Home Athletics Basketball: Civil War

Basketball: Civil War

137

It feels like we're all just waiting around for football recruiting news to break. It's been awfully quiet and frustrating, so maybe it's time to think about something else, like the Civil War (hoops style) that tips off tomorrow at 3pm.

This should be an interesting battle. Oregon has developed a reputation for playing cheap and trash talking, but I'm not sure that's true; I've watched a bunch of their games and see a team that plays hard. They just can't make many shots. I remember a few years ago when Beaver fans were upset over losing in-state talent Garret Sim. He's been horrible from behind the arc, but if anything is going to get him out of that funk it's the focus that comes from playing an arch rival. Watch out for him. Oregon also has a couple guys inside who clean up on the glass pretty well, but they're undersized, and the Beavers should be able to have their way in there with Brandt, Collier, and Johnson on the floor. Expect to see that trio getting major minutes in this game.

On the flip side, OSU's offense, especially at guard, is too quick for Oregon. Cunningham should score at least 25, with most of those points coming in the paint off drives. There's simply nobody on Oregon's roster who is quick enough to defend him. I expect him and Brandt to be the top scorers.

Both these teams like to run, neither is very good at it, but Oregon State has more momentum and identity right now. They also have more to play for…when was the last time they were above .500 in conference play? I'm not sure, but it's probably been a while. A win on Saturday could kick start a positive second half. Oh, and one more thing: while the UCLA lose was disappointing, the Beavers did come back to win a game we thought they'd lose versus USC. At 3-3 in conference, that's exactly what we expected (i.e. lose to both Washington schools, split with the LA schools).

The SC game was so promising that I might steal Lamar Hurd's thoughts and suggest the Beavers are in the process of learning how to become a good team, and with more positive experiences they will have the potential to be very good by year's end. Let's hope the one step forward, two step backward phase is now behind them and they can build upon their last victory. I expect a win on Saturday, and so should the Beavers.

Television: FSN

Radio: KPAM

Stream: http://www.channelsurfing.net/watch-ncaa-basketball-7.html

137 COMMENTS

    • Who is my other option?

      Burton?

      I’d take Brandt.

      Does that sound like a love affair or simply being pragmatic?

      My love affair is with Collier and Coach Robinson. Cunningham is earning my love, but it’s taken a while since he had such an out of control freshman season.

  1. This one should be a romp. If Omari does what he did last game goes into the post and scores against the height challenged Ducks then I can see him having a big game. Jared should put up at least 20 and I would also like to see Roberto have a 20 point game. This has 25 point victory written all over it.

      • If he’s on campus we’ll know…that guy can’t hide easily. Especially if he goes to the basketball game.

        I’ve had a gut feeling all along he’ll take a secret unofficial–I think he’s too curious to not check it out. No info, just a hunch. We’ll see. Could be way off.

        Maybe we should stop talking about football recruiting and just wait and see. We’re all a little obsessed, and we have a big hoops game tomorrow.

  2. I’m in Corvallis but don’t have tickets. I thought I had to work on Saturday only to find out today that I will indeed have the night off.

    Fuck my life.

    Oh well, I’m happy to hear that a big crowd is coming to see the Beavs.

  3. Ill be at the game, I will keep my eyes open for a 6’3 330# Samoan. If I see him I’ll let you know. I am heading to PaPa’s Pizza afterword, some of the best pizza in town :-)

  4. Jared Cunningham is morphing into a star. Plenty of good role palyers on the team and good overall flow with Nelson, Cunningham and Collier. Hayne splayed well and smart off the bench. Keep it going guys! Starting to look like a well coached team! Be nice to go deeper into the Pac-10 tourney this year or actually earn an NIT bid. Slow but steady progress. NCAA isn’t a dream at some point under Robinson with a few more solid recruits. Nice to see us have confidence out there and playing with some swagger.

  5. Not sure which statement is bolder: Brandt will be one of the top scorers or Cunningham will score a career high a game after setting it.

    I agree though, if Cunningham hits his lay ups there will be no stopping him from getting 20+

    I’m very interested in the Haynes-Nelson dynamic. The SC game showed that they can both thrive.

