and be prepared. Room for error is much slimmer
in basketball. You lose one player and it changes
your entire team. It's not like that in football.
It's just not. It's not. Interesting guests.
Kelly Graves, Mike Parker, Coach Mark Waskowski,
Noah Eagle, Melissa Lombardi, Kenyon Barnard,
Jonathan Stewart. Sharp opinions. Dana Altman
probably earned a pass for a down year after
almost 20 years. of what he's done for Oregon
basketball. And some smiles. Guys, I was stuck
in a car wash. Sounds like an R. Kelly song.
It's not an R. Kelly song. It's Danny Havel.
I can't remember, and I've been doing this for
longer than you've been alive. which is really
horrible that I have to say that, but it's the
truth. Justin Grossweiner. It's like the saying
in Alaska that you don't have to be faster than
the bear. The berries have to be faster than
your friend. Danny and Justin starts now on Fox
Sports Eugene and Fox Sports Newport. Hello.
And welcome, high top of the Delta Triad, the
Crystal Palace, the Fox Sports, Eugene, Fox Sports,
Newport Studios. Live from our Bigfoot Beverages
studios, this is the Danny and Justin radio program.
Like a rocket ship, we're taking off again with
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just look up Danny and Justin. Like, subscribe,
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we're going to have this show on Memorex for
you. Thanks for tuning in, friends. Just a little
bit after 2 o 'clock here on a Wednesday. It's
home day on the Danny and Justin radio program.
The mayor of Rip City, Travis Demers, is going
to join us about 20 after the hour. He is in
Chi -Town as the Blazers will be taking on doubles
next. Tough game against Minnesota. At home last
night. We're going to talk to him about that
because there was some controversy in the game
last night. Our dear friend Travis got a little
hot under the collar. We'll have our word of
the week from Justin. We're going to talk a lot
of basketball today, both for Oregon and Oregon
State. And as we peek around the corner, baseball
and softball coming up this weekend. One on the
road, one at home. We'll discuss that as well.
But first, with intern Blaze producing and directing
the program. Right over to my right is Justin
Grossweiner. Call him Baby J. Well, as Blaze
said as he came in today, it's a beautiful day
today. I was burning up a little bit, but luckily
for me, I have a little less hair on the top
of my head to heat myself up as we were discussing
before the show. Do we want to keep continuing
this conversation that you guys were having off
the air? Man, you were throwing haymakers at
Blaze. I was. I came in hot a little bit. Actually,
when Blaze came in, I went in hot at him. It
was like a light switch with you. You know, sometimes
you just got to give it a little bit. I can take
it. For those that are follically challenged,
when you're discussing the mains of other folks,
it can get a little testy. All I'm going to say
is if you have it, enjoy it. You never know when
it's going to be your last day to have hair.
Which is what the soliloquy was from Baby J to
Intern Blaze. So, welcome to the program, friends.
The Oregon Man Clinics Hotline at 541 -343 -5673.
as we will move through this pretty quickly.
A lot of round ball today as the seasons are
starting to wind down, the regular seasons. In
fact, tonight on the MKA floor, I believe it's
the last home game for the men. I think it's,
is it? No. Senior night? Not yet. No, not yet.
Let me look at the schedule. Washington will
be the last home game, which will be the last
regular season game Saturday the 7th. So a little
over a week from now. So this is the second to
last home game. As Blaze was nodding now in agreement
as he was shaking his head to me to say, Danny,
don't say that. It's not right. Like the Blazers,
the Ducks are going to take a Illinois road trip
to Northwestern and Illinois. And right now,
the women are on the road looking for their 20th
win of the season and get one game closer to
.500 in the Big Ten. They should get this one.
Purdue. On the road, 12 and 15 are the Boilermakers,
4 and 12 in the Big Ten. Ducks are 19 and 10
overall, 7 and 9 in the Big Ten. And we'll break
down some of the numbers. The women come back.
They will have their senior night on the 1st.
Now, remember, women's basketball will end a
week earlier than the men do. And we'll have
the Big Ten tournament for the women starting
the 4th and then running through the 8th. and
we don't know who the opponent's going to be
yet, but they'll definitely be playing in that
tournament. So only two games left for the women
in the regular season. So, again. Two opportunities
to get to your favorite number of 20 wins. I
like that number, and I think you can take a
look at the history of the teams that make it
into the NCAA tournament coming out of a power
conference, which the Big Ten certainly would
be. Now, not as powerful as the Pac -12 was,
but it's still. a strong conference, you get
to 20 wins playing in a conference schedule like
that. Now, it doesn't help that if you have a
losing record in conference play. So if you're
the Ducks, you'd love to at least get back to
500 in conference play as well. But that would
then give you 21 wins. It would look pretty.
It would look pretty to have 21 wins. It would
look prettier. Yeah. The prettiest, obviously.
You want to be in the green in conference. But
you could be, what is it in between of the green
and the red, if you're even? Is there a name
for that? Green and red on a traffic light is
yellow. So if you're even, you're in the yellow.
Caution! Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! You want
to get to 500 in conference. I agree. But it's
been an interesting team. They've, I feel like,
been just outside of the top 25 all season long.
And I don't know if they've actually gotten any
receiving votes. But it feels like they're, like,
whatever that outside of receiving votes is,
they're, like, right there. So I think they're
a surefire tournament team. Their net hasn't
gone down as well. It stayed in the high 20s.
So that is the other. You take a look at a lot
of factors, but I think you're checking a lot
of boxes if you're Kelly Graves. Do you say you're
a lock for the NCAA tournament? I think you could
almost say you're a lock for the NCAA tournament.
