spartan2785

Part of it is that they just don't have much depth. I think the starting 5 is decent enough, but when you have Lin, Demir, Carter, and Kobzystyi just not being at that level where they can maintain the lead, it's hard. Stewart is a good 6 man down low, but there just isn't much depth. I'm hopeful Phillips is going to be good as a backcourt option.

It's embarrassing how unprepared they look, there is no movement, no continuity, they don't know their assignments, no cutting, just passing it around and then jacking up a 3. No ability to beat a man and take it to the rim, there's no attempt to allow anyone other than Bittle to work inside. It's awful awful offense. Positives would be Lindsey showing some shooting ability, Bittle is still a beast, but it's just not smooth at all. I'm sure Altman is very frustrated.

Just more of the same, uninspired on defense, shooting is a little better, but waaayyyyy too many 3 attempts, no commitment to pounding it inside. Some awful turnovers. It's just a very mediocre team right now. Recruiting in both freshman and the transfer market has to be better.

I hate the idea of just playing cupcakes, I don't want Oregon to be one of those teams who chickens out of playing good teams from other conferences, let Ole Miss, Indiana and others be that type of team. That mentality infects a program to the point that they don't show up when it matters most.

Yes and no, do I think that against some teams (Rutgers, Northwestern, and Wisconsin) Oregon is holding some stuff back, probably, but I don't think we're deliberately trying to play possum. We're doing what we need to do to win those games. Iowa and Indiana it was just a mix of bad play, bad play calling, and some bad luck with injuries/bounces/officials. We aren't good enough to sandbag against the better teams on our schedule.

I expect us to look pretty good against Minnesota. USC and Washington are the games where I really have no idea what Oregon team is going to show up. USC can score but can't defend, and UW is decent at home, rivalry game, weather could be bad.

I thought we were better than what the score indicated, I just think we had some questionable play calling here and there, there was also the play where Iuli stepped on Moore's foot, that looked like it was going to be a TD or at least a first down, we basically did whatever we wanted in the ground game, but we would eventually shoot ourselves in the foot. It was just one of those games where it was always going to be difficult. Refs affected the game as well, multiple calls that prolonged drives for Iowa or stopped us, it was noticeable. I would say we aren't a top 5 team, and I don't think we're really a contender for the national title. Too much inconsistencies in our QB play, our line play, and our LBs are little bit limited for what you expect out of a team that wins a title. Need more pressure on the QB, need to be more consistently stout in the run D.

Yeah I saw it, there was a receiver like 10 yards away, but I was questioning it. I thought at the end of the drive you could have called it as well since there was no receiver in the endzone when he threw it out of the endzone. It really seemed like the refs had an agenda. I keep thinking how disappointed the ref looked when he announced the fumble that went to us. For that matter why did we have to call a timeout to get it reviewed? We literally did not receive one call the entire game, I don't think I'm forgetting something.

Question: How did Iowa not have one penalty other than the illegal kick? How is that possible in a game like this? Someone really has to look at these refs. If Iowa had 2 or even one penalty I could take it, but NONE!?

Whittington was outstanding, all the RBs were amazing. Wish we would have let one of them run the ball instead of Moore on that second to last drive!

MVPs are Sappington, Basso, and Ferguson-Reynolds! Moore was not good until that last drive. Credit where credit is due, he got it done when it counted most. They found a way, but that last defensive play will absolutely drive me insane that we had 4 in the box against a running QB!

Refs have to make it about them, Iowa holds the entire game and now they call holding, Refs are crooked.

I wasn't really against the idea of playing for a field goal, I just felt like it was a lot to ask a kicker who hasn't been shown to be reliable to kick a FG from 46 yards in the rain against the wind. He made it, so it was the right decision.

Where was that against Indiana!? That's not PI!

Defense has to be better, can't allow that.

Awful, his momentum was stopped, and then they allowed them to pull him across.

I'm fine throwing the ball there, but throw to a safer route!

