of this show are recorded. 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 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.
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. Danny and
Justin starts now on Fox Sports Eugene and Fox
Sports Newport. Hello, neighbors. Welcome. Hi,
top to Delta Tri at the Crystal Palace. Live
from the Bigfoot Beverages Studios, just on Fox
Sports Eugene today. We are. We're live. And
if you're streaming us, you can hear us on, you
know, the Fox Sports Newport web thingy. Pretty
sure what he came in here was checking like all
the dials and the buttons things like that ducks
are playing Maryland in the opening game of the
Big Ten tournament for the men's side we'll talk
about that obviously Oregon State women are playing
in the WCC tournament in the championship game
against Gonzaga the winner gets the automatic
bitch the NCAA dance which is coming up we'll
have selection Sunday on the 15th Oregon baseball
Oregon softball High school basketball in the
state of Oregon the big school 6a 5a 4a are gonna
kick into gear Wednesday and Thursday and through
the weekend We'll be talking to Thurston highs
number four ranked OSAA Midwestern League Colts
head coach Blaine Liberator good friend of the
program as In his 11th season he takes him back
to the dance in the final eight at Linfield University
in McMinnville but first it's an intern producer
Dom sitting at the controls the pilot's chair,
as it were, and the co -pilot's chairs, I'm Doc,
that's Danny, over there to my right. Justin,
Alexander, Chris Weiner, the first, we call him
Baby J. I definitely think there's never gonna
be another Justin Alexander gross whiner never
never be a second never say no I will never put
anybody through what I went through as a kid
Well, you can't change the last name. I well
you can actually I thought about it. You're not
no I used to know I always used to go okay if
I ever became a professional athlete or you know
became famous Which you know I guess maybe I'm
kind of on my way to that I don't know, but I
always said humble beginnings staying humble
over here i always considered changing my pseudonym
i guess my you know not actual name but on air
name my on air name to just justin alexander
yeah that would have worked it would have worked
but i think i've already committed Yeah, it's
too late now. Yeah, I know already said it. Well,
I'm just baby J Which I people call you that
I know public they have yeah, they do It's all
right out in the public Danny and Justin on Twitter
and blue sky also You can follow us on the platforms
wherever you do your podcast music Danny and
Justin. It'll be up here after that So a lot
to get to today. We're gonna hear from Jamarcus
Shepherd as well as Oregon State started their
Spring practices. It's just a quick set. They're
gonna go Today on the 12th and the 14th before
they take an 18 -day break for the quarterfinals
That's winter quarterfinals, which means they're
taking tests and spring break and then they'll
resume practicing on the 1st and the 3rd of April
and They'll have a couple more weeks practices.
They're gonna have their spring game on April
25th same Weekend same day that Oregon's gonna
have theirs. So they're gonna have 15 practices
We'll hear from the coach here in a little bit
and of course the enthusiasm abounds in Corvallis
with the new head coach the new program the new
look and We'll also talk about Oregon State men's
basketball as one era one door opens another
one closes as Wayne Tinkle has coached his last
game on the beaver sideline They fell to Gonzaga
in the WCC tournament on the men's side in the
semi -finals so we'll discuss that and I'm sure
that you Sure that you heard or saw this is this
a collective you or literally me. I'm talking
to you Okay, and other people out there as well.
I'm sure Dom looked at it as well. If you're
on social media at all Tress Tinkle Mm -hmm the
coaches son. I did see this. Yeah sent this tweet
out I don't know if I want to repeat the whole
thing, but I'll just say if you go look it up
if it's true That's a really bad look for the
athletic director Scott Barnes It's a really
bad look. I saw a response to that from a shadow
saying that there were similar sentiment that
had been heard when Trent Bray had been fired
from the football team So here's what I would
say if this is true. And again, I don't unless
we can to me I will talk about it in Explaining
it further. I'm sorry. I'm being so cryptic,
but I'm not the one that wants to spread things
that could be necessarily not true Yeah, you
might as well tweet out some emojis on your Instagram
at this point So is if I hear from several players
and I would imagine that there would be reporters
that would be remiss and I'm just talking to
you James crepia is If you're not asking the
question of the players Hey, there was a report
that the athletic director came in and said to
each player this If that's validated and true,
I'm sorry. That, to me, would be a final nail
in the Scott Barnes tenure at Oregon State. You
can't have an athletic director basically coming
in and undermining your coach, your lame duck
coach, when they're playing in a semifinal game
in the conference tournament. Well, this isn't
what I talked about yesterday. What is he actually
rooting for? Is he rooting for the team to win
at this point? I was rooting for the team to
win. I was certainly rooting for the I think
everybody including scott barnes should be rooting
for the team to win Especially scott barnes should
be rooting for the team to win doesn't doesn't
the team get a check? If they keep advancing
and they get into the ncaa tournament. Yeah,
they have to yeah probably There's something
that they get because it's all slicing and dicing
the tv money. Everyone gets a piece of the pie
But wouldn't you say the further that wayne tinkle
went the worse it made scott barnes look 1 million
percent and that's why i'm Putting some credence
into what was being reported by the coach's son
now if this was some rando, you know, yeah, you
know beaver sledge You know 125, you know a twitter
whatever it was or you know beaver slide 844
I would go. Yeah, right. You know, you're not
in the locker room. You're not inside But when
it's coming from the now ex -coach's son I think
there's I think there's something to it. So We
will see Cuz they're gonna have exit, you know
players are gonna end up being available and
especially now players are gonna be leaving the
program I'm sure they're gonna be up front with
what was said and what was not said Something
stinks up in Corvallis Danny. It stinks in a
not good way a beavers fall to the Bulldogs number
12 Gonzaga 1 by 9 Monday evening or Jorge Diaz
Graham led the Beavers 15 points 9 boards 4 blocks
Josiah sake Lake the second who had a very emotional
press conference because he came on as a walk
-on and ended up being the starting point guard
for the Beavers ended up with 8 points 4 assists
and Isaias I finished the night with 7 points
8 rebounds a gram ek led Gonzaga with 24 points
Yeah, and nobody else had double figures and
they shot 47 % floor. This was probably a gettable
game except Both offenses really struggled early
on and the Bulldogs kind of moved out to an 11
-point lead then they trailed Beavers did by
12 with five minutes left in the half ended up
trailing by 14 at the half. They got back with
a nine They never really threatened Gonzaga.