I think so. Now it's all about seeding. Right,
exactly. has come down to is the conference that
you're talking about. A lot of the games that
they're playing in conference, it's been helping
out their net. Even a team like Minnesota, when
they played Minnesota, wasn't a team that was
ranked super high, but their net was really good.
So the Big Ten has been a good enough conference
where Oregon hasn't had this spectacular winning
record or anything like that, and they're at
best going to be 500 in the conference, but I
think we can say pretty safely that they're going
to be in the NCAA tournament. So let's just stay,
I mean, since we're already talking about women's
basketball, let's just stay there as the Oregon
women, by the way, I like that also it's fresh
in their memory how they played probably one
of their worst toe -to -toe games against Washington
a couple of weeks ago, and then they get Washington
at home on, it'll be senior afternoon because
it's technically a 2 p .m. tip on Sunday, the
1st of March. They get them when it's still fresh
in their minds. In their craw. That's what you
want to say. And that would – thank you. That's
a great use of that word. You can't really use
that word in a lot of different sentences. But
you know what? Before – well, no, I'll say that
later. So last time out, 27 .17 rebounds from
Heese Etute. But Oregon was not able to climb
back after another double -digit deficit. And
they lost to Indiana on Sunday, 72 -65. So this
is a long road trip for them. They left Saturday,
and they played on Sunday. Now they've been sitting
in the Midwest since Sunday. So that's three
days now, which is nice to have a break but not
being around home. You know, sleeping in hotels,
eating that buffet breakfast that Kelly Graves
loves. I say this totally tongue -in -cheek.
Sure. You're in Indiana. You have nothing better
to do than work on your basketball game. Man.
Especially in West Lafayette, which is not easy
to get to. No. So that'll be interesting. So
they tip off at 4 p .m. You can hear Chris Clayton
on the call if you want. You know what I want
to see? Sure. Tell me. I want to see a fast start.
I've told you this as well. We've discussed this.
We have. Is that it would be nice. for Oregon
to not have to crawl back. But it almost seems
like with this team, and we're going to effort
Kelly, Coach Graves, on the program, good friend
of the program, before that Washington game,
and kind of get his sense. Can we get him on?
We might be able to get him on Friday if we really
work hard. This Friday? Yeah. We'll see if we
can get him on this Friday before the Sunday
game and ask him. What is this deal with your
team? Because it seems to be a pattern of getting
down by 7, 8, 10, 12 points, and they dig themselves
out of it a lot of times. But that just takes
so much energy. Energy, exactly. 100%. But it's
almost like the light switch has to go on for
them to kind of bear down. Yeah, you should go
into the game pretending you're down by 10. And
then when they're up, like they were in the Illinois
game, what was the margin in that game? A lot.
I don't remember. It was like 20 -something points.
It was like 21 points. And then they have to
end up holding it off at the end. Would have
been a horrible loss. That would have been a
devastating loss. Would have been a bad loss.
But those are some of the best wins, though.
Yeah. Oregon has double -digit steals in 19 games
this season. It is the most in the Big Ten and
the most under Coach Kelly Graves. 19 times they've
had double -digit steals. That's pretty remarkable.
Sophomore, Ahisa Tute. is number one in the Big
Ten, third in the nation with an offensive rebounding
rate of 19 .7%. Sophomore Katie Fiso is already
in sixth place in the University of Oregon's
single -season assist list. She's got 192 this
season. Again, these are some of the numbers
you, when you start rattling them off, you go,
wow. And again, when I talk about Katie Fiso,
Did you hear what I first said? Same thing with
the Tute. They're both sophomores or sophomores,
as one of my English teachers would tell me in
high school. So there's a lot of room for growth.
And a lot in the cupboard still as well. Estera
Tahina, her last game in the loss to Indiana
had kind of a breakout game. And I've been plugging
her a little bit during the season. It's been
inconsistent. I think she's been battling some
nagging injuries as well. Of course, Oregon doesn't
release a lot of that stuff regardless. But I
think that's another thing to spell Katie Fiso
and enable them to have that energy near the
end of the games is going to be crucial down
the stretch into the tournament and beyond. Well,
they have to have another player besides Katie
Fiso be that engine. at times and it feels like
katie can get her own shot she can get shots
for others she's i think at her best when she's
getting shots for others and estera has been
that other player that Off the bench, you need
to handle the ball. And I think that Coach Graves
would probably say he wants probably at least
one more player like that next year. You probably
want at least three, right? You don't want to
have two players, especially one on your starting
lineup, one on your bench. You're going to have
to alternate them. You can't have them on the
floor at the same time. You want to have multiple
ball hangers on the floor at the same time. So
it's been at least a good addition to have her
break out a little bit off the bench. It's certainly
been not a weakness for this team because they
have Katie, but it's been something that I think
holds them back a little bit. Coach Kelly Graves
is looking for his 643rd victory in his career
Division I coaching record. He's got 260 wins
in his Oregon record. By the way, Purdue is coming
off of two straight losses. They've lost six
of their last seven. The only time these two
teams have ever met were last year before tonight.
with a 69 -53 win by Oregon at MKA last year.
So, again, with this Big Ten schedule, you play
the Washington schools, UCLA, USC twice. No,
actually, they only played UCLA once. They got
that out of the way early. They did. You basically
play Washington is the only team, I believe,
that they've played twice or are going to play
twice because even USC was just a single game.
I think that's correct. In the regular season.
Yeah, I think that's correct. You go all the
way around one time. So one time means that sometimes
you're away. And Oregon, they played Michigan
at home, Northwestern at home, Michigan State,
Minnesota, Penn State, Ohio State, and then Nebraska,
and then they'll finish off with Washington.
So 4 p .m. tip. We'll keep our eyes on that for
Oregon women's basketball. Go ahead. Do you think
that they're going to still be in that 8 -9 range?
