Portions of this show are recorded. Strap in.
and be prepared. Room for error is much slimmer
in basketball. You lose one player and it changes
your entire team. It's not like that in football.
It's just not. It's not. Interesting guests.
Kelly Graves, Mike Parker, Coach Mark Waskowski,
Noah Eagle, Melissa Lombardi, Kenyon Barnard,
Jonathan Stewart. Sharp opinions. Dana Altman
probably earned a pass for a down year after
almost 20 years. of what he's done for Oregon
basketball. And some smiles. Guys, I was stuck
in a car wash. Sounds like an R. Kelly song.
It's not an R. Kelly song. It's Danny Havel.
I can't remember, and I've been doing this for
longer than you've been alive, which is really
horrible that I have to say that, but it's the
truth. Justin Grossweiner. It's like the saying
in Alaska, that you don't have to be faster than
the bear. You just have to be faster than your
friend. Danny and Justin starts now on Fox Sports
Eugene and Fox Sports Newport. Hello, neighbors,
and welcome high atop the Delta Tri, the Crystal
Palace, Fox Sports Eugene, Fox Sports Newport,
live from the Bigfoot Beverage Studios. Hello,
friends. Yes, daddy's back. The Danny and Justin
Radio Program, the fastest 60 minutes in sports.
You can follow us on Twitter and Blue Sky Danny
and Justin. Also, wherever you podcast or get
your music, whatever platform you're on, Danny
and Justin, we are there. Archive of the show
will be up right after we're done. Kelly Graves
is going to be on the program. We're going to
get his first impressions of the eight seed for
Oregon. Meh. Thought they should have been a
7. 8, not great. But I just made a little rhyme
there. 8, not great. But they're going to take
on Virginia Tech in the first round. He has every
single channel except for the ACC network. So
he's getting a school on the Hokies. We'll get
his impressions on the program today. We'll hear
from Oregon football after their spring practice.
Another one, we'll hear from the newly minted
offensive coordinator, Drew Merringer, and others.
And our thoughts are good, bad, and ugly. Results
from Big Bats, a packed show as always. As I
said, I'm back. No more basketball. Basketball's
done. But it's still going to be a short week
because we are the home for NCAA Basketball March
Madness. So we'll be off the air Thursday and
Friday, so you just get us today, tomorrow, and
Wednesday. I am Doc. I'm Danny. Right over there.
He's my tag team partner. And he just had a birthday.
It's Baby J, Justin Grossweiner. What a boy.
Well, I aged a whole year over the weekend. That's
how that works. So now you're 23 years old. No.
31. 31. Babe in the woods. It's a weird year.
It's an interesting year. It's not as world changing
as 30 was, I think. But it's still in that stage
of, I think that. People that are my age, they
lean one way or the other. They're way younger
than their age or they're way older than their
age. And I'm in the way younger than my age intersection,
I think. Did you get to go outside and get some
liquids? Not liquid sunshine. Regular sunshine.
Not today. Holy smokes. A little bit today, yeah.
Beautiful today. Yeah, it's going to be in the
70s, which is awesome. Took Bella for a walk
with my wife, which I will try and do before
I come in. It's one of those little calming,
relaxing things. It was just as warm outside
as it was inside for the first time in a long
time. First time, long time. It was 68 degrees
outside when we left around noontime in Santa
Clara, and it was 68 inside. It's perpetually
cold in my place. It was 63 inside. Do you keep
your meat outside your refrigerator, just lay
it on the counter or whatever? No. It just doesn't
have good insulation or something. So what did
you do for your birthday? I watched the World
Baseball Classic with my mom up in Portland.
I think that's going to come up in this program
today. It definitely will. And I had some good
barbecue up at Matt's Barbecue, I think I've
mentioned before. Shout out to Matt's. I ran
into my old friend who I worked with when I was
working up in Portland, who actually works at
Matt's now. Okay, I was going to say, don't you
run into this guy almost every time you go up
to Portland? No, I haven't seen him in a while.
My friend Greg. Shout out to Greg. He's a great
guy. He was someone that trained me when I was
a young prep chef working for Stella Tucker.
It's funny because I was about the age of our
interns were. A little bit younger than them.
Slightly younger than them. You should have met
me at that time. That was a whole other ball
of energy at that point. You were a wild man?
Yeah. You were crazy? No. I'm very innocent.
I could never see you as being nuts. I'm really
not. On my 21st birthday, all of the people I
worked with, because they took me out for my
birthday, they all were shocked with how little
I drank. Because I just had like two, three beers.
I was smoking Mr. Salty pretzel sticks on my
21st birthday. Trying to get a drag off of a
pretzel. That's how bad it got. That's funny.
I'm just a pretty chill guy. Didn't have to go
overboard or anything like that. So we just had
a chill night. So you didn't miss me that much
though. You mean this weekend or last week? No,
last week. I was gone. The second week in a row,
I was gone Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. You didn't
miss me that much this week. What do you mean?
Are you talking about this? I think this is this
insecurity that you have. I don't have an insecurity.
