They are loud and apparently very obnoxious. A really good environment for OSU that has been surprisingly tough on opponents. Tons of family for the Oregon State faithful and some others allowed in for reasons unknown (like The Glove, Baby Glove, etc.).
Oregon State is also making their shots man. Ethan of course doing his whirling dervish layups at the basket and Lucas throwing up those impossible, long, 3 pointers that he dagger shoots at the bucket (don't let your kids watch his shooting form... yuck). The Pac 12 also needs this Cinderella story. The top 4 teams are in no matter what, so an Oregon State win only helps the conference. With that in mind, you can bet they will get every call you can get. If you thought Cal was bad (it was at the end) and USC was ugly, well this one will take the cake. No way we pull away from these guys with all that CU has to overcome. Expect another thriller and nail biter extreme.
With that said, CU could not have hoped for a better match up. Oregon State's offense will fall back to the mean and not as many big shots will fall. While they run that crazy 1-3-1 zone that can be hard to play against, they lack the big shot blocker they've had in years past in the back and the on ball defender that makes the 1-3-1 work so well. They have really just been a hot team more than a defensive juggernaut. Outside of Alatishe who is a total stud athlete, no other high flying athletes on that team like Oregon would have had in spades. Oregon is a match up nightmare. Oregon State... not so much.
Biggest thing is to keep our bigs out of foul trouble and keep Thompson out of the lane. Make them a 3 point shooting team and if they hit them like they have been, then so be it. My guess is they start missing and CU makes their life miserable with paint points all game. The 1 thing we've been able to do to them thus far this year is completely shut down Lucas. He was 1 for 9 the last time in Corvallis. If he's 1 for something again, CU will win. If he goes off and has a big game, going to be a long evening. That's something to watch for sure.
If our bigs though are scoring at will like they were in game 1, then it's a blowout. Rebounding will be the key. Get offensive rebounds and get the Pac 12 title. That has to be our strategy. 2nd chance points will be huge for us. Let's go Buffs!
Oregon State is also making their shots man. Ethan of course doing his whirling dervish layups at the basket and Lucas throwing up those impossible, long, 3 pointers that he dagger shoots at the bucket (don't let your kids watch his shooting form... yuck). The Pac 12 also needs this Cinderella story. The top 4 teams are in no matter what, so an Oregon State win only helps the conference. With that in mind, you can bet they will get every call you can get. If you thought Cal was bad (it was at the end) and USC was ugly, well this one will take the cake. No way we pull away from these guys with all that CU has to overcome. Expect another thriller and nail biter extreme.
With that said, CU could not have hoped for a better match up. Oregon State's offense will fall back to the mean and not as many big shots will fall. While they run that crazy 1-3-1 zone that can be hard to play against, they lack the big shot blocker they've had in years past in the back and the on ball defender that makes the 1-3-1 work so well. They have really just been a hot team more than a defensive juggernaut. Outside of Alatishe who is a total stud athlete, no other high flying athletes on that team like Oregon would have had in spades. Oregon is a match up nightmare. Oregon State... not so much.
Biggest thing is to keep our bigs out of foul trouble and keep Thompson out of the lane. Make them a 3 point shooting team and if they hit them like they have been, then so be it. My guess is they start missing and CU makes their life miserable with paint points all game. The 1 thing we've been able to do to them thus far this year is completely shut down Lucas. He was 1 for 9 the last time in Corvallis. If he's 1 for something again, CU will win. If he goes off and has a big game, going to be a long evening. That's something to watch for sure.
If our bigs though are scoring at will like they were in game 1, then it's a blowout. Rebounding will be the key. Get offensive rebounds and get the Pac 12 title. That has to be our strategy. 2nd chance points will be huge for us. Let's go Buffs!
