GeotechDuck

I have to admit, when I first glanced and saw 3-37, I immediately thought it was going to be about Bamba’s three point shooting.

I think Altman is trying to balance tradeoffs with most of these players. It seems that he doesn’t have a lot of “complete players” to work with outside of maybe Shelstad. Bamba is now shooting 37% from the floor and 24% from three on the year. That is not starting D1 SG material and he is a huge liability on that side of the floor. However, he gives you some size and strength for defense and rebounding, which this team desperately needs. Angel is almost the exact opposite player. He is efficient on the offensive end, but as you mentioned, he has a difficult time guarding on the defensive side. He is not big and physical enough to bang down low with the bigs and is too slow to stay in front of decent wing players. Bittle is excellent in 1 on 1 situations in the post, but again as you mentioned, he easily gets sealed off and struggles against physical post players. Case in point, he had 1 rebound against MSU. You could play Cook, as he is much more physical, but he finds himself out of position frequently on defense and doesn’t have much of a game on the offensive side except right around the rim. FT shooting is rough too. Key is an excellent shooter, but gives up size on the other end. We know Tracey’s ceiling. He is a serviceable DI player on both ends, but not your “go to” guy. Moss has never really seemed comfortable. It seems like the transition has been a little difficult for him. It’s a little concerning that Mookie and Phillips can’t get on the floor, given the situation. It doesn’t seem like the bar should be that high to get some decent minutes. I wonder what is happening there? If was Altman, I think the one change I would make would be to give Evans more minutes. I know he is inconsistent and disappears at times, but he has all the talent and skills to be very good on both ends of the floor. He rebounds pretty well and can stretch the floor. He usually stays in front of guys and is good at the line too. I am pretty sure at this point he has a much higher ceiling than either Angel and Bamba, so maybe you let him work it out on the floor?

What’s wrong with the defense? Usually at this time of year Altman teams pick it up, defend and rebound, and do the little things to make a run. This team is the exact opposite. They have been tragic on the defensive side of the ball for the past month and a half. They just let the 3rd worst shooting team in the conference shoot 52% from the floor and 42% from three. And it is not like Northwestern just got hot. There were wide open shots all night long all over the floor. Northwestern, MSU, UCLA, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, and others have all shot better than 50% from the floor over the past month and a half. I don’t remember seeing an Altman team play this poorly on the defensive side of the ball this late in the year. There are 6 games left. If the defense doesn’t get fixed, I would be shocked if they win three of them.

And there goes the lead. They just continue to give teams wide open looks and allow them to shoot 50%. Unreal. Someone d-up already! Northwestern shooting better than 60% in the second half.

Yeah. This team is terrible on the defensive side of the court. Might be one of the worst in the Altman era.

Bamba just missed that baseline runner by 17 feet. Wow. Finally some defense.

Why is the defense soooo bad?? Someone needs step up and stop letting other teams shoot 50%+. Shots are falling now, but what happens when the drought hits.

I think it is because their resume is so lopsided. They have 11 Q1 wins. The next best team has 7 Q1 wins (Oregon and a few others tied with 7). Voters probably left them there because they still have the best resume by a lot.

Agree. This is a must win. They are going to have to slow down Martinelli.

I couldn't care less who wins this. They must have the BIG officiating crew on this one. The refs have been terrible both ways.

Ouch. That is a huge blow.

. Not only are they bad perimeter shooters, but most of that second group cannot create shots, score consistently, and are below average jump shooters. When your starting shooting guard takes a wide open 3 and you find yourself yelling “Noooooo!” at the TV, that is no bueno.

I am not sure why Dana keeps recruiting kids who can’t shoot, then continues to complain that we have “shot takers, not shot makers”. Whose fault is that? Altman was so successful recruiting and getting great scoring guards / wings to transfer into the program until around COVID. Since COVID, it has been a complete mess. Compare: Ennis, Joseph, Calieste, Young, Benjamin, Emory, Cook, Bassit, Boucher, Brown, Duarte, Mathis, and White To: Hardy, Figueroa, Estrada, Eric Williams, Harmon, Guerrier, Soares, Jacob Young, Rigsby, Couisnard, Key, Tyrone Williams, Wur, Tracey, Oquendo, Zarzuela, Lindsey, Moss, Bamba, and Angel. If you had to start a team, which guys are you taking? Almost every single player in the first group is better than everyone in the second. I’m not taking anyone from the second group except maybe Key. You could make an argument for Couisnard too, as he had a great two months at the end of his senior year. But he was still a sub 40% volume shooter for his career. Overall since COVID, I am going to go out on a limb and say the transfer portal players have mostly been a bust. I am still in Altman’s corner and will continue to support him. He is an excellent coach and IMO the best in Oregon history. But clearly he needs help evaluating transfer talent right now. Most of those guys in the second group are obvious misses.

What is the most Q1 wins a team has had in a single season and still not made the NCAA tourney. We have a shot at that record?

That is a reoccurring theme. I think when you are 180th in defense, a lot of teams have their best shooting games ever.

What an epic collapse to give the entire lead back.

Shelstad! Let’s go!!!! 40-30

Evans is killing it! Where has that been all year?

I am getting old. Didnt remember that.

He was a fantastic 6th man.

Actually, wasn’t Porter an EK guy? It’s been a long time.

Serious question. Who was the last Oregon shooting guard to start most of the season, play 25+ minutes per game, and shoot less than 37% from the floor on the year? We might be looking at a historically bad run for an Oregon SG. I went back a little bit and only saw one person in the Altman era that was worse, that was Tajuan Porter at 36.4%. Bamba has a good chance to beat that.

Oregon has led for 1:20 combined in the last three games and have just essentially been blown off the floor. I think the most frustrating thing, is that it just seems like a lack of effort. Giving up almost 80% shooting inside the arc with 19 layups and dunks on your home floor is ridiculous. At least have a little pride and foul someone. Tracey jogging back after mishandling a ball near half court just about sums it up. Even the announcers in the B!G after show came out and said it looked like Bittle just quit out there. Something is going on with this team. It’s not just that they are losing. They are going through the motions. Defense is bad. They are getting beat on the boards. They are giving up layups and dunks. They are not getting 50/50 balls. Body language and effort is terrible. As a coach, you have to do something to try and light a fire under them. Bench them all and play the walkons if you have to, even if it costs you another game.

Is this the worst defensive team in the Altman era? A bad Nebraska team just shot 22-28 from inside the arc on our home floor, with 19 layups/dunks.

1-3 in Q2 now? Yikes.