It’s past the halfway point in the men’s basketball conference schedule and I’ve got two things to rant about: Inbounds plays and whining fans.
Is anyone else sick of the Ducks’ boring inbounds plays?
Seriously, how many five-counts has the team received when it couldn’t throw the ball into play and even when it has, does it produce open shots?
While I am not a coach in Division I basketball, arguably one of the most demanding jobs in sports, I do understand the goal of inbounding the ball.
The first goal is to score easily. If a size mismatch isn’t available, then possibly a man curling around a screen can dump the ball back to the screener for an easy layup.
If that isn’t available, an open jumper is the next option. Although with the shooting woes the Ducks have had this season, that might not be a good option.
Finally, just get the ball to someone.
It seems to me that the final option is the first for Oregon. The Ducks’ goal looks to get the ball to Malik Hairston in the corner. However, Hairston is rarely open when he gets the ball.
I am not going to head up designing new inbounds plays for Ducks’ coach Ernie Kent because I would probably end up embarrassing myself. But I do want to say that with the body of 6-foot-8, 240-pound Ivan Johnson on the court, it might be a good idea to use him on more than a screen.
Second, so-called Oregon fans need to get off Kent and the players’ backs.
Kent, one of the longest-tenured coaches in the Pacific-10 Conference, is doing the best he can. A look of frustration is easy to spot on Kent’s face while his over-hyped sophomore-led team continues to struggle down the stretch of games. I’m sure that Kent does everything he knows to end the funk, which currently stands at six straight losses.
In the end, it is up to the athletic director to evaluate Kent on his wins and losses, not a group of wannabe coaches who think they know everything there is about coaching a winning team in Division I.
And the players should not be blamed individually … ever. No one player leads to a loss. A week ago Thursday against Stanford, Oregon point guard Aaron Brooks had a miserable final 30 seconds of basketball. But he was not to blame for that loss.
Two days later, Hairston was held to only two points for the first 39-plus minutes of the game, but he didn’t lose the game for Oregon.
These student-athletes usually perform on a pressure-packed stage twice a week, meanwhile they have homework as well as the rest of the struggles 20-year-olds deal with. They don’t need the scrutiny from “the best fans in the northwest.”
While not every spectator is out to point the finger, the ones that are have embarrassed themselves and shown their loyalty. College basketball is a game, and for the people that place too much importance on wins and losses, lace up the hightops and step onto that court.
Keep thinking about the glory days of when you dominated high school basketball.
“If coach woulda put me in the fourth quarter, I’d have gone pro in a heartbeat.” Maybe there is a part of Uncle Rico in all of you that I should hit with an orange.

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