Sandy Rocks

Luke Jackson made the comment that he believes Oregon can do well with Arizona. The ducks played well, their defense was excellent. Nice to see them getting some dominant wins, hope it continues.

The ducks are dominating like they should. One of the announcers said defending the three was going to be important. So far so good.

Both Angel and Bamba had monster games. It was very balanced scoring and defense. Bittle only had seven and Shelstad was top scorer. Bittle actually had the most assists. Get the ball to the hottest scorer. This is tournament time, that means the time when the experienced players who have been coasting along finally kick it into high gear. I am excited for the next game with Michigan State. They are both the hottest teams in the conference. If the ducks win that game, the sky's the limit. Altman's team owned the PAC-12 tournament, hopefully they will do well here too.

Geotechduck, several players on this duck team were starters and stars on their previous team. What a player can do and what they are doing often change in post season play. Take today's game, Angel already has ten points. Each year you see teams elevate their games in the post season. Shelstad always elevates his game when he needs to. A team will always beat an opponent opposed to a team with a couple stars on a team. I guess we will see.

The ducks finished the half with a 13-2 run. Everyone is stepping up. Bittle only has 5 points, Angel has at least 10 points. If they can keep scoring like that, Indiana has no chance. Bittle can't be kept down. Also have made several threes.

For a team that wanted so badly to leave the PAC, USC has done terrible this year. This was not one of Oregon's best games. Except for Bittle, who was awesome, everyone else was so so but like they have done repeatedly, they know how to pour it on at the end. How many games have they won in the last three minutes.I have lost count. Being able to win like that will really be to their advantage from now on. This team has a tremendous upside. The announcers said when Bamba fouled out that the ducks were going to have trouble replacing him but Tracy came in and made several defensive plays and one awesome basket in OT. We are now seeing all the role players elevate their game and Bittle is playing at a very high level. This team has so much potential, who knows what will happen. It's going to be exciting to watch.

You know the ducks have been in the sweet sixteen in years when they were not nearly as good as this team. Don't sell them short. They have all the hallmarks of a team that can make a deep run, experienced players, deep rotation, good defense, the best free throw shooting team in the country and a clutch ice in the veins shooter in Shelstad, not to mention Bittle's rim protection. This team is playing like they were at the beginning of the season when some were thinking they might win the BIG and get a 2 or 3 seed. I even heard some predict they might make it to the final four. This conference and the travel has been an adjustment for this team.

This team finds a way to win. That has been their story all season. They are playing like they did at the beginning of the season. They know how to turn it on when it matters. It is going to be interesting to see how they play in the conference tournament.

I think that Bittle would benefit from another year. He only played five games last year so the NCAA determined he can come back. I would love to see another year of Shelstad and Bittle. They are so much fun to watch. Mookie also is coming into the game more for defense. He will probably get a lot of playing time next year. I am getting really excited about this teams chances even Luke Jackson said that if this team can play like they have been with Bittle in the middle, they can beat anyone.

I meant Bamba's defense is really awesome. He plays so hard. He even got a couple of threes. If he can start hitting like he has in the past, the sky's the limit with this team. I wouldn't bet against them, that's for sure.

Bamba had a great game, his defense is really offense. Angel also had some good plays and rebounds. Overall a good game by all.

Good game by the ducks. I thought they might not pull it out but this is senior night and they don't lose tight games. Shelstad had an incredible shot, it did seem to break Indiana. If the games comes down to a free throw shooting contest, the opposing team will lose. I heard that this duck team is the best free throw shooting team in the country. Six wins in a row, they are HOT. It was a fun game to watch.

Why should Notre Dame get an automatic bid if they are a top 14 team? I think they should be made to join a conference like everyone else. Just because they have a lot of fans nationally doesn't make them better than other teams, they should have to earn their place, they are being treated like they are special. Garbage.

I don't even want to think about Altman retiring. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of his teams. This current team is really listening to Altman now and you can see his influence after time outs like at the beginning of the USC game. The announcers said that Oregon is now playing like they did at the beginning of the season, I agree. The Wisconsin win was a real motivator. Teams are having a very difficult time shooting over Bittle. He had five blocks yesterday. It's just like with Dante, Bittle is influencing everything around the basket.

Great win. A perfect example of good defense creating a good offensive. They fought every possession after the first three minutes. Finally at the end even threes were falling. A really fun game to watch. They posted a statistic, Altman has more wins in March than any other team including Kansas.