Horrible pass, can't be throwing that, kick the field goal.

Awesome....another receiver out, if we win this game we should get a TON of credit (we won't though..get the credit I mean).

Safety!!!! Just keep making them long snap it!!!! Second one already!

Idiotic to throw three passes to start the game, Stein over thinking it as always, obsessed with throwing to the perimeter. RUN THE BALL!!!!

I will add, the team did perform better, Shelsted adds a lot to the team, and the offense will get better as they begin to play with each other more. Altman still is a great coach, and I expect him to continue his tradition of having his teams perform towards the end of the season. We have had games like this in the past, and we've also lost some stinkers, so it isn't like this is unheard of to struggle in the first couple games. It's a different type of team, we will defend better than some of the previous seasons, and I do think we will rebound better. I just wonder if we'll be able to score enough. Simpkins and Evans are the key to everything, they have to shoot better in order to open up the inside. Simpkins had a bad shooting night, but he's probably the one best suited to being an option to either get shots for Shelsted or providing a out ball to Shelsted or Bittle. Lindsey was terrible at the line, but looking at his past he has shown some ability to shoot from the outside, so there's some hope there. Simpkins was a 37 percent 3 point shooter last year, if he can just bump that up a little bit it would be big for us. Pryor will hustle, he'll defend, but he can't shoot, and I'm worried that will be a big downfall for us.

Horrible horrible shooting once again. Oregon has one shooter who is above average behind the 3point line which is Shelsted, that is pathetic, absolutely pathetic, and that's on Altman not recruiting players who can shoot the ball reliably. I know I'm a broken record, but I just don't understand how you don't see that when you have a point guard like Shelsted and big man like Bittle, you have to surround them with snipers from the outside, not a bunch of slashers. We don't have one guy who is just a dead eye from outside. If I were an opponent I would sag off everyone other than Shelsted and make Oregon shoot 25 to 30 3s because it looks like this might be Altman's worst shooting team ever. It is early, but we don't hit open shots, it's not like all of these 3s are contested. Our defense will be decent, but to win we'll need to convert that D into fast break points and we'll have rebound better on the defensive glass. I do think we have the potential to be a better rebounding team than last year. I really hope I'll eat my words, but it doesn't look good. I like Stewart, that guy needs to start. I would play a big lineup with Evans at the 3.

This year has been a bit insane with the number of mid-year firings. The big jobs (PSU, LSU, UF) are all interesting, I could see some surprises at those jobs since I don't know if they are jobs that are going to attract as big names as they think. Penn St for instance could be really interesting if they went off script and picked a guy like Hartline (I don't think he'll go there, but still). Florida is a complete crapshoot as to who will go there after all the misses they've had. Who knows where that job is going (Brent Key would be a guy to look at I think). LSU is such a dumpster fire with the state government getting involved and seeming to focus on getting someone who understands Louisiana culture. As for Oregon, I think it might be the right time for Stein to go, where he'll end up could be determined by who leaves a job for one of those jobs I mentioned. Seems like he's ready for it. Tupoi is also someone who I could see making the decision that it's time to throw his name in the hat. It also might depend on how Oregon does the rest of the season. If Oregon makes a run in the playoffs that might make those coaches more appealing or it could encourage them to take the next step in their careers. If our coordinators leave I have a lot confidence in Lanning to pick coaches who will be successful here.

I actually liked Bamba more than most. He drove to the rim pretty well, and he was probably our best defender. Simpkins will score more than him, but he won't offer the same defense and he's also much smaller. Bamba could get a rebound as well. He's a very different player more of a combo guard than a wing. I would like Pryor a lot more if he had a shot, but he's a pretty poor shooter, but he'll provide defense and athleticism, he might be a very good cutter to the basket. Stewart is probably the wildcard, former 5 star, very highly regarded when he arrived at Duke, he showed a stretch in the game where he bullied his way too 3 straight baskets. Could be a very good player at the 4 could also play as a small ball 5.