I think the latest bracketology has them. Let's
see here. I'm trying to pull it up right now.
I thought they had them at 10. They have them
at 10. That's better. I know that sounds weird.
Take a look at the bracketology now. It's weird
because it's fluctuated a bit. They have them
at 8 right now. That's the worst. The worst possible.
8 or 9. You either want 7 or 10. They'd be playing
Villanova, and their second game would be against
number one South Carolina. Well, I think they're
number two technically. And that would probably
be in a region where you will have Gamecock fans
to the rafters. Oh, yes. So, and Dawn Staley's
team, she's still the head coach, right? They're
a perennial. Yes. No, you don't want to play
South Carolina in round two. They will not be
sleeping on that, for sure. But it's so weird,
though, because for Oregon, it feels like this
is what, to the tournament stuff, I don't want
to say it doesn't make sense to me, but it almost
feels like for Oregon, it'd be better to lose
the next two games. But then if you do that,
then you're almost risking making the tournament.
So how is it the fact that you're either going
to be an 8 or 9? or you're going to really worry
about making the tournament. Does that make sense?
Well, I'll flip that around. If they're eight
right now, they win these last two games, especially
knocking off a ranked Washington team, because
I believe Washington's still hanging in at 25
in the latest poll. Your net's going to go up,
and you probably can launch yourself into that
seven seed, which is, again, for us. Looking
at it from the sideline, then you avoid South
Carolina or somebody else. Maybe you don't even
get put that far out in the region. But last
year, Oregon was a 10, and they had to travel
all the way across the country. So just looking
at a resume of someone that they have as a 7
seed, just to say that. USC. So USC is 9 -7 in
conference, and they're 17 -10 overall. Oregon
is 19 -10 overall and 7 -9 in conference. So
they're just slightly worse in conference, but...
They did beat USC. 71 -66. On the road, by the
way. I think that they're at least in that range,
right? That's what I'm saying. They win these
last two games, and especially I think they're
going to have blood in their eye against Washington.
I think so, too. So they can't let the game at
Purdue slip away. I agree. And I think that by
losing to Indiana, which is another game I was
expecting them to win, I think that you hope
that they come back against Purdue. Like you
said, I think this is— Not the most important
one in terms of the Washington game. I think
it's obviously going to be the most important
game they have left. But you want to get this
one out of the way so you can just focus on the
Washington game. And then the next level, the
next step, if we can talk about it, Coach Graves
isn't going to talk about it because all he'll
be concerned about when he talks to us next is
going to be Washington, is get yourself into
at least the final four of the Big Ten tournament.
That would be then the next stepping stone. At
least win one or two games. I think it's possible.
I definitely think it's possible they can make
a run. Can you pull up the standings in the Big
Ten right now? Yeah, I have them right here.
Okay. So where's Oregon right now as a seed going
into, and maybe we project. So here's the thing
is. 11. It'll be interesting to find out. And,
of course, it'll all depend on what Washington
does today or tomorrow before the Oregon game
because the season split. between Oregon and
Washington. Right. If Oregon wins the game on
Sunday, they would each have one win, so then
it starts coming down to tie breaks in terms
of seeding. What seed is Washington right now,
eight? They're 10, actually, so they're right
above Oregon. And what's interesting is Washington
only has one game left, and it is against the
Ducks. Oh, so they're sitting waiting right now.
They're sitting and waiting at 9 -8 in conference.
Oregon is 7 -9. I don't know what the tiebreaker
should be if Oregon won the next two, then they
can split. Normally, it's either head -to -head
starts, okay? That's the first one, but that
one wouldn't be tied. And then normally in conference
play like this, it would be who is the next highest
team that you beat. So then you start going up
who's above you, and you say everyone played
everybody at least once. So then it's going to
be as high up as you can go. You start with the
number one. Okay, did you beat the number one
team in the conference? No. Go to number two.
Did you both beat number two? But then did you
lose to number three and the other team beat
number three? That's the way it gets. The problem
with Oregon. is that they have, you look at,
okay, you start with the number one. Okay, they
lost to UCLA pretty handily. You go to the number
two, Iowa, that was a close loss. And you go
to the number three, Michigan, another close
loss. Ohio State wasn't super -duper close. What's
their best win in Big Ten play right now? Minnesota,
I guess. Or no, sorry, they lost to Minnesota
as well. Wouldn't that be who's dinging? I was
dinging. So I apologize about that. I think their
best win is probably USC or Maryland. Maryland.
I would say Maryland would probably be their
best win because Maryland at the time was number
16, and that was on the road. And they will give
extra points, extra credit, as it were, for ranked
wins on the road. So it's a stronger, you know,
collie ranking or whatever they do with it. I'm
not a math whiz, kids. You know, I got through
it. stats was horrible when i was in college
and blaze you're shaking your head stat did you
you you're a senior so have you already you've
already gone through the brutality of stats haven't
you i finished it last year but it was awful
for me i thought i wanted to be a stats major
too going into college and quickly realized that
it would not be for me not a math guy i used
to love math but uh and i love numbers when it
comes to sports but not Not what I thought it
used to be. Okay. All right, so we're going to
take our first break now. When we come back,
we'll talk Oregon men's basketball. Oregon. That's
fine. He's turned down just a little bit. Blasting
my ear out there, Blaze. You got all excited
about talking about stats and you got through
it. We'll talk to Travis Demers, the mayor of
Rip City, in the last segment. He is transferring
buses. It'll be planes, trains, and automobiles
for Travis Demers as he's trying to get to the
hotel before the Blazers take on Chicago tomorrow.
