Just use the barrel of the tech

The future of SC

The red-hot Wildcats at the red-hot Trojans. Just how excited was I for this game? Well I completely ignored the Lost season premiere, so I was pretty fucking zoned in on this game.

• Early on SC is stroking tough shot after tough shot. A really impressive shooting display, too bad I'm actually going for Zona.
• 10:30 Bayless' alley-oop was clean. Almost as clean as the camera man zooming in on his Nike Air Zoom BBs.
• Throughout the season there have been spurts where I have forgotten Jawann was even on the team. Part of it has to do with all the attention focused on Budinger and Bayless, but the other part is because Jawann has the quietest game of any of the starters. He does a million and one things for UA, but half the time it's easy to forget he is even on the floor. It was great to see him hit three 3s in the first 8 minutes of the game.
• It's amazing that O.J. Mayo is simply beasting on Bayless and the Cats are still winning.
• Jawann McClellan, again God bless. The blocks, the put-backs, the all-out hustle. A great senior basketball player. You're a hero. No I don't think I have ever said anything this nice about a Wildcat not named Nic Wise.
• When they panned to Alex Jacobsen on the bench it literally took me 20 seconds to realize who it was. Alex looks like a stunt double for Kirk Walters, who is little more than a stunt double for incompetence.
• I love the way the announcers are giving love to Oregon's Pit Crew, by far the most g'd up student section in the Pac-10, if not nation. I've been meaning to note the briliance of the Pit Crew's last listserv e-mail for the UCLA game which had this genius passage:
• As most of you know, Lake Oswego's Lamest, Kevin Love, will be making his return trip to Oregon. His father, who once played basketball at Oregon, had the following to say about Ernie Kent after Kevin chose UCLA, "It wasn't us that blew it, they blew it. They destroyed that program." If placing four first round draft picks in the NBA is blowing it, I guess coach Kent has done just that during his tenure. Stan has been very critical of the program and the University he graduated from in the past few years. Lets greet these two with the welcome they deserve, and let Stan know that he's no longer a Duck; he's a traitor. Thursday's game is Nationally televised and will be broadcast on Fox Sports Network at 7:30. If you have time, give Kevin a call, text, or send him a picture; his cell phone number is 503-961-3265...and don't forget ucla is an Adidas school.
• Also props to FSN for two straight Bob Elliott-less broadcasts. I hope he caught whatever Dickie V had or just got finally got carpal tunnel from filling the screen with worthless telestration.
• Final: 80-69, Zona. Budinger 29 and 8 boards, McClellan 23 and 8 boards, O.J. Mayo 23, 4 dimes, and 5 boards.

Sneaker Watch: I am in love with all of SC's Air Zoom BBs. Shame on UA for not wearing black shoes on the road, what the fuck is going on?

Other stuff not related to the game:

Greatest moment in Al Jefferson history:

Looks as if Al Jefferson is just as quick with his wit as he is on his feet.

When Kevin Garnett emphatically reminded Jefferson of his all-star selections - "11 years! 11 years!" - Jefferson replied with something that Garnett couldn't top.

"I told him we both have one thing in common - no championships," Jefferson said. "He didn't like that too much."

If I, God forbid, was a Nets fan this would worry me a lot more than Jason Kidd skipping town. Dancing to Soulja Boy, very suspect. Dancing to Soulja Boy with all dudes, mad suspect.

RBK's train of thought...hmm...black people like sneakers, black people like Kool-Aid...Brilliant! It's like they got Mitt Romney doing the R&D.

I watched only a little of tonight's Democratic debate because this already made up my mind, but I saw enough to see that Jason Alexander was in attendance. Why didn't George get to ask any questions?

Washington wrap-up

Here's the delayed wrap-up of Thursday's Wildcats' upset of No. 6 Washington State

What you need to know:
Arizona hit 12-21 (57%) shots from 3-point land to defeat Washington State 76-64, handing the Cougars only their second loss of the season. Bayless had 23, Budinger had 22, pretty much any time that happens the Cats should win. The Cats lead the entire second half and almost the entire game as they held Kyle Weaver to 15 points and Derrick Low to 5 points.