I just found it revealing as I was listening
to you talking to my buddy Chris Burkhardt from
the OSA and Blazer Network. I mean, this guy
does everything. Social media for the OSA. I
know. We talked for like 30 minutes. He's a great
guy and so much information. Man, this guy's
got it locked in. But, yeah, you started out
with, yeah, you know what? It's okay when Danny's
gone because I get to talk about stuff I want
to talk about. So I'm just going to ask you on
the air. We're going to do a little therapeutic
session here. Do you need to have more involvement
in what the topics are for the program? No. I'm
fine with it if you are. No. You don't have to
defend yourself, but just tell me. I like having
my own shows because I can talk about what I
want. But I also like you having. having you
on the show much better because it makes it easier
for me it's easier for me working with somebody
else because i blabber well and i blab too and
we blab together so it's great but yeah i like
i like doing my own thing on my own shows but
it's also harder it's also a harder thing to
sit here and talk to myself basically so i like
having you and mems on so kids out there we're
not fighting it's just brothers you know older
brother younger brother Just talking for a second.
I'm going with that. I'm not saying like dad
and son or anything else, even though you are
younger than my oldest boy. So I just say you
could be my son. That's kind of what I was thinking.
Every time I bring it up. Brothers is fine. You
know, thank God I'm not on television. People,
I think when they listen to me, they think I'm
younger than I am. And that's what I hope. That's
what the joy of radio is. I think if they met
you, they would think you're younger than you
are, too. I think you come across— Well, that's
very nice of you to say. Yeah, I know. You don't
come across as— You're sucking up to me right
now. No, just the truth. My mom is like that
as well, and my grandma even, too. Our family
is just like me. I'm like that. If you met me,
you would think I was 25 or 24. In the DNA. I
don't know. And so I think I have a good eye
for it. I think you don't come across as your
age. I think you come across as 5 to 10 years
younger. Oh, I like that. Being in the 50s would
be fine with me. I mean, that's when I finally
hit my stride. Okay. So what are we going to
talk about today, Baby J? We've got softball.
A lot to talk about over the weekend. Baseball.
We've got a tournament -bound Oregon women's
team on the basketball side. Men's basketball
is over there. A lot of baseball to talk about.
Beavers. Eric Segura shined again this weekend
as the Beavers sweep. San Diego this weekend.
I've got some issues. You want to do good, bad,
and ugly before we get to Kelly? Let's do good,
bad, and ugly. We like doing this over the weekend.
We're going to tell you the results of big bats
later on in the program. We'll do that in the
last segment. But we like on Mondays to talk
about the good, the bad, and the ugly from the
weekend. So I am going to start with our good,
bad, and the ugly. Now, you know what? Why don't
you start with the good, bad, and the ugly? Okay.
And I will start off. With Wayne Tinkle. My good.
This is great. This is not just good. This is
great. And this is why everybody likes Wayne
Tinkle. Because he took out a half -page ad in
the Sunday Oregonian to thank Oregon State fans
for the experience and to wish the new head basketball
coach, Justin Joyner, good luck. Classy. Classy,
classy. All the way through. And you know who
he didn't thank in that little slow game? Probably
Scott Barnes. No, not probably. He did not thank.
He thanked Bob DeCarolis, who hired him. Traitor
Bob hired Wayne Tinkle, and he thanked him, but
not Scott Barnes. That tells you all you need
to know about Coach Tinkle. He still took the
high road. He did. He did absolutely take the
high road. But omission. Omission tells you a
lot. All right. My good is it just came out a
little bit ago. And you know more about this
than I do. And we're hopefully going to get Ryan
Clark on the program before the short week is
over. Oregon quarterback Dante Moore has revealed
he has struggled with mental health issues associated
with the pressures of major college football.
In an interview with Clark, it published today,
he wrote a letter to Governor Tina Koke. this
month, which he disclosed his struggles with
depression. He asked the governor, Kotek, to
support mental health services in the state.
He says he's struggled deeply with his expectations.
And the reason this is good, shine a light. We
have reported on too many stories, CTE aside,
with the pressure of athletes to perform. and
how it's turned them sideways. And so good on
Dante Moore for shining a light on this. I completely
agree. And any athlete that wants to talk about
these issues, I think it's a great thing because
every single person, even you listening to this
right now. have probably struggled with mental
health issues, whether people want to admit it
or not, or they want to call it that. That's
the label they want to put it. People struggle
with things. And so anytime you have an athlete,
and particularly one that is as cerebral as Dante,
and as articulate as Dante talking about it,
I think it's a great thing. And he's using his
platform for good. Yep. And that's what I love
about it. So there's my good for the weekend.
All right. Well, that was your good. So I'm going
to go to the bad now. And so my bad, and this
is pretty bad. It's not ugly, but it's bad. Oh,
we're going to get to ugly. We're going to get
to ugly in a second. Texas A &M football team,
they took out all the dumbbells under 40 pounds
from the weight room. And I think that is so
stupid. I cannot believe a real football program
actually does this. I bet you it's performative.
I bet you it's just for the cameras because that
makes no sense at all. You are going to have
athletes using weights that are potentially 20.
30 pounds more than they should just for ego.
Like you're not taking a shortcut. You're just
being stupid. Why would you do that? It doesn't
make any sense to me. No, no physical trainer
would ever tell you to do that. It's just this
macho man sort of attitude. I just think it's
real. I don't know. I hate it. Deep in the heart
of Texas. All right. My bad from the weekend
is what is going on with the WBIT? If they want
to be a relevant tournament, you do not put in.