So they move on Yeah, they didn't have a Grammy
gay. No, they did pretty well in him last year
when Gonzaga came up to Corvallis, but I think
that team had more length than this current team
did and so man and just Think it says it all
I think you know 17 shot attempts versus the
next player having seven so this game you know
Talk about just the game itself a little bit.
I guess you know it just I don't think Oregon
State had much of a chance in this one based
on the roster Well all I can say is this the
Wayne Tinkle era is gonna be marred people are
gonna look at the two back -to -back Seasons
where they were under ten wins and point to that
as being the downfall Think there's gonna be
several people in Corvallis that will think fondly
of Wayne Tinkle saying you ran a good program
He was never in trouble off the court with players
Never had a sniff of a recruiting violation never
got a even a secondary violation in the program
For the NCAA calling attention to him and then
that magical run that they had now Winning the
Pac -12 out of nowhere and going to an elite
eight. I mean that was a crazy run That was a
crazy year with a mishmash a mash unit of players
But you can't live off of that forever And that's
kind of where the it ran out according to Scott
Barnes. It's ran out and when we hear Wayne Tinkle
talk about he wasn't getting the commitment that
I Need four million dollars in NIL money. I'm
getting two Right and it all compiled exactly
and that's where I get back to the timing of
this is So bizarre, even if you were gonna let
him go. Why do it? two games before the end of
the one game before the end of the season and
then put yourself in a position where, like I
said, the further that he goes, the worse that
it looks for you. I just don't really understand
the way that the process worked here. It's something
we've talked about with with with Dane Altman
all season long because everybody was calling
for his head and still people are. And the whole
time it kind of felt like, well, who are you
going to move on to that's better? And it's it
feels the same way with Oregon State and with
the Beavers. It's like who are you who are you
going to move on to now? That's going to be putting
you in a better position with your program where
it is today You know, you're not getting that
four million. You're getting the two million
So who's going to get the most out of two million?
That's I guess my question Who's that going to
be? I don't know maybe scott barnes knows that
maybe he does how he does He's got the weegee
board and the crystal ball somewhere hidden in
his office And he just pulls it out when everybody
else is away I mean in a way though, it kind
of doesn't it make it about scott barnes now.
It has to be now I mean he made it that way.
He's made it that way exactly by doing this.
It's now his stamp on it. Yeah, and You could
say the same thing with with the football program.
Although I think that that one's more I think
that one is more understandable Well, let's get
back to football by the way because you got some
quotes from Jamarcus Shepherd in the post script
and I'll tell you this if if you want to you
know, we just kind of Unveiled a little bit of
we think might be the not -so -great side of
Scott Barnes in his tenure as athletic director
with the handling of the basketball program Well,
he's sitting out of the park with your Marcus
Sheppard out of the gate I mean this guy was
enthusiastic comes from an SEC program brings
an offensive mindset to Corvallis much like you
know if just in recent history Jonathan Smith
was another offensive guy and brought Oregon
State back to relevance again and then it quickly
faded with Trent Bray, but Jamarcus Shepard says
the general evaluation of the players and their
practice was positive in their first spring game.
Yeah, I thought our offense really started really
fast, which is one of our pillars within building
a program. Start fast, the middle eight, and
then finish strong, you know, and I think our
defense really actually finished really strong
in this practice. You know, they came on really.
ton of energy at the end of the practice and
that carried them for that last team period.
I felt like our quarterbacks were completing
the ball really well down the field today. It
was good to see some of those balls go in the
air. I think that's what people like to see.
