ADVERTISEMENT

Not Sure this is good for the conference, Ducks


I think Arizona is going to need to hire a big name coach and I'm not sure if one is available. There is a good possibility they will be on probation for another year (or more) and, I think, a player or more may be heading for the transfer portal because of it, I think Damon will be a good coach but I'm not sure a new guy, in spite of what he has done at a lower level, has the draw to bring the recruiting class he needs right out of the gate. None of the other names included impressed me as having the recognition to successfully step into the position since recruiting is at least as important as coaching, something I suspect they all can do.

Shawn being gone, Like when Chip left Oregon, may soften the hearts of the NCAA and make the punishment for their transgressions minimal. Even one more year year with no tournaments may "encourage" some players to move to where they have a better chance to see a deep run in the NCAA tournament, maybe even Oregon.

The biggest reason this concerns me is we need to keep the conference strong enough to weather East coast bias (i.e. the number of BIG10ish failures highly slotted this year). The 2021 PAC12 NCAA tournament runs, including one by a play-in team, may have opened a few eyes, but we don't want any weaknesses to develop or it will become like the current football situation, where conference wins don't mean much but losses do. Arizona did not do as well under Shawn as they did under Lute, but they remain one of the teams watched as an indicator of how good the PAC12 is. We need to be fighting, and beating, a respected Wildcat team at the end of conference play and in Las Vegas. The NCAA was not impressed by cannibalism by better teams than they expected this past year and likely won't be in the future. Once they understand what is really happening, teams with a few losses won't be tossed into the bottom of the rankings or ignored when seeding begins.

Records by Conference NCAA Tourney

Interesting chart by CBS Sports

Records by conference in 2021 NCAA Tournament​

Expected record is as if each team went as far as its seed would indicate.

CONFERENCE (TEAMS IN FIELD)RECORDEXPECTED RECORD
Pac-12 (5)13-52-5
WCC (2)5-27-1
AAC (2)4-24-2
Summit (1)2-10-1
Big 12 (7)11-615-7
MVC (2)3-21-2
SEC (6)7-68-6
Big East (4)4-43-4
Conference USA (1)1-10-1
MAC (1)1-10-1
MEAC (1)1-11-1
Southland (1)1-10-1
SWAC (1)1-10-1
Big Ten (9)8-916-9
ACC (7)4-76-7
Mountain West (2)0-21-2
All others0-10-1

ting chart from CBS Sports showing

War Room

Crazy times at the day job make daytime posting virtually non-existent (we have two Ops Managers on Medical leave at the same time - but their work did not go away, ugh). Today in the War Room, looking at some advantages and disadvantages of the wide-nine defense; plus a recruiting nugget.

Decade's best PAC-12 quarterbacks?

Number one is an undisputed lock, but the rest of the list is up for debate. Do you rate quarterbacks for wins, accuracy, stats or leadership? Does Justin Herbert's smash-hit rookie NFL season inflate his ranking?

BB: Sweeps UCSB

Oregon scored five runs in the top of the 10th inning and went on to win 9-5 to finish off a sweep of UC Santa Barbara on Sunday.

The four-game road sweep of a ranked team by the Ducks was the first in the history of the program. The Gauchos entered the weekend ranked as high as seventh in the college baseball national polls.

How It Happened: Unlike the first three games of the series, Oregon (6-2) took an early lead over UC Santa Barbara (6-5). Kenyon Yovan, who dominated the entire series against the Gauchos pitching staff, hit a solo home run to stake the Ducks to a lead two batters into the game.

Oregon would add to the lead in the first scoring its first of seven runs in the game with two outs. Aaron Zavala started the two-out rally with a walk and came around to score on a Josh Kasevich double for a 2-0 lead.

Robert Ahlstrom helped Oregon hold the lead through the early portions of the game. The Ducks’ lefty, making his first start, fanned four and did not allow a run through three innings before leaving due to a pitch count. Ahlstrom was the only Ducks’ starter to not allow a first-inning run in the series, and in turn, not face a deficit on the scoreboard after opening inning.

Freshman Isaac Ayon replaced Ahlstrom to start the fourth and continued to make the day hard on Gaucho hitters allowing just one run on one hit in four innings with three strikeouts. UCSB picked up the run off Ayon in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to 2-1.

Oregon responded in the top of the seventh with a pair of runs to push the lead to three. Tanner Smith led off the inning with a double and came around to score on a Yovan single off the top of the left-field wall. After a pair of outs moved Yovan to third and a walk and a hit by pitch loaded the bases, Sam Novitske drew a bases loaded walk to score Yovan.

UCSB rallied in the eighth inning tying the game on a pair of home runs off Ducks’ reliever Hunter Breault. Neither team scored in the ninth, but it took a great play by Oregon to prevent the Gauchos from getting the walk-off win. With two outs and a runner on first, pinch hitter Kyle Johnson hit a ball off the right-field wall barely eluding Zavala on the warning track.

Steele Ledford, the runner on first, tried to score but Zavala hit cutoff-man Gavin Grant who turned and threw a strike to catcher Jack Scanlon to get Steele at the plate by two steps to force extra innings.

