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 Waszkowski, 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. It's like the saying in Alaska
that you don't have to be faster than the bear,
you just have to be faster than your friend.
Hello! Welcome high atop the Delta Tri at the
Crystal Palace. Fox Sports Eugene, Fox Sports
Newport, live from the Bigfoot Beverages Studios,
the fastest 60 minutes of sports. Yes, my friends,
you found us, yet again. It's the Danny and Justin
radio program. Hi there, kids. Weekend Eve, not
at the wood, but here in the Bigfoot Beverages
Studios, the Oregon Man Clinics Outline, 541
-343 -5673. We have a ton to go over, including...
a separation of men's basketball coach and school
and maybe it's not the one you thought of first
or maybe not last we'll talk about that oregon
state men's and women's basketball in action
one team last night another team tonight oregon
men's basketball massive win on the home floor
against the higher seed Wisconsin Badgers the
Oregon women get to 20 wins on the regular season
as they head back home for senior day on Sunday
all of that and the Kanishk Tyson Alger from
Lookout Eugene Springfield in the i -5 corridor
podcast all on the fastest 60 minutes of sports
follow some Twitter and blue sky Danny and Justin
also wherever you platform Your podcast and or
music you find us there Danny and Justin Producer
intern Dom is sitting in the pilot's chair making
sure we all stay on time. I'm doc otherwise known
as Danny That's the name I was given when I came
out of my mom and over here to my right Justin
Grosswiner We call him baby Jay lovingly Well,
as you said it was not the coach that we expected
first and as the great Ricky Bobby said if you
ain't first you're last and Yeah, it happened
Wayne Tinkle got flushed You've been he's literally
he's been waiting. How many hours now? Oregon
State men's basketball coach Wayne Tinkle is
not gonna return next season and To me the biggest
question is is he gonna finish out the year?
It sounds like he is But there's been no official
announcement that he's gonna finish out the year.
I would think that Wayne Tinkle with his stature
and status within the basketball community he
won't quit on his team even though he knows he's
not coming back and Oregon State won last night
they had to come from behind against San Diego
and then the announcement comes today Beeves
had an eight -point lead within the final minute
of regulation and the Toreros surged to force
the overtime Isaiah Sy recorded a double -double
with 16 and 12 Jorge Diaz -Graham on senior night
had 17 points five of eight shooting in his final
game at Gill Yohan Munch Love saying that name.
19 points, eight boards. Josiah Lake had 15 points,
nine assists. Beavers are 16 and 14 on the year,
nine and eight in WCC play. They're now in fourth
place in the conference. It is weird timing,
isn't it? I think, yeah, Scott Barnes, the AD
in Corvallis has been under a lot of heat for
all the off the court, off the field stuff with
the whole NIL thing that came up during the football
season blueprint and the damn nation and the
fundraising for niel and i don't know is this
uh is this one of those hey let's look over here
so we're not going to talk about this other stuff
for a while i don't know again so here's the
story on if he's gonna finish the season from
pete thanell uh he has been asked by athletic
director scott barnes To finish the season, but
he has not made a decision on that. So that's
a that's kind of an interesting conversation
Hey, by the way, uh, we're gonna let you go,
but please finish the season with us. So wouldn't
you think though that if wayne tinkle Had decided
he's gonna do it. He would have just said right
away Yeah, i'm gonna go ahead and because the
other phrase one game plus the tournament, right?
Well, who knows how far they can go if they hold
on to fourth place. They're gonna be at least
into Friday of the tournament because they get
the top four seed you get buys all the way up
to the quarterfinals this is Three or four games
at most could be and it's not like you're looking
at half a season here. I mean interim coach I
don't I just don't know why it's the end of the
world if you have an interim coach the other
question I would have on it is if this was quote
-unquote and they're framing it as a mutual parting
of the ways which I don't think Wayne Tickle
said, yeah, I'd like to leave. Thanks. You know,
I'm OK with it. I'm good with it. Hence again,
why he hasn't made the immediate statement or
they didn't release it to say he's going to finish
the season. So he's debating whether or not,
you know, he wants to hang out on the bench being
a lame duck. And maybe he sees that as a distraction
to his players. I don't know. Go ahead. I don't
know. I mean, it's interesting, though, if you
just look at what they've done, if you want to
call it the second half of the season. So after
they beat, I'm just looking after they beat Arizona
State. The teams they've lost to are not teams
that you would sit there and go wow like they
have a really bad loss here I guess you could
say Seattle you isn't like a great loss, but
Santa Clara's are the top of the conference Pacific's
right behind them in fifth place They be Gonzaga.
They well they know they lost to Gonzaga. I thought
they'd be Gonzaga one game didn't they no they
lost That was because I guess just lost to that
was the women the women. Yeah, okay So that's
what I'm saying though that the teams that they're
losing to are not like unexpectedly like bad
losses. So it's been a bad season overall, I
would say, like not horrible, but not a good
season. Last year was definitely a better season
for them, but it still seems like I almost can
more believe that it's a mutual parting of the
ways because of the more recent success that
they've had, because it doesn't seem like one
of those things where, you know, I don't know,
maybe it maybe somebody said something behind
the scenes like I just don't really it doesn't
necessarily make sense based on what's happened
recently. So, Wayne Tinkle will not make it to
his 13th season. He had one year left on his
contract. And he got a four -year contract extension
after that magical run back in 2021 where they
made the Elite Eight. It was right around the
time that you were, you know, right in the groove
with Oregon Athletics. The Beavers that year,
if you remember, finished 14 -12, but then they
won the Pac -12 tournament, upset Tennessee,
Oklahoma State, and the Darlings, loyal of Chicago,
And sent sister and packing on their way to the
regional final as a number 12 seed and that got
him that four -year extension Tinkles record
after last night in his 12 seasons 176 and 204.
