Good morning all, here are my thoughts on a hazy Sunday morning from the Hampton Inn at Woodland (CA).

Sunday Thoughts: Never Surrender

After yesterday my confidence is not super high but we can still get it done. My main concerns are as follows: Dillon Brooks and foul trouble. He has been in foul trouble almost every game lately and just has to be on the floor tonight for us to win. We have to move the ball better than last night as well as move without the ball. Dorsey was hitting his shot which saved us as nobody else was in a zone with their shot. IMO we need at least three guys with an outside "feel" tonight to win. Another 16-25 from three would be nice but as we all know that is VERY unlikely. Jordan was HUGE on the glass last night and we need another effort like that from him with solid help from everybody else. Arizona is big and very athletic and IMO deeper than we are so we need all hands on deck. Besides Brooks we need to stay out of foul trouble with our big's and hope the Dirk clone (Markkanen) comes out guarding Dillon again and get's a couple quick fouls. Wouldn't mind Trier on the bench with foul trouble either.....
The crowd is basically pro Arizona, close to a home game and the revenge factor is in play after the blow-out in Eugene. We have a few cards stacked against us and have to come out matching their intensity from the get go.
As I mentioned my confidence is not real high solely after yesterday but thankfully my opinion means jack towards the outcome...LOL.
I predict a very tight game and I am going to put on my green colored glasses and predict a win for the good guys! This one has me nervous...funny how that is...when I played I was never as nervous as I am in these meaningful games as a fan. When your team competes for league and national championships it brings on a whole new "pressure".......I wouldn't have any other way!!!!
Just a few thoughts and.......GO DUCKS!

About 20 minutes away. The loss of Boucher will have some impact? How much? No clue. One metric says he s worth 7 points to the team, in a close contest, that could be the difference.

KBW going to have to play better, Sorkin might get some more minutes as well

Here is our interview with Antoine Green

Ducks lead for Florida WR

Was Oregon's league win over Arizona a hint that we match up well against them or did Oregon play the perfect game? I don't have the answer to my own question and would love some input before the 8:00pm brawl tonight. Thanks,

Trying for #15 individual

Just another chance to pile on the points

Good finish for the Freshman

Goin after overall points record!!

Ranked 1,7,14

Congrats to Cunliffe, bad start, but didn't matter. Title #1 for her. Washington in 3rd, Stevens in 5th.

Ducks will likely lock up the NC with this race

Ducks score at 1st and 8th

Wallace wins in 7.90

NA...Already posted

Go, King, Go

Ducks showing their depth tonight in a tough win.

What happened to the guy (brain fart on the name) who came on like a tornado during recruiting posting articles and talking to recruits? He was only around for like 2 months. Was he hired only for recruiting or did he just go another direction?

So, this is my take on the situation. It will be my one and only comment on the topic because I feel that to belabor the point for too long does a tremendous disservice to everyone.

FLOCK TALK: FINE LINE

The reality is this, there was something done wrong by the strength coach. He did not follow proper NCAA protocol regarding acclimatization periods after returning from a lengthy break. Assuming that everyone worked out on their own was bad policy - and the reason that the NCAA has guidelines regarding acclimatization. This is the reason he was suspended and it was justified.

Secondly, the terminology with which Taggart has an issue was not that of one or two people. It was multiple people who referenced the terms "military style" and "grueling." this was even confirmed (as srduck pointed out) by the university's own review of the case. The fact that fans and opponents used those words out of context is not the responsibility of the writer.

What Taggart is doing is childish. Not the freezing out of Greif; the fact that he went public with it. It sends a very poor message and puts a bad face on the program. The head coach is like a CEO; to act petulant every time there is something negative in the press is bad form.

Worse, the situation had virtually vanished from our consciousness, until he told the Daily Emerald his dirty laundry. Sometimes it is better to just keep your mouth shut and move on.

It's that time of the week again. Wednesday War Room is here. Couple of tidbits that were not known before.

- There will be two junior days during spring camp. The first will be April 8th, and the second will be for the Spring game itself

- There will be a coaches clinic the weekend before the Spring Game targeting more prospects.

- Isaac Taylor-Stuart has only one visit he wants to make for sure, and that is to Oregon.. He does not have it set up yet, but look for it to be the weekend of the Spring Game if all works out

- Antoine Green, a WR from Florida got an offer earlier this week from Oregon. We have an interview with him coming up this afternoon - int he interview, he says Oregon is at the top for him right now.

Wednesday War Room:

Here is this week's Flock Talk, basically I looked at what is happening with recruiting and the need to be patient.

Yes, we are hearing "dream offer" without a commensurate immediate QUAAACK commitment - but what I know about this staff is that they want to build excitement in waves, not trickles. Getting a commitment from one player in March, another in April, a third in June does not build the brand (in their minds) the same way a wave of commitments does.

The staff is going to use Spring football and the two junior days in April to create some real excitement rather than a slow trickle of news, it will come in Rogue waves.

Enjoy!

Flock Talk: Patience

Game time, come follow with us

Rainsberg tried to take it from the bell, but fell to 3rd, and Haney couldn't hold on to 2nd, falling to 4th

Here's hoping the Ducks have their defensive intensity from the get go as we surely are not as quick as the ASU four guard offense. They have no size or depth so hopefully we wear them down and take advantage of our advantages. We can't show up just thinking we've got this game because we are good and they aren't........they are great penetrators and can shoot the rock if they get good looks.

I predict a semi slow start but over time we wear them down and win by double figures!

GO DUCKS!

IMO looking at this match up I think a few things are very important tonight. Hopefully we come out and start a bit faster than yesterday. Offensively we need good ball movement as well as player movement. One thing California always does well is play defense and standing around or too much individual dribbling makes their job easier. As long as we do that and have our normal 2-3 guys (different 2-3 often) shooting the rock well we should be fine.
Defensively, we need to stay in front of Charlie Moore, stay with Bird who has been shooting very well lately and keep Rabb off the offensive glass. Rebounding is going to be important so all 5 guys need to hit the glass. A Captain Obvious thought is we need to avoid foul trouble with Brooks, Bell and Boucher especially.
One big advantage will be this is their 3rd game in 3 days which although Martin plays quite a few guys should benefit us. I can't imagine looking past Cal. but that has to be avoided also.
Just a few quick thoughts of what should be a somewhat comfortable win!!

GO DUCKS!

P.S.- UCLA could have and maybe should have lost last night. If USC shoots FT's like they normally do they would have beat the Bruins. Hopefully if we play them in the Championship they play like last night cuz' we would win relatively easy IMO. I have a feeling Arizona is going to beat the Bruins tonight although that is mainly going off last night where the Bruins as I said looked very beatable!!