Addicted To Quack

Quack Fix: Men's Hoops Wins at Home, Baseball Expectations, Adam Hazel

2012-02-10T14:01:27Z

It has been 41 days since the Washington Huskies have beaten the Oregon Ducks in basketball. Not quite the same ring to it as football but I won't be picky after that performance.

Garrett Sim and his buddies in yellow unleashed a Tony Woods-sized can on the Washington Huskies last night, defeating the bad guys from that state up north 82-57. Oregon never trailed in the game and played great team ball. The Huskies looked completely out of sorts while the Ducks played one of their best games of the season.
Expectations were high for last year's Oregon Baseball team. There was talk about winning the conference, playoffs and perhaps more in 2011 but the tone is a bit different going into the 2012 season. "Living in the moment" seems to be the motto this year. For those that followed the team last year, you know that hitting was a problem. To help address the situation, Jay Uhlman is back on the coaching staff. To get yourself caught up on all the latest news as we move towards the season opening game on February 17th, check out this great rundown.
Speaking of baseball, junior left-hander Christian Jones is scheduled to undergo Tommy John surgery. I've heard the term a lot but I never knew what it entailed until I jumped on the Google Machine and hit the Wikipedias.
If I said the name "Adam Hazel" to you, would you remember who I was talking about? What if I told you he was a quarterback? What if I said he was under 30? Give up? He was a walk-on who provided depth to Kellen Clemens and Dennis Dixon back in the day. He was hired as the St. Francis Sharks (high school) football coach in California. Congratulations to Adam!

Happy Friday everyone. Always good to be hanging on a Friday after a good Ducks win.

Oregon obliterates washington on the hardwood, 82-57

2012-02-10T06:37:22Z

We wondered how Oregon would respond after the heartbreaking loss at Colorado. We didn't think Oregon could keep up with washington's athleticism.

Garrett Sim didn't care. He went into Kobe mode, burying three in a row to start the game on an 8-0 run all by himself. It was all gravy from there, as washington couldn't handle Oregon's defensive pressure, offensive movement, and hot shooting. By the end of the game, Tony Woods was finishing alley oops, Olu was throwing down the reverse, and Carlos Emory went with the windmill. It was domination on every level, and Oregon is back to finding itself just a game out of first place in the conference. It was a great offensive effort, but even a better defensive effort. The team stats tell the tale on this one, and I'll just leave it at that for the evening:

	Oregon	washington
FG%	55.4%	35.8%
3FG%	53.8%	12.5%
FT%	56.5%	38.9%
Rebounds	38	35
Assists	15	8
Blocks	5	0
Turnovers	9	11

That is the stastical profile of domination.

MBB Game 24 Preview and Open Thread: washington huskies at Oregon Ducks

2012-02-10T03:32:27Z

Oregon Ducks (16-7, 7-4) at washington huskies (16-7, 8-3)
8:00 PT :: Matthew Knight Arena :: Eugene, Oregon
TV :: Root Sports Northwest
Pomeroy Rankings :: UO (112) :: CU (62)

The huskies enter Deep in the Woods riding a 5 game winning streak which has put them into first place in the conference and on pace for another NCAA Tournament appearance. The 3 headed monster of Ross, Wroten and Wilcox gave the Ducks nightmares last time these teams met on New Years Eve. Don't look for that to change too much tonight.

Oregon has struggled all season when facing good guard play, and Uw has the best back court in the Pac 12 conference. Freshman phenom Tony Wroten is a slasher and is averaging 16.7 ppg and 3.5 assists. One area Wroten still struggles is with turnovers (91 total, and 1st in the conference) but Romar will have no problem going to junior Abdul Gaddy who has a 2.2:1 assist to turnover ratio.

