MBB: Oregon @ Oregon State (Thu 7 PM ESPN+)

[UOducksTK1]

Really fun game! A group of 7 of us made the trip down to Corvallis, and well worth it!

Like others said, Bittle and Shelstad are pillars of this team. Bittle was an animal on both sides of the ball. Angel needs to get involved more, he's good.

Bamba was pretty awful. He misses are so far off. He needs to relax. Moss was also terrible, he really helped the Beavers score more than us.

[UOducksTK1]

I was really hoping that Evans made a jump this year. It's disappointing that he can barely get on the floor.

Not to mention Mookie...

He had a good second half, but I'll also say that I'm not sure Shelstad should be starting over Barthelemy. He's just so erratic.

Barthelemy is too one dimensional. He can shoot well, but that's about it. And Shelstad definitely calmed down in the 2nd half, and he was essentially in our run to take the lead (and win).

It's weird that Evans is getting so few minutes.

[StevensTechU]

I was really hoping that Evans made a jump this year. It's disappointing that he can barely get on the floor.

Not to mention Mookie...

He had a good second half, but I'll also say that I'm not sure Shelstad should be starting over Barthelemy. He's just so erratic.

Barthelemy is too one dimensional. He can shoot well, but that's about it. And Shelstad definitely calmed down in the 2nd half, and he was essentially in our run to take the lead (and win).

It's weird that Evans is getting so few minutes.

Shelstad's runner toward the end had me tense as hell. It wasn't a good shot. The 3s late were good shot selections, though. I just think the offense with him in is a lot of watching him sprint around and then get the ball dumped in your hands with the shot clock winding down. Not great.

[UOducksTK1]

I definitely noticed that a couple times. He particularly gave Moss the ball with like 4 seconds on the shot clock on the arc to Moss who has hit two shots all year (and 0 3's).

I will say though, I don't consider Mamba or Barthelemy as good distributors either. Top concerns for me is a true PG (whether starter or backup quality), and lack of good shooting from our SGs (Bamba/Moss).

I honestly think we should bump Tracey to SG position. And give Mookie/Evans more looks at SF.

[dd10snoop28]

Few observations

-Bittle is an all-around stud. Inside, outside, defense, rebounding, tenaciousness....wow
-Shelstead is going to have his moments. I expect streakiness from him this year, but he is absolute essential part of our offense. He can create like no one else on our team can so he is irreplaceable.
-KJ Evans is getting sold short this year... His versatility is much needed and he's barely seeing the court. I don't mind him coming off the bench, but he should have been the guy guarding Fataj down the stretch. If OSU was smart, they would've exploited us matching up a much shorter Tracey on him.
-Bamba will come around. Honestly, I'd like to see better decision-making from him on defense. He can be tourney-Cousinard 2.0 if he can put it together.

Our defense has been special at times this year.

Coaching has been good besides the rotation for KJ Evans.

Overall, encouraged where we are at this point of the season.

[dd10snoop28]

Also, Oregon state has a pretty talented team. Their coach wasn't putting their guys in good spots, but a quality win.