EastBayDuckDad

With the post talent Oregon has coming back, that is exactly the type of guard the Ducks need. Kudos to KG.

Duck Dive: Utah Football 2023 Preview WWW.ADDICTEDTOQUACK.COM Going deep with the Utes’ scheme, returning personnel, and unknowns For a bit less fluffing and a bit more stuffing, here is Hytholday1's in depth review of the Utes. Weekly he looks at each of Oregon's future opponents from an analytics, scheme and personnel perspective that is pretty comprehensive. Worth a read.

It may be apostasy to some Oregon fans, but having bounced to different locations in the PAC and UC system for my education (Cal to UCSF to UCD to Arizona), then Oregon for my career and kids' education, I'm a PAC/west coast homer.. So when I root, it's: OREGON!!! Then: Cal, OSU, Stanfurd (wife's alma mater) Then: The rest of the PAC, and even UCLA (for another year). And heaven help me, the cur leg lifters when the pride of the conference is on the line and there is no alternative Maybe once or twice several years ago, but never again: U$C

Dang. Walk off grand slam by Carlson in the bottom of 5th to run rule Arkansas 14-4 in their house. On to the super regionals. Lombardi has this team churning on offense.

If this all comes to fruition, college sports will become indistinguishable from the workplace, an amalgam of public-private spheres of labor management. Think AFSCME and NFLPA/NBPA all wrapped into one. Players will unionize and collective bargaining will become standard. Strikes and walkouts will occur. Coaches will not be able to bench kids for labor conflicts but will be able to 'terminate contracts' if a position group needs an off season 'modification'. The portal will become free agency for the best players and a graveyard for the rest (I guess it's like that already). 'Student-Athletes' will be a quiant old saying from the history books. Ditto the NCAA. As such, scholarships should be paid full freight by the now employed players. Wages will be wages. The 4-5☆s will get the NIL deals. If they want to spend it on tats, face jewelry and sick rides instead of tuition, that's on them. They can apply for grants and loans at usurious interest rates to cover expenses like every other shlub student that can't run a 10.5 sec 100m or dribble two basketballs simultaneously while balancing another on their head. Title IX will protect some, but not all, women's sports. Low revenue sports will get dropped or severely reduced. ADs will become true GMs. Figure bake sales to support baseball, softball, soccer, volleyball, lacrosse, gymnastics and water polo. Also anticipate higher ticket prices for football and hoops to fund this juggernaut. This is just a starting point for the changes that will occur. I'm certain I'm leaving out a million other factors. What started as a legitimate effort to reimburse college athletes for their efforts and bankablility has morphed into something else. Some positives will likely come of this but right now it sure looks like there will be significant negative unintended consequences and the end of college sports as we know them. Don't forget that since the suit is being brought by the NLRB, the government will have it's bureaucratic sticky fingers in every aspect of the process. All in the interest of fairness, transparency and accountability. How could that not work out for the best?

Went to the game last night. The freshman (Jackson Pace) pitcher for the Ducks got shellacked in the 1st for 9 runs without an out before he was pulled. His FB hovered around 85-90mph but hung in the zone with no wiggle and the Fuskie batters were able to tee off on it. Kid got rattled and popped one batter then walked another. I feel bad for that young man and hopefully he'll grow from it, but jeez, I never saw a college game get so out of control so fast. Oregon's pitching staff has been decimated by injuries and they'll be fortunate to win a regional match-up with the current group of underclassmen. It's a shame considering how well they were doing earlier in the season when they had good pitching, sharp bats and defensive play.

Word is, they were betting on cow tipping and trying to fix the corn commodity markets.

He will be a solid option for Rising and the Ute offense this year. He honestly wasn't particularly missed by Oregon last year (neither was Dye for that matter, nor will Thornton be this year). The current WR room with Franklin, Johnson, Holden and Hutson is largely an upgrade. Wish Pittman well at Utah. Except against Oregon, where I hope he spends the game picking chunks of the Rice Eccles synthetic field turf out of his face mask after smack talking our DBs and LBs

It is a bit of tradition for us native west coast folks, particularly if you attended a Pac 8-10-12 college. It's also how the new 12 team playoffs will shake out if Oregon stays as a top dog in the revamped PAC as opposed to joining the BIG.

Dang if he doesn't look like a taller version of Ifo on film and resembles him as a quiet leader. A great get for the Ducks.

All of the inherent noise about having LeBron's kid on the Ducks aside, he would have been a decent addition as a 2-guard. Provided he could still shoot 40% from three with a talented Pac12 6'7" defender's hand in his face. He would have ultimately been a distraction, particularly when Dad and Dana had a difference of opinion on his playing time, coaching and role in the offense. And the pressure from all sides for Bronny to be a one and done. Oregon will have enough young 5☆ talent to mesh together with Shelstadt, Evans and Cook. Add in the returning veteran bigs in Bittle and Dante, guards Barthelemy(?) and Cousinard, and quality transfers (particularly Tracey) and an undersized shooter really isn't a need. A 6'8" wing that can draw a defense out and drain the trey is. Avoiding the King and Son show frees up a scholly slot to find that kid and reduces the drama factor for Altman and crew.