A 13 -17 team. And by the way, that's the matchup
that Oregon State gets. They seed them. There's
four different pods. Everybody plays on the supposedly
higher seed home court, except Oregon State,
who just, and I think they got jobbed by the
tournament selection committee not getting into
the NCAA tournament. They are now going to play
Wisconsin, who is actually the number three seed
in that region. But they get to play Wisconsin
at Gill Coliseum. Shame on the WBIT for ranking
Wisconsin number three with a 13 -17 record.
The only team in the WBIT that has a losing record,
and it's not even close. The next closest? Missouri.
No, pardon me. Well, Missouri at 16 and 16. Texas
A &M is 14 and 12. Nobody else has a losing record.
Well, pardon me. I just found another one. Georgia
Tech at 14 and 18. They snuck out in the woodwork.
Yeah, they snuck in all the power four teams,
basically, that have losing records as those
seeds. It's ridiculous. Yeah. Have some relevancy.
Have some pride. Yeah. Okay, there's my bad.
All right. And our ugly is so ugly that we have
the same ugly. We have the same ugly. really
bad go ahead is brutal yeah he said gerardo perdomo
yesterday last out of the world baseball classic
semi -final strikes out looking against us yeah
strikes out looking to mason miller on a called
third strike that was so low It is inexcusable.
Should never happen. Is there no ABS in the World
Baseball Classic? No, there is not in the World
Baseball Classic. There should be. I completely
agree. And honestly, that was my first reaction
was, this is why we're putting this in. It's
because if you end a game like this, it just
feels bad. Why not in a tournament like this,
use ABS? It's been proven in the minor leagues
and proven in spring training that it works.
And they're going to use it during the season.
That's why they're doing it. It doesn't really
make sense to me why they weren't using it in
this tournament. But it doesn't mean that Dominican
Republic was going to win. We used to want to
see a game end like this. And to me, it's such
a shame because I think that this tournament.
The last time, remember the way that it ended
with Shohei Otani striking out Mike Trout? The
ends of games can be this very iconic thing that
will draw people back, and this is one of those
ones where it's like, man, that really sucked.
It really sucked. It didn't quite ruin my birthday
or anything like that, but man, watching this
game was a pretty good game, but man, the ending
was really, really bad. It was ugly. And it's
the game we love, so that's why we're so upset
about it. We're verklempt. All right. So there
you go. Good, bad, and ugly for the weekend,
Danny and Justin. By the way, speaking of ugly
as well, I went 2 -3 again this weekend in Big
Bets. Brian, congratulations. You won Big Bets
4 -1. Good job. We got him in there, too. He
was right at the end there. Right at the end.
And I think, has Brian played before with us?
I don't think so. I don't think so. Good for
you, Brian. And that was the last week of Big
Bets. Yes, for this cycle. Which means I lose.
Okay, but I do also want to say that Goose still
has to pay off his big bet. He does. We talked
about this. I also want to say that I played
it really fair because I had your picks beforehand,
and I knew exactly what record I needed to basically
win against you. So did you win opposite picks
of me? I won opposite picks of you at least three
games. And you went three and two. Yes, so it
came down to the Houston game between us. The
Planet Houston? Screw Houston. Who did they beat
again? Kansas. Kansas, that's right. And every
bit of my Wildcat fandom, Kansas State, was like,
don't say the Jayhawks. And yet, there I was.
But, you know, I was probably tired. Was tired
of the Darren Peters and stuff. I just didn't
know he was going to play. I knew he was going
to play, but it's like, is he really going to
play? Oh, goodness grace. All right. Waiting
in the wings. We've got the big kahuna. Kelly
Graves is going to join us. Let's talk a little
Va Tech Oregon basketball. Yeah, baby. March
Madness is upon us. We will head deep into the
heart of Texas in Austin for Oregon, and Virginia
Tech will talk to the man, see what he knows
about the Hokies when we come back on the Danny
Justice. and radio program. Congratulations again
to Brian who won our big bets this weekend. We're
going to draw for the big suite for the NCAA
championship game down at Coquille Casino Resort.
And Brian, your name is in there and you get
extra entries because you beat the brain trust.
Listen, you went four and one, buddy. That's
pretty good. I went two and three. I'm the big
loser this session. Justin, nice job finishing
second. And Goose, he bolted out of the gate,
and he took first. Well, you know the old saying
is, yeah, I know. Going first, you're last. Thanks.
I thought you were going to do the bear thing
again. Let's head on over to the Oregon Man Colleges
hotline at 541 -343 -5673 and welcome in our
good friend, the head coach. of your Oregon Ducks
women's basketball team. Number eight seed they
take on Virginia Tech on Friday. It's the big
kahuna, Kelly Graves. Coach, how are you? Hey,
pretty good, guys. Pretty good. What was the
contest? So every week we play, we pick five
games. And it's just straight up and down. You
don't bet the spread or whatever. And then whoever
has the best record wins. We call it big bets.
So we involve the listeners. Yeah, you remember
that. I thought it was some kind of a trivia
deal, and I was going to say, try me out. Let's
go. But you're doing, like, calling games because
we're not allowed to do that. I know that. That's
why we don't ask you to come in and do it. Otherwise,
you could be our celebrity picker. But, no, that's
not going to work for you. We're not going to
get you in trouble. No, absolutely not. Coach.
We had kind of had you slated as a 7 seed. Can
I talk about seeding first? Because, I mean,
what's done is done. You're an 8 seed, 8 -9,
not the best matchup because then you've got
the number one seed next if they win through.
But that's the next game. You've got to concentrate
on this game. But I guess we can start there.
