Let’s talk about Missed Layups in a Rout!!!

After re-watching this game this morning it is pretty clear that Aron Baynes lacks the necessary skills that an Honorable Mention all-Pac 10 player would have. Going 8-9 from the floor and thoroughly dominating Oregon's inside game, I'm sure it was the missed shot that the voters noticed.

We didn't make a single 3-pointer and won by 22 points.

I remember all 3 of Nik's missed layups last night, but while re-watching this game, I can't believe we missed so many other layups too. As Weak mentioned last night, the only guy on our team who doesn't miss layups is Casto….because he's never taken one.

Random thoughts during the game:

Barry Tompkins facepalm of the 1^st half: "I really think Oregon was a better team when Aaron Brooks was playing." I admire his ability to throw himself out there like that. I'm sure there will be more.

When was the last time Portland State was the last Oregon school standing?

I see that Tulalip Casino has decided to use the tournament to debut their new commercial, entitiled "We no longer rhyme 'fun, fun, fun' with 'fun' anymore!"

Taylor scored 4 points on 1-5 shooting and we won by 22 points.

Taylor and Klay combined for 12 points and we won by 22 points.

Capers hit his first jump shot since the Huskies won the title….in 1953.

Are steals a subjective stat now? The box score shows Nik with zero steals tonight and I just clearly watched him intercept a pass into the post. Must've been a team steal…because you know Nik can't do anything right on his own…

Capers missed his first jump shot since the Huskies won the title…in 2009. And Tompkins called him Marcel.

At the 12 minute mark into the first half, Tajuan Porter now has made more shots with a foot on the Tournament logo at mid court than his shots from realistic ranges.

Wait, wait, wait….the Pac-10 Scholar Athlete of the Year had a 3.37 GPA? Just how far is Master P's kid dragging the curve down?

Whoever the c omedian was who said "Wayne Brady makes Bryant Gumbel look like Malcom X" hasn't seen much of Michael Eaves.

Ryan Bailey is out of his warm-ups with 18 minutes left in the game….

Thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Francis Williams, who apparently was eaten by Todd MacCullough.

Plus/Minus for the Game:

Koprivica	+28
Rochestie	+22
Thompson	+22
Baynes	+18
Forrest	+18
Casto	-10
Capers	-24
Harthun	-24
Lodwick	-24
Enquist	-24
Witherill	-24

Per 40 for the Season

Capers	+7.73
Koprivica	+6.64
Forrest	+4.31
Thompson	+3.49
Rochestie	+0.98
Baynes	+0.94
Casto	-2.08
Harmeling	-8.42

Cougs Roll 14-Deep; probably a major violation

I honestly wasn't aware you were allowed to play more than 12 guys in one game....but the bench cleared as the Cougs just couldn't seem to miss.

So if I told you that in the 1st half: Baynes didn't score a single point, we didn't get to the free throw line once and a Kyle Weaver sighting was the highlight, how many points would you think we were down?

Didn't see the game, so not a ton of analysis, but I still have my reservations about Mike Harthun and why he's getting minutes. In the last four games he's played (@ASU, @Stan, @Cal, UO), our opponents have gone on a run pretty much the second he checks in. How many times in a row before it stops being coincidence. Suffice to say, he shattered Daven's plus/minus low for the season....on the bright side, Taylor also broke Daven's plus/minus HIGH for the year (crazy that Daven had both the high and low end of the pole). When your point guard has a high plus/minus, it's nearly impossible to lose.

Anyway, the stats: for the record, I am hesitant to include Boeke, Bailey, Lodwick, Witherill or Enquist, as they all had a -30 just for checking in....but I'm sure they'd rather know their stats...

Rochestie	+39
Thompson	+31
Koprivica	+21
Harmeling	+13
Casto	+9
Baynes	-5
Forrest	-5
Capers	-11
Lodwick	-25
Boeke	-33
Bailey	-33
Witherill	-35
Enquist	-37
Harthun	-47

Not a misprint.....Harthun had a -47.

Boeke also had 3 fouls in 3 minutes. So the comparisons to Baynes' early years continue....

Back from Pullman

So after proving that both myself and Paul Wulff are indeed vampires and can't take a decent picture, I headed home, tail between my legs after watching what might have been the worst game since the dawn of competitive hoop.

Watching Casto get absolutely used by Dragovich and then Gibson in back to back games made me wonder if he had switched jerseys with Daven; as amazing as Caleb's shot was falling on Thursday, the catalyst for the comeback was Nik's defense and will forever be unappreciated, and I still continue to ask myself why Tony feels Abe Lodwick is ready for regular minutes.

I've been playing with a full-time job, grad school and a trip to Pullman, so I haven't posted the +/- for the past 3 games; all apologies, here we go:

@ Oregon

Capers +22
Rochestie +16
Thompson +16
Baynes +10
Casto +4
Koprivica -6
Forrest -10
Harmeling -14
Lodwick -20

vs. UCLA
Koprivica +14
Forrest +10
Baynes +4
Lodwick 0
Thompson -4
Rochestie -6
Capers -6
Casto -16

vs. USC
Capers +14
Baynes +8
Harmeling +6
Koprivica +2
Forrest -4
Lodwick -4
Rochestie -6
Thompson -6
Casto -12

Season Totals (per 40 mins)

Capers +21.9
Harmeling +9.5
Baynes -0.7
Casto -1.5
Koprivica -2.9
Rochestie -3.5
Forrest -4.2
Thompson -4.2
Lodwick -22.3

A purge of thoughts from the USC/Oregon game

USC kinda reminds me of what would happen if you took Wazzu’s top 7 guys in NCAA 08 on your Plyastation into player-edit mode, and made all their stats and attributes about 10 points higher. They’ve got a leader PG in Hackett, a PF/C in Gibson, a senior role player in Wilkinson, and a bunch of freshmen with expectations….oh and also Dwight Lewis, who’s having quite the breakout season. Very impressed so far.

Also somewhat impressed with Oregon so far despite the lopsided loss. This may be the first time I’ve ever seen the Ducks commit and rotate on defense. I think it was more of a matter of the Trojans just being overwhelming on offense. The Ducks on offense are quite an adventure, as it seemed like a lot of it was whichever guard has the ball with about 20 seconds left in the shot clock just puts his head down and hope he gets to the rim, or hoping Porter or Brown can get open for a 3. I’m very impressed so far with what I’ve seen out of their freshmen too (specifically Dunigan and Crittle, albeit Crittle will have a rough couple years learning to stay out of foul trouble.)

Oregon kept this one close for about 30 minutes, partially because DeRozan and Gibson spent a great deal of the game in foul trouble, partially because USC had more offensive lapses than Oregon had defensive lapses. But in the last 10 minutes, USC found another gear and left the Quacks behind.

Oregon’s still going to win some games this year. Especially once their freshmen get a few more games under them. Playing UCLA on Sunday isn’t going to help.

If USC is ever going to win the Pac-10, this is definitely the year to do it. DeRozan’s looking more and more like the NBA prospect he was projected to be, and Gibson and Hackett might both leave after this year too (Wright too if he keeps this up.) First Pac impressions: The Trojans are the team to beat.