Oregon State Basketball: 2021-22 season preview and outlook for Beavers
By Tuck Clarry
In a miraculous close to the season, head coach Wayne Tinkle and Oregon State Basketball accomplished the improbable. The Beavers’ season did not look like it would be a memorable one.
They lost to an otherwise rudderless Portland Pilots team in the non-conference. They entered the Pac-12 tournament with a 10-10 conference record, losing four conference games in February. But out of nowhere, they got hot. To win the conference tournament, they beat UCLA, Oregon, and Colorado–the conference’s three best teams.
Then the national tournament came. Often, teams that get hot in their conference tournaments flame out over selection weekend and face heartbreak once basketball resumes. But the Beavers were resilient, playing a 12 seed Cinderella that made it all the way to the Elite Eight. And just like that Tinkle went from job-on-the-line to earning an extension through 2027.
So after reaching the second weekend of the tournament for the first time since 1982, what can we expect from the men’s team in Corvallis? How does Tinkle recapture that final month of magic? Surely, the loss of Ethan Thompson and Zach Reichle will be a blow, but there may be a way for the Beavers to reload rather than rebuild.
The Beavers benefited mightily from off-nights from their opponents. Their zone defense gave Pac-12 teams and subsequent tournament teams fits due to their knack to bother and compete shooters through hustle and want. While 3-point shooting is more on the offense than the defense, for the most part, the Beavers’ dedicated active hands and ball chasing proved to serve an impact on their opponents.
Oregon State’s 32.5% 3-point defense was the best in the conference and was maintained throughout their conference tournament run. That perimeter defense was only emboldened in the NCAA tournament, where their opponents collectively shot a frigid 26% from outside as opposed to their 34.6% season average.
The coaching staff was active in the transfer portal, looking for the right additions to maintain that hard-nosed active defense while maintaining a deliberate and patient offensive scheme that limits mistakes and opponents’ control of pacing.