30Duck Moderator No. 1 Share Posted March 14 Oregon basketball HC Dana Altman sends confident Big 10 message after Indiana win CLUTCHPOINTS.COM Oregon basketball coach Dana Altman exudes confidence after the Ducks' dominant Big 10 tournament win over Indiana Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevada Dawg No. 2 Share Posted March 14 Ducks are hot but I don't know. What else was Dana going to say? Nevertheless, it is March and interesting things can and often do happen in March. Go Ducks! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DUCKED No. 3 Share Posted March 14 Oregon is a decided underdog and beating Michigan State tomorrow morning would be a shocking upset. Altman has faced these odds before and come away a winner…..but it’s been a while. While I’d bet the ranch on Michigan State I’d love to lose that bet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smith72 Moderator No. 4 Share Posted March 14 Go Ducks! Game at 9 a.m. PT on the BIG Ten network. How to Watch Oregon Ducks vs. Michigan State: Preview, TV Channel, Betting Odds WWW.SI.COM The No. 8 Oregon Ducks (24-8, 12-8 Big Ten) men's basketball team will face the No. 1 Michigan State Spartans (26-5, 17-3 Big Ten) on Friday, March 14, at 9 a.m 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan2785 No. 5 Share Posted March 14 ridiculous officiating, any time sparty bumps us no foul, any time we touch State whistle. Officials sure seem to favor the old guard. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JabbaNoBargain No. 6 Share Posted March 14 On 3/14/2025 at 9:50 AM, spartan2785 said: ridiculous officiating, any time sparty bumps us no foul, any time we touch State whistle. Officials sure seem to favor the old guard. Yes, we needed to join this conference but I don’t have to like it. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan2785 No. 7 Share Posted March 14 Getting exposed, this what I was worried about, Michigan St. killing us on the boards, we don't have the offensive chops against an actual good team....at least in this half. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JabbaNoBargain No. 8 Share Posted March 14 (edited) On 3/14/2025 at 9:54 AM, spartan2785 said: Getting exposed, this what I was worried about, Michigan St. killing us on the boards, we don't have the offensive chops against an actual good team....at least in this half. Tiny guards can be manageable during the overall regular season, but not in big boy time. Our guards are soooo small. Edited March 14 by JabbaNoBargain 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan2785 No. 9 Share Posted March 14 On 3/14/2025 at 9:55 AM, JabbaNoBargain said: Tiny guards. Very true, very tough to compete against the elite with 6'1 and 6'2 unless you have a massive frontline. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeotechDuck No. 10 Share Posted March 14 (edited) Wow. MSU is elite. Surprised Oregon stayed in this one as long as they did. MSU is so active on defense, can score at any position on the floor, and gets every 50/50 ball. They crash the glass and make good plays. The gap, especially at the guard position, between these two teams is massive and very apparent. Edited March 14 by GeotechDuck 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearlybalanced No. 11 Share Posted March 14 (edited) Let’s drink some Gatorade and wake up! Falling asleep the last 6minutes of the half while Sparty gets confident is not the recipe for success. They were right back in it exchanging leads for the entire mid-portion of the half.. if they can find the spark again, MSU could get an unflattering surprise Edited March 14 by Bearlybalanced 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JabbaNoBargain No. 12 Share Posted March 14 (edited) On 3/14/2025 at 9:57 AM, spartan2785 said: Very true, very tough to compete against the elite with 6'1 and 6'2 unless you have a massive frontline. Listed of course, Barth is probably 5’11 tops. Edited March 14 by JabbaNoBargain Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Author Moderator No. 13 Share Posted March 14 42-32 State at halftime. State got off to an 8-0 start, Oregon battled back, and it was close until State went on a 11-2 run. According to the announcers, the Ducks aren't all on the same page. The fouls are going State's way, which might be a little subjective, but the offensive rebound and 2nd chance points is why the Spartans are winning. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JabbaNoBargain No. 14 Share Posted March 14 On 3/14/2025 at 10:04 AM, 30Duck said: 42-32 State at halftime. State got off to an 8-0 start, Oregon battled back, and it was close until State went on a 11-2 run. According to the announcers, the Ducks aren't all on the same page. The fouls are going State's way, which might be a little subjective, but the offensive rebound and 2nd chance points is why the Spartans are winning. Yep, every loose ball on their shots, particularly missed free throws, seems like they had at least 3 offensive boards on a missed free throw. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeotechDuck No. 15 Share Posted March 14 (edited) On 3/14/2025 at 10:02 AM, JabbaNoBargain said: Listed of course, Barth is probably 5’10 tops. Yeah...agree that this is Oregon's major issue. At the guard/wing position especially, you have a bunch of players that are good in 1 to 2 areas, but have some limitations. Bamba is an elite defender and rebounds well, but for most of the season has been a liability on offense, shooting around 35% from the floor. Key is a solid shooter and can fill it up, but his size is an issue on defense. Moss is a good defender, but a liability on offense. Tracey is an average D1 player on both ends. Shelstad is giving up size and can be inconsistent on offense When Oregon runs into a team like MSU that has really good guards that can play both ends of the floor, they are going to struggle. Edited March 14 by GeotechDuck 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JabbaNoBargain No. 16 Share Posted March 14 On 3/14/2025 at 10:10 AM, GeotechDuck said: Yeah...agree that this is Oregon's major issue. At the guard/wing position especially, you have a bunch of players that are good in 1 to 2 areas, but have some limitations. Bamba is an elite defender and rebounds well, but for most of the season has been a liability on offense, shooting around 35% from the floor. Key is a solid shooter and can fill it up, but his size is an issue on defense. Moss is a good defender, but a liability of offense. Tracey is an average D1 player on both ends. Shelstad is giving up size and can be inconsistent on offense When Oregon runs into a team like MSU that has really good players that are complete and can play both ends of the floor, they are going to struggle. Yep, I think the tiny stature starts to show up when it’s day 2 and they start getting bounced around by NBA sized guards on loose balls. Might be more navigable in the big tourney without back to back games. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan2785 No. 17 Share Posted March 14 Great start, 44-43, Bittle taking over, Bamba with a few good plays, Angel with a nice steal, good response after the less than ideal end to the 1st half! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeotechDuck No. 18 Share Posted March 14 Wheels are coming off. Just feels like the talent gap is too large. Hopefully they can make some shots and get this back to single digits. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeotechDuck No. 19 Share Posted March 14 MSU is a really, really good team. Their guards are elite and put so much pressure on the defense. It is difficult to stay in front of them, resulting in help defense, which led to Oregon being out of position on shots and a ton of offensive rebounds. Their hustle is insane. It seems like they got every 50/50 ball. They have a legit shot at a Final 4. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jemangi No. 20 Share Posted March 14 We were fortunate that M St missed so many of the free throws they were, gifted.. We played well, Yes we are somewhat weak on the boards and need a consistent outside shooter. Hope for a good pairing in NCAA, we can win a game or two probably. No Shelstad until late game and big foul trouble and still gave a run at a very good team. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan2785 No. 21 Share Posted March 14 Felt bad for Bittle, played really hard and was consistently let down by his teammates, no shooting, only Evans as another rebounder, just a horrible performance from the guards, but they are limited physically. There are better matchups for us out there among the more elite teams, but this game sort of shows how our upside just isn't there. If Bamba had a shooting season like he had every other season he played we might have that upside to compete, but since he's a zero this season when it comes to outside shooting it really limits us on offense. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave23 No. 22 Share Posted March 14 On 3/14/2025 at 12:11 PM, GeotechDuck said: Their hustle is insane. It seems like they got every 50/50 ball. Oregon shows effort in spurts but they just don't have the hustle of a high level team. Too many times this year this team stand by and watch while the other team went to the floor for balls or put in that extra effort boxing out. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Author Moderator No. 23 Share Posted March 14 On 3/14/2025 at 11:41 AM, Dave23 said: Oregon shows effort in spurts but they just don't have the hustle of a high level team. Too many times this year this team stand by and watch while the other team went to the floor for balls or put in that extra effort boxing out. Spot on. When it's obvious you're undersized, blocking out, diving for loose balls should be the plan from the start. Missing a shift, not right on every rotation, these happen, but not hustling or blocking out aren't mistakes, they're lack of effort. Michigan State had the physical advantage and also hustled more. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan2785 No. 24 Share Posted March 14 One thing that popped into my head today was imagining where this team would be if the NCAA had done the logical and right thing and given Dante another year. This team would be so much different. We would have dominated the boards today with Bittle and Dante serving as twin towers, depressing to think about since it made no sense whatsoever to deny Dante when others who had the exact same amount of games missed were given extra years. I think Dana is getting a ton out of this team, can't really see them doing any better than they are right now. He's severely limited by the height in the backcourt, and the lack of shooter at the 3. He's coached his butt off this year (like always). 2 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 25 Share Posted March 14 On 3/14/2025 at 2:30 PM, Jemangi said: We were fortunate that M St missed so many of the free throws they were, gifted.. We played well, Yes we are somewhat weak on the boards and need a consistent outside shooter. Hope for a good pairing in NCAA, we can win a game or two probably. No Shelstad until late game and big foul trouble and still gave a run at a very good team. Let's hope for a 5 seed and Seattle with Denver as a fallback. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Author Moderator No. 26 Share Posted March 14 On 3/14/2025 at 12:43 PM, spartan2785 said: I think Dana is getting a ton out of this team, can't really see them doing any better than they are right now Yes. I have State in the Final Four, and they'll probably beat teams by more than 10 on the way. OBD could lose their first game, but as a 5 or 6, I doubt it. I think they can make the Sweet 16. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Author Moderator No. 27 Share Posted March 14 Oregon out of Big Ten Tournament after 74-64 loss to Michigan State - Daily Emerald DAILYEMERALD.COM “Made too many mistakes to beat a good team,” head coach Dana Altman said in his postgame press conference. Oregon men’s... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeotechDuck No. 28 Share Posted March 14 (edited) On 3/14/2025 at 12:43 PM, spartan2785 said: I think Dana is getting a ton out of this team, can't really see them doing any better than they are right now. He's severely limited by the height in the backcourt, and the lack of shooter at the 3. He's coached his butt off this year (like always). Agree with this 100%. Altman has done an incredible job with this group, especially considering the limitations. I think this is his second best coaching year ever at Oregon, right behind winning 20 games his first year. Even with Dante, I think this team would still have a limited ceiling due to the challenges at the guard position. Shelstad has struggled all year when matched up against bigger, more athletic guards. Key is undersized. As a result, Oregon essentially has 2 starting guards that for the most part have a difficult time matching up on defense with the top backcourts in the conference. Then you have Bamba and Moss, who essentially have the opposite problem. They can defend, but don't shoot it well enough or often enough to make a major impact on that end of the floor. They all work incredibly hard, but they are just somewhat limited and you can see it on the floor against teams with good guard play. When guys like Fears, Richardson and Atkins can consistently break them down, then it forces the front line guys like Evans and Bittle to help. The end result is that they are out of position to rebound the ball. At one point the rebounding margin was 29-14. Yikes!! IMO, what this team really needs is a Dillon Brooks or Luke Jackson type player. A guy on the wing that is long and can create chaos on defense, yet score the ball from anywhere on the other end. Edited March 14 by GeotechDuck 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudslide No. 29 Share Posted March 14 Someone please help me understand the Ducks offense. I admit that it has been 60 years since I played bball, but this team is a head