There is a competitive advantage of being either
a 7 or a 10 versus 8 -9, right? Well, not really.
I mean, it's pretty close. You know, most tens
are going to be pretty much, you know, you're
splitting hairs between nines and tens and sevens
and eights. You know, sometimes the ones are
significantly better than the twos. But, you
know, if we were a seven and happened to win
the first game, okay, then where are you at?
You're at, you know, LSU. You know, you're at
some pretty good teams there as well. So, you
know, they would have kept us away from Iowa
and Michigan, I would think. So I don't know.
I've never, you know, as a coach, I think I've
won 10 games now as a double -digit seed. Right.
And, you know, we've gone to Elite 8s as a 10.
We've gone to Elite 8s as an 11. So I don't think
it really matters. I think it's who you play,
you know, what the matchup is, and then how you
play. I mean, this time of year, you better play
well because everybody's good, you know, and
you got to bring it. So that's what I'm more
concerned with. I've never focused on seeds.
All right. That's good to know. Like you said,
it is what it is. What's done is done. So no
sense in, you know. crying about it or anything
right so you don't have as long of a trip this
time instead of going all the way to the east
coast you go to texas and austin so this matchup
against virginia tech first of all let's focus
on your team how's the health how's mia jacobs
how's everybody getting themselves ready for
this first round matchup Well, Mia's not going
to be 100 % for the rest of the year. She actually
will require surgery. She's just kind of fighting
through it and working her way through it. She's
never been to an NCAA tournament, so I know she
really wants to play. And even Mia, not 100%,
is still a pretty good basketball player. But
she's kind of the same. But everybody else is
relatively healthy, you know, as healthy as you
can be at this time of year. Nobody's 100%. But,
yeah, but I feel pretty good. That certainly
won't be an issue with us. And, Coach, I just
want to rewind a little bit here before we move
forward. End of the season against Washington
wasn't the way you wanted to end it, but then
the Big Ten tournament, I felt like you guys
did pretty well. Against Purdue, it was a good
game. Maryland was one that could have gone either
way, played really well and won that game. And
then against Michigan, honestly, that game was
really, really close until the second half. So
how do you feel about the way your team played
in that tournament? Oh, yeah, kind of typical.
You know, we play well, and when we play well,
we're a pretty good team, and we've proven that.
in multiple games throughout the year, and sometimes
we just become really offensively challenged,
and that's where we've struggled. I think defensively
we've been a little bit more consistent throughout
the year, but just offense comes and goes, and
I guess that's why we're an eighth seed. We're
just one of those teams that you don't always
know what you're going to get, and we're young.
And that's part of it. And, you know, and we've,
you know, I like my team. I like them a lot.
Yeah, we like them too. That's kind of been our
issue this year. You know, and we have obviously
some really good players, and we have a good
depth, and we've had different players step up
in different games, which you'll love because
this time of year it's that X factor. Obviously,
your star's got to play well, but it's that X
factor that I think sometimes wins for you in
the tournament. And we've had a whole bunch of
different ones. We just can't always count on
all five of our... kids that play the bulk of
the minutes to have great games. So that's the
only reason why I hesitate. But I love my group.
My goodness, look where we're at. We have a chance
to compete. It's the only team in Oregon, men
or women, that's in the field. That's crazy to
me. You can follow the big kahuna, Kelly Graves,
at GoDucksKG on Twitter. He joins us on the Danny
and Justin radio program. So, Coach, I want to
start with that youth, but you can turn that
into advantage because they don't know what they
don't know. a sprint. And I know you as a coaching
staff, well experienced with you and Jody and
the rest, is you've taken teams through this
many, many times. And so what is the discussion
and what is the mindset that you try and relay
to your young team going into this? And I'll
just leave it open for you. I'm not going to
try and put any pre -thoughts in your head because
you've already got it. But it is now a sprint.
It's not the marathon of the season's over with
and now it's the sprint. Yeah, it's a one -and
-done mentality, and thank goodness we've been
in that situation now a couple of games in the
Big Ten tournament. I think you really accentuate
or play up the importance in your preparation.
I think once the game starts, I think you've
got to coach it and treat it the same as any
other game, in my opinion. If you make too much
of it. then I think sometimes your team gets
tight. And like you said, we've had really good
success in postseason, and I think part of it
is, yeah, we treat every game the same. If you
listen to my pregame speeches, they're not any
different when we're playing Washington or UCLA
or Texas Southern. It's the same. We try to keep
it consistent. But we've been playing up ever
since we got done in the Big Ten that we've got
to amp it up now. It's the NCAA tournament. It's
a one and done. So in our preparation, we really
try to make sure our kids are focused and intentional
on everything that we're doing. But I think then
you relax, you know, once that preparation is
done and now you're ready for the game and now
you just say, hey, you guys, you know, let's
go out and get it done. And the good thing is
if we play a good game, you know, it's not like
we're playing a one seed now. where we're going
to have to play really, really well, and they
might have to be off their game, this game is
going to come down to who plays the best that
night. Right. Because we're both pretty even,
obviously. That's why one's an eight and one's
a nine. So, I don't know. I think there's a certain
formula to it, and this is kind of what we've
done. Somebody else might be completely different,
but we've always had that mentality. We don't
get uptight. You know, we don't get the kids.
off their game and psyched out because of how
we're acting as coaches. And this Virginia Tech
team, one thing that was interesting to me about
them, and I'd love your thoughts on just them
as a team, but particularly Mackenzie Nelson,
who seems like she's more of this traditional
point guard than some of the scoring guards I
think you see nowadays. But what's the challenge
of playing a really more traditional point guard
that's going to get the team into the offense
more than looking to score herself? But she can
at times. Yeah, well, she's kind of a jet airplane,
you guys. She gets out in the open court. She's
hard to catch. So we can't let her loose. Yeah,
she makes great decisions. There's no question
who's in control of that offense. Now, her usage
rate isn't as much as Carly Wenzel, who is their
leading scorer. But she just is a real calming
effect at that point guard. And if she has any
kind of a lane, she'll attack it and get to the
rim. So, yeah, she's definitely going to be a
challenge. They're good in transition, you guys.