But I also thought our running backs did a good
job of finding creases and holes. I thought that
was outstanding. I thought our linebackers today
showed their ability to really plug the holes
that we need them to be in and be elite at understanding
their fits I thought that was really outstanding
and then our edge rushers I thought and we don't
have a ton of them but the ones we do have they
held up pretty well so I thought that comment
at the end there was interesting I mean it's
true but it just goes to show that there are
some things still about this program that are
lacking even though the demarcus shepard's coming
in when he was able to come in and he wasn't
coming in to a great situation obviously but
i do think that So far like you said i do think
this hire As far as we can tell because the games
have not been played everything so far I have
liked with jamarcus shepard. He comes across
as very likable He comes across as a guy that
knows what he's doing. Of course that quote right
there was a lot of platitudes I mean it was a
lot of coaches saying saying, you know, hey like
everybody's doing great Which is kind of what
you want to hear obviously but at the same time
I do feel like He seems like the kind of guy
that man if there's some sort of substance to
what he's doing. I do think they have something
Well, it's gonna be revealed the first four games
as well, but jamarcus shepard also discussed
and i'll challenge anybody who is a Beaver fan
to name me three players on the defensive side
of the football, they're going to start. Okay,
you probably know some of the names on the offensive
side, but there's a lot of no names. And there
are some players that have had to play some catch
up because they're coming in late through the
transfer portal and such because they're coming
off of teams that were deep into the playoffs
or playing a bowl game. And Coach Shepard talks
about that. These young men have been met with
love from me and my staff, and that's the key.
They know without a shadow of a doubt that we
love them. Had one of them go into Scott Barnes
office and said, hey, I think I've gone through
the hardest thing that I've ever gone through
over this winter. And guess what? I know Coach
Shep loves me. Well, that was told to me, so
hopefully. And so no doubt, that's how we start.
with our program and then that allows you and
gives you the opportunity to coach them harder
because you know they know that it's coming from
a place of love. It's not coming from a place
of disrespect. Very clear with our staff, you
know, yeah, we're going to coach them hard, OK,
but we're always going to coach the the action.
You know what they're doing versus making it
personal and about the player. And so yeah, there's
there's there's some fun times out there. OK,
there's a lot of energy out there, but it's all
for a purpose. of letting the player know this
is the standard, hey, perform at this standard.
There's a rebuild from the ground up with Oregon
State, and that's where it begins. So you're
tearing the entire structure down, you're starting
from the bottom, and again, you hear all these
things that Jamarcus Shepard says and the enthusiasm
behind his voice. I would imagine with the young
men who are gonna be around the football program,
they're gonna buy into that. Now, I will also
just temper that with... They're going to have
to start producing on the field, and they're
going to have to keep staying in games. They're
going to have to win some of those games for
that enthusiasm, that motivation, that feel good
stuff to keep continuing. Because this is a show
me business. It's not, oh, we have the moral
victory. You always hear coaches talk about,
I don't care about moral victories. That is very
true in the arms race that is now going to be
the new Pac 12. It absolutely is true. You want
to know the problem with that? Sure. Game one
is against Houston on the road first four games.
Yeah game two is against Texas Tech game three
is Montana at home So that's a tough. It's a
tough introduction. It's good The steel is going
to meet the anvil in the first couple of games
and we're gonna find out How all of that enthusiasm
and the feel -good and the huggy -huggy and all
that and I'm not saying it's bad I'm not making
light of okay. I'm not being sarcastic with that.
I'm with you, but Then it's gonna be like, okay,
you get punched in the face a couple of times
and then how are you gonna react to that adversity?
I've always said I find the real metal of a person
and how they react in adversity not when it's
good times But I could see his sort of attitude
Being a good one during those times don't disagree
with that at all. So We'll see how it actually
goes when the rubber meets the road, but I do
think that the returns so far have been pretty
good I do like what i've been seeing blaine liberator
the head coach of the thirst and colts coming
up in just a few moments here on the danny and
justin radio program let's Oregon baseball has
got a 305 first pitch against xavier. It's a
that odd mid Week two games set as xavier finished
off their run in Corvallis a long weekend there.
Didn't get a lot of those. They lost 7 -2 to
the Beavs. Beavs neither though a 6 run 7th inning.
They were down 2 -1 in this game, so they had
to rally and come back. It did give Oregon State
a four -game sweep, and they're now 11 -4 overall.
Xavier drops to 5 -11 as they come. We'll talk
a little bit more about that game that's coming
up. Beavers are hitting the road for an eight
-game road trip starting in San Diego on Friday.
The Terreros get underway at Fowler Park at 6
p .m. That'll air on the Beaver Sport Network
and ESPN+. But we'll talk a little bit more about
Xavier. Oregon baseball in the last segment,
how about that? Yeah, we've been talking a lot
of Xavier, so might as well talk a little bit
more. And the Xavier mascot is? Oh, I don't remember.
I lived in an area. Come on, Dom. I'm not even
looking at this stuff right here. It's the Musketeers.
It's the Musketeers. Okay, that's a pretty good
mascot. Old Skip Prosser, the head coach of basketball
for all those years. When did Skip Prosser coach?
Oh, it was in the 80s and 90s. Well, there you
go. I was born in 1995. That's right. That's
where maturity sometimes comes into my favor.
All right, let's take our first break. We come
back live from the Bigfoot Beverages studios.
