Graziani93

Never mind. Looks like Manon committed to Vanderbilt just yesterday. But there's still other quality players around. Let's see what happends.

I'm telling you, if Dana goes and gets Chris Manon (formerly of Cornell, still available in the portal), we are in business! Manon is a 6-5 combo guard, great ball-handler, and most of all a positive leader. Together with Angel, we'll be stacked as far as basketball IQ and outside shooting. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Yes, sir! You did the right thing, KJ. Put on some muscle, refine your already smooth game and you'll go further in the NBA than some of our recent one-and-dones (Bol, Brown, King, etc.) who turned out maybe not so ready for the league. Loved your attitude this past year (despite Dana getting on you often). But in the end, it will all help you! Thanks for coming back.

This is great news! Angel always seemed to hurt us when we played the Furd and now we got him. Should help greatly with the size we need as well as outside shooting. Now, let's get some more studs.

Boy, the men's basketball offseason is getting as interesting as our surprisingly fun season with all the transfer portal activity in the news right now. In Dana we trust and I'm sure they're working on some winners to bring in. However, I've kept close tabs on the Ivy League this past season (in addition to our Pac-12 of course) and two of its best players are now in the portal. Danny Wolf of Yale and Chris Manon of Cornell would be fantastic additions to our Ducks! With Dante graduating, we certainly need an offensive big man and Wolf is a talented scorer and passer (with better hands than Dante). Manon is all high basketball IQ and a great leader. He will fit the role of Couisnard very well (without all the unnecessary yelling at teammates when they make a mistake). Otherwise, any of the available Stanford guys (Maxime Raynaud, Brandon Angel, Andrej Stojakovic) will address our needing a big guy or shooting. Hell, even Andrej Jakimovski, formerly of WSU, would be very welcomed. Just give me one Andrej and I'll be happy!

My absolutely favorite play of the entire ASU game was when Perez, all feeling himself after scoring some points, getting down and slapping the floor while guarding Barthelemy. Keeshawn took the opportunity while Perez looked away, pounded the ball to the right, and hit the jumper in his stupid face. Two points!

I'm in New Jersey and watching the Pac-12 Network on Sling TV. Gotta say, picture quality is pretty good, I have no complaints. Prolly will work well all over the country.

I like your points, Charles. Dante is starting to look like his old self, without hunching over trying to catch his breath all the time, like in last week's games. You can see he's gaining his confidence again, and the multiple dunks sure don't hurt. I don't have the doubts that you do about Bittle though. For a guy in his first game back, 7 points in limited minutes is not so shabby. He hit the Ducks' first shot of the game, a 3 pointer, with no hesitation. Because his injury was the wrist, he probably was able to stay in running condition. His presence on the defensive end, along with Dante, altered ASU's shots and did not allow them to bully our smaller guys. And how about Bittle when he's on the bench? He's the biggest cheerleader, pumping up his teammates on the court. Gotta love this guy! The ASU win was huge, but Saturday's game against Arizona is obviously the big one. A win against the team who's still favored to win the conference will make my year!

It will be a pleasure watching another Miami quarterback implode under Cristobal. This guy only wins in the off season. Ward should have gone to Ohio State or anywhere else.

Arizona did not look all that hot yesterday against UCLA. They are overrated as a top 10 school. This coming week's games against the Arizona schools will be very telling. But one game at a time - just play freely today against Utah. The Ducks looked really tight and couldn't really solve the Colorado defense. Shelstad and Evans should have better games today and I'm sure the extra effort will be there. I'm taking the Ducks moneyline!

Just flush this one down the toilet. That was the most lackluster I've seen the team all conference season. Dante really hurt us this game, how many times can he lose the ball or put up a terrible shot? Like Just Ducky was worried, the chemistry of the small ball team was definitely disrupted by trying to go inside to an out of shape Dante on too many occasions. But like Dana said before, in the long run, we need the bigs, small ball is not going to get us far. Can't win them all, forget about this one, come out better at Utah.

That's a legit concern. That's why I wouldn't mind Bittle taking another week and making sure he's fully healthy. We can use him for the Arizona schools at home next week. Dante should be more in the flow tonight as this is his second game back. I don't know, but I kind of like our chances tonight for some reason. Just don't get caught up in the hype, the altitude, etc. - just play our game like we have been. The enthusiasm (Tracy) and leadership (Couisnard) on this team makes me think we can weather any early troubles and pull it out in the end. Plus, we have Altman, who seems to be enjoying coaching this group a little more than the teams in the recent past.