They really get out and go. And that part is
going to be, I think, the toughest for us to
handle. And she's certainly the catalyst there.
So where do you see your advantage, though, Coach,
with your athletes? Well, I think they have good
length. Both of us have good length. You know,
good depth, different players that can score
on any given night. I really like our inside
overall. They're not huge. They're really athletic.
And they don't always have five players on the
court that can score. And we've done pretty well
against teams like that because our kids really,
you know, I've got an awesome coaching staff,
as you guys well know. Oh, yeah. And they do
a great job. of preparing and putting together
an awesome game plan. And our kids are really
pretty good at following a game plan. So when
teams don't have five players on the court that
can score, we can really lock in on those advantages.
But the honest truth is I didn't know much about
them. I looked at their numbers, and I'm going,
well, yeah, you know, we've got this and this
and this. And then after watching them, you guys,
they're really good. They are really good. and
better than they show on paper. That's why sometimes
the statistical analysis and all this data, it
doesn't matter. You just got to put eyes on them,
and these guys can play. Head Coach Kelly Graves
joining us on the Oregon Man Clinics Hotline
at 541 -343 -5673 as we break down Virginia Tech
Oregon Friday. It's going to be early out here
on the left coast as the kids will be down in
Austin, Texas, playing in the first round of
the NCAA tournament. So, Coach, adversity is
going to come, and it's come throughout the season
in different ways, whether it's an injury, whether
it's being down by 15 and coming back and playing
tough. So talk to us about how your team has
dealt with that adversity and what they've learned
and what you've learned about your team through
that this season. Well, what I've learned is
we're never out of a game. I don't care what
the score is and how much time is left. Our kids
are resilient. They find a way. That's also been
one of our issues, fellas, for up and down in
that regard, you know, where we can go on great
runs and give up great runs. But I really like
my team in that, you know, we're the stronger
of the two conferences. I mean, they took sixth.
and we're 12 -6 in their conference. We were
8 -10 in ours and took 11th, yet we got the higher
seed. So it just shows you how strong and with
12 teams in the NCAA tournament from the Big
Ten, I mean, it's the number one conference.
So our kids have seen everything. We've obviously
gone against great talent, awesome teams, excellent
coaching. So I think we're going to be prepared.
I've told them several times, the Big Ten will
have us prepared for whatever we see. And I think
there's some confidence that you can take from
that. And we've shown that we can play really
good basketball. We've played with everybody
outside of two or three opponents like Ohio State
and UCLA that just kind of knows, and Iowa to
some degree, they were just better than us on
those nights. Not much we could have done. But
everybody, every other game, we were in. So,
yeah, we'll use that. And we have nine that were
on the team last year that won a game in the
NCAA tournament and gave Duke everything they
could handle right to the end. So they've seen
some success, and they understand. And, you know,
Katie Fiso had an amazing NCAA tournament last
year. And you talk about how the Big Ten has
prepared you, and I think we asked you a little
bit about this last year as well, but you've
had a couple seasons now in the Big Ten. Could
you compare it to the Pac -12? Is it similar
or is it deeper in the Pac -12? How would you
compare those two conferences? Well, the Pac
-12, when we were in it the last seven or eight
years, was the best conference in the country.
And look at the four teams that went to the Big
Ten from the Pac -12. We've all four made the
NCAA tournament. Both years. Right. We've had
three combined number one seeds, and everybody
won games in last year's NCAA tournament. So
those four teams, as opposed to the men's side,
you know, I don't think the Big Ten has gotten
a ton better because of the addition of the four
Pac -12 schools. It certainly has in women's
basketball. And, you know, so we've been playing
against the best of the best, you know. Since
I got here, we've had the best conference, and
we still have the best conference. I'm really
looking forward to this, you guys. This is a
good group I've had to coach. They're great kids.
They get along. They work hard. You've seen them.
The energy with which they play and the enthusiasm.
I'm just happy that we're in the field regardless
of where we're seated, and we've got a chance.
That's all you can ask for. That's right, as
long as there's still time on the clock. Right,
Coach? Yeah, yeah. And we're good enough to go
in and win games. I mean, we really are. But
we have to play well. We're also good enough
to, you know, not. We're not quite good enough.
You know, it's just one of those things. But
we're there, and I'm really excited. And I think
our kids are really, really excited. The last
couple days in practice, you can tell they've
started to up their intensity, their focus, and
their enthusiasm in practice. That's a good sign.