It's our dear friend. He gets his nickname today.
Yeah. He doesn't know this yet. I didn't prepare
him for this, but Blaine Liberatore, the head
coach of the Thurston High School coach basketball
team, will be joining us. We'll give him his
nickname next on the Danny and Justin radio program.
WCC women's championship game right now. Baby
J what's the score? It is 51 to 45 Gonzaga. Beeps
down by six. Big 10 tournament first round. Not
a great start for Oregon. Oregon down to Maryland
15 to 3 with 1122 left in the first. By the way
that WCC women's championship game is in the
waning moments of the third quarter. Alright,
let's head on over to the Oregon Man Clinic's
Outline at 541 -343 -5673 and welcome in our
good friend and a returning guest to the program.
It's the head coach of the Thurston High Colts
who are ranked number four in the OSAA out of
the Midwestern League as they head up to Linfield
University in McMinnville for the 5A Final Eight
in the quarterfinals and that'll start tomorrow
and I'll be up there as well. We welcome in Blaine
Liberator. Coach, how are things? Howdy third
third time long time See here it is third time
third time and is the tradition on the Danny
and Justin radio program We haven't had it on
a nickname for a second, but we're gonna hand
one out now coach to you. It's It's the third
time charm. It's your nickname. You ready coach.
Yeah, let's do it All right forevermore on the
Danny and Justin radio program going back to
your roots got a little help from goose on this
one Coach, your nickname is Boomer. Oh, yeah.
That's a nod back to Toledo High School where
I graduated. That's awesome. I love that. Yeah,
hats off to Goose for helping me out. I had another
one. I'll talk to you about it when we're up
at McMinnville, but it would have been fine as
well. But I like Boomer better. So there you
go. It's a good one, man. It's a good one. Toledo
High School, my alma mater, I think we're the
only Boomer mascot in the entire country. I have
to look that up. I think you're right because
is it like the it was like a boom like a a rocket
ship, right? So it depends on who you ask right?
Like the mascot is like this Almost like a mountain
beaver type thing not a nutria and not a rat
and not a beaver, but there's like no weird Yeah,
it's a it's a interesting mascot. Okay, but the
story i've been told is that when Toledo high
school originated It was actually outside of
Toledo city limits Um and was in a small development
called cannon and so they were the cannon boomers.
Oh Very nice. I have not been able to verify
that but that's the story I was told And that's
the story I'm sticking with. There we go. Twenty
and five overall coach on the season. You finished
eleven one in league in the tough Midwestern
League who's sending, by the way, three teams
to the final eight, including yourself, Crater
and North Eugene. Your eleventh year. But as
you were starting this season or at the end of
last year when you made it to the tournament
as well in the final eight, you were thinking,
you know, I got some kids coming back, but it
didn't end up being that way for you. Yeah, we
look a little different than we thought we would
at the start of the year. You know, we had a
really, really good year last year and things
didn't quite go our way in the state tournament
for a myriad of reasons. But we're like, hey,
we got six kids, six of our 11 coming back. We
feel really good about that. We had a really
good JV team. We had some really good freshmen
on that JV team. And so we're like, hey, we feel
great about things. Three of our kids that were
all going to be seniors this year ended up having
season ending surgeries in the off season. And
so we go from having six returners who were all
big time contributors. It's only having three.
And those younger kids who were playing JV had
to come and step into big time varsity roles.
And I think that was probably reflected in the
first seven games of the season when we went
three and four against a tough schedule. We scheduled
our non -league really tough thinking we were
gonna have all those kids back. But I think it
turned out to be the best thing for us because
it made us grow up quickly. And those young kids
have really grown up quickly. You know, you talk
about Leo Felipe, who starts for us and plays
center for us and was like second team all state
defensive end or something like that. And then
Ridge Lindsey. who is a junior for us and has
has come in and really shored up, shored us up
defensively and at our four man spot, which is
a really pivotal spot for us. And Brody Corrigan
is the spark plug off the bench. And he's a sophomore
and played freshman point guard last year and
comes in and plays two or three different spots
for us and really gives us a big lift. Rylan
Sharp is a six, seven post that comes off the
bench for us. And I think he plays about 12 minutes
a game or something like that, but leads us in
blocked shots. So, you know, we've gotten a big
time contributions from kids that were not varsity
returners last year. Start season three and four,
and then we go on a run. We beat West Lynn at
the Capital City Classic, the last game of that
up in Salem, really, really cool tournament.
We go down to the Abbeys tournament in Medford
and win all three down there. And we're just
kind of off and running. And I think the statistic
was 16 or 17 and one or something like that.
Yeah, 17 out of your last 18, Coach. Yeah, 17
out of our last 18 with one hiccup against North
Eugene at home in overtime in a really, really
good game against a really, really good team.