What you don't really need to know:

• It was Zona's first home game since their Jan. 5 loss to Oregon and their first time playing in front of a fully-loaded Zona Zoo -which was depleted by winter break - since the Nov. 28 match-up against Cal State Fullerton.
• Officially it was rally-towel night as the entire McKale waved the towels in the air throughout the game. Unofficially, I declared it Petey Pablo night. Either way it got Jordan Hill excited. "They had those towels waving around, and we're really fired up," Hill said. "We got fired up with them tonight."
• Not worth noting: "Who am I?! Petey Pablo motherfucker!!" If you are going to be a 3-hit wonder, there's no better way to start a song.
• Worth noting: Hill didn't pick up a foul until midway though the second half, opposed to his normal style of picking up two fouls during pre-game lay-ups drills.
• Props to UA for ditching Kanye West's wildly over-played "Stronger" for the intro video and rolling with some lame-ass song I've never heard of. I'm still not sure how, but some how it makes it all less cheesy.
• I love Derrick Low. No homo.
• Kirk Walters checks in at the 12:30 mark of the first half. I take the under on a bet that he plays less than 2 minutes. He comes out at 10:05. Lost by 25 seconds. Dammit.

Saturday's game:
Washington at Arizona

What you need to know:
Arizona shot 70% in the first half and 62% overall to beat Washington State 84-69. Bayless 26, Budinger 25, yeah that'll do it. Each hit 5 threes, Budinger in 10 shots, Bayless in 6! If Bayless didn't have 2 fouls early on, the Cats could've hit 100. Ryan Appleby is a douchebag, yes that is something you need to know. Next week's road games at USC and UCLA should be great games.

What you don't really need to know:

• Even though I had tickets, I chose to watch this game at home solely because I didn't feel like standing up for two hours or moving the mile from my apartment to the McKale Center. I never claimed to be a die-hard Cats fan.
• I almost regretted it as the UNC and Maryland women's hoops game went into double OT causing fans at home to miss most of the first half.
• As I laid on my couch in sweatpants eating frozen pizza, I realized I made the right call.
• Never a close game. If the Cats are able to keep playing at this amazing pace, people will call the Washington State game a turning point.
  

Where's P-Mac Nic Wise Moment of the Game: Honestly, Nic Wise is just too good to have silly moments of the game. No longer do fans clinch when he has the ball, knowing something retarded is just around the corner. Coaches and fans alike are now confident when the rock is in his hands as he's matured into a solid point guard. In other words, he sold the fuck out on the WPMNWOTG.

Sneaker Watch: I think Kamyron Brown was wearing Birthday Lebron Vs against UCLA and Tajuan Porter rocked Seattle-edition Air Jordan XX2s.

Fallin'

Agent Zero is out for the season. Bayless has been hurt. Mike Stoops is still the football head coach. ASU basketball is hot. Life can't get much worse for a UA fan.

A high from an Arrested Development marathon is the only thing keeping me remotely sane right now.

I wasn't expecting UA to win tonight and I had already accepted a loss days before the game started. Then I started watching the game and UA didn't look half-bad. The Cats lead by 12, I was reminded that UA had won 24 of the last 25 games against ASU and ASU's last win against the Cats was Jan. 23, 2002.

There is no way the Cats are going to lose this game. They lead what seemed like the whole fucking game, but to quote the great HOV, "you're tumbling, it's humbling, you're falling, you're mumbling/Under your breath like you knew this day was coming."

A loss to ASU.

Damn, gravity's ill.

I put the loss solely on Chase Budinger's shoulders. He looked good early on doing it all for UA as he hit 9 of UA's first 11 points. Then pulled the greatest disappearing act since Houdini for the rest of the night.

Let me see if I have this right. You're the reigning Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. It's your team. You're gearing up for the NBA next year. Shouldn't you take over the game at some point? Shouldn't you maybe take more than 5 shots in the second half?

Chase's second half stats: 5 points on 1-5 shooting (all from 3), 2 defensive boards. Wow.

I have no formal coaching experience, hell outside of giving the ball to Tracy McGrady every possession in NBA 2k2, I have no coaching experience at all. Still, I think it might have been a good idea for Chase to...hmm...DRIVE THE FUCK INSIDE or find his shot some where. I know ASU plays a solid zone, but UA's second half offense went as follows: four passes around the perimeter then settle for a bad 3 or dump it low to Jordan Hill. Every time.