Yeah, absolutely. Coach Kelly Graves joining
us on the Danny and Justin radio program. Just
a couple more questions for you, Coach, and we're
going to let you go. You had talked about the
X factor, and I always love, as a broadcaster
as well, you can always take a look at the star
line and go, you know, Ahisa Tute and Katie Fiso
and, you know, Sophia Bell and on and on. But
then it's like the Sarah Rambuses of the world
or, you know, Philly, you know, Philippa Tilly
out there. They can step up with big minutes
that don't necessarily show up on the stat sheet
sometimes. And you always find the teams that
get themselves deep in these runs in turnovers.
We'll always have players that do that. And I
don't necessarily need you to single out those
things just to validate that that's kind of from
a coaching perspective. You need those type of
minutes from players that maybe other teams would
overlook. Yes, there's no question about it.
And I look at some of our biggest wins this year
where we had kind of that X -factor player step
up. You know, our first win at Maryland. Sophia
Bell hits three threes right in a row in the
fourth quarter that turn the game. You know,
she's kind of seen as a, you know, our primary
defender, right? And what you get out of her
offensively is always a bonus. And boom, boom,
boom, she hits three. We win that game. Avery
Kane against Maryland in the Big Ten tournament.
She comes in and hits a bunch of threes, including,
you know, kind of the game winner. You know,
Ari Long has spiked. Estera Tujina. You know,
we had a bunch of different players outside of
Mia, Heath, and Katie who at different times
step up. Sarah Rambis has had a couple of 20
-point games for us when we really needed it.
So that's, as a coach, that's a real blessing.
Now, the other side of that is we're not always
as consistent as we need to be. But the bottom
line is we've got to defend, you guys. We've
got to make some threes. That's been our bread
and butter. And, you know, your stars have just
kind of got to come to play, and we know that
there is going to be somebody that steps up and
has a big game. I look at Amina Muhammad last
year in our win against Vanderbilt the first
round. She gets a key offensive rebound on a
free throw that wins the game for us. And so
those are the little things. It may not be a
whole game like you said, but just, you know,
a couple of possessions here or there, they make
game -winning plays. And that's what we need.
And I'm confident that somebody on our team is
going to step up and be that person or persons.
Well, we'll be watching for our coach. Last question.
And you've been doing this for a couple of years,
and so I know you can speak from experience.
And is there somewhat of a message to especially
some of these younger players, and you do have
a very young team, is to, yes, you're there to
do a job. You're there on business. You want
to win. You want to keep moving on. But then
the other side of it is to kind of soak it in
and enjoy the moment. I know it's hard for you
as a coaching staff because you're always thinking
about what's going on in the game and what we've
got a game plan for and the next game that's
coming up. We've got to make sure we've got our
scout set and all that. But then sit back and
enjoy the moments that you have. And these are
fleeting. And so I know that's kind of a message
you bring them, isn't it? No question, you guys.
That's a very astute point. Yes, they have to
enjoy it. It can't be all business, and we can't
get them up tight. Teams play better, and sometimes
as a coach, this has been one of my weaknesses.
I can get our team wound up, too wound sometimes.
I need to just relax. I give myself mental notes
every game, sometimes physical notes on a piece
of paper that I have to look at. Just relax,
coach. Team plays better when you're just relaxed
and calm. And that's what you have to do. And
I think if you were there and around the team
during our Elite Eight and Final Four runs, we
were loose. Loose as a goose. Yeah. And we had
fun. And that's what we need to do again. Especially
since we're young. They don't have a lot of experience
in this kind of tournament. Right. So we just
got to relax, have some fun. And let the chips
fall where they may. All right, Coach. Best of
luck to you. Put the clubs away because you're
not going to need them for at least three, four,
five weeks, hopefully. All right? Well, I sure
hope so. I was actually thinking of running out
and at least hitting some balls today. I have
a 540 tee time. I don't know. It's the last one
of the day. Oh, you can get nine in. Oh, yeah,
you'll get nine in. That's a great way. If that
helps you relax, absolutely. There you go. Right?
Well, okay, I've seen four Virginia Tech games.
I've got three more to watch tonight. Okay. We
just broke down all their possessions with the
staff for the last two hours. I think I've probably
seen enough to have a good idea. So I think two
hours on the courses. It's appropriate. I think
so as well. And make sure, do not read too much
break. Okay? That's all I'll tell you. Oh, good
knowledge. Good knowledge. All right, Coach.
Well, putting for me is a crap shoot anyway.
But I'll take your advice. All right, Coach.
Hey, have a great time there. We'll be following,
watching, and hopefully have you on with a couple
of wins. Okay? Okay, fellas. Yep, appreciate
it. We'll call. Hopefully, let's talk in Texas,
okay? Absolutely. You bet. All right. Thanks,
Coach. Take care. We'll see you. Thanks. There
he goes, the great Big Kahuna, Kelly Graves,
the head man for the flock. As Oregon women's
basketball takes on Virginia Tech, opening round
of the NCAA tournament down in Texas, in Austin.
It'll be a home floor for Texas if they can get
past the first -round game. Let's just talk about
Virginia Tech. We can talk about them a little
bit more as we go through. All right, so when
we come back, a little audio from Oregon spring
football. Merringer and Hampton, yep. Drew Merringer
and Chris Hampton. We'll talk about softball
as well, baseball, big weekends. We've already
talked about. Oregon State getting hosed on the
women's side of things in basketball, but Oregon
State as well. Big weekend on the diamond. Talk
about all of that as we race to the finish on
the Danny and Justin radio program. Your home
for the NCAA tournament is right here. Fox Sports,
Eugene Fox Sports, Newport. as we will have Westwood
One's coverage. So that means the next couple
of weeks, we're going to be off on Thursday and
Friday because you'll be listening to basketball
play -by -play, which I absolutely love. Had
a great time calling the OSAA tournament, 5A.