So really, really proud with where we're at,
but We're on to the next goal here and on to
the next challenge and it's a good one in the
Summit Storm. Northwest Oregon Conference gets
a lot of props in Central Oregon as well. The
conference that features, you know, Ridgeview
and Caldera and Summit gets a lot of props. But
the Midwestern League historically has been a
pretty tough conference when you're talking about
Churchill, when you're talking about now Crater
and North Eugene. But in the last few years,
Midwestern League hasn't really gotten that team
over the hump into the championship game. But
I want you to talk about how tough this league
is, because it steals your team. And I talked
to Blake earlier today, Blake G from North Eugene,
about how the conference play, the league play
really gets you guys ready for what you're going
to face up in McMinnville. Yeah, I think when
you look at our league, probably a little undervalued
at the start of the season. And we haven't had
a lot of success at the final site. I think a
couple of years ago, it was Joey Banery when
he was a junior. That was the last team that
won a first round game up at the final site.
I think that's correct. So it's been a few years.
And so I think everyone kind of forgot about
the Midwestern League. But then this year...
You look at the non league and there's teams
creeping up and creeping up north Eugene creeps
up into the top three craters in the top five
We're lurking around there Churchill's Churchill's
messing with the top ten Ashland's hovering around
there We end up at the end of the season We have
five teams in the top 16 in 5a in the top half
of 5a and so our our teams in our league are
battle tested because there's Not really any
easy sleeper games in our league, especially
when you have five teams in the top 16 so You
had to you had to really be on your game and
be ready to play every single night And I thought
our kids did an amazing job of that You know
our we've we've only allowed more than 50 points
once since December And that was to Ashland on
senior night other than that We held teams in
the mid 40s. We held some teams in the 20s. And
so our team hangs a pat on defense. And I think
if you ask anyone around our league, like what
we're known for, it's going to be being really,
really good defensively, being really efficient
offensively. And I think that was ultimately
our secret to success in winning our league.
Thurston boys basketball head coach Blaine liberator
is with us on the Danny and Justin radio program
And we have newly donned him boomer although
I think liberator is a pretty cool last name
if you ask me So I'm a little bit jealous, but
coach Talk to me about your starting point guard,
Logan Paquette, as a guy that was named the unanimous
choice for Defensive Player of the Year in the
Midwestern League. Not always a guy that's going
to show up on the stat sheet, but not everybody
needs to. Some players are vocal leaders and
it seems like he's one of those guys. And it
sounds like he also has a pretty amazing story
that I'd love for you to share with us. Yeah,
so Logan is in my opinion the heart and soul
of our team and our program His dad is is in
my opinion a local legend Doug Paquette I call
him the mayor because it seems like everywhere
we go someone knows him and he was the head coach
at Thurston when I came on at Thurston and we
developed a really good friendship and relationship
and And it's kind of come full circle with me
being the head coach and Doug being on our staff
since 2019. And I've gotten to see Logan grow
up ever since I got on at Thurston, and I've
known him since he was just a little kid. So
there's that aspect of it that makes it really
special. He's earned everything he's gotten on
the basketball floor. He's our quarterback. He's
our vocal leader. He keeps us organized on both
ends of the floor. defensive, unanimous defensive
player of the year. And he doesn't lead us in
steals. He doesn't lead us in blocks. But he,
I think he gives up something like 4 .2 points
a game to the guy that he's guarding when he's
guarding the ball. He leads us in charges taken.
He keeps us organized. He talks early. He talks
often. He makes sure everyone knows their job
offensively. He makes sure that we're always
in what we need to be in. teams leave him open
a lot of the time because they want to help off
of somebody, they help off of him. He knocks
down threes at a 50 % clip right now. And so
he makes teams pay. And it's all really special
because of what he's gone through really since
his eighth grade year when he was an eighth grader
during basketball season. Was diagnosed with
a brain tumor. He had really really bad migraines
and was thrown up and it was so bad They went
to the hospital one night and they're like we
have to rush you guys to OHSU And ended up having
brain surgery to remove a portion of this brain
tumor at which some of it still remains and There's
always the threat of it coming back. And so he's
You know as an eighth grader, he has to miss
a chunk of his eighth grade year because he has
this surgery. And a year later, he's starting
at point guard for us as a freshman. And he's
had to battle through some issues and residual
effects of the condition. And in the back of
his mind, it's something that's always there.
But you would never know it by talking to him
or looking at him or watching him play. And it's
just a heartwarming. tragic it's like it's like
a tragic but heartwarming story like I feel for
him so much because He's such an amazing kid
and you never want to see someone you care about
So deeply go through something like that But
I'm so proud of him for everything that he's
accomplished and everything that he's done to
make our program what it is while battling all
of that and I get emotional talking about him
just because of how much I care about him and
his family and how much he's meant to me and
my family. He's absolutely one of the best kids
I've ever been around and I consider myself really,
really lucky to be in his life. The Thurston
High School Colts head basketball man, it's Blaine
Liberatore joining us in his 11th season with
the Colts, the Midwestern League champs, 20 -5
overalls. They head into the tournament of eight,
the final eight at McMinnville at Linfield University
as the 5A. Basketball state championships get
underway tomorrow afternoon and into the evening
coach another player that stands out for you
comes from a pretty decent gene pool Matt LaBounty
and Kelly Blair at LaBounty who was an Olympic
athlete She was a heptathlete and of course former
Univou linebacker Matt LaBounty. They had a kid
Lucas who is Midwestern Player of the year again
for the second season in a row averages 25 points
for you. What what is this kid? I mean when you
look at him and I you know you take Pictures
of himself and he's like wow the kids not like,
you know stacked bill I mean no offense, but
it's not like a kid. He's just like wow He's
gonna overwhelm you but he really does when he
gets the ball in his hands He's the epitome of
a hooper. I'll tell you that and Great parents,
again, great parents. And that's one of the things,
our program is blessed with so many great parents,
man. It's so awesome in that Thurston community
and the support we get from our parents. And
Kelly and Matt are a part of that as well. The
cool thing is Lucas is completely self -made.