Chase's overtime performance was equally impressive with his only shot being an off-balance, desperation 3 with 4 seconds on the clock, which clanked off the rim.

Chase second-half performance reminded me of my own play when I'm the worst player on a team at the rec. Stand around the perimeter and as soon as I catch the ball pass it back. But there's a big difference between an out-of-shape blogger and a team leader looking to go to the NBA.

A few quick notes:

• Remember last year when Jawann McClellen would take and hit 3s? What happened to those days?
• Zane Johnson meet the court.
• After Zane's 3 which hit the top of the backboard it might be a good idea to return to the comfort of the bench and shoot the shit with Kirk Walters.
• I can't even get into Bob Elliot tonight, but I hope he catches whatever Dickie V has.
• Solid return by UA after the embarrassing loss to Oregon on Saturday.

Where's P-Mac Nic Wise Moment of the Game: I hope it went something like this post game, "Chase how the fuck does the point guard only take 2 less shots than you? What the fuck were you doing out there?"

Final thoughts: When does softball season start again?

Good 'ol Duck blogging

As I do with all bad news related to my favorite teams, I've been sweeping Oregon's lackluster season under the blog rug. I figured that if I never mentioned the losses to St. Mary's, Nebraska, Oakland and ASU maybe the NCAA will forget about them too.

I also should thank my friends for not murdering me via text message, Facebook wall post or blogger comments after all those ridiculous losses. You're all much better people than me, because the big man up above (Christopher Wallace) knows I would never let that kind of failure go under the rug if my friends' teams were falling.

I really don't even know what to make of Oregon's shitty start to the season. As Bruce Pascoe points out here, all the numbers indicate they're fine, except for the only numbers that count. I haven't been reading The Oregonian as much as I should be, but I'm assuming John Hunt & Co. are pointing to a possible sophomore slump for Tajuan Porter, Joevan's injury or how huge Aaron Brooks really was. That or nobody gives a fuck since the Blazers are red hot.

Anyways here's the notes from today's UO at UA game, one of the games where I say I don't really care who wins, but I freak out every time Oregon hits a big shot and by the end of the game I'm going all-out for the Ducks.

• Nic Wise is starting. Tajuan Porter is not. I'm no doctor, but I am pretty sure at some point Nic might stole some of Tajuan's powers in a technique not seen since the Monstars stole Sir Charles' powers.
• At the 16:10 mark Jawann flew out of no where and blocked the shit out of Maarty Leunen, Jawann then flew into the base of the hoop. I thought for sure the 83-year-old McClellen would be out 6-8 months, but miraculously he got up and continued to play.
• When Chase Budinger's shot is on...Damn it's just beautiful. Regardless of how many buckets he hits I don't need to see his parents' reaction to every UA possession. Thanks FSN.
• I should throw it out there that I would have gone to this game if it were not part of UA's Holiday Package. I know it makes perfect economical sense to the ticketing department and Tucson locals, but it screws broke UA students.
• I would kill to be in a billiards class with Bryce Taylor and Malik Hairston.
• Who is that left-handed guy who just hit a shot for the Cats? Fendi-something...I am pretty sure most people forget he was on the roster.
• How bizarre is it that Warcraft now sponsors in-game stats?
• Yes I am loving every minute of Oregon's first-half 27-8 run.
• No I don't like seeing Tajuan Porter try to do too much with the ball then settling for a bad shot. His whole style of play is based on shots that need to go in or he looks like the dumbest guy on the court.
• Wow the Cats' weakside D, is just wow...Miserable.
• First half Ducks lead 48-37, shooting 60% from the field and 7-12 from deep. First-half pros: Oregon's shooting, transition game and quick shots inside. Cons: I ran out of ice cream and was forced to downgrade to Cheez-Its as an in-game snack.
• Honestly a huge halftime lunch knocked me out for the first 8 minutes of the second half. Where's P-Mac, Coverage you can count on.
• Cats got it close but Malik Hairston and the Ducks were just too much. Nice bounce-back win 84-74, Ducks.

Where's P-Mac Nic Wise Moment of the Game: I haven't done this in a while and in that 'while' Nic has been lighting it up, including his career-high 17 points Thursday against OSU. However today's WPMNWOTG is Nic's side-of-the-backboard clank with 40 seconds left in the game. After being wide open after a pump-fake Nic set himself up for 3 from the corner and hit straight rubber padding. Weights.