It was never that was the high watermark There
was never right after the success he had at montana
With two big sky regular season titles three
ncaa tournament appearance. He never matched
that and The Pac -12 is going to be a legit basketball
conference next year. It definitely is going
to be better. It's Sister Jean, by the way. Sister
Jean, not Sister Anne? No, not Sister Anne. Shout
out to Sister Jean. Rest in peace. She passed
away. I'm sure there was a Sister Anne as well.
I'm sure there has been. I think something else
that we have to keep in mind, too, for this specific
team is that... Let's think about last year's
team where you had a bunch of guys that were
these international players They competed really
really well with oregon in that game. They barely
lost they had a lot of talent that went to other
places Afterwards he had to remake the roster
once again coming into this year after remaking
the roster last year and having a pretty talented
roster but then the situation obviously wasn't
as good because You're in the new pack 12 versus
in the old pack 12. So I definitely think that
for Wayne Tinkle, he probably sees this as a
situation where like he doesn't have to deal
with that necessarily the next job he's at. And
Coach Tinkle took a circular route when he was
recruiting. There was a lot of foreign players.
He was a little out of the curve on that. So
you take a look at I think there's probably seven
different countries represented on the current
roster. if i'm correct on that and i might not
be i might be off a country or two but he didn't
dip into the transfer portal a lot he went outside
of that and found players from europe and adjusted
i think his style of coaching to some of those
players and unfortunately it met with middling
success and that's why he's shown the door right
now this is listen let's make no mistake about
it the football program in rebuild mode the basketball
program now in rebuild mode and the pack 12 is
looming the TV eyes will be on it and Especially
for football they're gonna be fighting upward
to try and get themselves to be legitimate in
terms of the college football playoffs so Scott
Barnes is rolling the dice and It'll be interesting
and we'll talk about this more the next time
we get some of our beaver beat reporters on is
that who does Oregon State go out and get now
who do you identify as a step up for Wayne Tinkle
because you don't want to make Lateral moves
are not the way to go. You've got to make sure
that this is a Up -and -comer or a splash hire
for somebody that's got a name and we've been
talking about this with Dana Altman Which is
you're not gonna fire somebody to have an equal
you you always want to have a candidate that
you see out there that's better and I think that
the timing is interesting because we've been
looking at it with Dana and saying well who's
out there that You sit there and go well, that
would be a perfect fit. I don't know if it's
the same. It's the same thing with Oregon State
I don't know who's out there that you really
make sense. Yeah, you have to make the same comparison.
I mean maybe Scott Barnes has somebody in mind
that he thinks he can get and he must I've always
said and it this goes into the business community
as well You don't let somebody go unless you
know who they're gonna be replaced with or at
least the type of person You're gonna replace
them with and you think you can get that person
You just don't do it and especially at a high
level high profile job Going into the new pack
12. Yeah, you cannot miss on you cannot whiff
on this hire on the football side Jamarca Shepherd
comes from a Rock -solid program in the SEC as
the co -offensive coordinator assistant head
coach wide receivers coach Now does he have a
personality for it, too? Does he have a head
coaching resume? Absolutely not but neither did
Dan Lanning. So I think Scott Barnes looked 35
yards 35 miles south and went, you know what?
If Oregon can do it, I might be able to do the
same thing. Yeah, no, I like what he did with
that high Earth to Marcus Shepherd. And we'll
obviously have to see the proof in the pudding
when that plays out. But I think you hit it right
on the head. It's the first year of the new pack
12 and I think it is vitally important on both
the basketball and football side 100 because
you are the one of the pillars you washington
state and obviously you're traditionally like
gonzaga is a better basketball program, but You
got to be competitive. You're supposed to be
one of the top revenue shareholders in the conference
Like you're going to be in a financially better
position than most of the teams and programs.
So you've got to capitalize on that and so Don't
know it's interesting though cuz Scott Barnes.
I mean haven't we kind of talked about him being
a little bit on the rocks The fan base is calling
for his head. They don't want him around anymore
for sure So and a lot of it's been some of the
missteps that have been happening off the field
that affect the programs I think for him it almost
might be He has nothing to lose in terms of hiring
somebody else and he's gonna get his probably
one or two years in the new Pac -12 And then
if it doesn't work out Proof is going to be in
the results. I can't see Scott Barnes lasting
two or three years more if they continue to downward
trend like they have. We'll hear from Coach Dana
Altman as we switch gears to University of Oregon
basketball in a much rosier last couple of games
for the Ducks. Although Dana Altman was squarely
now in that look of, hey, you're going to hang
around. You got two years left on a contract.
