Ducks Attack Message Board Forum

Gotta win these ones.

Yesterday, before the Rutgers-Oregon game, Iowa was @ Maryland, and had a 51-47 lead at halftime, the final score: Maryland 101- Iowa 75.

Merganzer wrote: Mon Feb 17, 2025 11:18 am Yesterday, before the Rutgers-Oregon game, Iowa was @ Maryland, and had a 51-47 lead at halftime, the final score: Maryland 101- Iowa 75.

Wild, Iowa can score. They're one of the best shooting teams in the nation and put up more points than almost anyone else.

But their defense is atrocious. This is one of those games where we need to shoot 50% or better to win.

UOducksTK1 wrote:

Merganzer wrote: Mon Feb 17, 2025 11:18 am Yesterday, before the Rutgers-Oregon game, Iowa was @ Maryland, and had a 51-47 lead at halftime, the final score: Maryland 101- Iowa 75.

Wild, Iowa can score. They're one of the best shooting teams in the nation and put up more points than almost anyone else.

But their defense is atrocious. This is one of those games where we need to shoot 50% or better to win.

So Iowa basketball is the anti-Iowa football?


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lol actually, yes.

Oregon really tried doing everything they could to lose that one. Luckily Bittle came up big in the end with two blocks on Iowa's final possession to seal the win. It would have been really bad for the Ducks' Tournament chances if they'd dropped this one. Can't have many more games where Shelstad is an almost complete non-factor on the offensive end.

greenyellow wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2025 8:52 pm Can't have many more games where Shelstad is an almost complete non-factor on the offensive end.

Not only a non-factor, but a negative. It wasn't really his fault on the review of the 3, But earlier he just didn't get the ball up court fast enough, then later, after bobbling the ball, he steps out of bounds. 3 points, 2 were on a crucial 1 & 1. What typifies Angel's season was when the loose ball goes right by him, does he make any effort to get it, no. Altman's reaction to that was highlighted by the announcers. "Lack of urgency" is a apt description of the Ducks.

This team is hard to watch. A parody on basketball.

Shelstad is, at best, a year away from being the reliable player we need him to be.

Bittle is a great stretch 4 playing a terrible 5. He gets beat to hoop so often it’s just reckless of the opposing coach to draw up anything else. Could you imagine if Dante got that extra year?

Angel spends 95% of the game actively trying to stay out of the way and then, randomly does something that makes you say, “Dang! That guy can play.”

Bamba and Tracey got on the wrong bus. Superior athletes that should call up Lanning about next fall.

Evans should have been playing big minutes all year. He’s the highest ceiling player on the team and needs to learn with the ball in his hands in high leverage situations. It’s the only way he ripens before the tourney and we’re not going anywhere without him anyway.

Barthelemy, while best suited for a 6th man role, is being asked to be the pulse of this team. They need him to be Joe Young and he’s just not.

I know… All this after a win. Sorry I’m not jazzed about our quest to win 14th place in the B1G.


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Refs were on crack those last 3 minutes…

Nice to see 5 others score 8 or more to help Bittle’s big game. Much needed! Phew… stressful game…

whosyourwally wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2025 9:38 pm
Bittle is a great stretch 4 playing a terrible 5. He gets beat to hoop so often it’s just reckless of the opposing coach to draw up anything else. Could you imagine if Dante got that extra year?

I disagree with this vehemently. Bittle in his current role is the best version of him. His low post offense is good, and it’s nice to occasionally have him pick and pop. At the 4, he would be spending way too much time on the perimeter, where he’s not athletic enough to guard 4s, and only a 33% shooter from 3, with little ability to drive the ball. He’s not a great post defender, but he does affect a number of shots, and is quite frankly the only semi-decent rim protector on the team.

Too close for comfort! But glad they won, few thoughts…

-Bittle carried the team tonight! Great to see!

-Did Shelstad’s girlfriend just break up with him? What was wrong with him?! I can understand a bad shooting night but the casual play especially the last few minutes and lack of focus was infuriating. He needs to be more consistent.

-Some questionable officiating in the second half.

-Evans needs to start over Angel as I’ve said all season. I do think Evans is better (I know some disagree) but Evans pairs with Bittle better. When Bittle and Angel are together the defense gets noticeably worse (even with Bittle’s blocks) and teams score too easily inside. Plus while Angel is EXTREMELY inconsistent he has some offensive skill so he could pair well with Cook, who for some reason they run iso low spot through though if he can’t bully the defender he isn’t scoring.

-To add to above but I can’t stand Altman’s patience with these senior transfers that oftentimes suck while a talented underclass men gets put in the doghouse for one bad game. Evans never should’ve been benched and you can see Altman’s mismanagement of him hurt his confidence, luckily he seems to be finding some confidence now.

-Nice to see Bamba hit a couple of threes but still would like to see him score inside more.

A win is a win but they need to play a lot better than that to compete with Wisconsin Saturday morning.


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‘To add to above but I can’t stand Altman’s patience with these senior transfers that oftentimes suck while a talented underclass men gets put in the doghouse for one bad game. Evans never should’ve been benched and you can see Altman’s mismanagement of him hurt his confidence, luckily he seems to be finding some confidence now.’

You have no idea what goes on behind the scenes, what goes on in practice, what effort Altman sees and hears every day with his players. To say he has mismanaged Evans as a player is completely laughable. This is a hall of fame coach. If Evans is benched, it is because he hasn’t earned the right to play, for whatever reason, at that time.

Not to beat the Evans vs Angel debate, but I side with Everythinsgducky.

Evans has the 2nd worst +/- on the roster (For anyone with 6 minutes of play time or more). Supreme Cook is the worst.

Evans has been playing better for sure, less turnovers, better defense, really good rebounding, etc.

But statistically, he has the 2nd worst +/- on the team. He also has the highest turnover percentage on the roster (18.8% out of 100 poss). And the reality is if he was shooting 40%+ from 3 and turning it over way less, he'd be starting.

Pretty good analysis by all posters. Some things can be true at the same time:

-Bittle is going to get killed by guards, but at the same time he is also our best offensive player and impacts shots at the rim. Net high positive. Although I do disagree with the assertion that N'faly is sorely missed. There isn't much of a drop-off between the two iMO.

-Evans/Angel: While Evans has more talent / potential than Angel, he has squandered the opportunities to justify the beckoning for more minutes. You could chalk up his struggles due to the inconsistent minutes, but really he needs to demonstrate some reliability. Angel has flaws (slow-footededness and general athleticism to match up against elite athletes), but one thing he doesn't lack is consistency/reliability.



The worst development that is happening for this team to-date is that Bamba continues to show a lack of progression for our team. In order for us to be a serious team, we need a third-option. Bamba needs to be that third option otherwise we have no chance of stringing together consecutive victories. Shelstead and Bittle are good, but they are far too inconsistent (especially Shelstead) for us to have no third option.

Bamba is a mess. Poor shooting percentages, poor decision making, etc.

His D was great against Rutgers, and it was nice to see him hitting some 3's last night. He really is the key piece. If he can shoot 10% better and limit mental lapses, I do think Oregon is a top 25 team.