Sneaker Watch: Being at home and not having HD hurts. What also hurts is boring-ass team shoes, which almost, ALMOST make me miss Staf and Marcus Williams...Props to Tajuan on his UO Huarache 2k6s...Everyone else step your game up, it's not like you have to pay for them.

Randomness: OK I don't really read as much as I should, but this book based on 'what if's' got me thinking... What if LeBron went college, he would have murdered everyone right? Who the fuck would have stopped him? I don't see how he would have lost. Ever. They probably would have had to take some of John Wooden's 1960s and 70s wins away and gave them to Bron, just as a token of respect. Obviously we'll never know, but a 20-year R.I.P to Pistol Pete who didn't do bad for himself at LSU in his 3-year career there, averaging 44.2 ppg.

Can't hardly wait

The Brandon Jennings-led Oak Hill Academy played in the McKale Center tonight...jumping straight into it..

• Who ever puts on UA events should be ashamed of themselves. I was more excited for this high school basketball game than any Cats game this whole season, enough so that I got there a whole 30 minutes early (I know it's not much, but I like strolling in right at game time). As I got to the game there were two massive lines outside McKale one a wristband which admitted you into the game and one to get into the game. Why not let those who paid simply walk in to the event? I have no fucking clue. Also a belated 'fuck you' for the mess that was the UA alumni game, which was also a ticketing mess.
  
• Fortunately I got in before the game and was able to score third row center court seats, not too shabby (c) Adam Sandler. Good enough to get this shot with my camera phone.
• Spotted Jawann McClellan wearing a dumbass angry snowman tee. Someone should let Jawann know it's no longer 2004 and he's not Young Jeezy.
• By the way the Cats edged out San Diego State today 74-58 in a game that was much closer than that score.
• Brandon Jennings stood out from the Jordan Brand-sponsored Oak Hill with his black/red XIs. Filthy.
• The game was the first part of the GoAZCats.com Showdown, which featured a bullshit Tucson basketball game after the Oak Hill game, that's basically the equivalent of Jay-Z opening for Grime (a shitty Tucson rapper nobody listens to).
• Jennings hit the first bucket of the game with a deep, deep 3 that barely moved the net.
• Later on in the first quarter Jennings was coming up the court yelling "Iso! Iso!" while his coach was trying to call another play. He's just that cold.
• In the second quarter Jennings stroked a long 3, steals the next possession, then spins to the basket for a tough lay-up. He casually bops upcourt looking up at all players' points. 22 points with 5 minutes left in the second quarter. No big deal.
• Jennings finished the first half with 26, as Oak Hill led James B. Dudley(NC) 55-42.
• He continued to put on a show in the second half netting 3s with ease all the while looking like he was barely trying. He never went for a defensive rebound, played a 'casual' defense and usually never went inside the perimeter on offense, he just stood around the 3-point line calling for the ball, then getting it and effortlessly wetting 3s.
• It should be noted that Brandon Jennings' favorite class at Oak Hill is lunch.
• Oak Hill's starting center Keith "Tiny" Gallon is a 6'9'' 300 lb beast who had a defender on the floor for five minutes after he tried to take a charge. The man is massive to say the least.
  
• After it was all said in done, Jennings had 49!! after playing all 32 minutes of the game. Oak Hill won 102-91.
• He won the bullshit MVP award, which as one of my friends noted, "He would've got if he scored 15 points."
• After the game the local media swarmed the high school senior. Crazy fucking attention for an 18-year-old.
• 

Random Shit:
How did Chuck Hayes get to the NBA doing this?
Where are they now? J.P. Prince putting up numbers for Tennessee.
God damn sailing captains always showing their tits.

Cats at Illini

Arizona at Illinois...well pretty much at Illinois
Mini-recap:

UA came out like shit...Woke up...Actually Chase snoozed through the whole game...Nic Wise continued to be a beast...After I bashed him last week, Jordan Hill played a hell of a game...Cats win in OT 78-72.

