30Duck Moderator No. 1 Share Posted January 8 No.3 Seed, that is really good in "March Madness!". Future NCAA Tournament projections have Oregon basketball as a top seed and playing in the Pacific Northwest 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan2785 No. 2 Share Posted January 8 The Illinois lose was deeply concerning, blowouts happen, but it should not happen like that at home. I will admit that made me reconsider the ceiling for this team. I think Illinois is really, really good with a first round talent in Jakubanis. The shooting woes are also still concerning, Shelstad might be coming out of it, but we need to get consistency from him and Bamba or we won't hit our potential. All these road trips are going to be tough, there simply aren't going to be any gimmies in this league, and we've already lost two at home, can't afford many more. Still think we have a lot of potential, still believe this is the most balanced deep team we've had in a long time, but some guys are going to need to start hitting shots. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Author Moderator No. 3 Share Posted January 8 On 1/8/2025 at 2:58 PM, spartan2785 said: The Illinois lose was deeply concerning, blowouts happen, but it should not happen like that at home Last night, No.1 Tennessee lost its first game of the season, 73-43, at Florida. So, it was on the road, and to a really good team. But it was 30 points, Tennessee just didn't have anything last night. Road trips are scary, and really scary in this conference. Ohio State lost to Maryland, 83-59 and 4 games later, beat Kentucky, 85-85. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Rocks No. 4 Share Posted January 9 The ducks almost seem more focused away from home then in Eugene. If they can consistently hit shots the skys the limit. They alway play good defense. You can go far in the tournament with a two or three seed. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Author Moderator No. 5 Share Posted January 9 On 1/8/2025 at 5:16 PM, Sandy Rocks said: The ducks almost seem more focused away from home then in Eugene. In Quad1 games this season, the Ducks are 1-2 @ MKA, W against Maryland, L's against UCLA, Illinois. Away, 1-0 against, yes, Oregon State, and neutral, 3-0, Texas A & M, San Diego State & Alabama. Obviously Autzen is a great home field advantage, so is PK Field, and "The Jane" MKA? The record is better at home than on the road, but MKA doesn't have much to do with that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeotechDuck No. 6 Share Posted January 9 Good article. This is a very good basketball team. However, I think the biggest challenge right now is at the wing position. Bamba is a good defender and is physical. But he is shooting 34% from the floor on the year and less than 30% over the past month. The bigger issue with that, is that he is taking 8-15 shots a game. As a result, he is a massive liability on offense right now. I hope he comes out of it, but this is getting to be more than just a shooting slump. Key has really improved and has upped his game on offense, but we have the opposite issue, as he is giving up size on defense. When Key and Shelstad are in the floor together, the scoring picks up, but they give up some defense. I am very impressed with Tracey. He plays well at both ends. Most games he takes good shots and defends well. Personally, I like the line up of Shelstad, Key, Tracey, Evans, and Bittle. We give up a little on defense on the perimeter, but all 5 players can hurt you on offense. If Bamba figures out how to take and make good shots, look out. This team could go very far. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Author Moderator No. 7 Share Posted January 9 On 1/8/2025 at 7:06 PM, GeotechDuck said: If Bamba figures out how to take and make good shots, look out. This team could go very far. This is the issue. Bamba, Shelstad & Key are tied, with 2.7 assists per game. If Bamba would emerge from that and lead the team in assists, it would be much better. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRunningDuck No. 8 Share Posted January 9 Does any team win when the other team hits 16 threes? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan2785 No. 9 Share Posted January 9 Today's game is going to be a real indication of where this season might go, on the road, decent team but not a juggernaut, new environment. We've already played 3 home league game and lost 2 of them, we'll have to make it up on the road a bit. On 1/9/2025 at 6:43 AM, 30Duck said: This is the issue. Bamba, Shelstad & Key are tied, with 2.7 assists per game. If Bamba would emerge from that and lead the team in assists, it would be much better. Unfortunately I just don't think any of them are really wired to primarily be a distributer. I think they are all attack minded, get to the hole and finish or shoot a dagger in your eye. I really believe in Bamba, he has the history to say he's a good shooter, his form is good, and I think he's a load to take inside. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Rocks No. 10 Share Posted January 9 When the ducks won the early season tournament where they beat Alabama, it was because of Bamba. He actually was the MVP for the tournament. It's perplexing why he stopped playing that way, like someone said, it appears to be more than a slump. The team does appear to be more focused on the road which sure not typical of most teams. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Author Moderator No. 11 Share Posted January 9 On 1/9/2025 at 8:47 AM, spartan2785 said: Unfortunately I just don't think any of them are really wired to primarily be a distributer. I think they are all attack minded, get to the hole and finish or shoot a dagger in your eye. I really believe in Bamba, he has the history to say he's a good shooter, his form is good, and I think he's a load to take inside. Definitely the case when the lead in assists is 2.7, by 3 different players. It doesn't make sense to say that Oregon "needs" a Point guard, when they're 13-2. But it's an obvious flaw that needs to be addressed. I suppose it could be hard for the other teams to plan a defense against Oregon when there is no plan. But playing freelance for a complete season seems problematic. One tactic they could change is to get Bittle more touches, especially at the basket. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