And after that sting of the loss against Minnesota
at home, the long plane ride to O 'Hare. So we'll
catch up with Travis Demers around 440. So let's
take our break. as we will head off into the
sunset. There we go. And when we come back, we'll
talk Oregon men's basketball, Oregon State men's
and women's basketball as they're getting ready
for their senior nights as we continue here on
the Danny and Justin radio program. Also stay
tuned. We're going to do word of the week in
the next segment as well. A happy 38th birthday
to my eldest, Tyler Daniel Havel, TD. Has my
first name as his middle name. The ongoing tradition
in the Havel family. My middle name is after
my dad. Even though I was the second boy. My
middle name is after my aunt. And remind everybody
of what your middle name is. My middle name is
Alexander. And your mom was... Was it sister?
My mom's sister. Was Alex? No. Was Alexandria?
I am... In the moment, forgetting her name because
the pressure of her name is... Wow, this is going
to be on the archives now. Oh, I can just hear
your mom all the way. Is she in Chicago right
now? Yes. No, she's still in Virginia. Oh, Virginia
with your sister. Allie, everything went well?
Yes, yes. I was going to give a shout out to
my sister. She had her adrenalectomy. That's
what the surgery was. It wasn't on her head.
That's a mouthful. She already had that one.
That's not your word of the week. Adrenaline
is not my word of the week. Well, you better
settle and practice. Word of the week coming
up. I know. I have it already. Blaze, what is
your middle name? My middle name is Richard after
my grandpa. Oh, not Richard III? No. Not that
I know of. Fun fact. I was Hastings in Richard
III. Love that play. You see how he hijacks that?
That was my first Shakespeare play. Sorry. No,
it's fine. The Danny and Justin Radio Pro, Richard,
Daniel, and Alexander. That could be a law firm.
It really could be. Daniel's a last name as well,
as you well know. I think that Travis's sons
could be a law firm, Lincoln and Lawson. Oh,
yeah, absolutely. Every time he says that, I
always think of that. In fact, we'll have Travis
on here. You were expecting him at 20 after?
No, he's traveling, so it'll be at 40. I've got
to ask him what he's watching right now because
I know he's not watching Hijack. And a new episode
of the second season of Hijack with Idris Elba
is now every Wednesday. But I gave him a couple
more shows. We'll see. We like catching up with
the mayor. And by the way, I had a fan say, you
know, Bill Shonley is the only mayor of Rip City.
And that was Bill's moniker that was given to
him many, many years ago. But what I say is that
whoever is the voice of the Blazers at the moment
is the mayor. Because they're the conduit to
the fan base. It's no disrespect to Bill Shonley.
Because I love Bill, and I was very fortunate
to get to meet him and talk to him one -on -one
many times. And he'll always be a mayor, but
that's just my little aside. And I appreciate
the fans listening and giving me the input. Go
ahead. I'm going to completely embarrass myself.
Sure. I finally remembered my aunt's name. We
are going to get to sports, by the way. It wasn't
because of my middle name. The reason was because
I was thinking, okay, Alexander. Actually, it's
my first name. My aunt's name was Jane. Okay.
And so I was named Justin after Jane. Are you
following that, Blaze? The J? Come on. Oh, just
the J? Yeah. So you could have been Jeremy for
all that matters then. Yeah. Okay. All right.
Is everybody good now? Everybody's clear now.
Everybody's great? Everybody remembers their
relatives' names. That's fantastic. So we talked
about the Duck women who are taking on Purdue
at 4 p .m. Duck men are home tonight to take
on the Badgers of Wisconsin. 8 p .m. Wisconsin
leads the all -time series six games to four.
It'll be on Big Ten Network. Late start, so you
have no excuse not to get to MKA tonight. Just
call in a little bit later tomorrow morning.
No excuse, but it's also 8 o 'clock. It is. It's
a brutal time. The Big Ten schedule in basketball,
can I just say, it's not amenable to those on
the West Coast. There is a distinct disadvantage.
Well, even thinking about it from Wisconsin's
perspective. They'd be playing at 10 o 'clock
at night. 10 o 'clock, and they just came from
a home game a couple of days ago. That was on
the 22nd, so three days ago, so on the weekend.
So, I mean, yeah, they're going to be adjusted
to Midwest time and all of a sudden playing at
10 p .m. When's the last time you went to a gym
at 10 p .m. to play basketball? You'd be the
one that would be doing something like that.
And I don't even do that. That's a little too
late for me. Maybe eight. They're athletes. They'll
overcome. Wisconsin leads the all -time series
six games to four. Oregon defeated then number
11 -ranked Wisconsin 77 -73 in overtime last
season in Madison. Nate Biddle led all scores
in that game, 23 .6 rebounds, three blocks. KJ
added 10 points, nine rebounds off the bench
last year. Oregon coming off that 71 -70 win.
Over loss over USC in Los Angeles, California.
Extending their road winning streak to the Trojans
to four games. I didn't have that little nugget
before. Kwame scored 21 points, eight rebounds.
Nate had his third double -double of the season,
14 points, 11 rebounds. He also tacked on four
steals. So hear me out. Yes. Lay it on me. If
Oregon can steal this game, I think they've got
a decent shot against Northwestern. Okay, just
hear me out. I'm going to play best case scenario
right here. I'm going to let you go. Say Wisconsin
just is tired tonight. They're coming in. They've
probably been here for a couple days, but it's
a 10 p .m. game in Wisconsin right now in Madison.
Okay, so say Oregon can sneak away with this
one. I like their chances against Northwestern.