And when we had Dana on last year, the rumors
were talking about he was going to retire. He's
like no, I like and he's still saying the same
lines as he did last year. I still love coaching.
I still think i'm viable You're gonna have to
drag me out of here until oregon says they don't
want me anymore. I'm gonna be here And that's
the line we'll get to him in a second Well, and
he doesn't like it because of the recruiting
aspect because he told us that's exactly what
he told us It affects players wanting to know
if he's gonna be around or not before we get
to that Cascade Collegiate Conference, Bushnell
University, the Beacons are in the postseason
in men's basketball, and they're playing their
conference tournament right now to see who goes
to the national championship round. And the number
six seed, Bushnell University, Beacons went down
to Ashland at Southern Oregon and knocked off
the number three seed, Southern Oregon University,
71 -70. By the way, there were four quarterfinal
games, and only the top seed, Lewis Clark State,
ended up winning. Out of the top four seeds,
They were the only ones to survive. Two, three,
and four are gone because Corbin beat the number
two seed, Eastern Oregon. So now it's going to
be Corbin and Bushnell in the semifinals at Dave
Lipp Court in the Morris Event Center. And I
believe that's going to be a Saturday game. So,
but this is how they won it. Southern Oregon,
with 1 .2 seconds left in the game, is at the
free throw line up by two. They intentionally
miss the free throw. A beacon collects the ball
on the rebound, Corey Johnson, and he throws
up a desperation heave from three -quarters court,
and he's fouled with one -tenth of a second left
in the game. Calmly steps to the line, swishes
three free throws. Oregon, Southern Oregon, loses
71 -70 to the Beacons. The you know how coaches
always yell at you do not foul do not foul do
not foul well somebody wasn't listening Yeah,
and I'm not gonna call out the player by the
way go ahead. It was the free throw shooter I'm
not gonna say the name because I don't I don't
necessarily know it but What I will say is that
it really wasn't a super duper egregious foul.
No, it was a little ticky -tacky I have to say
and go nowhere near I totally get it even give
the official 100 % 100 % I would say that if
I was him I'd be a little upset that that was
called but at the same like like you're saying
you can't Do that and you can't lose a game like
that. It's just That's got to hurt more than
almost any kind of loss probably because you
have no shot otherwise So by the way for Bush
and now the only way they make the national tournament
is if they win the conference tournament So so
now in the Cascade collegiate conference back
in the day when Luke Jackson was the head coach
In the NEI and the CCC and then we're gonna get
to Dana all in here in a second I promise you
guys we will on the Danny and Justin radio program
But I remember this because I was calling games
for Bush now at the time is that the old rules
were that if the conference champion also won
the tournament, then it would go to the other
team that made the tournament final, no matter
what your seed was. And so the first year that
then NCU made the national tournament under Luke
Jackson, they were a sixth seed as well. And
they end up going to the conference championship
game against College of Idaho, who won the regular
season title. And so the Beacons made their way
to, at that time, Branson, Missouri, based on
them just getting to the championship game. They
have since changed that rule. If the number one
seed wins the conference tournament, the number
two seed, in this case, Eastern Oregon, gets
the other automatic qualifier position. We call
that the Luke Jackson rule. Just so you know
Friend of the program friend of the program as
the head coach of the beacons. All right, let's
talk about a big win You were there last night.
So were you Dom? I? Watched where were you? I
was watching it at home because past my bedtime
It was it was late when Nate Biddle was choosing
and I'm reading this from the the write -up When
Nate Biddle was choosing where to play college
after growing up in? Medford, Oregon or actually
probably Central Point because he played for
Crater High School in Southern, Oregon He didn't
take it for granted what it would be like to
stay in state. There's only a few games left
in his career with basketball, but he's not taking
it for granted now. His senior season was probably
highlighted with another big win for the Ducks,
third time in the last four games now, and Nate
Biddle had 20 points, six rebounds, three steals,
five assists, and leads Oregon to a convincing
85 -71 win over Wisconsin, holding the Badgers
to a 33 % shooting from the field. He's just
one of 41 players to score a thousand career
points or more in the oregon men's program and
you guys were there so Tell me what yeah. Well,
I mean it didn't start off great It was I think
21 to 13 wisconsin maybe six or seven minutes
in but second half Oregon 55 points. I mean they
just absolutely looked again Didn't start off
super great the start of the second half either,
but nate looked better He looked like himself
again, and he was hitting threes They got some
point guard production, which was really great
to see out of way Lynn He was really really important
off the bench. He had 13 points I still think
that Dane Allman yells at him more than I've
seen any other player and I did think that at
one point Dane Allman was gonna get a technical
foul I don't think he has gotten one this season,
which would extend his record of never getting
one basically a few games left but I do think
exactly and I definitely thought he was gonna
get one last night at one point when I don't
remember what happened it was like an offensive
foul or something that was maybe called but I
I think that the team found something they clearly
the the joke is online that Dana Albin aligns
Rubik's cubes and I thought Rothstein John Rothstein
yeah and you know it got to a certain point in
this season where it's like I don't know if they're
gonna figure it out I definitely think they figured
something out at this point. Will they go on
a run here? I'm not sure. But what they do have
is they've got a guy, Nate Biddle, who hasn't
been healthy for a lot of the season, who is
playing really, really well again. The activity
between Sean Stewart and Kwame Evans Jr. was
awesome. They were affecting shots, getting tips.