Notes:

• What the fuck is up with Jawann McClellen shaving a "5" in the back of his head. First, it looks completely retarded, second do you need same numeral 18 inches from the 5 on the back of your jersey? Don't get me wrong I love some good art on the back of heads, word to Anthony Mason and Ron Artest, but hair art is something where you either go all out or keep the blade down, no in between. Jamelle Horne I see you too.
• Not related to UA hoops in any way, but I need to throw out this excerpt from the LA Times article:
• Ellerbe pointed to Mayweather's crossover potential by relaying a story about Halloween at the boxer's home. After his childhood of scaled-back Halloweens, Mayweather made three trips to the grocery store to stock up on candy bars for kids in his gated Las Vegas neighborhood. He gave away so many that the children who'd seen him on "Cribs" basked in his generosity by urging him to "make it rain" Snickers, a nod to his public cash displays.
• How the hell does Chase Budinger go the entire regulation without a field goal? Find your fucking shot. I still can't figure out, how a team leader can go a game without a field goal.

Where's P-Mac Nic Wise Moment of the Game: The moment of the game goes to ESPN's announcing crew for sucking Nic's dick throughout the game. "He's the spark plug of the entire team!" "He has such incredible quickness." "His defense is like a cobra strike!" "Another beautiful dime dropped by Nic." Plus many more I forgot, in addition to the lame "He's so wise" puns.

Sneaker Watch: Bayless going from the Lebron Vs in the first half to the Air Jordan Concord XIs in the second half, way to pay homage to the building that Mike built.

Why you all aggie?

Truthfully I wasn't even going to post anything about tonight's UA/Texas A&M game. Posting game recaps isn't really my steez any more, even if it was the part of the foundation this blog was built upon.

Then fourth quarter I thought to myself "Y'all don't know my expenses, I gotta buy a bigger place and more baggies, why you all aggie?" from Jay-Z's "Heart of the city." And that's pretty much the only reason I'm recapping this game, because there is a dope Jay-Z line that goes with it.

If I ever was a sports editor, I'd make all my writers lead with lines from Jay-Z and if they ever submitted anything from "Kingdom Come" or any of the "Best of Both Worlds," I'd fire them. Overcoming a 20-point lead to win by 11. Not nearly as important as something Jay-Z said six years ago.

On to the game...

• Kirk Walter started. That's about all you can say about Kirk tonight he started. His box score has more O's than Hov's kitchen in '88, except for the 4 fouls and 2 turnovers he picked up in 8 minutes of action.
• Chase Budinger was on again, but for some reason coach O'Neill loves keeping him on the bench for crucial stretches of the game.
• Nic Wise actually played a solid game, for the first time since...well ever.
• Bayless is really sick, putting up a season high 26 (off 12 shots, he went 10-10 from the line), but I still don't see how he'll be a one-and-done player. He's not NBA sick, yet at least.
• The fans started to go crazy as UA turned the game around at the 12 min mark in the second half. A huge part of me was scared the Zona Zoo would embarrass UA and rush the court for a No. 9 upset. Thank God they didn't
• Jordan Hill sucks. A lot. People love him because he dunks, has braids and is always at every party in Tucson. But at the end of the day he can barely play D and has a basketball IQ that's less than his age. Give me Bret Brielmaier any day of the week.
• Cats comeback and win 78-67, giving the Aggies their first loss of the season.

Where's P-Mac Nic Wise Moment of the Game: Nic played well, what else can I say? Plus the comparison below should be enough comedy for tonight.

Sneaker Watch: Jerryd Bayless and Jawann McClellan wearing the white/navy blue Lebron Vs...Everybody else step your game up.

UMKC at UA

My first real game of the season. A real thriller as the Mid-Con/Summit league's University of Missouri Kansas City paid a visit to McKale to play the Lute-less Cats.

• Watching UMKC warm-up I notice they only have three black players on their team. If you doesn't murder them, this will be an embarrassment.
• No Weezy, but UA now plays a little pre-game Daft Punk. Respect.
  
• It's close all the way throughout the first half UMKC is actually leading at the 7-minute mark, 18-16. Keep in mind only one black dude started.
  
• After a quick run, UA goes into the second half, up 37-29. Although 9 first half turnovers and allowing 7 offensive boards made the first half almost unbearable to watch.
• UA finally wakes up 20 minutes into the game. Hitting 3s, getting boards, and playing with a little energy for a change of pace. All UA in the second half.
• Final 81-62. The Cats are back above .500, 2-1 baby!! Bring on Adams State.