Against Illinois, it's probably not going to
happen. But then they play a rivalry game at
home against Washington. What if there's a world
where Oregon wins three out of the last four
games, and then that would make it? I think five
out of the last seven. Right. At that point,
you're going into the tournament, five out of
the last seven. I mean, is there a chance that
they could win a couple games in the Big Ten
tournament? Maybe. I love that you're Captain
Optimism right now. I'm usually not. Because
normally you are on the opposite side of that
spectrum. But if you look at the schedule, I
could see three out of four here. To me, I'll
just say it this way. And as for as many years
as I've been following teams, I will never say
never about anything until there are zeros on
the clock. I learned that lesson very early on.
So everything's wide open and a possibility.
And if you're not willing to lay everything out
on the line or think in any game that you go
into that you're not going to win, then why are
you out on the floor? I mean, if you're just
going to go into a game going, yeah, we're going
to lose this one, then you will. That'll be a
self -fulfilling prophecy. Right. So I think
every athlete, every coach, especially still
with the Ducks, and that's kind of why I thought.
And I know you didn't like me using the word
huge, but that's why I thought the USD game was
huge for confidence and for momentum coming into
the last three games of the regular season. Four.
Well, four, sorry. See, you corrected me there.
And then the Big Ten tournament. So, yeah, everything's
out there. And listen, this would be a great
win against a Badgers team that's 19 -8 over
looking for their Magic 20 win and 11 -5 in conference
play under head coach Greg Gard. This has been
his first NCAA Division I coaching stop, and
he's got 232 wins in 11 years at Wisconsin. Dana,
by the way, looking for his 791st victory as
a head coach in his 36th year, his 381st as a
Duck. The issue for the Ducks is this is a legitimately
very good Wisconsin team, and it's not the Wisconsin
days of old where they're going to have Bo Ryan
and they're going to score 55 points and they're
going to take 30 seconds off the shot clock and
shoot it up with five seconds left. No, this
is a team that can score points. They've got...
A player, Nick Boyd, who's averaging over 20.
John Blackwell is averaging close to that at
18 and a half games. Nolan Winter is a nice big
for them. So they have some size too. That's
kind of the first thing I look for for these
college teams is, hey, Oregon has Nate Biddle.
They're going to have to, if a team's facing
them, they're going to have to have a team with
some size. Wisconsin does. So I think roster
wise, Wisconsin clearly has an edge here. But
hey, maybe Oregon, they get a nice win against
USC. They're playing at home. One of their last
home games. Like I could see it. So Oregon, by
the way, Nate Biddle's Oregon. career high with
four steals against usc oh see if you can eclipse
that when i saw nate biddle at thurston high
school in his i think it was his junior or senior
season that guy probably had a five by five which
you learned that term the other day you remember
what that means um blaze intern blaze you know
what a five by five is right doubles in what
yeah doubles in all All the main categories.
It doesn't mean doubles. It means five. It means
five. At least five in all five categories. Five
in each one. Nick Middle in high school. That
guy was unbelievable. I mean, he was a legit
seven -footer. Played for Crater High. Playing
for Crater. He was a ball handler for that team.
He probably had a five -by -five in that game.
And by the way, they probably would have won
a state championship in his senior year at Crater,
except for COVID. I was at Gill Coliseum calling
the games for the OSAA radio network when they
shut everything down. Literally, they lowered
the standards because the Pac -12 were shutting
down all their campuses. And since the state
tournament was at a Pac -12 collegiate site,
they had to shut the tournament down. That was
probably top to bottom, actually, one of the
best fields in high school basketball back in
what would have been 2020, right? Yeah. That
had ever been. in the final eight. Like, there
were four legit teams that any one of them, you
flip a coin, they could have won the state championship.
That was just sad. It's just a sad thing. And
when you went back to the hotel room, the tears
that were being shed by those seniors that knew
they had a great team and they could not finish
out the season. That was just heart -wrenching.
Sorry to throw that out there. But that's my
experience with Nate Biddle, who was a man -child.
Absolutely. Lot thinner in high school. He was.
Lot thinner. He was wiry. But I think that maybe
something that... we haven't focused on this
season because it's been such an up -and -down
season and mostly down, and Nate was injured.
Man, that guy has been a really great Oregon
Duck, and he's going to go on. I really believe
he's going to be a solid NBA player, and we're
going to see him playing in the league for a
good amount of time. He's a seven -footer that
can shoot. He can protect the rim. I think there's
value in that. So I think that we, as people
that follow the Ducks and Duck fans, need to
appreciate Nate Biddle and everything he's done
for this team over the last, what has it been,
since 2020, 2021, I guess? 2021. For him, it's
been a little bit up and down. We've watched
a lot of growth for him, and it's been really
fun watching him play. I've always really enjoyed
his game. So you can circle the Washington game
on your calendar when the Ducks will have their
senior. Tonight, because it will be, an 8 p .m.
tip on March the 7th. But head on out tonight
to MKA, 8 p .m. again tonight as Wisconsin comes
to town. All right, let's hit some music, and
I'm going to introduce the young man over here
because we have a new feature on our program,
introducing the Archbishop of Alliteration, the
Prince of Proverbs, the Viceroy of Verbs, the
Wizard of Word, the King of Consonants. It's
Justin's Wednesday Word of the Week. All right.
Your word of the week today. We're all going
to get smarter here. Everybody sit down. Is proliferate.
You heard of that word before? It means to increase
and rapidly and excessively. So usually it would
be more for a proliferation of problems would
start when something happens. Nuclear proliferation
is the phrase. Proliferation. It's a little bit
of a tongue twister, but I thought it was a good
word today. All right, kids. Use it in a sentence
tonight. If you can, around the dinner table
and amaze all of your friends and family. To
increase rapidly and excessively. Nice. Okay.