And by the way, I want to give a quick shout
-out. Marist in the 4A ranks, the boys win the
state championship. First time since the early
2000s when Corey Anderson was coaching them.
And all -tournament team for the boys. And it
was led by Johnny Lombardi, Melissa's son, the
senior from Marist. Pretty cool. Arvai King,
also a junior, made second team. And for Springfield
girls, they finished second. West Albany wins
a state championship in 5A girls basketball for
the first time in 70 years, which was awesome.
And then... And by the way, Noari Felipe, just
a freshman, she made the first team all tournament
for Springfield. Saylor Hall, a junior, they're
both coming back, made second team. And Springfield
won the sportsmanship trophy. But they finished
second. And then our good friend, Blaine Liberatore
and the Thurston Colts, they grabbed fourth place.
Tough loss on the opening day to Summit. Then
they came back through the consolation bracket
and took fourth place hardware. So good for them
in Blaine Liberatore's squad. So there you go.
Let's see. Oh, yeah. And by the way, Lucas Labonte
made first team all tournament from Thurston.
So there you go. Okay. Spring practice continuing
for Oregon. Oregon State as well up in Corvallis.
They had a morning workout this past week. Second
practice in three days. It's also the last for
a couple of weeks. Spring game is going to be
April 25th. New offensive defensive coordinators.
Defensive coordinator Chris Hampton, who is the
assistant. or the co -defensive coordinator last
year with Tosh LaPoi, and then co -offensive
coordinator Drew Merringer, who now takes over
for Will Stein, both met with the media. They
did. And were you in that one as well? No, I
wasn't at this one. This was on Saturday. You
made an appearance, by the way. I did make an
appearance. On Dan Lanning's. On Dan Lanning's,
yes. Was that Thursday or Friday? I think it
was Thursday because that was when I did my solo
show. which was fun. He was wearing sunglasses.
Did you see that? Oh, yeah. He's very cool. He's
always cool. He made sure to say at the end that
he wasn't going to be cool, and it was just an
eye procedure. But he said at the end, he didn't
preface anything with it. It was totally cool.
No, I know. He was cool, is the thing. He can't
help himself. I know, I know. Okay, yeah, so
I wasn't at this one in particular, but it was
interesting hearing from Drew Merringer and Chris
Hampton for the first time, I believe, right?
Right, as offensive and defensive coordinators.
I think an interesting topic is the idea of each
of these coaches have been a part of this defense
and or offense, but haven't had the reins yet.
And so you've been a part of this team with a
great offense and a great defense. What is your
own stamp going to be like on that? So we're
going to go through the questions. They're both
asked this. So we'll go through Drew Merringer
first. And what's it like taking over this offense,
but putting your stamp on it? You know, people
ask you, like, what's your favorite play? Right.
And I was like, whatever is going to score, you
know, like whatever we need to do in that particular
moment. Do we I think that one of the great things
that we had with Will here previously is we saw
the game very similarly, not completely similar
or not completely alike, but very similarly.
And I think, you know, I was asked a question
about Will last fall camp, you know, and. it
was like, what do we think the offense is going
to look like? And I think Will would tell you
the same thing. It's, you know, every offense
every year is going to be a little bit different.
And regardless of who's calling plays or it's
just the faces that are on the offense are going
to be a little bit different. And the skills
that you have on there, there's going to be some
guys that are a year older and a little bit better.
There's going to be some new guys that show up.
There's going to be some young guys that need
to play for you. What can they do? And how can
we put them in a position to be successful? So
I think that's kind of what you'd expect is that
it's a little bit different of an offense every
year and that you're going to put guys in a position
to succeed. I think Chris Hampton, do you want
to add something there? No, I was just going
to say that it's, I think there's concern on
both sides. It's like, you know, but both these
guys have been. deeply entrenched with offensive
play calling or defensive play calling. Chris
Hampton was a defensive coordinator before he
came to Oregon. But it's like out of the shadow
of what the success has been with Oregon, it's
like what is going to be the next step now, and
how are they going to put their own spin on it?
And Dane Lane talked about it when I was there
on Thursday, was, hey, these guys have called
plays in practice. It's not the first time they're
ever going to call plays for their respective
offense or defense. So Chris Hampton, his response,
I liked it. It was a little bit different. Yeah,
I think we can get better. You know, I think
we can obviously grow, right? We haven't got
to where we want to go. We've been good on defense.
We want to be elite. We want to be the best.
We haven't been the best. We've been pretty good.
So, I think there's room for growth for sure.
So, putting my stamp on it is really not about
me. In my opinion, it's just about tapping into
the players and putting the players in position
and evaluating our talent and how can I utilize
our talent and put guys in the right position
to make plays and how can we make the complex
simple, do the things that put our best players
in the field to do what they're good and go make
plays. You know, I love Chris Hampton. I love
that. I got to meet him a couple of times and
got to talk to him, and I am impressed by his
intelligence about the game. But I do have to
say, when I listen to that and I hear him talk,
He sounds like Kevin Hart to me. Come on, man.
He sounds like Kevin Hart to me. Come on, listen.