You can tell USC is playing for relevancy. They need to stop that guy getting three's although that has slowed down some. The ducks are playing well, getting lots of steals. The refs are missing a lot of calls against the ducks. Nice surge before the half.

I also didn't watch this game and caught it on replay. The second half of this game was awesome. They were in a hostile environment against a really good team. Defense won the day in the second half creating 17 turnovers from a team that generally makes 6. Bamba's defense was stellar. Shelstad has ice in his veins and Bittle played extreme well in the paint during second half, when he gets in the paint he is hard to stop. I agree they need more pick and roll with Bittle. I also agree that Angel is not raising his level of play and Evens is increasing his. I love his unselfish play, his drives to the basket and how hard he plays It was great to see Mookie. He plays good defense and doesn't make turnovers. Hopefully this gives them the momentum to finish the season and go into the conference tournament. It's crazy that they will probably get a better seed in the NCAA than in the tournament.

They play really good defense that will alway keep you in games. It also doesn't hurt to have Khei in the center. She's enormous for a woman.

It really was a tale of two halves. They consistently play good defense but in the first half they couldn't buy a bucket. They would make a good defensive stand then get down to their basket and make a bad shot, travel, or some other turnover. It was frustrating. In the second half everything changed. The back-up center Ehis Etute got hot, she really provided a spark. They rode that train to the end. An exciting finish. They kept themselves in the game and in the end found a way to win, a lot like how the duck men play really.

Wow I didn't know that. I wonder how that is determined. If it is just based on numerical data then Oregon would have the higher score. There must be some part of that based on something else. The crazy thing is that all of Oregon's wins are on the road also. I also realize also that it's a given they should win at home. They still only have three loses which is really good at this point in the schedule.

We will be fine. Conference play is tough and you can't play well every night. This conference is considerable better than the PAC. That conference had maybe two or three good teams, this conference like the football, is much deeper. The ducks haven't had an easy game since they played Weber State. Are they going to look good each game, are they going to win every game? No, in conference play in basketball if you win at home and get a few away games then you are doing well. Although it seems to be the opposite with this team. They have lost three games and it is near the end of January. They are sitting in a great spot and have a high NET score, someone said only one other team has more Quad 1 wins. I don't remember very many of Altman's teams that were ranked, certainly not like this team that has been ranked almost the entire time. They probably won't win this conference but I bet they do well in the conference tournament and I am certain, baring any major injuries, they are going to do well in the tournament. This team was built for the tournament. Altman has done a superb job melding this team together. There are no egos on this team. I have enjoyed this team more than any of Altman's team because of how they play together. They are going to get even better but it is just going to be little tweaks here and there like a well oiled machine to improve its performance. I wish that there was as many commenting on this team as they do the football. People don't even realize how good this team really is. If you just watch the tournament, you are missing a lot.

I think as a team you definitely want to be at your peak in Feb/March. I think they will. This team is very mature. They came back to play this year because they want to win, to go to the tournament and do well. I have never seen a group of college players put aside their egos like this team. That alone says how much they want to do well. I would be greatly surprised if they don't really crank it up. If Angel and Bamba can play like they did against Wash., they will finish up conference play with a lot of wins. They don't even look tired when they play, keeping the minutes down has greatly helped with that.

I do remember that when Kelly started as head coach that the team moved so fast than even Jerry Allen had to learn to call the games faster. He was initially flustered with being able to keep up with Kelly's no huddle offense. I also remember opposing teams would invent injuries just to be able to catch their breath. The one thing I never did like was his sarcastic wit. Oh, the memories.

This team has been playing well all season so they are not going to show the improvement that other teams have shown. I see small pieces falling into place. They were slacking off in the first half of games but are starting to play better in the first half. The game against Wash. they had like seven turnovers in the first half and only one in the second. Neither Shelstad or Bittle had a great game yesterday but the rest of the team picked up the slack. Bamba ended up scoring 21 with three threes. Cook made about 12 points including 9/10 free throws. Angel also had a great game and Key and Tracy were their normal great selves. It does seem like once the game gets down to the five minute make that they just turn the switch on and crank down on the defense. They have all the hallmarks of a good tournament team. They won't have many games at home which is strange because it doesn't seem like they have played many conference games at home. Maybe they don't play as many conference games. With a team this deep, they can afford to have some inconsistency if the others take up the slack. They are back on the road now to Minnesota and UCLA. Hopefully they can beat both.

My thoughts on Angel is that he is a perfectionist and he doesn't want to shoot unless he can make it.