    Hopefully Omari saved some threes from last year for this game. That 1st half of his last year was crazy.

  6. What concerns me about this game is that someone on the Beavs is going to have to knock down some open threes as I believe the Ducks play exclusively zone. I hope the Beavs can play smart and blow open the Ducks full court zone press with Cunningham getting some easy break aways. This team is so inconsistent, who the hell knows what is going to happen.

    • Beavers have plenty of guys to knock down threes. Jared Cunningham is their best outside shooter and best player so that’s always nice. Roberto Nelson will bounce back and I think hit some threes in the game. Brandt can hit them and so can Haynes. They shot it tremendously well in practice they just got to carry it over to the game.

  7. The weather is currently awesome for this time of year in the Northwest.

    I hope to God Moala is in town!

    Too bad the weather wasn’t like this last weekend… maybe we would still be in the mix for Byron Moore.

    However, Torian White is OSU’s biggest need right now. Brandin Cooks needs to be in his ear all weekend!

    • He’s too short…his passes over defenders almost get intercepted every time.

      Beavs better start driving to the hoop. That’s their advantage, and they’re shooting jumpers.

  8. I guess it would be too much to ask for the Beavs to PLAY during the first half. Fuckin’ Robinson, try coaching the fucking game!!

    there…now I got my frustration out I can remember that I’m a Beaver fan and shouldn’t expect competitive play for an entire game.

  9. The ol’ one step forward, two steps back in full swing?

    I was worried about Sim for a reason–he’s been a sleeping dog, and nothing like a rivalry (and zone defense) to wake him.

    On offense, Beavs have a height advantage they’re not using. Collier is back in there; he should be able to do some things, but at this point they’re so far behind they’ll exert too much energy catching up to pull out a win.

    • I have no idea. Craig loves Burton for whatever reason. Even though Brandt is a better shooter, rebounder and plays smarter. Brandt has the shortest leash in history. he makes the slightest mistake and gets yanked, Burton won’t get taken out unless he makes a series of mistakes over 10 minutes.

  10. They just showed the Beaver huddle and it looked pretty chaotic to me.

    For those of you who go to games or are able to see the games on TV – – are the Beav huddles always like a bunch of guys playing street basketball?

    Wallace is hot so Haynes thinks he has to cast off. Shit!!

  11. Can’t believe Lathen Wallace is the only player that came to play. Trying to understand that. Btw that last offensive possession by Haynes was extremely selfish. Wallace was actually shooting well and he was wide open for a little bit and Haynes saw him on his left but wouldn’t give him the ball.

  12. Seriously- I’ve seen more fight in the women’s basketball program. What a wasted half.

    Thank you Lathen Wallace, at least you’re playing like a Senior should.

    OSU Athletics is becoming defined by cowardice and we have retarded fans to thank.

      • A big problem (and why we see so much Starks/Haynes) is Cunningham’s foul trouble.

        Starks is showing his warts…if he’s not hitting threes he is pretty worthless. He is not a true point guard as advertised.

  13. It seems like players are playing out of control because CR does not have control of the team.

    During his first year it seemed like he was in contol and the team played that way.

    Why did he change or am I full of it?

    • This has been answered a lot by Robinson. The first year he felt he didn’t have the horses. Now he does, but they’re young and making mistakes. What we’re seeing is the frustrations of a young, talented team. Ups and downs.

  14. Well, here’s the team we thought we would see from the opening tip. When they actually try and play like their ability says they can they’re pretty good. Oregon can’t handle this Beavers team in any capacity when they give the full effort. I would like to see this Beavers team for a full 40 minutes.

  15. Nelson and Cunningham are becoming irritating to watch play. They try for the spectacular play way too much. They’re outta control far too often.

    Btw is there anyone on the team who actually makes layups? Haynes has blown at least 2 uncontested tonight and Collier and Brandt have blown some. It’s the easiest shot and they can’t make it. Unbelievable.

  16. Suddenly Beavs down by 7.

    CR is giving some of his guys this message. It’s crunch time so you’re out because you can’t be trusted. Way to go CR.