Don't blame Oregon if U$C boosters got skinny on NIL funds after they bought Riley's $15M crib and private club memberships seven times over and paid off Helton's contract. Not enough Bentley dealers in the world to alter the hard truth for the La La Landers that these talented SoCal kids actually buy in to DL's philosophy of hard work, family and accountability. And, oh my goodness, just watched Rodrick Pleasant set the new national HS 100m record of 10.14 sec. Eat your hearts out, Troy boys. Pleasant will see you in the rear view mirror.

Good take by FD Fearless Leader. The overall look and coverage skills in the DBs is significantly improved by the influx of portal talent. Bo wisely threw a couple passes away when the target was covered or about to get blown up for a loss. The bookends in Burch and Brandon, Mase and Matayo at the edge provided a lot of pressure to hurry those throws. Middle of D-line was solid. In a true game there would have been several sacks. The LBs didn't have their names called out much, but the paucity of rushing yards was a statement to how effective they were. I'm perhaps less concerned about the relative lack of offensive production. When fall rolls around and the O-line has it's starting 5 + 2-3 rotational players, Oregon will be OK. Ditto for WR and RB. Dowdell is a load and may replace James as the short yardage guy. TE needs depth and it looks like they were underutilized in the spring game due to that. Getting TFerg back will be a big help and PHerb is bigger and better this year. Sadik will be very good with some work. I see Tez as a Charles Nelson kind of receiver, but with better wheels and Holden as assuming the Cota role. So much talent has been added to that WR room on top of Franklin and Hutson, with potentially more to come. I agree the Ducks are in big trouble without Bo. TT is still just too mechanical and lacks anticipation and field sense. He got better in the second half once he had some success, but his receivers were open when he hit them and he threw no one open with touch and anticipation. Should have been picked at least twice. Portal in, portal out at QB in 2024?

The only team to join Oregon in the PAC with 5+ NFL draftees was........Stanford? Not U$C or the Fuskies. This will likely change for the 2024 draft but I gotta agree with Jon J's post on another thread, it's a pretty sad state of affairs for the Conference of Champions.

Stunner in my mind why Gonzo dropped to the Pat's at #17. Good on them though, they got a steal. The Sea Squawks passed on him at #5 and so did Washington at #16, taking other CBs. Their loss. The knock was that he wasn't 'physical' enough. What I saw on film was him 'nudging' WRs along the sideline and getting into position to get the pick or PBU, or outmuscling them at the point of the ball. At Gonzo's speed and size he will improve his run defense and tackling as a rookie. He'll be the most talented player in the 2023 DB room for the Patriots. Home run hit for Belichick.

Reports: Oregon OLB Anthony Jones enters the transfer portal 247SPORTS.COM Redshirt freshman Anthony Jones entered the transfer portal on Wednesday. Not surprising I suppose as the OLB/Edge room is now loaded and we all figured that there would be more attrition. Would like to see his HS buddy and teammate Sir Mells stick around for DL depth (and the cool name).

Let's also guess that it wasn't important for whatever recruits they had at the UW spring 'game' to see an empty stadium. Said one recruit to another "Wow, nice echo in here from that traffic on I-5 and the 520."

I agree! Slightly off topic and not to dredge up bad memories, but if Stanford hadn't dropped the MM pass that would have resulted in a TD, putting Oregon up by two scores early, tOSU's game plan to dig out of that hole would have been much tougher. Throwing the ball was not the skill set of their 3rd string moose of a QB, but he could run like a Southern Pacific locomotive. Oregon absolutely missed not having Allen, Carrington and Pharaoh Brown in the NT game. Not to mention the loss of Ifo in the d-backfield. Oh, well, at least we have the 2021 smackdown of tOSU in the Horseshoe to gloat over. I only wish Oregon could have wiped the smug smile off sub-Urban Meyer's face instead of Ryan Day's.

It's now pretty telling that all of the big body, run stuffing but one-step-too-slow-at-covering-the-crossing-route LBs from the Cristobal days are gone. Brown leaving surprised me since he is an Oregon kid and one would think he'd have been in line to start or get extensive playing time. The pattern of bulking up speedier players, safeties like Hill and Bassa, and bringing them down into the box now seems to be well established by DL. The two LB system whittles the needed box guys by a third. Jacobs must be the real deal and Soelle a viable option to instigate losing a promising player like Brown. A little surprised by Ma'ae leaving as well. I figured he would play a significant role setting the edge for runs on downs one and two and occasionally be called upon to pressure the QB on passing downs. There must be a lot of other very promising and quicker talent in that DL/Edge room. Of the two Ja(h)lils, Florence always seemed to be a step ahead of Tucker in the DB room. With the transfer in of Tysheem Johnson and Khyree Jackson, Tucker entering the portal is not that much of a surprise. In the wake of the first spring scrimmage there may well be others that find themselves lower on the depth chart than they want and opt for the portal. I don't fault Tucker, Brown and Ma'ae, they want to play football and it appears Oregon won't be that place. Best of luck to them. They are quality players and hopefully will land somewhere outside of the PAC. There is comfort for Duck fans in knowing that there are better players on the team nudging them out.