That's beautiful. Oregon State, as we finish
up our roundabout in basketball, Oregon State
is hosting their senior day tonight against San
Diego. They're honoring seniors Jorge Diaz -Graham,
Malcolm Christie during their pregame. Maybe
they'll start. Oregon. State is 5 -1 all -time
against San Diego, 3 -0 in games played at Gil
Coliseum. So that will be tonight, Gil Coliseum,
which means the ladies are on the road, and they
are looking to have their senior day Saturday.
But right now, they are in San Diego, and they're
taking on San Diego at 6 p .m. tonight. Well,
actually, tomorrow night, 6 p .m. And then Saturday,
1 p .m., they'll start their senior days at Gill
Coliseum taking on LMU before they've got their
tournament coming up, the WCC tournament, fighting
for positioning. And I think they still – do
they still have a shot at being number one conference
in the regular season? They do, but they're going
to have to win out and get a little help. Because
Gonzaga, right? They need Gonzaga to lose. They
go 2 -0 this week, the women now at Oregon State.
They could finish anywhere between first and
third, depending on – other games in the league.
It's not bad. No, it's not. It's been a nice
season for them. So the gap between OSU and number
two is larger than the gap between number two
and number last in the WCC. Number last. Well,
the next one down. So, yeah, that's – it'll be
interesting. Scott Rueck's got his team, you
know, playing pretty well. They've been in the
hunt most of the season. So, all right, we'll
take our next break. When we come back. Travis
Demers, the mayor of Rip City. He is in Chi -Town.
We'll find out what's on the menu tonight. It
should be Portillo's. It better be. Close. We've
got to find out where he's staying, what room
number he's in, and we'll send him about 40 Portillo's
sandwiches. I literally would. Back with the
mayor of Rip City next on the Danny and Justin
Radio Program. Fox Sports Eugene, Fox Sports
Newport. Blazers were pumping up the jam against
Minnesota, and they were punching up as well,
but end up. Losing a close game at home, 124
-121 to the Timberwolves. Portland now 28 -31
on the season, 16 -15 at home. They are back
on the road and in Chicago. Let's head on over
to the Oregon Man Clinics hotline at 541 -343
-5673 and welcome in our good friend, the mayor
of Rip City, Travis Demers. Travis, how was the
flight? It was fine. I got plenty of work done.
Now I'm just waiting to get my bag and go to
my room and get some more work done. The cycle
never ends. What's for dinner tonight? It's a
great question. I have no idea. Okay. Oh, God.
Well, here we go. So where are you staying? At
a hotel, yes. I don't think I'm technically allowed
to tell you. Okay. All right. It's near the,
what do they call this, the Willis Tower now?
Like I'm probably standing 100 yards from it.
Yeah, that's fine. I don't need to know your
hotel room number, although I can find that out
and I can send you something. You want me to
send you a key? Yeah. What do we got to do? Do
I need to send you some money? What do I got
to do to get you to try some Portillo's? He's
going to Venmo you something. So I have this
list of different places in different cities,
and that's on the list. I know it is. That's
the stuff. I'm waiting to see if there's anything
going on with any of the other folks on the broadcast
crew, if not. And I can always go there for lunch
tomorrow, too. Absolutely. It's on the list.
It will happen today or tomorrow. Okay, fantastic.
That's all I care about. Now, Justin is much
more at ease now. So, last night, I was listening.
I was texting back and forth with you. Although,
you know, I know you love reading texts while
you're trying to concentrate on doing a game,
but I can't help myself sometimes. Anthony Edwards
scores 34 points, made five threes, and he was
kind of a one -man wrecking crew. Jaden McDaniels
adds 27. six rebounds, three assists. And Drew
Holiday comes through, 22 points. Jeremy Grant
had 18. Donovan Klingin had a double -double,
11 points, 15 boards. Scoot had 19 points. More
bad injury news for the Blazers. But there was
some controversy last night, wasn't there? Were
you talking about some of the officiating concerns?
Yes, and I know you're going to skate the line
of not getting fined. Well, I don't think I've
ever been fined, and trust me, there's nothing
worse that I can say to you right now that I
haven't said on the air before. Good. Lay it
out for the fans. The Blazers got the benefit
of a lot of calls last night. They absolutely
did. But the one place where it really did change
the game was allowing Rudy Gobert to set some
offensive screens in a way that gave him... more
rope than you would usually get in that situation.
There were a couple of really bad ones late.
There was one where he stuck his elbow out on
a pretty clear offensive foul that wasn't called,
led to a three, and then the Blazers, I think,
were trying to figure it out on the other end,
and that's when they turned it over and Jaden
McDaniels had that run -out dunk where he bounced
it to himself. that's five points right there
what was a one possession game and all of a sudden
now it's seven points now it's nine points and
you know there's a minute plus left and you're
not coming back from that so that's not the reason
that they lost it just it it's frustrating to
me we've seen it a few times this year where
the blazers have made a great effort against
a good team and then late in the game there's
something pretty blatant that prevents them from
having a chance late so is that why they lost
no but it It was frustrating, and I made sure
that my opinion was voiced. Oh, yes, you were
near apoplectic when you were describing that.
Your voice went to another octave level, which
was absolutely wonderful to hear because you're
the vessel, man. If I'm not watching the game,
I've got to get the description, and you aptly
described it, so good on you. I've toned it down
a bit from earlier in the year when I was getting
really frustrated about things, but it is what
it is. Your anger proliferated, which was, by
the way, our word of the week this week. So I
had to use it in a sentence. I like it. I like
it. Thank you. Thank you. So interesting. You
brought up Rudy Gobert, who definitely, his impact,
I think, is funny because Danny and I had a really
bad experience watching Rudy Gobert against the
Rockets. So he's like one of those guys where,
depending on the matchup, he can either be really,
really good or really, really bad. And he was
really, really good at the end of that game last
night. Had a couple of huge offensive rebounds
leading to dunks. And it's interesting because...