    Imo he should put the guys in who brought them back and LET THEM PLAY.

    BURTON TURN OVER!!!

  17. This is the worst loss this season.

    I’m tired of the pattern where the Beavers are down double digits early in the game, expend all their energy coming back, then are burnt out and can’t finish. It’s the same pattern every game.

  18. I don’t buy the burnt out theory. Some guys who brought them back are setting on the frigging bench AND CR has gone back to that frigging zone.

    Piss poor coaching if you ask me and you didn’t. :-)

    • Going to a man to man at the end of the half was brillant, but then they do not use it again???? Are they not capable of playing it for more than 4 minutes? When they went to man to man they cleary showed they were the better team.

      I agree, CR has to be accountable for these continued poor starts and his random substitution patterns. No practice facility for you, bad coach!!!!

      • Did you read the article on the practice facility? Apparently basketball players have nowhere to shoot/improve because the volleyball team, women’s hoops, etc etc are always using Gill.

        A practice facility will not only make us land better recruits, but once those recruits are on campus they’ll be able to practice and improve in their spare time.

  19. Was this outcome really that surprising? Oregon has played scrappy all year. If you don’t play all 40 minutes–like with any opponent–you will lose. What’s amazing is the early double digit deficits continue. You would think at some point they’d realize that is when and why they are losing these games.

    Cunningham let me down in this one. That was the lone big surprise. He should have driven a lot more to the basket and put up at least 20 in this game.

  20. I’ve thought for a long time Craig was the answer as the head coach but is he? We’ve blamed the seniors for losses which they have earned but Craig is the one who puts them on the floor in crucial times. He never has them ready to play and rarely takes accountability. I’m really fed up at this point.

    • I don’t know about that…the baseball team has been in a slow decline since the championships. The Ducks poaching a lot of NW talent isn’t helping. As they rise, we sink. We should have a solid team this year, but there will probably be a lot of frustration as well, and I imagine we’ll be a bubble team come the final days.

      I hear Susac’s power and consistency is much improved. We really need more big bats. Romero leaving early was a huge blow.

        • I love that “KRhod” is gone. Big time addition by attrition. Kind of like how the football team would have been better if Pankey would have stayed injured.

          (I’ll never get over Pankey…he was just so bad).

  21. That was a clear case of a team that was tight not executing the little things…sometimes you see that in a rivalry game – one team (or both) come out so hyped for the game, you couldn’t shove a greased BB up their collective assess. Seriously, 1 FG for Cunningham? Good grief.

    I hate the ducks so much I think I’m going to spray Roundup on my lawn this spring so it never turns green.

  22. BeaverBeliever20 said at 2:53 pm on January 21st, 2011:
    This one should be a romp. If Omari does what he did last game goes into the post and scores against the height challenged Ducks then I can see him having a big game. Jared should put up at least 20 and I would also like to see Roberto have a 20 point game. This has 25 point victory written all over it.

    25 Point win! Wooops… Barkrat overconfidence never ceases to amaze me!

    • If Craig had them to play it would’ve been a blowout. For the first 12 minutes of the 2nd half it was clear who the better team was and it wasn’t close. Ducks got this one gift wrapped to them. The Beavers just played like shit for too long in the game. It wasn’t overconfidence I’e seen both teams play and looking at the talent Oregon doesn’t match up well. Only games Oregon can win conference they need the other team to not show up and spot them a big lead otherwise they don’t got a chance.

  23. I’m mad about any loss, but I’m just not sure what you guys expect. The Beavs to win the conference?

    Unless you care a lot about the NIT, these loses mean very little. Beavs aren’t winning the conference or going to the dance unless they win the conference tourny. Since the early OOC loses, all that has mattered is getting better, learning, and playing the best basketball come the conference tournament.

    What we have right now is this: a young team that doesn’t know how to close games or deal with success. Therefore, they play better from behind when there is no pressure on them. Isn’t this obvious? It’s been (very) slowly improving.

    From this point on, instead of wins and loses, we should probably care more about whether they’re playing (a) complete games and (b) learning how to close. Those humps are hard to get over for young teams, and way more important than the W/L in the ledger. A win where they learn nothing might as well be a loss.

