are kicking some ass on in the West. Impressive road sweep in SoCal this weekend. They came damn close to sweeing the NoCal teams a few weeks ago. Oregon will make the Elite 8.
They've had a great regular season, no question...but when the bracket comes out and they're matched up against a Butler or some other halfway-decent mid-major, I think they could be a prime victim of the madness.
Their backcourt is incredible, and they create such open shots for their three point shooters, who are deadly from the perimeter. Kristofferson isn't bad either, big, long arms, decent hands. I think this is a team that could get to the Final Four.
Hehe...don't get pissed off there, this is just a hunch I just think they could be one of those teams that disappoint come tourney time--not because I think they have certain flaws (I haven't seen them entirely too often, but what I've seen I have liked), but because I think they will put a lot of pressure on themselves to do well after winning the Pac-10, especially given that they're still trying to put that program a little more firmly on the map. Add tourney inexperience to the equation (I don't recall Jones or Christofferson being major pieces two years ago when they went to the tourney with Bracey and AD Smith), and I won't feel too comfortable about advancing them far in my bracket. But who knows, a lot of it will depend on the matchups, and I definitely don't think it's out of the question for them to make it to the elite 8 or even the final four. But if it's my money...I'm guessing that won't be the case.
I know it's not the same thing, but the Pac-10 tourney may provide the Pac-10 teams with a glimpse of March Madness. Especially a team like Oregon who aren't perrenially in the tourney. I can't imagine how good Oregon would be if they were able to keep the top in-state recruits from last year, in PG Aaron Miles and SG Salim Stoudamire. While PG/SG isn't a weakness, depth never hurts. Guards win in March, and Oregon has one of the best PG/SG combos in Ridnour and Jones. Luke Jackson at SF ain't a scrub either.
I like Oregon, to go at least to the Sweet Sixteen. Can't really say if they'll go any farther until we see the brackets though...
I really love those Oregon picks to go deep. At first, i worried about them playing away from home. However, they have a very versatile team that shoots 42.6% from the 3 pt line. That is insane! Anyway, we'll see come tourney time, but i sure wish i got to watch them as much as i saw UCLA, stanford, and Arizona this year. I think those late year road wins over UCLA et al. will help them come tourney time. The Pac 10 tourney should be wide open....it'll be fun to watch.
I agree with Prempeh, they are primed for an early upset. It is based on a hunch for me too. They have played really well against Zona, UCLA and USC, but they have played really bad at times too, especially on the road (they lost to UW for Pete's sake). They did win last weekend, but they could have lost either game with 1 play coming out differently, it wasn't like they were dominant. Yes, they have been a roll lately, but I just think there lack of turney experience could hurt them. The pressure will be on them as a low seed, I look at Stanford, USC, Zona and even UCLA as more dangerous because those teams have turney experience and will not have the pressure on them this time. If the Duckies get a little tight and are off on their 3s, any of the top 50 NCAA teams can beat them IMO. If they don't make it to the Pac 10 conference finals--they will likely play a top 50 team even in their first game, a dangerous game for them.
Scar-You do know that Zona is a young team right? Ricky Anderson, Walton, and Gardner have experience, but they rely on 4-5 freshmen. Experience is somewhat overrated in college IMO. It's not like the NBA where you have 10 year vets mixed in with rookies. Moreover, with the emergence of AAU ball for players in HS, they are exposed to playing the top competition and playing in big games. That is why you see Freshmen being able to make immediate impacts. 10 years ago, Freshmen were rarely counted on to start from Day 1. I also think you must consider that playing in the Pac-10 gives Oregon something to look back on. Other than the 2 Wash schools and Oregon State, the rest of the Pac-10 is pretty solid. So I think Oregon and young Arizona are battle tested. You can say the same for the Big East schools. I think the Big East is basically an Eastern version of the Pac-10.
I live in Tucson so I know the strengths and weaknesses of Arizona pretty well. They have young players, but their 2 best scorers and two best assist men have played in as many big college games as anyone (or at least equal to the Duke and Maryland players who could share this claim). Gardner was also the key player at crunch time in Arizona beating Illinios and MSU last year to get them to the finals. Nothing Jones or Ridnour has done has prepared Oregon for games anywhere close that weighty. I actually think college experience is critical. 2 years ago Arizona was loaded with best frosh backcourt int he country and other great young players and didn't do much, likewise the Fab 5 could never bring home the bacon. They played less talented teams, but were simply not ready as a team. I have little doubt if Webber, Rose and Howard stayed all 4 they would have picked up a championship one of the latter two years.
Scar-That Zona team of 2000 would have beaten Wisconsin, with a healthy Loren Woods. I followed Zona that year because I thought I was gonna go there for school. Instead, it was ASU... Speaking of ASU, look out for Jason Braxton in a few years. Once he learns to play under control.
When scar is talking about experience, I don't think that he's talking about freshmen per se, but tourney exp.--sure the Pac-10 conference, and its tourney, will give the Duckies more experience, but it is absolutely nothing compared to the big dance. It has such a different feel to it...I mean, if you and me can feel the difference, think about what the players feel. A totally different world.
Well every school has to start somewhere... I don't think Gonzaga was loaded with tourney experience before 99 or whenever. I agree that experience plays a role in winning and losing. But it might be irrelevent if they play other teams who don't have much experience either. I guess we'll have to wait and see until the brackets come out.
True, Gonzaga didn't have experience, but they weren't conference champs for a major conference, either--no pressure on them to perform at all. I think you're right, though--not much else we can say about this til the brackets come out. Good God, this is my favorite time of year.
Yeah, Prempeh described what I was going after, big game experience. The Zona-Ill and Zona-MSU games last year were brutally intense--nothing could prepare you for that except going through it before. Gardner, though far from Zona's best player last year, was their rock in those games. Of the best teams, only Maryland and Duke are firetested to a similar degree, but the Dukies do not have Battier this year (I think JW is the better player, but Battier was the better leader). Maryland would be my most solid final 4 pick because of the clearly 3 most talent teams in the land they have more of their firetested leaders back. Illinois is pretty fire tested and deep even if they have sleepwalked much of this year. I really think they are dangerous as anyone outside of the main 3 teams. Also, if I am a top 1-2 seed, I do not want to play Zona and Stanford in the 2nd round (when the pressure is really on for the top seeds to get to the regionals). A couple of outstanding seasoned vets mixed in with talented young players and the pressure on the other team could smell like big time trouble. Again though, I don't see either team, or any Pac 10 team for that matter, being good enough to make the final 4 though. I guess I just remember so many #2 or #3 (especially) seeds going out early in recent years. So often it is an SEC team who had an overachieving year (e.g., Miss), but I think Oregon could be one of those teams this year. They had so many bounces go their way, it only takes one bad bounce or tight play to often get you out of the turney. It would be really advantagous for the Ducks to get far in the Pac 10 turney because there are usually only 6 or so really gimmie teams in the turney, and a low 2nd seed or 3rd seed (especially) can mean playing a pretty good opponent in the 1st round who has nothing to lose and is ready to fight until death.
The only reason the Ducks lost to the Trojans in the second round is because USC is pretty much playing at home. The game is at the Staples Center which is only a couple of blocks away from their university. I couldn't really see the Ducks beating the Trojans three straight times, especially twice at home, because their games have been too close. HAHAHA Thats funny. Lever isnt a freshman, hes a senior, he played on the Ducks team that last made it into the NCAA tournament. As far as this talk about playing away from home goes, its fair argument. However, I think they have a really good chance of making it to the "Sweet 16", Im not as sure about making it to the "Elite 8" or the "Final Four", but that would be awesome stuff.
