30Duck

They definitely have the talent, just like they did against UCLA. But, the Ducks need all that talent to execute properly, for the entire game. The Ducks currently have a 3 game winning streak over the Cardinal; in the last 9 games, the Ducks have a 5-4 lead. During that span, Oregon is 2-1 @ Stanford, and 1-2 @ Oregon. In the conference tournament, Oregon leads 2-1.

This is exactly right. The Lady Ducks could lose some battles, but at the end will be just fine. UCLA played great, probably as good as they can. Oregon was off its game, missing key players, and still almost won! The men too are missing players, notably PG, Will Richardson, but they are playing great basketball now, and will only get better.

What a great story. He was a 1st rd. pick, but most #26 selections hardly see the court, much less be major contributors on a team as talented as are the Celtics.

No doubt, the breakout star was Henry Katleman! He should be in contention for MVP. Verdell has a tough decision, this wasn't the type of year he wants to go out on, but is it reasonable for him to think he can make it through next season without missing games? Dollars looked like he's ready for more time as the RB's & QB's battle it out.

Very good point, David, and why retaining Avalos would be great. The last thing the Ducks need is for having the D need to "learn" a new defense. In every sport, the goal is for players to not have to think, to have them all just knowing where to be, what to do.

From the minute he first stepped on a football field at Stanford to when he retired, the whole world basically has anointed Andrew Luck to be the best quarterback ever...who didn't really win anything. Don't have time to get in to all he didn't do, but one thing he did do was throw for more yards than did Justin Herbert in their rookie seasons. Luck did throw for 4, 374, Herbert, 4, 336. However, Herbert had a much better completion %, 66.7 to 54.1. Herbert also set the new TD record, 21, to Luck's, 23. Luck did throw more interceptions, 18-10. and Luck played in one more game. So, will people start talking about Herbert the way they did about Luck?

The WNBA will be full of pictures like this for years to come!

Well deserved! Duarte, along with Figueroa & Omoyuri, are the type of players that take teams deep in to "march Madness". Not only are they talented, they each have very high basketball !Q's, which helps explain why this Altman team is playing so well early in the season.

In a move that should not come as a surprise to anyone, Anthony Lynn was fired as the Chargers head coach. The Chargers finished 7-9, and but for some very bad coaching decisions, could have been in the fight for a playoff spot. With Herbert at quarterback, this will be a coveted position to fill.

It's definitely a great NBA picture of two great Ducks. The best picture of A Duck? Not quite.

This what really makes this game so aggravating. They give up the opening touchdown and it looks bad. But then they fly down the field and tie it up. Then they tie it up again with a few minutes left, and look to have the momentum and the ball tpo start the second half. But of course that's when everything fell apart. Unfortunately, in a way. Iowa State played the game that Cristobal seems to covet. Nothing exciting, just methodical, and if the other team makes mistakes, take advantage of them. So, ISU won that game, but they won't beat good teams in straight up games, and Oregon can't follow that model, and get where we want them to.

That was a very interesting game. It was up and down to start with, so it didn't really matter that Oregon didn't have a go to scorer at the basket. But, after Figueroa's put back slam, it was all Ducks. Duarte and Omoyuri picked it up as well on defense and shut Stanford down, and it will just get better when, hopefully in 2 weeks, Will Richardson is able to play.

Thanks for the article, Charles, in it we see why Graves is such a great coach. I was very proud of how the Ducks played, and I know he was. There were multiple times where the Ducks could have just given up. But, instead they battled back and could have won. I know they feel bad about losing, but it will only make them better going forward. Next game is @ Stanford, and they'll have revenge on their minds for the way the Ducks have treated them lately. They Cardinal is 4-0 in conference play this season, winning by an average of 17 points, they beat UCLA by 12, and in their last game, beat ASU by 8.

Exactly what I saw, actually for the whole game that was the difference. UCLA had a smooth efficient game, with Osborne and Onyenwere, two very talented and experienced players, leading the way. The Ducks certainly matched up talentwise, but this was the game where their inexperience was too much to overcome. The final seconds was where it hurt the most. UCLA played a great game, probably their best all year, and it took that to beat the Ducks, who played their worst game, and almost won.

Some intriguing choices, Coach. With the coaching change at Texas, this would be the best time to approach Muschamp. Lupoi has a colorful, to say the least past. At Cal, he was suspended for a game after a player faked an injury in an effort to slow down the Ducks' up tempo offense, and there were recruiting allegations while he was at Washington. It would be nice to get Peter Sirmon back in the flock after stops at other Pac-12 schools. Mario has done a great job with his staff, and whether it is one of these , or someone else, I have confidence it will be a good choice.