    • I expected them to play better against a really bad team.
      What makes me the most mad about this team is the effort.
      I can deal with this team losing but what i can’t stand is not trying your hardest. They come out so lethargic and go through the motions that just shouldn’t happen. If they just give the effort but struggle to close out games I can deal with that.

      • I agree, but they’re young…most of these guys aren’t far removed from HS where they just had to show up to win the game.

        The ones who are (the seniors) aren’t natural leaders or very good players.

        Is this loss on Robinson? I’m sure partially. I saw the team playing great and earning a 4 point lead with McShane in the game. Then I saw Calvin Haynes enter, miss a layup, throw a ball out of bounds, and the next thing you knew the Beavs were down 4. Is that on Robinson or Haynes?

        • I would say both. Robinson knows Haynes is not a good player and is prone to make critical mistakes and errors but Haynes can’t be missing layups. It is just getting to the point where Haynes just can’t play a second of meaningful time. He will find a way to screw it up.

    • Angry,
      Are you really saying that losing to the Ducks doesn’t matter? As a 30-yr oregon resident, I can definitively say, it fucking matters. Until this year, we’ve beat the Duck more than any team has bean any other team, ever. We should not lose to the Ducks. They are the ducks, we are the Beavers. The Beavers beat the Ducks. That is the natural order of things. We can’t wait for a system to mature. We shouldn’t have to accept excuses.

      We lost to the Ducks at Gill.

      Unacceptable. Fuck all of the excuses. This can’t happen.

      • Are you really saying that losing to the Ducks doesn’t matter?

        It matters for bragging rights and feeling good/building confidence, but in the big picture this team needs to be playing its best basketball come the conference tournament.

        What I am saying is that it’s not like the Ducks just ruined our shot at a conference title or anything. What they did is rub salt in the wounds of this past football season.

  24. Anyone who likes well coached fundamental bb will not be able to stomach much more cr. It is more than obvious he is absolutely clueless. Another wasted regime at beaver basketball. He pisses me off more than jj ever did.
    At least you could see the pain in nj. Cr has never gave a shit about osu and never will.

  25. Angry says above, “they play better …when there is no pressure on them.”
    Believer says “they come out so lethargic…”

    Seems like the same problems seen in football, why? This lack of full time effort is getting to me.

  26. So, what I read from all of this banter, is that we are OK losing to a shitty UO team, because:
    1) CR recruits well.
    2) We’re young.
    3) We have an inferiority complex.

    Fuck all of that. The time for excuses has passed. Shitty teams can play hard; play with passion and desire. I cannot stand quietly by while we piss away possessions like there’s no tomorrow. Why does Craig get a pass for this when we all crucify Riley/Banker/Langsdorf? Because he’s black? Because he’s Ivy League? Because he’s the President’s BIL? Please, some one explain why mediocrity is OK!? We are still in the top 20 of all-time winningest programs in NCAA history – why do we settle for losing to the fucking Oregon Ducks?! Ralph Miller would be so embarrassed. Hell, I’m embarrassed.

    Oh, and Jared/Joe/Calvin/et al..make a goddam layup for fuck sake. You’re not in the pee-wee league anymore, dick wads.

    • It is a brutal process right now, but you have to give CR his five years to do something. I personally have my doubts about him as a motivator and a strategist (and we will have plenty of time to debate that point) but in the end time will tell. I certainly hope at the end of the 2012/13 season the Portland Pilots are not the best program in the state anymore!

      • Jim Anderson 1990–1995 79–90 .467
        Eddie Payne 1996–2000 52–88 .371
        Ritchie McKay 2001–2002 22–37 .372
        Jay John 2003–2007 72–97 .426
        Kevin Mouton 2007 0–13 .000
        Craig Robinson 2008— 32-36 .471

        Since Ralph Miller retired, CR has the best winning % record of any OSU coach. This is with Jay John’s leftovers. Again, give the guy a chance.

        • I miss Ralph Miller tonight more than I have in a long time. Do you think Coach Robinson could starting smoking More extra-longs and drinking a Scotch neat after every game?