Where's P-Mac Nic Wise Moment of the Game: Up 17 with 2:56 to go in the game, UMKC is taking the ball out of bounds with 8 seconds on the shot clock. Coach O'Neill brings in defensive specialist Nic Wise to make sure the UMKC Kangaroos don't bring this game any closer. As the shotclock expires, UMKC forces an off-balance deep 3-pointer from the top of the arc. Whistle, foul, 1-3, white. 3 at the line. Utterly incredible.

Sneaker Watch: This is where Mustafa and Marcus' departure hurts the team the most. Hate 'em or love 'em they always had nice kicks. Only thing worth mentioning in Monday night's game was Jawann's white/blue Huarache 2K4s. Raja would be proud. (By the way wasn't it always love it or hate before the Game/50 song. I swear to god they changed around the order of that saying. Maybe I'm just crazy)

Louis Nap Sack Where I hold'n all the Work at Moment of the Game: To the security guard who let bring in a nap sack full of Goldfish (that's just how real I keep it) after one of the other guards wanted me to throw them away. "To throw away that many Goldfish would be a crime," he said. I could agree more.

In Virginia, we smirked at that Simpson trial

The first official game notes of the season are going to be short and sweet, mainly because I wasn't at the game, but I caught enough of it to throw these notes down.

• Despite interim/permanent Coach O'Neill's request to deny Virginia any 3s. UVA hit them at will, often with nobody on them, giving them an early lead in the first half. Fast forward to the final minute of the game.
• 45 seconds: Sean Singletary busts Jordan Hills ankles with a crossover, Singletary then pulls up, and they're ain't shit for UA to do but look. Re-up, re-locate, re-off them brooks. 73-69, UVA. Next play Jerryd Bayless gets gully for a freshman and hits a deep 3 in the biggest game in his young career to put UA within 1, 73-72 with 28 seconds on the clock.
• Coach O'Neill's alleged cut-throat defense finally works and UA forces a 5-second violation as UVA tries to inbound the ball.
• What happened to that boy? Bayless gets ungully as freshman and makes a stupid mistake as he tries to catch the deep inbound pass, as he tries to prevent a back-court violation he passes the ball directly to UVA's Adrian Joeseph, who is quickly intentionally fouled.
• Joseph calmly sinks 2 at the line to put UVA up 75-72.
• Zona had a chance but ended up fucking it up horribly with 28 seconds to run a play.
• Virginia wins 75-72. Somewhere Pusha T and Malice are happy.

Where's P-Mac Nic Wise Moment of the Game: With 6:13 left in the second quarter and UA down by 3, Nic pulls a jumper from the top of the key, completely out of any rhythm of the offense. The result? Straight air homey. I guess you could chalk it up to nervous jitters, which makes a lot of sense in the second game of the regular season in your sophomore year.

Sneaker Watch: Coming soon.

Zzzzzz

Mad short recap for a mad boring game:

Red/Blue game, Tucson's first chance to see the '08 squad since Lute shafted us out of the Midnight Madness. Remember this isn't even exhibition, this is an intrasquad scrimmage.

• I am pretty sure before every Red-Blue game Lute thinks to himself, "This city loves me, let's see how boring of a speech I can give and still get a standing ovation."
• Seeing Bayless in the #0 uni just doesn't look right.
• The UA warm-up long-sleeve shirts are a shiny red, reminiscent of the satin baseball jackets really coked-out players would wear in the '80s.
• Every year I hope a UA freshman is going embrace their inner Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and refuse to stand during the national anthem in their first collegiate game, just to stir things up a little. Every year I am disappointed.
• I didn't stay for the second half, but according to various WPM correspondents it was "very uneventful and mad boring."
• Jerryd Bayless had 26, mainly in the second half.
  
• Final score: 76-63, Blue. Seriously nothing happened in this game. I would hate to be an actual journalist and have to report on this.
  

Nic Wise Moment of the Game: Nic Wise thrives in the games that don't count. In an exhibition game last year he went 8-8 before burning himself out for the rest of the season. Tonight he dropped 13, including 3 treys, all in the first half, knowing that I wasn't watching the second half, so there really was no point to do anything special.

Random:
Please God.

I may have been wrong, well at least until the end of October.