It led to. turnovers, which they didn't get a
ton of turnovers, but those led to transition
baskets, which they have not been getting. I
don't think they're going to score 85 points
every single game. But what I can see this team
doing is being really active defensively, which
they haven't done all season long. But for some
reason, this was the game that they figured it
out. And it really affected Wisconsin, who, by
the way, and I know I'm ranting here, shot 45
threes of their 66 total shots. That's amazing.
And they held the Badgers well underneath their
seat as an average in terms of points. You had
identified it the other day that Wisconsin likes
to score. And they only scored 71 points as the
Ducks now 11 and 17 overall, 4 and 13 in the
Big Ten. They allowed the lowest shooting percentage
by a conference opponent since Maryland shot
27 % against the Ducks on January 2nd. And Dana
almost asked after. So the defense all of a sudden,
like why now? I wish I could tell you. I don't
know. You know, the guys had a little bounce
in their step. Like I said, slow start to the
game. You know, we gave up 21 points early. I
didn't think we were bouncing around at all.
And then the second half, we started out slow.
But, you know, I thought Nate and Sean, you know,
and then KJ the second half, just I thought our
bigs did a good job. Our guards did a better
job of getting through screens. because they
set a lot of ball screens. Boyd and Blackwell
probably as good at tandem in the backcourt as
we have in our league. And thought our guys did
a great job of getting through those screens
and guarding. So it was a good effort. And like
I said, we've been getting better defensively,
but our activity never been like this. And I
think, you know, they had a little success with
a few breakaways with our activity. I thought,
you know, then they got a little more aggressive
and it was a physical game. So our guys could
be a little aggressive and figure it out. We'll
be hearing from Tyson Alger who was also I believe
at the game from Lookout Eugene Springfield and
the i -5 quarter podcast John Blackwell Nick
Boyd as Coach just mentioned there were the only
two players in double figures Blackwell has 22
points on six of 14 shooting from three And those
were all the makes he made. So all of his points
out of the 18 shots he took, all of them were
threes. Nick Boyd went four of 12 and scored
11 points. But on the other side as well, Takai
Simpkins had 17, Kwame Evans Jr. had 16, Weyland
had 13. We'll talk about Weyland in just a moment
with Dana. But it's that brittle energy that
keeps showing its way in these last three of
four wins for the Ducks that Dana likes. fighting
his two sprained ankles and coming back. Tonight
was, I thought the first night he kind of looked
bouncy. He's played but he hasn't looked bouncy.
Tonight he gets three steals, gets a block. I
just thought his bounce was so much better tonight.
His activity, knees bent, being an athlete rather
than. you know, just standing straight up and
down. So, again, you know, I don't know what
his motivation is, but, you know, he, Sean, and
KJ, you know, kept the team together. It's been
a mixed bag for Waylon on the season. Much ballyhooed
coming in, but he shot five of eight from the
field, had 13 points, and with Jackson Shellstad
out, we assume, for the rest of the season, he's
going to have to carry more of the load, and
it's been tough because... Dana Altman's got
to have that trust in him. But it's not just...
Defensively especially. Right. And that's what
he talked about, Coach Altman, about Waylon on
the defensive side of the ball. You know, he
did a good job offensively in his 20 minutes.
You know, if you look at the plus minus, he and
KJ, you know, plus minus, you know, 16 in those
minutes. You know, I thought he did a good job.
But I was really impressed, you know, defensively.
He has not done a good job of getting through
screens and getting off into the ball. And I
thought his defensive effort tonight was the
best that he's shown. Three out of the last four,
the Ducks have put it in the win column. They
play Northwestern Saturday. They're on the road.
in the Chicagoland area 11 a .m out here on the
west coast on the Big 10 network and the Ducks
are punching up right now 4 and 13 of the Big
10 but still they want to get themselves out
of that number 15 seed and get themselves up
into a position where they can play in the Big
10 tournament all right when we come back we'll
have Tyson Alger the commish is going to join
us we'll talk a lot more about this basketball
team the basketball game i think he might have
some thoughts as well possibly on baseball as
the Ducks are going to head down to Vegas And
a lot more to talk about with Oregon women's
basketball. We've got all the tiebreakers figured
out. Heading into senior day, we'll have a lot
more about women's basketball tomorrow with coach
Kelly Graves going to be on the program. But
we'll talk about the big win on the road against
Purdue for Oregon women. But next, Tyson Alger,
the commish on the Danny and Justin radio program.
Tomorrow on the program, we'll have the big kahuna,
Kelly Graves, getting ready to talk about the
windup of the regular season, the Big Ten tournament
for women's basketball. One more at MKA and it'll
be on Sunday for the seniors. Not many seniors.
No, I'm killing a great squad. Quick announcements.
Let's head out over the Oregon Man -Clinics Hotline
at 541 -343 -5673 and welcome in our good friend.
We call him the commish Tyson Alger from Lookout
Eugene Springfield. And he covers the Timbers
really well and podcasts on the I -5 quarter.