Thank you very much Sherman for your analysis of the football team, as well as a touch of Shakespeare! My hopes to are that Cristobal isn't doing this great recruiting with out a master plan in mind, one similar to what you detailed. The WR's especially, with a quarterback like Thompson makes me think we could see an offense like LSU blitzed the field with in 2019. There is so much talent, Cristobal has to make sure that it is used properly, not in the scattered, disjointed way it was this season.

The basketball games this weekend have taken a lot of the pain away from me. WBB lost the Big 3, they play in the best WBB conference in the country, and, they're still The Hunted. Stanford & UCLA are both hungry for revenge. The Bruins were the last team to beat the Ducks in MKA, 23 games ago, and hung on for this one. Angela Dugalic was very impressive, scoring, at the basket, and at times, bringing the ball up. Nyara Sabally's game was off, she missed enough shots inside that definitely would have made a difference. But this was a UCLA win, when they had to make a play they did.

I hope everybody watched the game between UCLA and Oregon, We almost got an incredible ending, but the Bruins held on for the 73-71 win.

The Fiesta Bowl certainly didn't go the way we wanted. But, the Ducks are two time defending champions, no matter how much the Huskies or Jon Wilner throw shade on it. Last season, Oregon made history by winning the football championship, and Men's & Women's basketball. They already have the football, and are in position to sweep basketball again too. Stanford is not going to make it easy for the Lady Ducks. They just rolled all over #6 Arizona, and will be more than happy to knock the Ducks off their perch. The Ducks will be @ Stanford on Friday, and they'll be ready. The Men are off to a great start. They lost early to a good Missouri team, they were missing some key players though. Most of them are back, though Dante is gone for the year. But, quicker than usual for Altman's teams, the Ducks have bonded in to a really good, high functioning team, and will just get better when Richardson is back. Hopefully in about 2 weeks. Football is done. But we'll have a lot of fun watching the basketball games!

Canzano had a really good title for his article, that is exactly what we watched yesterday. The situation at quarterback stood out, but it was only one example of the disorganization. Mario is intent on creating a power based methodical machine. But right now all the parts are disconnected and scattered across the field. I had actually forgotten about the bungled attempt at catching the punt, my mind was filled still with Iowa State executing the longest onside kick I've ever seen. Toss in the fumbles and it's easy to see how we could forget one of the mistakes, and penalties. We can hope that an extended practice time will really help, especially the quarterback, in getting the offense an identity, and similarly, the defense will for sure be moving by design, not because the player doesn't know where he's supposed to line up. But one thing we finaly don't have to worry about? The Ducks have a kicker!

Good job, Ryan, you laid it out plain and simple. There is a lot to be done before the Ducks are a playoff team. It might be that even if the playoffs were set to include the conference champions, the Ducks would still be out of their league when it came to winning the championship. The recruiting is getting there. But unfortunately, the Fiesta Bowl told us that there is more for Cristobal to get right, than we thought. The Fiesta Bowl exposed problems much deeper than sitting on a lead, The disfunction at quarterback stands out, but it's only one of the things you pointed out. Iowa State had an identity, a plan to go with its purpose. Oregon looked unsettled, verging on to chaotic. They really need a productive off season to get to work on this. Ohio State in game one, should be a motivating force.

That was fun, It was shaky for a while, the Ducks couldn't buy a basket. But the D kept them in the game. They finally got their biggest lead, 2. Then it got a bit bigger, Duarte and Ommayuri heated up, along with #12, LJ Figueroa, and pulled away, winning by 16, 73-56.

Hey, actually even better. In case you don't have ESPNU, the game is now on ESPN2, as soon as Gonzaga finnishes beating San Francisco

It was a very cruel reversal of fortunes for the Ducks. For a while, they had made the last few minutes of the first half their red zone. Today, those minutes were a disaster. They get a great goal line stand, march 99 yards, tie the score, and look forward to getting the ball at the start of the second half. what could go wrong? Sadly, we all know what went wrong. Iowa State ended up winning the TOP, about 48-12, and the Ducks spent a lot of the time they did have the ball, committing costly penalties or turning the ball over. Somehow it seems the score should have been even worse.

That's the way to see the bright side of things. Both basketball teams are off to great starts, and should just get better as the season goes on.