And his parents have had a big hand in his journey
in helping guide him, but they've never said
like pushed him in any one direction. They've
just always supported him. And I think they were
able to do that because of their background as
athletes and saying, hey, like this is how it
worked for us. It's going to work for him too.
So they've certainly provided him opportunities,
but he's seized everyone. Lucas is a special
kid. You know, we knew it was gonna be pretty
special really growing up and his freshman year
We moved Logan up because we needed a point guard
We kept Lucas on the freshman team because we
wanted him to continue to develop as a dominant
score His sophomore year was tough. We made the
state playoffs that year. We shared a league
title with North Eugene But he had a very limited
role as a sophomore as a contributor He didn't
really play a lot and he said in a podcast that
he did with a buddy of mine That motivated him
to come back bigger, stronger, faster, and better
his junior year. And boy, did he ever. He came
out of nowhere to be the Midwestern player of
the year as a junior on the number two team in
the state. And he's come back even better this
year. Like a lot of people would be like, hey,
that's cool. Like, I'm just gonna put in minimal
work and go do it again. Not Lucas. He continued
to get in the gym, continued to perfect his craft,
and he's upped his game. this year. So Midwestern
League player the year again for a second year
in a row broke. He's broken our school record
for scoring in a season. He currently stands
at 607 points and counting with the next couple
games. He's shooting 50 40 90, which is 50 %
from the field 40 % from 3 90 from the free throw
line. He leads us in rebounding leads us in assists
leads us in steals. Um. He had a career high
on senior night of 41 points, eight rebounds,
four assists, two steals and a block to really
just cement his place as the player of the year.
But I think you said the thing that was probably
the biggest compliment to him as you look at
him and you don't see this like incredible athlete
who's just running by people or jumping over
people. He is so efficient and so smart on the
court. He gets to his spots. He converts when
he gets to his spots. He changes speed He he
sees things a step ahead if you take something
away He goes to the next thing and he does it
really quickly He's just and he's an absolute
joy and pleasure not just to coach but to watch
there's times when I just sit back and watch
him and It's just like it's truly like an artist
out there with his with his canvas and his brush
just creating art it's it's so cool to watch
him play and and elevate his game. And I think
the thing I'm most proud of him for is his leadership
skills this year. He's really become one of our
team leaders vocally. And it's needed because
Logan has always been that. But I think you need
two of those guys. And he's done that. And I
think our guys react really well to him because
he never gets too high. He never gets too low.
He's really, really even keeled. He reminds me
of Kevin Durant and how he can get to his spots
and be so efficient. shooting the basketball
from all three levels. And so he's enjoying a
pleasure to have on our team. We're very, very
lucky to have him, and I'm looking forward to
him in McMinnville. Colts are grab the number
four seed. They'll take on the Summit Storm,
the number five seed, 315. It's not the late
game coach you get the 315 slot and the quarterfinals
They'll play the winner of the crater crook county
game as well If you can get there at 1 30 on
the 13th coach, so final question for you This
is now, you know, it's the final 8 everyone's
at 0 0, you know You at least get two games,
but you want three so talk about how this becomes
now a sprint rather than the marathon of the
season because really It is you can lay it all
out in one game Yeah, so you know, state tournament
is always interesting because you focus so much
on the first game, and then it is kind of like
scramble mode for preparing for the second right.
We've tried to keep our focus really narrow and
not even like focus on the winning part of it.
Like, of course, we want to win it. But we've
talked about process process process. Like, let's
take care of the process. Um and. We we've scouted
ahead with so many teams. It helps having North
But, you know, we have Crook County film. We
have Summit, a ton of Summit film. We're studying
everybody saying, OK, what are the common things?
We got to be good at things. We got to be good
at defending things that happen a lot. We got
to be good at looks offensively that we get a
lot. But at the same time, like Summit has all
of our attention and for good reason, very, very
capable, very, very good team. Great program.
I mean, they've been in the state championship,
what, four years in a row? Right. One or two
years ago. Yep. Yep, one at two years ago on
a buzzer beater. We're in the state championship
last year They just incredible program With very
very capable kids very good basketball players.
They're long. They're athletic. They shoot it
well So they have all of our attention for sure.
But we're preparing for whoever we see next as
well at the same time. And the cool thing about
our kids is they show up. And in my opinion,
we're really, really fun to watch because we
played basketball unlike so many teams. We're
the number one defensive team in the state. We
allow an average of 44 points a game. And Summit
is the number, I think they're the number four
offensive team in the state. And so it's going
to be this meeting point of a team who's really,
really good offensively in Summit, and a team
who's really, really good defensively in us.