And he joins us on the Oregon Man -Clinics Hotline
at 541 -343 -5673. Are you a pond hockey aficionado
as well? Tyson? Yeah, you know, the tough thing
down here is, like, I feel like we only get a
couple weekends that, like, the conditions are
good enough to be able to pull it off. But yeah,
like some of my favorite memories growing up
in Alaska was just, you know, being able to go
down to, like, any lake and never have to worry
about the, you know, the falling through aspect
up in Alaska isn't quite as threatening. Minimal.
as down here. So you got all your chiclets still?
That's teeth, by the way, for anybody who doesn't
know hockey. I do with like an asterisk. When
I was playing club hockey at Montana, I did get
my top right canine tooth knocked out in a fight,
but they just it was club hockey. So we didn't
have doctors or like team dentists or anything.
And so like I came off the ice and some guy ran
down from the stands and it was like Hey, like
you just want to like put that back in and I
was like, okay So he ran it under a water water
faucet and then just put it back into my mouth
and uh Here like 18 years later. It's still working.
So did it was the other guy more messed up than
you though. Did you win? I um, I mean like I
I don't want to exaggerate I I I held my own
like, you know, i'm i'm sure my face really hurt
his fist, you know Well, who started it? Yeah
They did. A guy ran our goalie. I went to go
pull him off the goalie and somebody jumped me
from behind and then it just got kind of wild
from there. No bueno. All right. So you can follow
Tyson on the old Twitter at Tyson Alger, A -L
-G -E -R. And what great coverage he's doing
for Lookout Eugene Springfield. You can follow
Lookout Eugene Springfield at Lookout underscore
E -S as he covers the Ducks. We'll talk Timbers
as well near the end of it because he does the
great podcast on the I -5 quarter and covers
the Timbers. up there in the Portland area. So,
you know, where is this coming from now? Dana's
team, Coach Altman's team has been under fire
for most of the year, injury riddled, some dissension
off the floor with the fan bases calling for
Coach Altman's head. And then here we go, three
out of four, including the one point win at USC
and a convincing 14 point victory over Wisconsin.
So where has this team been all season long,
Tyson? Tell me. Yeah, you know what's funny is
we kind of asked Dana that last night like why
why now and He just shook his head and laughed
and then was just like, you know, I I wish I
could tell you but What's funny about it though
is like in a vacuum like if you didn't know like
how this season has gone and you had just shown
up to Matthew night arena last night for what
is it the Venmo rivalry series against Wisconsin?
big, big natural rivals there on the basketball
court. But if you just showed up and didn't know
how the year went and you're like, hey, it's
late February. Dana Altman's basketball team
is playing great basketball. This is normal.
This is how it's supposed to go. But of course,
you can't just view it in the vacuum like that.
They're three weeks removed from a 10 game losing
streak. are at the very close to the bottom of
the Big Ten. It's been such a frustrating season.
I've heard the same chatter that you guys have
online about the fan base and the dissension
and whether or not it's time to move on. I'll
even admit that there's times that this year
where you've watched these games and seen the
stagnation and then just wonder what's the plan?
Can he still navigate this college basketball
world? then to be able to kind of on the same
day that there was a ESPN report that came out
yesterday that the the university's fully committed
to him for the next season and then to be able
to like go and like back that up not only with
my classmates win but it was like a convincing
win and it was their third win in four games
and that that includes like the the road win
over USC like you still like you can see that
this guy still has his fastball and like like
he still knows how to coach and I think he takes
a lot of pride in the fact that, like, Wei Lin
was, like, making his way, like, around screens
yesterday, something that, like, he hasn't done
all season, but, like, you can see that development.
And, you know, obviously we're not going to see
this team develop to a point where they're going
to make a deep NCAA tournament run this year.
Like, it's going to be a prayer if they can even
make that because you have to go win the Big
Ten tournament. But I think what you just really
needed to see with this year was just, like,
improvement and progress and, like, a coach that
can still... get his locker room to play behind
him. And I think that's what you see in the last
four games, because like these haven't been easy.
That's not a bad Wisconsin team there. And yeah,
it was a fun night of basketball. Like that's
all it was. Yeah, it was it was enough to almost
make you kind of believe a little bit based on
the way that they were playing and I think you
brought up a great point with wey -lin and the
way he was playing defensively it's why he hasn't
been on the court for very much and I've been
saying this I think that I've seen coach allman
yell at wey -lin more than I think any other
player when I've watched this oregon basketball
team in recent years, but Wei Lin clearly has
something. There's something about that guy where
he has this special quality to him, but there's
all the fundamental stuff around that that I
think is the reason why he doesn't play it many
times. And when Jackson went down for the season,
it was very clear that between Drew Carter and
Wei that they needed to have somebody step up.
And I think Drew Carter stepped up at times.