You know who he kind of reminds me of a little
bit, and maybe he's a little bit less of a modern
version, is Donovan Klingin. I mean, I don't
know what it is, but there's something about
those two guys that kind of remind me of each
other, except for the fact that Donovan can shoot
the three. Yeah. Do you think that I'm kind of
right in that comparison at all? In terms of
the rebounding, I do think you're right. I mean,
they're both obviously monsters on the glass.
They are really good defensively in the paint.
They can block shots. They can alter shots. They're
both incredible offensive rebounders. They're
one and three in the league in second -chance
points. Yeah, to your point, Donovan Kling is
a better shooter. He's a better offensive player.
He obviously can step out and shoot the three.
And I think the other similarity that you didn't
mention is they both have difficulty defending
the perimeter, especially in drop coverage. And
with bigs who can get out and shoot the three,
that's where they're at. They struggle, and that's
where it's helpful for the Blazers to have somebody
like Robert Williams III when you can kind of
have those two guys together. Willie wasn't a
factor last night, but they didn't have Robert
Williams III anyway. But to your point, yeah,
I think there are a lot of similarities there.
One of the differences being that Donovan is
a significantly better three -point shooter,
and he will take them. Well, and another thing
I think was happening last night was that I think
Donovan's in this. I'd love your opinion on this.
I think he's a better offensive rebounder than
the defensive rebounder, because I think that
was getting to be kind of an issue. And the way
that their coverage was, he was on some of those
shots contesting the perimeter while Rudy was
underneath the paint. And so he was able to get
some of those boards. But how much importance
do you think there is for the Blazers to have
another rebounder on the floor? Because I think
the other best guy on the floor probably at the
time was maybe Jeremy or Tumani. But they have
guys like Denny's probably. I guess probably
in terms of stats, their second -leading rebounder,
Robert Williams, was out. How important do you
think it is, depending on the matchup, for the
Blazers to have another rebounder out there with
Donovan? Well, I think rebounding on this team
is huge, right, for a lot of reasons. You look
at guys who can do different things. Scoot's
a very good rebounding guard. He's not Josh Hart
in that fashion, but he's a very good rebounding
guard. Tumani Kamara, very good rebounder. Chris
Murray is a very good rebounder, especially on
the offensive glass. So you see the things that
those guys can do. And a lot of that helps on
the offensive glass, right? Especially when you
take and miss a lot of threes, you're going to
have a lot of, you know, long rebounds and things
like that. And the Blazers are as good as anybody
else in the league getting to those spots. They're
one of the top two teams in the league in terms
of offensive rebound rate, one of the bottom
two teams in the league in terms of defensive
rebound rate. That was a problem for this team
last year. They knew it coming into camp. Because
when you play really good defense, and we saw
it last night, we've seen it a number of times
this year, where you defend a really good player
and you get a stop. but then they get the rebound
and they get to try again the 14 seconds and
sometimes a third or fourth time. It is really
demoralizing as a defense. So you look at those
possessions, and now they're getting four cracks
at it instead of one, and the Blazers have been
one of the worst teams in the league this year
in defensive rebounding. And to your point about,
you know, is Donovan Kling a better offensive
rebounder than defensive rebounder? I mean, he
leads the league in that category, right? He's
averaging, what, 4 .6, 4 .7 offensive rebounds
a game. but he's averaging seven defensive rebounds
a game. So I don't think that those things are...
Mutually exclusive? Yeah, yeah, exactly. I mean,
he is a good defensive rebounder. He's an excellent
offensive rebounder. But I also think, to your
point, about having other rebounders on the floor
and him being the guy who has to get to those
sometimes, but when he's also altering shots
or blocking shots or in drop coverage, having
to step out on the perimeter. Sometimes it leaves
things open, and when you don't have another
guy out there on the floor that can consistently
get those rebounds, that's when your team rebounding
suffers for it. At an undisclosed location in
the Chicagoland area, it's the voice of the Blazers.
Travis Demers joining us. We call him the mayor
of Rip City. Well, I only bring that up because
I got in trouble once for saying what hotel we
were staying at. No, I'm fine. I'm not going
to broadcast your location. I mean, I'll just
put it on Twitter if I can pin you. That's all.
But you won't reveal it. I will. 23 games left
in the season, Travis. And the Blazers start
counting things down. And I got a couple of questions,
but I'm going to kind of center on just. The
Phoenix Suns, the Golden State Warriors, ahead
of the Blazers 7 and 8, respectively. The Clippers
are tied with the Blazers, you know, basically
in the standings as well at 9 and 10. Memphis
is five and a half games back out of the 10th
spot. Tanking. And the Lakers are seven games
clear in the sixth spot. So with 23 games left,
the schedule is a little bit easier. Where do
you want to see the Blazers at? Does 15 wins
get them a lock into the postseason? Oh, I think
at this point there is basically no chance they
won't be in the play -in. I mean, they're what,
five games clear of Memphis? Five and a half.
Five and a half. They'll play one more time on
this road trip here. But, you know, if you think
about that with 23 games left to play, let's
say the Blazers go 500. So let's say 12 and 11
in those 23, that means Memphis has to win 17
or 18 games to pass that. That's not happening.
Got it. So even if they finish two games under
.500, Memphis still has to win 15 or 16 games.
That's not happening. So from what I see, there's
basically no chance the Blazers don't at the
very least make the play in. And to your point
about where the standings shape up, eighth, ninth,
or tenth, it would be great to see them jump
up to eighth. And if they lose that first game,
then get a home game against the Clippers or
the Warriors. But they will be in the play -in.
It's just a matter of is it 8, 9, or 10, what
happens to the Golden State with their injuries.