The Ducks took advantage of the momentum with a five-run, two-out rally. Yovan started the rally when UCSB intentionally walked him with two outs and nobody on base. After a Gabe Matthews walk moved pinch runner Jack Haley to second, Zavala put the Ducks on top with a RBI single scoring Haley.

Josh Kasevich made it a two-run lead with an RBI single past the third baseman, before Zavala scored on a wild pitch to make it a three-run game. Kasevich then came around to score on a throwing error by UCSB on a Bryce Boettcher ground ball. Novitske finished the scoring with a RBI single plating Boettcher who had moved to third on a pair of stolen bases.

Andrew Mosiello, who came in relief of Breault in the eighth inning, finished off the Gauchos in the 10th to secure the win.

Inside the Box Score: Yovan became the first Duck to homer in three straight games since Spencer Steer did it at UC Irvine from May 4-6, 2018 … The Ducks DH also reached base five times with a home run, single and three intentional walks … Zavala and Novitske both reached base four times … Zavala (3-for-5, 1 RBI, 2 R) had his fourth multiple-hit game of the season and his third of the series … Yovan (2-for-3, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 3 IBB) drove in multiple runs for the third time in the series … Novitske (2-for-4, 2 RBI, BB, HBP) had his second multi-hit game of the season … Kasevich (2-for-5, 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB) had his third multi-hit and multi-RBI game … Oregon pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts with Mosiello leading the way with five.

Series Notes: The last time the Ducks swept a four-game road series against any team came in February 2014 when they won four to open the season in Hawaii … Oregon outscored UCSB 38-16 in the four games and batted .302 with 14 extra-base hits … Zavala (8-for-16, 2 HR, 4 RBI) and Novitske (4-for-7, 3 RBI) both finished the series batting .571 … Yovan (7-for-15, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 6 BB) batted .467 in the series … Smith (6-for-17, 2 HR, 4 2B, 7 RBI) hit .353 during the weekend … Oregon’s pitchers combined for a 3.89 ERA with 36 strikeouts and 15 walks … They held the Gauchos to a .245 batting average.

On Deck: The Ducks head to Corvallis to play a three-game non-league series starting on Friday.

Oregon Track Commit Jasmine Montgomery

Ran an 11.16 100..
For a high school girl to run this fast, this early in the outdoor season is just outstanding. The scary part is that at this rate professional contracts could be offered by June. UO facilities and coaching might help keep Jasmine Oregon bound. Anyway... whew! I’m impressed. I can’t find any wind information
Login to view embedded media

Duarte wins Jerry West Top Shooting Guard!

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Chris Duarte was honored as the nation’s top shooting guard on Saturday.

The senior from Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, was named the 2021 Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He is the first Oregon player and the first Pac-12 player to receive the Jerry West Award.

The seven-time All-American was one of just two players nationally who averaged at least 17.0 points and 1.9 steals per game, while shooting 50 percent from the field. He was the only major conference player with those averages.

“It is an honor to win this award,” said Duarte. “It’s an amazing feeling. This was one of the goals that I worked for this year and it feels good to have that hard work pay off.

“I found out that Jerry West played the one, played the two; he did so many different things really well in his career and that’s how I’d like to be known someday too,” said Duarte. “I’d like to thank my family, my teammates and my coaches for all their help and support. I couldn’t have done this without them.”

The 2021 Associated Press Pac-12 Player of the Year was named to the All-Pac-12 first team and the Pac-12 All-Defensive team by the league’s coaches. He is a seven-time All-American this season, including a second-team selection by Sports Illustrated.

He was also named the 2021 collegiate International Player of the Year by NetScouts Basketball.

The Ducks’ leading scorer at 17.1 points per game ranked among Pac-12’s top 10 in six different statistical categories and was the only player ranked among the league’s top 10 in both overall field goal percentage (.532) and three-point field goal percentage (.424).

Duarte was second in the Pac-12 in steals and three-pointers (2.4 per game), fourth in three-point field goal percentage (.428) and sixth in scoring.

This is the second consecutive year that an Oregon player has won one of the five national Basketball Hall of Fame “Starting Five” awards. Payton Pritchard, now with the Boston Celtics, won the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year award last season.

Jerry West was one of the best pure shooters in the game’s history. At West Virginia University, West averaged 24.8 points and 13.3 rebounds per game. In 1959, he led the Mountaineers to the NCAA Finals and captured the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award. In a superlative senior season, West was a consensus All-American and led West Virginia to its third consecutive conference championship.

After college, West starred with the Los Angeles Lakers alongside teammates like Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain. Known as "Mr. Clutch," West won an NBA championship with the Lakers in 1972. Three years earlier in 1969, West was named the NBA Finals MVP despite his team not winning the championship. At the time of his retirement, West ranked third in points (25,192), fourth in scoring average (27.0 points per game), second in made free throws (7,160) and fifth in assists (6,238).

West was a 14-time All-Star and named to the NBA All-Defensive First-Team four times. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980 and voted as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history in 1996.

Jerry West Award Winners

2021 Chris Duarte Oregon

2020 Myles Powell Seton Hall

2019 RJ Barrett Duke

2018 Carsen Edwards Purdue

2017 Malik Monk Kentucky

2016 Buddy Hield Oklahoma

2015 D'Angelo Russell Ohio State
ADVERTISEMENT

Filter

ADVERTISEMENT