I think Wei Lin stepped up at times. Do you think
Wei? Has what it takes to be able to help this
team down the stretch now that they've kind of
gotten a little bit momentum Going in the next
year to or in the next year to where that easy
to make a significant impact Yeah, I I think
there's potential there. I mean like we we've
seen in bits and pieces how effect, I mean how
exciting of an offensive player he can be. I
was going to say efficient but like I don't think
that's the word with him at all or effective
but like you know he He didn't have his scoring
touch at the start of the year. He couldn't hit
a three, but I do think that it was just part
of him getting into the rhythm of coming off
the bench and not getting a ton of minutes, and
a lot of that being because he was just a defensive
liability out there. You can be the most talented
player out there, but if Altman feels like he
can't trust you in defensive situations, you're
just not going to get run. I think it's been,
you know, one of those things where it's like
the defense needs to get better, but I think
the offense kind of suffered because of that
too. But like, yeah, I think over the last kind
of like month or so, like you, you've really
seen like a guy that there's, there's something
and they're like, I don't know what, like, I
don't know quite what it is, but I love watching
him with the ball in his hands. Like it kind
of feels like something's going to happen, even
though like a lot of times it doesn't, but like
he's He's definitely got you got some pep in
this step and like I I feel like that if he can
completely figure it out I We haven't been able
to talk to him So we don't really know how like
the adjustment from china to america has been
but like I can't imagine like that's been easy
Especially when you go from being a star player
to a bench player But if it does click for him,
like I I really do think he can be an effective
player for this team Tyson alger look out eugene
springfield with us here on the danny and justin
radio program and Wait, he's the ultimate no.
No. Yes type of player, I think at times where
he'll make that shot that you're just like, man,
like, where did that come from? But I think one
of the things that came to my head last night
watching this game and seeing what this team
did defensively against Wisconsin, it felt like
there was a legitimate identity that was formed.
And maybe it was Nate Biddle. Coach all one called
him more bouncy and his activity. He had three
steals Kwame Evans and Sean Stewart I think were
a big part of that as well each adding a steal
four blocks for Kwame image junior as well Do
you think that that's legitimate that they've
created now? I know it's only been kind of this
game and maybe that Penn State game that is there
a potential legitimate defensive identity that
this team has formed There's potential there
and like like I I don't know, you know like Again
because they like it's only it's only really
started happening recently But I do think like
Biddle getting back to like a hundred percent
healthy like is a big factor in that like I I
think just because he's been playing people kind
of think that He's been at kind of full full
tilt that like it's you know It's a seven foot
dude coming coming out of like two pretty not
great ankle injuries. Like he's been really gritting
it out. And yeah, I noticed that last night too.
Like I thought he was a little bounce here. And
also he was like just pulling up for some threes
too. And like I just thought that a lot of things
ran through him. And when you're able to kind
of see like that guy working that hard and impacting
so many things, like I thought Kwame had a great
game and boy when he's on, like he just kind
of like his frame can be so effective with like
his length. And yeah, like it's you don't necessarily
have another guy to come in and twin towers it
with Nate, but you do have some athletic guys
around the perimeter, or kind of like, not necessarily
the perimeter, but wing type of guys, and Dana
does like winning with defense. I don't think
this is going to suddenly be a great defense,
but heck, limiting Wisconsin to, I think it was
33 % shooting last night, that's not bad. I want
to talk about the remaining part of the schedule
and then the opportunity to get into the Big
Ten tournament because it's not locked yet for
Oregon to even make it to the Big Ten tournament
right now because only top 15 teams get to play
in that in Indianapolis. But I want to talk more
about Nate Biddle a bit. And where, Tyson, do
you think Nate will land when it's all said and
done in his senior year here? Where people will
go back and think and remember Nate Biddle in
Oregon history because he eclipsed a thousand
career point mark in this game and he's been
you know the Oregon kid making good and there's
been plenty of them but where do you think he's
gonna land in the legacy of Oregon basketball
when it's all said and done? Nate Biddle is a
fantastic Oregon story and I hope it gets remembered
and I only say that not because of like any of
his effectiveness like Nate's been a fantastic
center for you know, at least three full seasons
and in the other sports when he was injured,
like he's he has art. He's been kind of the fulcrum
of this team for two, three seasons. Um, and
I really think that, like, he's the one that's
kind of like holding things together like right
now, too. Um, but he plays at a university that,
like, you know, on the football side of things
like you, you remember like the the playoffs
and the Heisman winners and the guys who have
success on the highest level. Or for organ basketball,
you think of Dylan Brooks and Tyler Dorsey and
the guys that made the final four. I think Nate
has the talent and the pedigree and the stats
to be in that pantheon. I just hope that he doesn't
get lost at all in the quote unquote downer years
of the Altman era. the work he's put in to not
only get to like the talent level that he's at,
but also just kind of just being kind of like
the guy that's held it together. I think it's
been an incredibly important thing for Oregon.
Couple more questions for you. We're with Tyson
Alger from lookout Eugene Springfield and the
i -5 quarter podcast as he joins us here on the
Danny Justin radio program for a Thursday three
games left in the regular season and again as
I just mentioned Not a lot to make the Big Ten
tournament. So I would just throw it out and
in your estimation Is anybody gonna want to bet
against Dana Altman and his team now these last
three games? They've got Illinois number 10 in
the country after Northwestern and before Washington
Would you, would it be out of the ramble possibility?
You think Oregon goes on a six of seven to end
the season and pushes themselves into the top
12 going into the big 10 tournament? I don't
know. Your voice got really high there, Tyson.
I would take them to beat Northwestern and I
would take them to beat Washington. You know
the other ones a different conversation. That's
that's a really good basketball team, but You
know that the one thing like that and it's a
bit of a cliche but like at the very least like
I think that. Dana has gotten this Oregon basketball
team into the form that it always is at this
time of the year in that it's a team you don't
want to play, right? Like I don't I don't think.