And with the Blazers, like you said, having the
easiest schedule left in the league, and you
look at this trip, with the exception of Houston,
nobody else is in the top six of their conferences.
I mean, Charlotte's played better, but they're
in, what, ninth right now. Atlanta's in that
same ballpark. The Bulls have lost nine in a
row. Memphis is struggling. This is a road trip
that they'll be favored in four of the five games,
and they will hopefully win at least three of
them. And they had success against the Warriors
earlier in the season. They just beat the Suns.
So, I mean, like, got to like their chances in
the play -in. It does seem like this season at
this point has been a step forward. But I think
that something we've been talking about all year
long has been, man, the injuries. And it's not
just the fact that they've had injuries. It's
that every single time it feels like they get
healthy, somebody new gets injured. So I guess
my question is. Do you think, despite the fact
that it seems like there's been a rotation of
literally almost everyone being injured, that
they've had enough time to piece together some
evaluations to see what they want to do? Are
you thinking about in terms of the offseason?
Yeah. Yeah, no, I think they've got a very good
idea of what they want to do. I mean, coming
into this season, you wanted to, yes, you signed
Jaden Sharp, but you want to see what you have
in him. And while he is going to be out for a
while and has missed a chunk of the season, I
think you've got a pretty good idea of where
he is and where he can still grow and what that's
going to look like. And there is market improvement
from last year to this year with him. Scoot Henderson,
if he did not play again the rest of the season,
I still think you know exactly what you have
in him. And I have been, you know, the number
one flag waver for Scoot for a long time. And
I think he's been great. And I think he is exactly
where he's supposed to be. You know, Donovan
Klingin, same thing. You know, Young Hansen was
a guy that we knew was going to be a project.
And he's still. Working on that. Benny has exceeded
everybody's expectations. So I think in terms
of individual player evaluation, yeah, I think
they have a very good idea of who can do what.
The problem is because, to your point about so
many guys coming out of the lineup, they don't
know what combinations work best together. And
that's a challenge they're facing right now.
And I think that led to some of the issues against
Denver because you don't know who plays well
with who and what lineups work. And I saw some
fans last night, you know, why is Scoot not on
the starting lineup? Why is Chris Murray? Well,
Chris had a great game, but you're also looking
at Scoot now coming off the bench and look at
what he did to Bones Island against another second
unit guy on the team. He's going to abuse those
guys every night, and that will help build his
confidence and his skill set. And he'll eventually
be in the starting lineup, but he doesn't need
to be right now. Right now, I think him being
a sixth man is the absolute perfect spot for
him. All right, Mayor, last question for you.
And with the Blazers at 28 -31, I want to move
towards the bench. How good of a job, in your
estimation, has Tiago Splitter done with this
team? With all of the way that they could have
distractions, with all the injuries, the off
-court stuff that the season started off with,
and on and on and on and on. You say, yeah, 28
-31, one of the toughest schedules in the first
half of the season. And I just think he's done
a masterful job trying to move all the pieces
around. Yeah, I completely agree with you. I
think he's done a brilliant job managing this
team. Coaching this team, I really don't know
because there has been nothing consistent about
this team this year from, you know, players to
schedules, things like that. It's been a big
challenge. And to keep this team afloat the way
they have been right around 500, and I think
they're going to finish above 500 this year.
with all the things that you talked about, schedule,
injuries, figuring out what rotations are. For
a team that I think most people outside of Portland
picked to be under .500 this season, I think
a lot of people around Portland picked them to
be around .500. Considering that they've had
an average of five -plus rotation players out
per game this season to still be a .500 team,
I think it's an absolutely remarkable job. and
to see the growth as well from the individual
players. The growth has absolutely been there.
So what does that mean, big picture? I don't
know what it means in terms of how they're going
to structure the coaching staff next year, but
I would love to see this group of coaches, and
not just Thiago Splitter, the assistant coaches
on this team are phenomenal. I would love to
see them be able to continue what they have done
and see where it can go. All right, Mayor, 5
p .m. tip here on the left coast, 7 o 'clock
local time. Bulls and Blazers tomorrow night.
Have fun in Chicago. No snow to shovel, I would
imagine. Enjoy your pertillos. Enjoy your pertillos.
Yes, that is the plan. All right, appreciate
you, Mayor. See you. There he goes, the great
Travis Demers, the mayor of Rip City, as it will
be the Blazers right here on Fox Sports. Eugene,
tomorrow, 5 p .m. first tip. And then Saturday
against Charlotte. Early game on Saturday, 10
a .m. start. And then Sunday, the 1st of March,
the Ides of March in Atlanta. The Ides of March
was the 15th because that was my birthday. Sorry.
It's upcoming. Let's do dad jokes. Oh, a joke.
I got fired from the bank today. A woman asked
me to check her balance. So I pushed her. Dad
jokes! Just for clarification, I wasn't saying
March 1st was the Ides of March. Okay, okay.
Whenever you get into March, I think about the
Ides of March. Okay. I do, too. What kind of
ship does Dracula have? What kind of ship does
Dracula have? I don't know. I don't know what
I'm talking about. Blaze is looking at the ceiling.
He's shaking his head no. Well, it's a blood
vessel. God. All right, kids. Here we go. Calm
down. Everybody's fine. Everybody kept their
hands and legs inside the vehicle. Thanks for
tuning in to the Danny and Justin Radio Program.
If you missed any of this frivolity and fun stuff,
go back, listen to the pod. Danny and Justin.
Like up, sign, subscribe, do all that good stuff.
Put a smile on your face. Someone else, they
deserve it. So do you. For Intern Blaze, who's
producing this program. For Baby J, I'm Doc.
We'll be back in about 23 hours from now. Take
care.