And we're going to see which Will can win. Well,
coach, we'll be watching closely. And good luck
to you. 315 tomorrow, first tip. It's the second
game of the day. Crater and Crick County started
off at 1 .30 tomorrow at Linfield University.
Boomer, it's always a pleasure reconnecting with
you during the basketball season. We'll see you
up there in McMinnville. Yeah, let's talk soon.
Go Colts. There he goes. The great boomer, Blaine
Liberator, the head coach of the Thurston Colts.
They grab that number four seed. They'll take
on Summit tomorrow. 315 up at McMinnville as
the 5 -8 tournament. Just the boys tomorrow,
then the girls start their action on Thursday.
Got lots of baseball to talk about. Ducks, Beavs,
and basketball as well. We'll give you an update
from the WCC championship game, Oregon State's
competing and the Big Ten tournament for the
men as Oregon's taking on Maryland in the opening
round game back when we take a break to pay some
bills on the Danny Justin radio program. If you
missed the newly anointed boomer, Lane Liberator,
the head coach of the Thurston Colts. boys basketball
gonna head up to the osa a tournament 5a ranks
at linfield university you can go back to the
podcast listen to it really great story this
the senior point guard logan piquet what he's
overcome and the hooper lucas slabowney some
oregon royalty which is dad and his mom don't
you talk about the gene stock the gene pool that's
there an olympic heptathlete is your mom An all
-time Oregon great at the linebacker position
is your dad. Man, if you're not playing some
kind of sports, goodness gracious. All right,
so a WCC championship going on right now. Minute
53 left in the fourth in regulation, as I always
like to say, especially if it's not an even number.
67 -63 Gonzaga over Oregon State. Oregon State's
line just missed a free throw. Second one on
the way. That's no good off the heel. Rebound
down to Gonzaga. Sorry, I'm gonna fall into a
little play -by -play for a second. I'm gonna
have enough of that over four days so Oregon
men right now and just You know when it comes
to a certain point? It's just let's just have
this mercifully end if they're not gonna win
the Big Ten tournament Let's just honestly I'm
just saying let's just get it over with at this
point. I hate to say that But it's just like
you you you you hope and you wish and you pray
and you do whatever you want make sacrifices
And it's 31 12 with 59 seconds left in the first.
Well, you know half first half Let's they've
scored 12 points with 59 seconds left in the
first half, baby. Jay. Let's let the game finish
before Before we have any conclusions, but yes,
it's not looking good and it has not been a good
season Look at you. Normally these roles are
reversed and you're mr. Pessimistic guy and I'm
mr. Optimism guy. Yeah, you know like maybe they
close this half strong and then they put themselves
in position where they can chip away in the second
half and you never know Okay, okay No, I don't
know I mean I I understand I understand why people
are frustrated. It's been a very very frustrating
season It's been one of the most frustrating
seasons that I can remember in a long long time
So let's stay on hoops for a second so you and
I had the debate before the Big Ten women's tournament
started That and I think we had agreed that if
Oregon won at least two games They could possibly
move themselves up on the seed line And I just
was looking at projections again this morning
the latest projections because all of the conference
tournaments are done All the automatic bids are
out there now. You're gonna have at large bids
and such I see oregon now at the seven line in
a lot of projections Did you see the same thing
because i've been looking I did if you've looked
i've looked a little bit. Yeah, and i'm a little
surprised I could have seen them just kind of
stick them in that eight nine, but i'm It makes
sense based on who they've competed with this
season and they haven't had that like signature
big win over a top 10 team or anything like that,
but they've been competing with those teams in
that seven, eight. six range so it makes sense
to me. I think beating Maryland twice once in
the regular season and then in the Big Ten tournament
kind of vaulted them to that spot and they just
ran it. Listen, the committee is going to take
into account that was three games in three days
against a top ten team and you just ran out of
gas in the second half. So I believe it's a fair
seat. You can't hold that Michigan game against
them. No, that's what I'm saying. There's no
way you can. And the other thing being is that
I think that also gives a signal on how many
teams on the women's side the Big Ten is going
to get. in the dance and how highly ranked they're
going to be. I think Michigan might end up being
on that four line and stay there. I mean, I don't
see how they can't. So I yeah for Oregon moving
into the Big Ten for one sport or another It's
been good or bad and it's definitely been good
for women's basketball I definitely think that's
helped them and not every team that they play
has been ranked but even the teams that aren't
and such as like a Minnesota they have pretty
good RPI rankings so I think that that's part
of the reason why that they're Being pretty successful.
Obviously last year, you know, they had some
ups and downs too But I think I think the big
ten is a very very good women's basketball conference
And I think that it is helping oregon right now
selection sunday is the 15th So we'll find out
where when who why it's my birthday and happy
birthday It's sunday and you're gonna go up see
mom. Yep. Okay, so we'll find out where they
land and Probably not going to be in the west.