CJ Wilcox missed a number of games with an injury this season, but he's healthy now, just in time to come back and try and improve on the 24 he dropped on the Ducks first time around. Starting at the two guard will be assassin Terrence Ross. Ross is top 5 in the conference in a number of categories including scoring, FGs made, and 3pt FGs attempted. He has a green light from Romar at any time, and was the main catalyst for Uw's comeback against Ucla last week.

If it feels like I'm giving a lot of praise to Uw's guards, it's because they deserve it. All of these guys are about 6'5", long, athletic and shoot the ball extremely well. Oregon's guards are going to have to play their best game of the year on both ends of the court for the Ducks to have a chance. In other words... don't hold your breath.

FOUR FACTORS

...screw it, the four factors don't matter, we need luck to even have a chance in this one

Oregon Ducks Recruiting Update: Looking ahead to 2013

2012-02-09T19:27:20Z

With Oregon's class of 2012 pretty much accounted for, it's time to look ahead to 2013. Rumors, offers, commits and de-commits will be in flux over the next year, but this is a very early look at a few prospects that are high on Oregon's list. As a reminder, DO NOT contact recruits through social media such as twitter or facebook if you fit the definition of a booster. This includes 2012 recruits who have already signed their LOIs.

Thomas Tyner: 247sports and Rivals both put out their top 100 prospects lists this week. The most notable name on these lists is Thomas Tyner, the running back sensation from ~~Beaverton~~ Aloha who has committed to play for the Ducks. Rated by both publications as a top 10 overall player and number 1 rated running back in the country, Tyner is one of the most talented players to ever come out of the state of Oregon. At 6-0 and 200 lbs, Tyner runs a 4.38 40 (you read that right), giving him an incredible blend of size and speed. Tyner will be a Senior at Aloha high school this year. If you are interested, ESPN did a series of stories on Tyner last year.

Eddie Vanderdoes is a Defensive Lineman from Placer, California. At 6-4 285 lbs he has great size. He is ranked as the 21st and 40th overall player by Rivals and 247sports respectively. Vanderdoes is one of the elite defensive lineman in the country this year. He can play tackle or end, and has already expressed interest in Oregon and in playing with his friend, Arik Armstead. Of course, Vanderdoes will have a lot of other suitors all over the country. Vanderdoes has Cal, Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington in his very early top 5.

Michael Hutchings is one of the best linebackers in the country and plays for De La Salle High School in Concord, California. He is ranked as the 17th and 42nd overall player by Rivals and 247 sports respectively. At 6-2, 210 lbs Hutchings will need to add some weight, but he has the frame to do it. And he already possesses great aggressiveness and athleticism as a tackler. Hutchings will also be one of the most sought after recruits in the country. Oregon has had good ties to De La Salle in recent years, though Tosh Lupoi and Washington are sure to be all over him as Tosh is a De La Salle grad too.

This is of course a very brief look at players who have interest in Oregon. There are at least 18 other recruits on the Rivals 100 who have the Ducks on their shortlist. Stay tuned for more updates and leave your comments below!

Edit: In case you missed it over the weekend, here's our recap of Oregon's recruiting haul for 2012.

Quack Fix: Ducks hope to contain Ross and Wroten, Baseball starts next Friday in Hawaii

2012-02-09T15:01:04Z

Football may be over, but basketball is entering the final stretch and baseball is on its way, so we have plenty of quack this morning.

