Tinkle, in his post game press conference, said some would be criticizing his move to start walk-ons. Damn straight, as Tinkle would say.

What is most disturbing to me, is that it was a Mike Riley move. A Mike Riley mentality. Something a nice guy would do. A guy with killer instincts starts his best five and finds a way to thank his walk-ons later, even if it’s just “thanks” (that’s all that’s needed–these are men not little boys, yet OSU treats their athletes with kid gloves). If Gary Andersen starts pulling this crap I seriously will have to look for a new team.

Some in game comments I wrote regarding starting the walk-ons:

If they lose by 3 and miss the NIT because of that he’s sure going to hear it around here.

Scotty assured me they wouldn’t. :)

Play your best 5. If you’re winning at the end put the walk-ons in, or just thank them after the game. Putting them on the court vs an overmatched opponent not only embarrassed them (they looked outclassed) but also put the team behind. So you can’t argue team play on one hand and then say putting them out there helped the team. Stupid move to try to be classy. Just let it happen on its own. If there’s opportunity to play those guys play them otherwise don’t.

And finally:

8pm on ESPNU

I’m expecting Oregon to win by 20ish, but this is not a bad matchup so maybe not. (a) Beavs play well at home as we all know (b) Oregon is horrible on D, so Beavs can maybe get into the 70 point range, which with the Beavs D could keep it close. Still, I maintain my thesis that they’re on fumes, so despite a pretty good matchup I think they lose by double digits.

79-63, Oregon

Kind of ridiculous and worthy of a thread itself.

I don’t make excuses  and have high expectations, but also they need to be reasonable expectations given a situation. What I see:

• Beavs constantly play 5 vs 4 (no viable big), and of the 4 the put on the court, only 1 (Payton) might start for another Pac-12 team (He would probably start for Colorado and that’s it).
• Starters playing too many minutes
• Craig Robinson left the cupboard pretty bare.
• They have a shooting guard playing point guard.
• They have walk-ons giving between 5 and 10 minutes per game.
• Robbins suspended, several transfers, etc.
• Reid has a heart problem that limits his minutes

Despite all that, they have won 8 games in conference play, 17 wins overall, and have the #15 recruiting class in the nation coming in.

Yet, fans are whining about Wayne Tinkle. It is just an embarrassing moment for this site, and I want to explain to new readers and intelligent readers that those views do not represent the views of the site’s author.

My view: great season given all the above, and obviously a team on fumes since the 2nd Arizona State game. Future looks bright with the class coming in. They could be very good next year depending how quickly the freshman develop, but even if they take a full year to develop, they’ll at least bring valuable depth. After watching their film and seeing their dad’s coach, I think Tinkle and Thompson will be good from the get go. I’m not sure about the other 3 (Gligoride Rankocevic, on film, looks a bit slow and clumsy and doesn’t play with passion, but that can change), but with Bruce it will be nice to get a true point guard into the program. They also got a free player in Noah Togiai, who will replace and be a huge upgrade over a current a walk-on.

For those who are on the ledge, watch these videos on Tinkle and the incoming class:

Bruce

Thompson

Tinkle

Eubanks

I’m seriously questioning the AB fanbase. Are we rational and have high but realistic expectations, or are we completely insane and expect wins no matter the situation a coach walks into? Riley actually cost the Beavers games; that is why I was all over him. Tinkle is winning the Beavers games he shouldn’t. I don’t understand, other than typical emotion/fandom clouding your perspective. It makes me worry for Gary Andersen, too. I think he can maybe win 5 or 6 games, but say he wins 3 or 4. Are we going to have to listen to this nonsense that Andersen is terrible, yada yada? People should take this slow period to research or just admit that rebuilding and coaching transitions take a year at least, but maybe two to three as the coach gets his guys into the system and they all gel/mature together. That’s the process. A great example is the women’s basketball team or Gary Anderson at Utah State. Look at those progressions. Those are normal blueprints for a great coach changing things. It takes time. Stop with the girly emotional crap and whining about, what is reality, an amazing season. I seriously think CR goes 0-18 in conference play. No doubt in my mind.