They'll probably end up going back to the east
coast somewhere or the south I would hope that
they would think, you know, you put them in that
region like the south or whatever, that you would
at least give them a west coast game. You know,
stick them up in Seattle. I don't even know where
the regionals are. I know Portland's got a men's
regional again, but the way they do it geographically
is they'll put like a southern team, they'll
stick them out west, even though they're not
playing in the time zone. You understand what
I'm saying? Is that you'll have a south regional
that'll be in Portland, Oregon. It's just like,
that's the way they do it. Because of geography,
they're trying to keep teens from not jumping
a ton of time zones. But it's still gonna end
up happening. I think Oregon, like they did last
year, had to go to North Carolina, right? And
they won one game, then they lost the second
game. So hopefully not a quick exit. Under a
minute left, Gonzaga now leads 69 -64 of Oregon
State. I think the Oregon State women are in
as well. It would have been better if they would
have got the aq the automatic qualifier to win
the tournament But at 23 if they lose this game,
they'll be 23 and 11 out of the wcc. I still
think that gets them a bid I they're not i'm
a little concerned. I have to say okay i'm a
little concerned I think getting to the championship
game was the lock for them because aga is going
to go to 24 and 9 if they win this game looks
like they it's going to take a herculean effort
as The Beavs are down by six now under a minute
left need to stay within two possessions here.
Okay, so Oregon baseball 305 first pitch and
They've got two against Xavier in the middle
of the week ducks are 12 and three Overall two
and one in the big ten Xavier is now five and
ten after dropping four straight to Oregon State
and Then Oregon will continue the home standby.
There's a long home stand a big ten conference
play continues for the Ducks after this two -game
set as they'll welcome in the Hoosiers of Indiana
and then Northwestern on back -to -back weekends
so they get a nice rest between Sunday and the
following Friday when Northwestern comes down
but Indiana if the weather holds should be a
nice weekend for Duck Baseball. Yeah I saw somebody
I don't remember where they were calling Xavier
like a decent baseball program Just don't see
it based on what they've done early so far this
season They have they have to lead into the sixth
inning against the Beavs in the getaway day I
understand and they played some tough teams.
They've played Arkansas they played I believe
Auburn they obviously played the Beavers and
the Ducks are obviously a good team, too But
man, you want to know what their team ERA is?
Well, I know you're gonna tell me go ahead. It's
eight It's over eight. It's eight point one five.
That's not good. They don't have a player batting
300 their top innings Pitcher It has a 450 area
number two is 350. So like even their best guys
are not spectacular But I think we talked about
it yesterday with uh with Isaac Streeter from
the Portland Tribune They have like 18 pitchers
or something like that So you have to have that
many pitchers if you're gonna do as many games
as they're gonna do in as few games Ducks ducks
rpi is 30 To your point, Xavier's RPI? Anyone
want to take a quick guess? Is it triple digits?
Yes. 103. Oh, I was right on the money. 103.
So Ducks are coming off a series win on the road
in West Lafayette against Purdue, where the Bats
came alive on Sunday after losing a tough, just
a brutal game. Colin Clark threw BBs against
the Boilermakers on Saturday and the Bats just
were not there as produced to pitching staff
was equal to the task and the Ducks lost that
one 2 -1 after winning by one the day before
and they had to hang on for that victory. They
were up like 7 -1 in that game and ended up winning
by a run and then the Bats came alive. Angel
Lyke parks a couple out and a really good outing
by Cal Scalari on the hill and the Ducks get
the 12, I think 12 -4 win. Mark was kowski's
team. I mean 15 for those 15 for sorry. Yeah,
they run ruled him That's why yeah, did I say
12 for mm -hmm? I don't know why I said that
so okay. I Don't know it was a good win. It was
a good one for the Ducks So we'll watch that
as well. Okay, anything else you got on your
mind. Did you see the? Speaking of Cal the Cal
Raleigh and Randy a Rosalina thing no Yeah, Randy
a Rosalina tries to give him a fist bump when
Mexico is playing the USA and man Cal rally and
so it was randy rosa reyna was not happy with
not getting a fist bump And these guys are teammates
by the way on the mariners, so we'll see what
happens there Okay, so oh, I didn't tell you
this is before we go to dad joke. I know you're
ready to thank you. I appreciate you is Demers
Travis Demers the mayor texted me the other day
when he was on the road trip He got to talk to
Kyle Schwerber for a few minutes. Oh, I knew
you so cool. I knew you fanboy I told him I said
you didn't get an autograph for baby Jay, and
he says no I didn't realize he was that big a
fan I said wow he is he is a Schwerber possibility
fanboy even said that I love him Very cool by
the way Travis Demers is gonna be on the show
tomorrow, okay? You got to ask him about it,
so I will give him Kay and he said Danny told
me that you met and talked to for a while and
you didn't get me an autograph. What's up with
that, dog? All right, let's do our dad joke.
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! Hmm. Tick -tock. Why was Cinderella
so bad at soccer? Oh, something about a shoe.
Something about only having one shoe. She kept
running away from the ball. Oh, no, you shouldn't
do that. That's a good one. Okay. There you go.
So the mayor tomorrow on the program? Yeah, mayor.