Oregon basketball hosts Washington tonight in what will be the start of a very difficult last few games for the Ducks. With four home games remaining, the Ducks need to get them all. Earlier this season, Dana Altman had "Own The Knight" shirts made, that have been abandoned after inconsistent home play. Enough with the gimmicks, the Ducks simply need to get it done against a very tough Washignton team.
Bob Clark takes a look at the Huskies, and their future NBA players, sophomore Terrence Ross and freshman Tony Wroten. The Ducks are going to have quite the task in containing both.
Oregon baseball at Hawaii next week, and KVAL has a preview of the team. The Ducks exceeded all expectations in 2010, but disappointed a bit last year. Despite the winning record, they finished 8th in the conference. They didn't handle the pressure well, and it showed. With Horton as coach, I'm hopeful they'll improve.
Unfortunately, the Ducks already have a big obstacle in that road to improvement. Christian Jones, along with 2 other freshmen pitchers, are out for the season requiring Tommy John surgery. Tomorrow's probable pitcher, Alex Keudell, is getting over an arm injury of his own. Last year, the Ducks could rely and Tyler Anderson and Madison Boer. That luxury is now gone, and pitching depth is a real concern.
Softball season is about to start as well, and the Ducks are looking to make it three straight Super Regional appearances, and they will be relying on ace Jessica Moore.
Some alum track news. Galen Rupp is going for the US indoor two-mile record on Saturday. Also, Matthew Centrowitz is headlining the Wanamaker mile in New York City.
Lastly, some 2013 recruiting news. Rivals has released their top 100, and Oregon's lone commit is the 9th ranked prospect and top RB in the 2013 class, Aloha's Thomas Tyner.

We're all hard up for all the quack we can get, so share anything else in the comments. GO DUCKS!

Quack Fix: How has the 2010 recruiting class fared, Bennett and Mariota prepare for competition

2012-02-08T14:45:36Z

If you missed Tuesday Night Talks last night make sure to download it here. CougCenter's Jeff Nusser (who also hosts the Pac-12 podcast 18 and life), in the words of Dave, "knocked it out of the park."

Adam Jude takes a look back at the 2010 recruiting class, working on the belief that it will take a couple years to really be able to evaluate a class. 2010 was a great year for Oregon recruiting, picking up a lot of highly touted recruits. And this article just shows how much of a numbers game recruiting is. Touted prep stars Lache Seastrunk, Dontae Williams, and Nick Rowland never saw the field for a variety of reasons. But the class also has some stars. Josh Huff, Hronnis Grassu, and Terrance Mitchell all started this year for the Ducks, and we'll hopefully see Bryan Bennett's full potential this year.
Speaking of Bennett, he and freshman Marcus Mariotta are gearing up to compete for the starting QB spot. But they aren't expecting any controversy, just constant striving to get better. Both have an immense amount of talent, and I'm really excited to see who gets the nod.
David Paulson comes in 25th in Ted Miller's Pac-12 2011 countdown. Man, I'm gonna miss that guy.
On to basketball, Dana Altman can't talk about the call that ended the game against Colorado, though he was asked about it in his weekly conference call. His comment: "Altman did note that in his 32 years of coaching he had never had a game decided in the final second by a free throw."
As we near the end of the season, Oregon's main goal is to end up in the top four of the conference, as that will give them a bye in the Pac-12 tournament. Unfortunately, that's easier said than done. With five games left, three of those against the top teams in the conference.

Leave anything else in the comments. GO DUCKS!

Tuesday Night Talks TONIGHT 9:00 PT

2012-02-07T23:32:03Z

On tonight's episode of Tuesday Night Talks, Matt Daddy and I will be joined by Jeff Nusser of CougCenter, where we'll talk this weekend's Oregon/Washington State matchup on the hardwood, assorted Pac-12 topics, and new Cougar football coach Mike Leach. We'll also bitch about officiating and explore other topics.

As always, you can listen or call in here, or download the podcast off the Quack Fix tomorrow.

Tako Tuesdays: The Podcast is Back!

2012-02-07T17:00:47Z

OMG LOLZ you guys were expecting an article today, weren't you? OMG you totally were. Dude, that sucks, cuz I so didn't write one.

Instead, it's the return of the Tako Tuesdays podcast! Yes, it is the return. I did do a couple of these last year. Seriously, I did! Look it up!

This week's edition, I focus on the major developments in this year's Super Bowl, basketball refereeing, vicious football rumormongering, and Shayne Skov being a naughty boy. Have a listen, won't you?

RIGHT HERE CLICK RIGHT HERE AND LISTEN TO WORDS