I don't think Oregon can go on a run and win
the what four games that you need to win the
big 10 tournament, but I guarantee you anything
that's playing them in there is going like, Oh,
man, I don't want to play Altman in this thing.
So right. Um If somehow miraculously they could
pull this whole thing off, it would be like the
greatest... Yeah, I'm not even going to get ahead
of ourselves. No, you would not have enough column
inches to fill it. Let's put it that way. Yeah,
exactly. But thankfully, we're on one publication.
Well, we'll be watching along with you and the
rest of the Oregon fan base one more quick question
for you and I know that the Timbers the Portland
Timbers near and dear to your heart as the season
gets underway and I I think that's been an interesting
story the last couple of years with the Timbers
and the moves off the field and some of the players
that they've brought on and Had a really good
opening match. So talk about the your estimation
of where this timber team can land this season
Yeah, it's it's fascinating especially kind of
like in the current landscape of MLS where you
do have teams like Miami that are able to pull
in, you know Messy's and you know spend all this
amount of money but like the Timbers are kind
of one of those mid -range financial teams in
the league and so they kind of have to get crafty
and they have to kind of have a plan and processes
and so they're they're in field medals third
season now and they've been basically a 500 level
club the last two years they they made the MLS
play in in his first year they made the first
round last year but then they just got stumped
in the deciding game uh against San Diego so
it's this is kind of like a make or break year
for them and it wasn't necessarily like a a transformative
off season in terms of like big signings or big
stars like lost like it was last year when the
Vander went to Cincinnati, but they were able
to flip essentially flip David Ayala for Cole
Bassett, who's a 24 year old American midfielder.
He came over from Colorado. He's been in the
league since he's 17 and in Portland's season
opening win on Saturday, like I just thought
he was the best player on the pitch and it was
really fun to watch like he he. It just kind
of attacked the game and dominated it from the
start. And so I don't, you know, it's a really
long soccer season and this one's really funky
too because they play 14 games before taking
essentially a two month break for the World's
Cup. And then it's like a two month sprint to
the finish after that. So, you know, teams are
going to look a lot different in this first half
part of the season than the second part, but.
Out of all the years I've covered the Timbers,
I feel like this is the most stable team, and
it's a team that kind of knows who they are,
and players know their place on the roster and
their responsibilities. So if they've been just
barely getting into the playoffs the last two
years, I think that puts them in position to
maybe fight for a four or five seat this year.
The soccer season's too long, guys. Like, that's
all the way out in November is when you're talking
about postseason. It's crazy. It is nuts. But,
you know, your expertise comes through in your
quill, and so thanks for covering the Timbers
for all the folks that follow soccer out here,
or the beautiful game of football, as we call
it in Europe. So, Tyson, we appreciate you, as
always, Kamish. Enjoy your writings on Lookout,
Eugene Springfield. Keep doing what you do, brother.
Hey, absolutely. Thanks, guys. All right, there
he goes, the great Tyson Aldger. Follow him on
Twitter, at Tyson. All right, so we have figured
out what Oregon women's basketball can and cannot
do in terms of the standings heading into the
Big Ten tournament. We will reveal all and talk
about the win over Purdue and then senior afternoon
on Sunday for the Ducks at MKA on the women's
side as we round out the program here on a weekend
Eve, Danny and Justin. Alright, immediate correction
and fact checking. I was incorrect in that last
interview with Tyson Allger by saying that only
the top 15 teams make it to the Big Ten tournament
on the men's side. That's only on the women's
side, and that will end after this season. The
men, all 18 teams make it. Tyson did not want
to correct me on the air, but he texted Baby
J right after the program, and so I will stand
corrected in that. I will stand in my shame.
So the ducks are heading to indianapolis no matter
what but then it's all about seeding as well.
So that that one still remains the same Which
is goodness and the ducks though no matter what
that I don't think they can get up to like the
number Nine 13. Well, did you say they could
get to 14? They can get to 14 I think is the
highest they can go which means they'd still
have to win four games in four days Right to
win the big 10 championship, which is it's a
pipe dream. Let's be honest very much But hey,
I think that going game to game. I think they
can win any given game Does that make sense?
I think what Tyson said is absolutely accurate.
I think that's 100 % true. I think there are
teams now that Oregon's going to face the rest
of the way, including Northwestern, Illinois
and Washington, and those that they'll face in
the Big Ten tournament if it's a couple of games
that they don't want to play Oregon right now.
No, they don't. If Oregon wins a couple games,
then I think we might start to believe that they
can win a couple more. For the second straight
year, 9 -time under coach Kelly Graves, who will
be on this program tomorrow, Oregon is a 20 -game
winner in women's basketball. Ducks got 19 points
from Katie Fiso, 17 points, eight rebounds from
Ahisa Tutte. They converted 21 turnovers into
31 points, a 71 -65 road win at Purdue and Mackey
Arena. They come back home for the senior afternoon
at MKA Sunday against Washington. Oregon is now
8 -9 in the Big Ten. Purdue falls to 4 -13. Oregon
was in control of this game with a 22 -point
outburst in the second quarter. outscoring actually
doubling up Purdue in that quarter, but then
they had to kind of hold them off down the stretch
again. This team, I swear, I would just love
them to see you have a 20 -point blowout in one
of these games. You know, make sure Kelly kind
of can relax a little bit, but that wasn't the
case. So they come back home. We do have the
tiebreaker scenarios figured out. Can I run them
down for it? I want to give you credit for this.
