After starting the year with quite a bang the Oregon Ducks have taken somewhat of a slide the last two and a half weeks. Some around the country may be suprised about this but I am not. Oregon really isn't that much better of a team this year than they were last year, and last year they were just not as bad as it appeared. College basketball these days is top heavy with about 10 teams having a legit shot to win a national championship. Then there is a second group of teams who are ranked anywhere from in the Top Ten to not even on the map but in terms of skill and talent they are in a vast middling of squads who may either find themselves in the NCAAs, NIT or staying at home. The Oregon Ducks of 2005/2006 finished 9th in the Pac 10 and just short of .500 for the season. They, just as this year, played many close games, in fact they were 0-8 last year in games decided by one basket. Fast forward to 2006/2007 and the Ducks started out fast in their "close games" managed to defeat all but USC in the first half of the season. Each of these games in both years really came down to a final shot, in 05/06 the Ducks had no luck, in 06/07 they seemed to be having all the luck. I think part of what has been shown with Oregon the second half of the season has been what should be the norm. Average high major teams will win about 50% of their games against similar competition and now the Ducks are being pulled back to the pack. My pre-season thoughts on Oregon the last two years has been this is a bubble team that will make or not make the tournament based on the outcome of a few games. They should still make the tournament but they are not the 2 or 3 seed that many saw a few weeks ago. As Dennis Green so eloquently said "They are what we thought they were!"
So the last 6 months I have become a Flickr addict! I think it has helped my photography and it is a great way to kill time!
.jpg)
