Basketball in Oregon...not great

[PhilipNelsonFan]

-The Blazers, of course, are in a bit of a slide
-The best college team in the state right now is Portland State, and they're in great position to make the NCAA tourney (and if they did, I'd love to see them win a game)
-The Oregon men lost to Wazzu in an absolute heartbreaker and will only make the NCAA tourney by winning the Pac-10 tournament (no team has ever won four games to do so)
-Oregon State would be outclassed by several Division II teams; there is nothing Kevin Mouton can do in terms of a quick fix
-UP is an also-ran in the WCC
-High school basketball in Oregon looks to be taking a backseat even as the megastars left for college

[Spykes]

Could be worse. We could be Seattle.

[SoHo]

I too was heartbroken over the Oregon game today. We sure are missing Aaron Brooks right now... TP just isn't capable of running a team. I love the guy but watching him throw away two straight possessions against wazzou late in the game was painful.

Certainly looks bleak for Oregon, they really need to pull one out against USC and one of the Arizona schools. Otherwise I don't think they have much of a shot.

[PhilipNelsonFan]

Could be worse. We could be Seattle.

This is true. Luke Ridnour and his wife attended the Oregon game yesterday (as did Fred Jones and his fiance--I've never seen a watch as expensive as the one Freddy rocked) and I was proposing some chants of "Save the Sonics" or "F**k Clay Bennett"...alas, no one else really cared.

[Walton'sBeard!]

Worse still:
http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews ... ads_t.html

[ebott]

This is all very very good.

It means that our expectations have risen. 5 years ago would any of us give a second thought to any of this?

Seriously. Portland State didn't even have a team. Everyone figured Oregon was pretty much done because the few good recruits that took them to the elite 8 in the first time in forever were gone. Oregon State had been dreadful for years (but seriously they'll probably continue to be dreadful for a long long time so they don't really deserve to be part of the conversation). Prior to Kyle Singler and Kevin Love when was the last time Oregon Highschool basketball mattered on the national scene? The Blazers were a God Damned laughing stock in 2003.

Point being, we're a little po-dunk state and we should appreciate what little sports related national attention we get and not complain about the rest of our teams that suck.

Portland State is doing better than they've ever done. Very very good.

The Blazers are doing better than they've done in a long time. Lest we forget it's been 5 years since they were considered a playoff contender. And next year I'd bet any amount of money that we make the playoffs.

Oregon's a little down this year, but next year they've got some big time recruits coming in and I would be surprised if they're not back in the elite 8 next season.

Oregon State is a disaster. That cloud doesn't have a silver lining.

Oregon high school basketball doesn't matter outside of this state. It doesn't matter. It never has. It never will. Anyone that says otherwise is an idiot. Seriously. You're an absolute moron if you have diluted yourself to the point where you think that Oregon high school basketball will ever matter as much as real basketball states like New York, Illinois, California or even Washington.

[d-train]

-The Blazers, of course, are in a bit of a slide

This is a shortsighted view. Blazers have a legit all-star for the first time since Rasheed and next year they will have two. LMA has shown he has the potential to be an all-star type of player. Contrary to your statement, I would say the Blazers are on the rise. They should win 50+ games next year and have a great chance to be serious contenders in 2009.

[PhilipNelsonFan]

Good points, ebott and d-train.