I know what you’re thinking, and you are not wrong for thinking it. Seeing the Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team playing for a National Championship is about as fathomable as seeing a funny SNL skit with Kenan Thompson. In fact, the last time Oregon basketball played in a National Championship game was March 27, 1939 (a game they won). They …
There have been a few changes in the land of Oregon basketball recruiting in the last couple of weeks. Head coach Dana Altman has consistently outmaneuvered other traditional big-name basketball schools including Arizona and Kansas to get three players for the 2017 class. Those three players include 5-star small forward Troy Brown, one of the biggest commits in the history of the program, and certainly since Altman has been in charge. …
As the Oregon men’s basketball team continues its impressive season, beating two undefeated Pac-12 teams, the Ducks 2017 recruiting class is starting to take shape. So far, it looks promising. The biggest news has been the signing of Troy Brown Jr., a 5-star small forward recruit from Centennial High School in Las Vegas, NV. Brown is the 17th-ranked player in the country, …
The expectations and excitement around the Oregon basketball team coming into the season was a welcome reprieve from the disaster of a football season that unfolded this fall. Many media experts picked Oregon to make a Final Four run and even win a national title. Pollsters also put Oregon in the top five of the preseason poll for the first time ever. …
When Dana Altman told reporters that, “Trouble is eight days from today. We have to go down to Baylor and play a game.” After a 35-point victory in the team’s final exhibition, it was as if he could see into the future. Sure enough, when his 4th-ranked Ducks traveled to Texas to take on an unranked and unheralded Baylor squad, the …
A two-and-a-half mile walk from the legendary loudness of Autzen Stadium will bring you to Matthew Knight Arena: a $200-million office for a $2-million-a-year coach. In a few weeks, Altman will be entering his 27th season as a college basketball head coach and his 7th as the coach of the Oregon Ducks. During his career he has won Coach of the Year awards …
Dreary days have come to Eugene. The glowing, summer sun that represents the hype and hope that Oregon Duck football brings, is gone. For all intents and purposes the season is done, despite the fact that there are seven games left. As the losses compound, the panic is palpable. With three losses before the second day of October, a perplexingly …
Something a sportscaster stated in one of the Sweet 16 pre-game shows really resonated with me, when he offered that, “Every time I watched Oregon this season – they were a little better.” Amen, as the improvement (a classic Dana Altman occurrence every season) became very noticeable for those of us that had been watching from November until now. I’ll …
I do not believe anyone who said they saw that Oregon’s 88-57 dismantling of Utah coming in advance. Most of us were concerned about the opposite, as it is very hard to beat a team for a third time, especially when the differences between teams is so close. The trip to the Bay Area (losing both games) is what came to …
Oregon’s win over the Arizona Wildcats in the Pac-12 Tournament (95-89) brought together a collection of extremes as examples of the human experience. We saw dazzling heights (offensive explosion before halftime), unknown skills summoned from within (unbelievable defense in the first half), boneheaded thinking and choking (end of regulation) – all during which the fan got verbally slapped around by the insanity that is Bill …
I cannot believe what I just saw from our beloved Ducks! They beat Arizona by eight (83-75) in Tucson in front of 14,000 screaming Wildcat fans, when the last 49 teams coming to McKale Center could not! I’m shaking my head and mumbling gibberish and would have yelled and exulted at the incredible victory — were I not so stunned. This is …
All right….you know I cannot stay away from a keyboard too long, as Mr. FishDuck has to share what is rattling around in his head. This break I’ve been taking has been wonderful due to the absence of frustration that comes with managing a website. Yet I never figured when I started FishDuck.com at age 55 — that I would …