readers. If you missed us on Twitter, catch up here.

What’s going on around the conference?

• Last season, Oregon won both the regular season and the conference tournament championships. The conference released its preseason poll on Wednesday, and the coaches expect the Ducks to come out on top again this year. This is how they see it:

1. Oregon 121 (11 first place votes)
2. Stanford 107 (1 first place vote)
3. Oregon State 104
4. California 82
5. Arizona State 79
6. UCLA 74
7. USC 66
8. Utah 50
9. Colorado 44
10. Arizona 28
11. Washington State 19
12. Washington 18

• ESPN analyst Debbie Antonelli said that she believes the conference has three teams with Final Four potential: Oregon, Oregon State, and Stanford. That kind of depth means that people can no longer argue that PAC-12 competition doesn’t prepare teams for the NCAA
• According to Prospects Nation, five teams in the PAC-12 have top 25 recruiting classes, led by Arizona at №5.
• “Culture” was a major buzzword the entire day, especially when discussing the teams picked in the bottom half of the league. Coaches stressed how important it was to instill the proper culture in order to improve on-the-court production.
• Arizona State leads the conference, returning 97% of last year’s minutes for the 2018–19 season. Utah is the lowest with 46% returning.

Percentage of 2017–18 minutes played returning in 2018–19

Oregon

• Last season, Sabrina Ionescu scored 1.20 points per shot attempt and assisted on 38.7% of the baskets her teammates made while she was on the floor. Take a look at how that stacked up against the rest of the PAC-12 women’s basketball players.

Sabrina Ionescu’s points per shot attempt and percentage of assists on teammates’ made baskets compared to the rest of the PAC-12.

• Head coach Kelly Graves said that his team doesn’t think much about the change from being “the hunter” to “the hunted.”
• Last season,the Ducks were №2 in the country in offensive efficiency, scoring 1.18 points per possession.
• Oregon was 3rd in the nation in both 2P% (55.4%) and 3P% (40.1%) last year.
• Last season, the Ducks shot 50% from the field and 40% from three. The only other team in NCAAW to do so in 2017–18? UConn.

Stanford

• Dijonai Carrington is physically strong and can get her own shot, according to head coach Tara VanDerveer. “Don’t get in her way,” VanDerveer said.
• VanDerveer said that her team’s biggest challenge right now is “just playing together.”
• “My biggest problem is going to be deciding who to play,” VanDerveer says.
• Last season, Stanford had an impressive defensive presence, blocking 13.7% of their opponents’ 2-point attempts. That was the 11th best block rate among NCAAW teams.

Oregon State

• “The more point guards on the floor, the better,” said head coach Scott Rueck. He noted that the Beavers will have four point guards who have played “significant minutes” in the past.
• Rueck on Maryland transfer Destiny Slocum’s attitude and investment in the team during the year she was forced to sit: “She never took herself out.”
• Rueck spoke about the importance of getting stops at the rim in order to spur the transition game.
• Rueck said the returning bigs who played with former Duck and current Phoenix Mercury center Marie Gülich learned the importance of running in transition. The team is building on that now.
• Last season, the Beavers were №1 in the country in 3P% (40.4%). They took 36% of their shots from beyond the arc (82nd among D1 teams).
• In 2017–18, OSU was №5 in the nation in assist rate, registering assists on 68% of their made baskets.

California

• Antonelli described Cal as “strong up the middle,” but said that improved perimeter shooting will also be important for the Golden Bears.
• Cal is preparing for a home game against Connecticut in December. “We’re not waiting for March,” said senior Kristine Anigwe about facing tough out-of-conference competition early in the season.
• Anigwe is on track to become Cal’s all-time leading scorer.

Arizona State

• Head coach Charli Turner Thorne said that having no seniors last year required “compromise.” They weren’t able to compete for championships, as they have become accustomed to, she said.
• This year, Thorne says, “We can shoot it,” so ASU will be more perimeter-oriented.
• PAC-12 Network analyst Mary Murphy said that ASU is “going to surprise some people.”
• The Sun Devils are trying to get their sixth straight NCAA tournament berth for the first time in program history.
• Junior Reili Richardson says that she enters the season wanting to improve her 3-point shot and defense.
• Richardson was fourth in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio last season. She had only one turnover in the Sun Devils’ PAC-12 tournament upset of Oregon State.
• Turner Thorne says that Richardson has improved her body, and is no longer “skinny.” The head coach also said that Richardson’s shot “looks amazing.”

UCLA

• Head coach Cori Close said that they will need to play more pressure defense this year because they lack the kind of rim protector they have had in the past.
• Close said UCLA had too many ball-watchers in the past, and they will need to “shoot till their arms fall off” this season in order to spread the defense.
• According to Close, the best advice that she received from the late John Wooden was that she should focus on what’s good for the the UCLA community, not just the program or herself.

USC

• Head coach Mark Trakh said USC only expected 13 or 14 wins last season, so ending up with 20 was very satisfying.
• Trakh believes that the team’s failure to finish out close games against quality opponents was what kept USC out of the NCAA tournament last season. They are focusing on improving that this year.
• Mariya Moore, a Louisville transfer, will join her sister Minyon Moore at USC this season. Minyon says her sister is “just dynamic all the way around.”

Utah

• Antonelli believes Utah has the opportunity to move up. “This is their chance,” she said, adding that senior forward Megan Huff is key to that.
• Head coach Lynne Roberts on her team’s identity: “I don’t know yet…We’re going to need our new players to contribute, and not just get their feet wet and learn.”
• Utah is trying to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011.

Colorado

• Head coach JR Payne said that she wants her offense to be “really fast.”
• Guard Alexis Robinson says her goals are to shoot a better percentage her senior year and to get to the NCAA tournament.
• “We know they can score, we know they can defend,” Murphy said about Colorado. She noted that they’ve changed the offense a bit and will spread things out.

Arizona

• Purdue transfer Dominique McBryde gives Arizona a pick-and-pop threat this season, Antonelli said.
• Antonelli added that Arizona is “good, dangerous, upcoming,” but will need someone in front of them to stumble if they hope to move up this season because of the league’s depth.
• Murphy called Washington transfer Aarion McDonald a “game changer” who belongs in the group of the conference’s top guards. “She will take that team and make them better.”
• Sam Thomas led all PAC-12 freshmen in minutes, rebounds, blocks, and steals last season.

Washington State

• First-year head coach Cami Ethridge spoke about her plans for the season: “You take what you have, the positives that are there,” and build the culture.
• Ethridge praised the seven players who stayed after the coaching change. With a four-player recruiting class, the team will have only eleven players this season.

Washington

• Amber Melgoza said that seeing the support that the city of Seattle had for women’s basketball during the Seattle Storm’s title run was encouraging for the Huskies.