I'm not worried about rankings - they will come later if we continue to win and deserve it. I'm more concerned about Colorado this Thursday where we have not won in so many years (I believe Dana won once there in all these years). The Buffs have a stud point guard in Simpson (their version of Shelstad) and a killer in da Silva. Limit at least one of those guys and we have a good chance of punking those fools. It sure would help if Dante starts rounding into his old self soon. How about Kario's dunk against Cal? Maybe it's Kario's turn again to star. No matter what, it's going to be a great game! Go Ducks!

We're going to need Dante to go up against Cal's big but goofy 7-footer, Aimaq. This way we don't have to hold our breath every time Diawara, our only big man, gets a foul called on him. The Cal game should be a good one to ease Dante back to game conditioning - Cal has some good skill players but if we keep playing hard and good team ball as we have been doing, we should win the game pretty handily. 5-0 would be a fantastic start. Can't wait!

Yeah, would love to see Jackson also scream "This is my state!" after hitting a game-winning shot. Even though we're the underdogs tonight (+3.5 on FanDuel), I think we'll win this game handily and get revenge for the football team. Looking forward to seeing what Mookie Cook can do with his freshman brothers!

Charles, I agree with you about Shelstad and Evans - both are solid and will only get better/smoother with time. I am most pleasantly surprised by Kario Oquendo, a big, powerful guard who can drive to the basket. Ever see the legs/lower body on this guy? He's like Elgin Cook driving to the basket but who can also shoot outside. Definitely going to be a great game tonight - Pac12 opener against the hated Trojans. Bronny's gonna regret not signing with the Ducks - didn't want him anyway. Can't wait!

Agreed, today's overtime win over Michigan took some sting away from the football loss. Not only Dante back - don't forget Bittle and Mookie Cook. It could turn out to be a special year if this group gets a chance to all play together. I like Jackson's poise and skills, even as a freshman. As the announcers were saying, the moment does not seem too big for him already.

Vernon Adams never had anything to do with Oregon State. He played for Eastern Washington and then the Ducks.

Ducks win! 38-29 2 turnovers 3 sacks 317 yards

Ducks 38-24 3 TO's 4 Sacks 333 Yards Revenge for last year!

Thank you, Charles. As someone who just recently experienced the breaking of the rules and receiving the "friendly" email notification from you, I realize that I do want the polite and respectful discourse and that this site is too valuable to leave. Who knows, it might even end up helping me become a better person (despite my distaste for some football coaches).

What's the worst thing that will happen in accepting the NIT bid? We lose to UCI again, but so what? We get to see if some of the guys who will be here next year can play in a tournament game against a good opponent. I'm actually looking forward to seeing how Kee and Ty run this team. Lok certainly deserves more minutes. Maybe Ware can go off. We are not like UNC - we are not "too good" to turn down a NIT bid this or any year. Let's run and have some fun!

Since you mention the comparison to Pritchard, I attach again a picture from long ago with the two of them. I bet Payton is a role model for him and Jackson appears to have the same work ethic and killer instinct. We're in for a treat next year!

Wow, just wow. I'm so done with this team. We have absolutely no alpha dog, no leadership, no one to hold anyone accountable when encountering any resistance. This team seems to get so full of itself when it wins one game that it thinks it can just slide by piss-poor competition (see Stanford, UC Irvine, Utah Valley) without having any fight/passion. My wife had given me the ok to go to Vegas in March and enjoy the Ducks in the Pac-12 tournament and I was excitedly making plans (flight, hotel, tickets, etc.). After tonight, it's just not worth it, I think I'll pass. I'll just go play some poker at some casino here on the East Coast.

I agree with you Charles, we're finally getting a peek at what could be with this team with some of the injured guys returning to help. I just hope it's not too late as it looks like they'll have to win a majority of their remaining 15 conference games (probably have to win 10 or 11 of them to be in the tourney conversation). I was fortunate enough to take a trip to Canada this fall to see 3 of the 5 exhibition games these Ducks played before the season. With a full complement of guys, we actually looked very good. Couisnard is a great slasher who can take it to the basket (just needs to finish at the rim though). Barthelemy is very fast, can penetrate, and has a reliable mid-range shot. He will help relieve the pressure on Will, even more than Couisnard, when/if he comes back from injury. The guy I'm looking forward to seeing most though is Ethan Butler. He appeared big, strong, and rather smooth when on the court. We'll see if he gets some minutes when he's healthy. Like they say, one game at a time. Would love to see them shut Bobby Hurley up this Thursday. Can't wait, it's getting good.