In Reply to: Well, I was sure wrong about that game. But not completely... posted by Born2BBruin on December 28, 2025 at 21:10:43
I found myself hoping e'll see Ms. Cambridge enter the transfer portal after the season....
Thank you for your posts, B2BB. They are appreciated.
One thought: this was a different period of the season - we had finals week and then two cookies (neither was good enough to have earned the title "cupcake" yet) we went through a week off for Christmas and had only a single practice before playing a road game against a ranked opponent on their home court three time zones east.
That simply is not enough preparation for a game that mattered.
The talent level and the team height - especially Lauren of course - is just so high (sorry about that) that the offense and rebounding did enough to win the game. But the defense was flat as a pancake.
After the games the team has made on that end since the first half against Texas, that was most disappointing and a bit puzzling. i can only conclude that they players weren't completely back from their mental health break - time away from basketball for the holidays - that Cori Close desired for them. But it was just too much away and not enough get back into gear for the basketball season.
Close and the Athletic Department has to rethink this period. Off for finals then those two romps through games without opposition followed by another full week away from the game took the whole construct down a couple pegs. If Ohio State had a center the result could have been a loss that could very well have affected seeding for the Tournament at the end of the season.
Somehow they have to plan it to get at least two and preferably three practices back before they play again. And if possible get in a game against a decent opponent before the Xmas break. If they can't control the conference schedule, then take a closer look at what they CAN control and that's the period from the start of finals to the day after Christmas.
BTW I love your statistics-based take on the game. It's far better than those who only consider team records or who get carried away with their own feelings about a matchup - "oh, this team is going to be 'way up for this game" or "these guys are going to be looking past this one." But when one applies an average based on the past, one can overlook the most recent segment, where the team is right at this moment, and stats, especially in only the second month of a five month season, don't predict the effects of layoffs or illnesses or new injuries that happened in practice or at home are were never reported.
You done good, B2BB. You can't know everything. But as you said form eventually prevailed despite the unreadiness of our team and especially a defense that didn't contest as it had been doing or force tOSU into as many turnovers as one might have expected iirc all the stats.
Thank you