Desert Duck

Nice road W. If they get Bittle healthy, and put it together down the stretch, we could have some fun in the Madness and win 2 or 3. Some stats that jumped out to me, for starters, were free throws, as Oregon got to the line 21 times and hit 18 for nearly 86%. Dang, that's an exceptional night. SC only got to the line 6 times making all 6. The other stat that actually cause my jaw to drop were blocks. Oregon averages a respectable 4 per game. Last night they had 6. But that's not the block stat that caught my attention. It was USCs blocks. They average a healthy 6 blocks per game but last night they had 14. I thought it was a data error when I first saw that, but it is legit. I can't remember when I've ever seen a team get 14 blocks on an opponent playing in the same division. It's actually quite stunning. Usually, there is no way an opponent is going to win if they are dominated by blocks anywhere close to that. I only watched a little bit of the game, but I'm guessing we must have recovered a fair amount of those blocks. USC even shot the 2 ball better by about 20%, and also made more (27-24). SC shot 41% overall. The Ducks 3 ball % was slightly better as we made 12 triples compared to 9 for SC. And yet overall, we only shot 37% from the floor. Rebounds were equal, except we dominated them on the all important offensive glass 17-12. Assists and steals were pretty much a push. And yet, we still won by 9... on the road. Thank goodness for 21 trips to the line followed by an ice-water-in-veins FT % of 86%, and nearly 38% 3 points shooting. All-in-all, this team might just get quite interesting down the stretch. Let's hope for another amazing Altman late season run.

74° degrees and sunny tomorrow, with a wind chill taking it down to 73°. Thankfully, I think we're going to make it.

I've gotta believe that our guys wanted it. Sometimes, one team just gets beaten.

Fisch is a strong possibility that I hadn't thought about. The Arizona athletic programs are in a world of financial hurt, and it is not going to get better anytime soon. "Arizona’s athletic department was given a $55 million loan during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic that hasn’t been paid back..." UArizona will not cut sports under plan to shore up financial difficulties WWW.FOX10PHOENIX.COM The University of Arizona will not cut any sports as it tries to...

If I were a Husky, I'd suggest maybe dusting off Rick Neuweasel.

I'm pretty sure that nobody is expecting them to win the tourney this year, but when you have two of your bigs out with injuries, and yet you can still put together a good early season record, it is encouraging. And those two wins last week against the Washington schools on the road, is nothing to shake a stick at.

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Was Bama turned down by their Top-3 choices? It sounds like that may, in fact, be the case. It's quite clear that DL was their first choice, apparently followed by Kirby & Sark. I'm not sure that bodes well for Bama or DeBoer. Alabama Football Makes $12 Million Move for Coach as Candidates Pass HEAVY.COM The Alabama Crimson Tide may have received several "no's" from top...

That's easy... Because they couldn't get Dan Lanning. Or Kirby, or Sark... DeBoer might actually have been a bit down the Bama coach preference food-chain.

It's very impressive what these guys have done so far, especially with the injuries they've had to deal with. Plus, going 2-0 last week in two close games on the road against a couple decent Washington schools, is highly impressive. Maybe the powers-that-be might even grace us this week with a Top-25 ranking this week.

In the immortal words of Johnny from The Price is Right: "Mr. Matt Zenitz... come on down!"

From the Carpenters incredibly joyful "Top of the World," to the late-great Tom Petty singing about suicide in "Free Fallin" -- all in the span of minutes. It's joy on a rather epic scale.

Followed immediately by The Carpenters fabulous version of Ticket To Ride... "He's got a ticket to ride But he don't care..." Followed by poor Husky fan howling out with -- "Waaaaahhhhhhhh--Owwwwwooo."

Duck lovin' is the healing power that this young man is looking for.

Only in Miami fans dreams.

Lol

Congrats to the Huskies -- Coach DeBoer has just likely moved into the top coach selection position for Bama.

Gene Bartow followed Wooden, went 52-9 over two seasons, and was gone. Still, Bartow paid the Oregon Duck fans one of the greatest compliments in Duck fan history when he called us "Deranged Idiots." That was a total hit and we proudly wore that moniker.

I owe a shout-out to "CountryProf" who simply, and yet kindly, schooled me last night and gave me a good ol fashioned learnin. At best, I was a big time doubter last night. But CountryProf 100% called it right. Well done, and well played, Dr. CountryProf!

So, if the worst did happen, and Lanning bolts, who are the top-5 coaching candidates that we'd go after?

Well... personally, I wouldn't suggest that either.

Look at the aircraft type: EC3F That’s a surveillance aircraft, commonly known as AWACS. So, for some reason I doubt the US Air Force is going to give Dan a ride... even for Bama.

"Kids -- remember when I said that the 6th move and school system in 9 years would be your last... well..." I hope not, but...

Why don't one of you guys in Eugene drop by Dan's house tomorrow morning, knock on the front door and say, "Hi, is Dan home?" I'm just kidding. Don't do that.

I definitely vote for Deboer