All right. So here's the deal with this as we
take a look at the standing. So I was correct
yesterday and I did double verify this on the
Big Ten website is the tiebreakers fall because
there is a ton of different tiebreaker scenarios.
So there are teams right now. Illinois is in
the eight position and they're nine and seven
in conference play. But they have left Iowa and
Minnesota, who I think are third and fourth in
the conference. So those are going to be two
tough games for Illinois to play. They lose both
those games. They finish nine and nine. If Oregon
can beat Washington, Oregon and Washington would
finish nine and nine. USC plays UCLA, who is
the top team in the conference. 27 and one overall.
They would finish nine and nine. Oregon owns
the tiebreaker over Illinois and USC. They do
not own the tiebreaker. over Washington so the
best case scenario is Oregon finishes as a nine
seed and they would take on Washington again
oh boy as the eight nine matchup that'd be fun
i'm down in the big 10 tournament set me up for
that okay so by virtue of the tiebreaker since
if Oregon beats Washington they will both have
won one game so then the next one is who did
you beat that was the highest seed or the highest
Team in the in the conference and washington
beat michigan on january 1st And I think michigan's
now number two in the conference. Yeah, they're
14 and three in conference 64 52 and so that's
oregon's best win is against minnesota So that's
that's where that lands. So we'll talk a lot
more about that with coach kelly graves tomorrow
Who's not going to worry about conference seatings
or anything else. He is going to have his mind
Fairly focused a correction. It is not minnesota.
They lost in minnesota They did beat maryland
though Oh, Maryland. I'm sorry, I got the M's
mixed up there. Yes. So, yeah. All right, so
that's three times I've been corrected on the
program. It's all right. No, it's fine. I don't
mind being corrected. First, it was Sister Anne
and Sister Jean. Right. Then it was the... The
18 teams make the Big Ten tournament. And the
18 teams make the Big Ten tournament. And now,
Minnesota, Maryland, I got messed up. Who are
you working with when the basketball is beaten?
Well, you know what? Listen, if I roll out of
bed every morning... Maryland, Minnesota. And
if I don't make a mistake, you know, something's
wrong. I'm not trying hard enough. That's all
there is to it. So tomorrow on the program, Kelly
Graves, the Big Kahuna will join us. We'll talk
a lot of Oregon women's basketball senior day.
The women's the women's they finish their season
a week early. They'll play their Big Ten tournament.
They will only have 15 teams. I think this is
the last year for that. It started last year,
this year, and then they'll go to adopt the men's
side of it with all teams participating. Do you
want to know why? Tell me. It's because it's
the Big Ten too many. Ten too many teams. There
are 18 teams in the Big Ten. They just need to
add two more. They can't call it the Big 18.
They need to just call it the Big 20 and add
two more teams. Would that work though? You don't
like that alliteration either because there's
no real alliteration there. No there isn't. Big
10, Big 12. So how many teams are in the Big
12? Real quick. Isn't it 14? Very, very good.
There are no... and the Pac -12 actually had
12 teams. Yes. The Pac -10 had 10 teams, the
Pac -8 had 8 teams. The Big 10 had 10 teams for
a long time. My favorite was when they had the
logo that was the Big 10, but then it was like
an 11 in the silhouette. That was always a really
good logo. I like that. Every time I hear 11,
all I can think of is Spinal Tap. Not Stranger
Things, that's interesting. No, you need to turn
it to 11. That was one of the best lines Christopher
Guest ever had with the amplifier. Oh, a joke!
I got a fire from the bank today. A woman asked
me to check her balance, so I pushed her. Dad
jokes! How many psychiatrists does it take to
change a light bulb? Psychiatrists that take
to change a light bulb Well only one but the
light bulb really has to want to change That's
a good one. I like that. You like that one. I
like that one I kind of like that one too. I
have to tell that one of my daughter torture
her for a little bit alright, so if you missed
any of Tyson Alger from Lookout Eugene Springfield
and the i -5 corridor or any of our program You
can go back to the podcast, which is going to
be up shortly, wherever you consume your quantities
of music, podcasting the murder mysteries. Do
you listen to any of the murder mystery podcast,
the real true crime stuff? I'm more of a YouTube
guy with that stuff. All right. But I don't hate
it. I can see the podcasting being good. Especially
on long drives. Yeah. So tomorrow on the program,
Kelly Graves, Big Kahuna, we wind out the week.
Big Betz, Goose will be in the studio. We're
gonna have to set up like an alternate studio
because I don't know how we're gonna fit five
people in this closet that we have We only have
three microphones So we're gonna we'll set up
the remote gear in another room and two people
can sit back over there when we do big bets So
you can join us tomorrow as well for that for
Intern producer dom right over here for baby.
J. I'm dot. Thanks for tuning in put a smile
on your face someone else's they deserve it So
do you be safe out there be careful?