scratcher. First, what kind of pick and roll do they do on offense? Rarely do the defenders need to switch and when they do, the appropriate one on one rarely follows. And regarding the PnR, I don't know why the guard and forwards leave so much space for the defender to trail. (See James Harding for the picture perfect way to run the PnR.) Also, this weave offense that Altman prefers seems to end up more often than not in a poor, late clock drive, or dribbling and passing around the arc until a bad, rushed shot is required. A couple other called plays are used infrequently (and seem to have reasonably good success). Against Indiana, OBD double teamed with alacrity. Against Mi. St. not so much. I dunno. Those offensive rebounds ... what was the total for Mi. St.? I realize that the team lacks to killer players AND that Altman has had tremendous success. So OBD success is really laudable. But dang ... I'm still just really frustrated by the inconsistent play of the team. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Author Moderator No. 30 Share Posted March 14 On 3/14/2025 at 4:17 PM, Mudslide said: First, what kind of pick and roll do they do on offense? Rarely do the defenders need to switch and when they do, the appropriate one on one rarely follows. And regarding the PnR, I don't know why the guard and forwards leave so much space for the defender to trail. (See James Harding for the picture perfect way to run the PnR.) If anyone can really answer this, I'd be amazed. It really is logic defying that this team has an above .500 record, let alone deserving of a 5 seed. They don't really run a discernible offense that I can see. Every possession is freelance, lately it hasn't ended with an early 3, so that's progress. Bamba is the only guard that can really get to the basket, and that's usually just him barreling to the rim. This lack of actual plays I think is a large part of the rebounding trouble, no player really has a specific place to be. The undersize of the back court is problematic on offense and defense. The guards can't really do much to get a shot, other than a defended mid range, so a 3 it is. On defense, the guards can go where they want, forcing the bigs to help, which is why the opponent scores so much in the paint. The better the back court can do, the better chance for a win, Sweet 16 or loss in the first round, which Altman's teams haven't done yet. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Ducky No. 31 Share Posted March 15 Like watching the boys in the school yard. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDuck No. 32 Share Posted March 15 B1G Ten Quarterfinals margin and scores 10 = 74-64 (1) Michigan St vs (8) Oregon 16 = 86-70 (5) Wisc vs (4) UCLA 18 = 86-68 (3) Michigan vs (6) Purdue 23 = 88-65 (2) Maryland vs (7) Illinois During the season, Ducks beat Maryland in Eugene, won at Wisconsin. Lost at Michigan and at Michigan St. And, lost to MSU today. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmithRiverDuck No. 33 Share Posted March 15 Hmmm, first loss after a seven-game winning streak. Now all we need is a six-game winning streak to finish out. I'd also happily take a five or four game winning streak. And these guys can do it. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudslide No. 34 Share Posted March 15 On 3/14/2025 at 4:32 PM, 30Duck said: If anyone can really answer this, I'd be amazed. It really is logic defying that this team has an above .500 record, let alone deserving of a 5 seed. They don't really run a discernible offense that I can see. Every possession is freelance, lately it hasn't ended with an early 3, so that's progress. Bamba is the only guard that can really get to the basket, and that's usually just him barreling to the rim. This lack of actual plays I think is a large part of the rebounding trouble, no player really has a specific place to be. The undersize of the back court is problematic on offense and defense. The guards can't really do much to get a shot, other than a defended mid range, so a 3 it is. On defense, the guards can go where they want, forcing the bigs to help, which is why the opponent scores so much in the paint. The better the back court can do, the better chance for a win, Sweet 16 or loss in the first round, which Altman's teams haven't done yet. The only designed play that I saw today was the clear out for Angel. I don't consider the inside out or outside in to be "designed" plays. (And those weren't working either.) The PnR plays were either poorly designed or poorly executed. This has been true all season. And I agree with you 30D about the rebounding trouble. What ARE Altman's designed plays?? Anyone? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
