In another game without star freshman Bol Bol, Oregon Basketball secured a home victory over a non-conference foe. This time, Florida A&M was the culprit
71-64 was the final score Tuesday night. Not exactly a stellar performance by the Ducks, but with the way the season’s gone so far and given we’re without Bol Bol, I’ll take any win Dana Altman can get. The Rattlers of Florida A&M traveled from one corner of the continental United States to the other just to play 40 minutes of ball with Oregon. I’m flattered. At least they made the trip count and showed some real feistiness in the second half–more than an average 3-10 team at least. Here’s the important things I gathered from the win.
Rebounding
40-24 was the rebounding advantage we had over the Rattlers. Impressive to say the least–especially without our starting center. Here’s an interesting stat: All nine guys who played grabbed at least two boards. To me, that shows a team that plays with effort and intensity. While Oregon may not have looked great on either side of the ball for the full 40 minutes, the effort was there when it may have been absent in a few games earlier this season (ahem…Iowa and Texas Southern). When you can dominate the glass like that, you can beat most teams in basketball. Just like Jonathon Motley about that Yale game:
Yeah…we got more of those than Florida A&M did.
Victor Bailey Jr
The flashy Southpaw is increasingly becoming my favorite player on this team. I don’t know why but I just have an unbirdled affinity for him and Will Richardson. Maybe it’s because they’re both left handed, who knows. But anyways, VJ had16 points in his first start…which, on paper, sounds like a terrific day for the sophomore. Well, until you watch him brick seven three pointer while making just two. I believe in VJ and think he has loads of potential. He just needs to peel back his stupid shot numbers (STUS). By my count, he recorded five STUS. That’s too many. For a guy like him, he should be taking nine shots in the paint, not from the three-point line.
That’s all I have for this one. Another boring non-conference game in the books. With Baylor coming up next, I’m eager to see how the Ducks fare against another power opponent. My guess is we take care of business but you never can be sure with this bunch. See ya later!