  27. One thing that may help for some of you during this period of chartreuse and black (supposed to be green and yellow) juggernaut a is a great blog about UO: http://uomatters.blogspot.com/.
    It is maintained by a UO faculty member. Looking at it you’ll see some of the shady deals that go on there (in addition to some Eugene-centric crap). For example, apparently Kilkenny (omg they killed kenney!) owns a new high rent apartment complex across the street from the arena he had build with nearly $250 million taxpayer bonds and is still on the UO payroll. Remember, out new PAC 10/16/12 commissioner flew around on this guy’s jet. Some day the boys club they have been running down there will come home to roost.

    • As always, it’s the profession of the shady deal guys to propogate their shady deals. Usually, the people who sense the wrong have other jobs, lives, etc., so whilst the shady deal guys leave the office after a day of fooling or defrauding people, the folks who see the wrong and seek a remedy are just beginning their work – going to hearings, blogging, spending late internet hours fact-finding, trying to keep hope. Unfortunately, the good guys usually lose.

      Re: bb – I fear the players are losing (speaking of losing) confidence in CR and that it will be a long (er) season.

      Does anyone know if any coaches or players read this blog?

    • That blog is interesting.
      The author actually wrote me this morning; he must have seen referral links from this site. I’m a sucker for exposé. We should post that blog everywhere and send it to the NCAA.

  28. Fans are upset with the football team taking a step back and have vigourously called for some kind of change and a sense of urgency from the Athletic Dept. Instead, we get the impression that last year fits the norm of thr program. A little down but nothing to take notice of. They pay BDC 420,000 as base salary so he better frickin’ listen to tha fans. We wre right about Valley View and filling Reser and we are right that change is needed.

    Now BDC though wants to be the enxt Riley and is looking for a possible 10 year extension to his AD duties. Mediocrity is not difficult to come by but at OSU we are expected to belive we are exceeding expectations. BULLHONKY! Riley has an awful record against ranked teams on TV. Somethging like won 2 games out of 25 or something like that. Usually we have padded our record against WSU, UW and the UCLAs of the Pac-10. We lost to ALL of them last year. I was frustrated with the basketball Civil War for sure and Craig definitely has to win some more big Pac-10 games and the last matchup with Oregon. But football is the bigger issue now and the overall apathy at OSU that mediocrity is par for the course and a job well done. If BDC doesn’t have that new west side done by 2015 and OSU football having 8-4 seasons than we are behind the curve. As far as I am concerned BDC can get 2 year contracts until we are in a BCS bowl. I don’t mind paying or rewarding actual impressive results. I hate though being told average is good or even more that being average should be rewarded like greatness.

  29. Lady Beavs losing to Oregon…not surprising, but it keeps the “can we beat Oregon at anything” streak alive…

    On a side note, is is possible to hire Rueck as the men’s coach if CR doesn’t work out? His team plays fundamentally sound, and he seems in control of the game. Has a women’s coach ever transitioned to men’s in the NCAA?

    • Man, Rueck is great. Calls a timeout with 52 seconds left, down by ten because he “wants to finish strong”…the guy is a genius getting 7 wins out of this team and hanging around in PAC-10 games. These girls play hard.

  30. Thanks for the uo matters link FatDog.

    Makes me wonder if OSU has skeletons in its closets?

    It would seem that during the cold war the U.S. became as bad as the Russians. Hopefully OSU isn’t becoming like the ‘ucks in order to compete with them.

    As an aside imo our entire system of government, business and values have become too predicated on money. And we’re going down the tubes because of it.

    bwdik

  31. Are loyal OSU fans actually bringing up CR’s race and his family in order to criticize him? You guys are whack.

    Angrybeav analyzed it perfectly. The program has improved significantly since CR took over, and there’s no way you can make a final judgement on him when the team is basically pure underclassmen. He deserves five years, lets see what he does with his own seniors. But I’d say overall he’s already on a good track.

    And if you need to bring up the fact that he’s Black or he’s related to Obama, then you need to STFU. We care about the basketball team, the other stuff has no place in the conversation.

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