I love it. Do we have another quote from Coach
Hampton? Yeah, we do. We have him talking about
what the adjustment's like going from co -defensive
coordinator and kind of running things, but now
he's managing people. No, and no disrespect by
saying he sounds like Kevin Hart because he does.
Listen. All right. No, it's not a whole lot.
You know, the biggest thing is just organizing
the staff and organizing the unit meetings and
the install calendar. So just organizing the
day -to -day operations with the players and
the coaches. And other than that, I'm still coaching
the position, still working with my guys, and
just got a few more obligations, I guess. Now,
you got to understand that Coach Hamp was dealing
with the back end of that defense as well. And
that was a core and a group that's going to have
a lot of turnover. But they got a couple of kids
coming in as transfers that are going to elevate,
again, that defense to the point where it needs
to be. And they're going to need all those pieces.
Line's pretty well set. But then that linebacker
and back end need to step up. Yeah, absolutely.
And I think especially that cornerback and safety
room, there's a lot of young guys that we saw
last year. We kind of know what we're going to
see from those guys. What we're going to get.
I think that there are concerns, and Chris Hampton
had some addressing of concerns about the linebackers.
I know a lot of guys are really worried about,
you know, the inside linebackers. You know, we
lost Bryce, and Bryce was a fantastic player.
Bryce started with me at safety when I first
got here, and then we ended up moving him down
to linebacker. But Bryce walked on the team,
you know, and became Bryce Boettcher. You know,
so if you were to ask anyone in 2024 preseason
about Bryce Boettcher, nobody would have said
Bryce Boettcher would have been Bryce Boettcher.
He became Bryce Betcher. So Gavin Nix has to
become Gavin Nix. You know, so is Dylan Williams.
He has to become Dylan Williams where everyone
knows his name. He becomes a household name.
You know, and Brayden Platt. You know, so we've
got a bunch of guys that can fill that role.
I think they have a lot of talent. They have
a lot of ability. Now it's just their time. And
so just going to the other side. Drew Merringer
talks about the offensive line where there are
a lot of concerns that people have about the
offensive line. And I want people to listen to
who he brings up very early on in this conversation
about who he trusts and guys that he thinks can
develop in the offensive line. I don't think
it's any secret that our league has done an unbelievable
job with those guys. I mean, three times in a
row, Joe Moore, Joe Moore, word semifinalists.
And it's not because it's just five guys that
are out there. Right. You look and we start the
SC game and Fox Crater starts that left tackle
for us. How many snaps has Fox played up until
that point? Not a ton. How does he play in that
game? He plays pretty well. I think that we're
at a point where we have a lot of good young
players in that position that have grown and
developed and worked hard and they're ready to
take a step. Who are those guys going to be?
I'm not sure yet. We'll see. It's going to be
very competitive at that position. So, again,
April 25th, spring game. And are we going to
see enough in the spring? No, we're not going
to see anything in the spring game. So don't
get all, you know, just go out and hopefully
it'll be a sunny day. Bring some cans for food
for Lane County and have a good time with your
fellow Duck fans that are going to be out there
at the spring game. Can I say what I want to
see? Sure. I think it's interesting to see. It's
like the get -off -the -bus stuff. It's like
you're not going to basically get any scheme
stuff, but you're going to see how people look
on the field. We saw Dylan Gresham last year.
We saw De 'Corey Moore. Don't forget when Tez
played in the spring game for the first time,
when he had transferred in. That was immediately
like, oh, boy, that guy's fast. I'm not going
to not have fun at the game. Just don't expect
it. Hit your expectation level a little bit lower.
It's a spring game. All right. Real quick. So,
nice sweep over the weekend for Ducks softball.
as they had a walk -off win on Sunday. They're
now 21 -7 overall, 3 -0 in the Big Ten. They
sweep their first Big Ten series of the season.
Penn State, not a bad team, by the way. No, they're
not. They're 19 -9 now. That's with three losses.
Two of those were to Tennessee, number one Tennessee.
And wow, Mark Boszkowski's team, hello. Back
-to -back series wins and their first sweep.
They're now 5 -1 in the Big Ten. and they get
a 7 -6 win over Indiana. They trailed 6 -1 before
rallying for six runs over the final four innings.
Angel Lyatt, we're going to be talking about
this kid with Maddox Maloney as well. Bottom
of the ninth inning, 7 -6 win at PK Park. Sweet
for the Ducks. They're now 17 -3, 5 -1 in the
Big Ten. So good on them. And then Oregon State,
men, they end up with a sweep over San Diego.
They win 10 -3 on Sunday. Oh, a joke. I got fired
from the bank today. A woman asked me to check
her balance, so I pushed her. Dad jokes! You
and I got to do a bracket for basketball. We'll
get Goose involved in it as well. Just have a
little fun on the air. What do you call a man
wearing a rug on his head? What do you call a
man wearing a rug on his head? Something toupee?
No, you call him Matt. Call him Matt. Okay. Like
a man on his head. It's got a rug on his head.
It's a Matt. Oh, man. That's a fine name. Yes,
it is. Hey, Hogan. How you doing out there, buddy?
It's Matt Hogan. Everybody knows Matt. All right.
I'm back in the chair. Can't you tell? For Baby
J, I'm Doc. Thanks for tuning in, friends. God
bless. Be well. Put a smile on your face. Someone
else says they deserve it. So do you. Back tomorrow
with the program. Back in 23 hours. Peace.