With TFerg out out for the rest of the spring, I'm sure there is a DL portal wish list for another TE. I wonder if they are considering having Matayo U as a backup plan, àla DJJ a couple years back. Matayo was a monster at TE for Bosco and if he is not going to be utilized much on the edge as a true freshman, the offense could sure use him.

Rogers and Prince were off to the WNBA, then not, and now not coming back to the Ducks. Pao Pao is in the portal. Along with the extensive losses of several 5 star players last year, there may indeed be a major issue with the program. It's of interest that Prince is following a former Duck assistant back home to Texas and TCU. Has the appeal of Oregon been more with the staff than the coach at the top? Maybe we were all spoiled by the Sabrina era, but it sure seems like things have slipped from those heady times. Let's hope that the promising young players stay, and with the new recruits and a quality portal entry or two, Oregon will have a NCAA tournament level team next year. I'm not taking off my glass-half-full hat yet, but if one or two of those players bolt I'll need to reconsider.

Oregon basketball involved with three of the Top 10 Transfer Portal Prospects 247SPORTS.COM The Oregon Ducks are recruiting three of the top 10 best players in the transfer portal this... I'll bet I'm not the only one who would be interested in seeing and hearing "Bamba inside to Bittle to Battle at the corner.....three!"

Not much surprise here as I always had the impression that Ware came in thinking he'd be one-and-done. That turned out to be true, just not the way anyone wanted. He seemed to lack the court smarts and work ethic to go along with his size and talent. Once Altman called him out mid season for effort, the handwriting seemed to be on the wall. He'll have a lot of interest in the portal and perhaps some other coach will be able to develop him. For Oregon the development came too little and too late. It would be nice if he left the PAC altogether but he could land with a rebuilding team as a kind of worse case scenario. Other than that, Ware leaving just isn't that big of a negative Personally I like Bittle's upside a lot more. Altman can build around him at the post. Maybe Dante will return and develop a nice 10-12 ft jumper that gets him into the 2024 NBA first round draft. There will be some quaity big men in the portal willing to come to Eugene and put in the work. As this year's NCAA tournament shows, experience and a sense of team still matters in MBB. It sounds like DA wants to get back to that style of Oregon basketball.

Altman is a throwback to an earlier era. Coach young men up for at least 2 or 3 years. Push for accountability and personal work ethic. Demand that the student-athletes (yes, I said that) expect more out of themselves and put in the extra work to excel. And have one or two true leaders to hold their teammates to task. He named them: Pritchard, Brooks and Ennis. This new era of NIL, social media, transfer portal, one-and-done and 5-star egos is not Coach's forte. Grinders that have talent that can be developed is. It's possible he'll join the list of old timer coaches that end their careers, like K, Boeheim etc. I understand why he was frustrated. He tiptoed around it but laid some of it back on the team. He may lose someone to the transfer portal or an ill-advised early NBA exit. Hopefully it will sink in and both he and the 'dog' core of the team will return in 2023-24.

I agree with Charles and Darren's take on the NIT observations and with the role that NIL could have to keep Ware another year to help him develop into a legit first rounder. One of the Duck podcasts noted that keeping two of the three big men in Ware, Bittle and Dante would be a major plus for 2023-24. Bittle at the 5 and Ware at the 4 hasn't been used much in this post-season, but could be a 7ft tall inside-outside juggernaut if Altman coached it from the start of next season. Guard play and outside shooting is the big 'what if'. Soares seems to be hitting his stride as perhaps a small forward instead of a guard. Maybe Cousinard at the 1 or 2 with one of the newcomers at the other guard. Shelstad may only be a shade over 6ft on a low gravity day at altitude, but he could slide into the 1 spot on day one, like his mentor PP. I love Luk Wur's defense and attitude, but watching him launch a three is a "Nooooo!" moment that turns into a "Yeah!" only 2/10 times. The fact that he even attempts the shot means the cupboard for shooters is bare. Too many Duck three pointers had that same level.of apprehension this year. That dead eye SG or SF (think Duarte or Dorsey) was lacking this season and isn't on the current roster. Guys like Guerrier and Soares could get hot but weren't consistent and Richardson was simply asked to do too much trying to be a PG and SG at the same time. Altman just added Jadrian Tracey, 6'6" JUCO transfer from Florida who averaged 14.4 ppg and shoots +40% from beyond the arc. He could be a plug and play at the 2 position and fill an immediate need. More shooting help and a good PG could make next season something special.