I'm sure nobody witnessed it, but the women's team got blown out in their Red/Blue game by their male practice players. These aren't players from the men's team, just random dudes who play in the rec and are chosen to help the women practice. They beat a full-strength women's D1 squad 73-41.

New Cam'ron garbage single, saved by the verse:
"I picked up my intern, Andrea/
I keep her low like Bob Perry, so I pay her/
When I fuck her like Marbury, Isiah"

There is no link here, I just wanted to thank Ted Turner for another year of the NBA on TNT.

I'm boycotting Gatorade

Don't ask how this pic of Jim Jones is germane to this post.

OK. The Ducks lost. Where's P-Mac's last great source of content is on ice until next season. I'll try and keep the following brief and more biased than Len.

• The CBS announcer who is not James Brown says, "He has a nice package down low." in reference to Malik Hairston's game. I love the way random package jokes will always be funny.
• Ray Schaefer gets burn early on. Damn, this doesn't bode well for the Ducks.
  
• Lee Humphrey hits a trey so nicely it tears the net off the rim. It takes the maintenance crew approximately three hours to fix this and CBS has no idea what to do since they cannot go to a media time out for nine seconds. Keep in mind that if Tajuan Porter tore the net off the rim with a 3-pointer I would have rambled on for 2,000 words about him being the greatest human being west of Lil Wayne. However, since the white John Amaechi known as Lee Humphry did it. I will underplay it with, that was pretty cool, I guess.
• At the half Oregon is down 38-40, which isn't too bad considering Tajuan can't find his shot and the Ducks are 3/10 from beyond the arc compared to Florida which is 7/14.
• The brilliant CBS announcer drops, "The ducks refuse to fly away." How long you been sitting on that one?
• Malik fouls out. Pretty much everyone on the Ducks has at least 4 fouls or so it seams.
• Those Diet Coke commercials where the two douche bags want to sue Coke are the worst thing to happen to TV since CBS. The fact that Coca-cola blatantly abuses Sacha Baron Cohen's style of bizarre-interview comedy should never be forgotten by the general public. Fuck you Coke. Fuck you.
• Because this is a March Madness basketball game, the Ducks keep it close throughout despite Tajuan missing everything he puts up and the Ducks being out-rebounded by 156,239. I'm actually pretty sure that CBS pays each school money to keep the games close. I mean how else can you explain Champ Oguchi a.k.a. Dat-nig-oguchi (his screen name, not my words) hitting a 3-pointer with a minute left.
  
• Tajuan doesn't hit a 3 until the 43-second mark. He finishes with 10 points hitting only 2-10 from deep.
  
• The Ducks lose 85-77. Fuck.

Tajuan Porter Moment of the Game sponsored by Nic Wise: It seems like CBS went out of their way to zoom in on Tajuan's ear multiple times. Why? I have no clue. I'd still rather watch an hour long still shot of T-Po's left ear than any other CBS programing though. How is this the TPMOTGSBNW? I have no fucking clue. I just pissed the Ducks lost and I hate CBS.

Sneaker Watch: Nothing really new, a few nice AF25s. Nothing spectacular.

Random Silly Pictures of Coach Kent:

The only game that matters Vol. Make it rain

And now the third and final chapter of the 'Where's P-Mac' recap of Oregon's run to the Pac-10 title.

I really hate USC fans. The stupid ass "victory" sign, which is called a peace sign in the rest of the nation. The horrible "We are. SC" chants. They just really suck. However I will give props to the 'SC fan who was rocking a customized authentic Miami Heat Harold Miner jersey.
16:15 Aaron Brooks drills a 3 from about 5 feet behind the arc to tie it up at 7.
13:00 Tajuan a.k.a. TP3 a.k.a T-Po a.k.a. Smack your favorite point guard hits his first 3 to put the Ducks up 15-7.
If your son is playing in the Pac-10 Championship game in his senior year after being considered one of the best point guards in a point guard-rich conference you show up to the game early right. Not if your Aaron Brooks' family who arrives at the Staples Center at the 10-minute mark in the first half.
9:30 Lodrick Stewart, who I was calling L Rod Hubbard throughout the Tourney, throws down a dunk of an alley-oop.
Halftime: 37-24, Ducks. All is silent in the Stapler as the 'SC fans have been completely taken out of it.
17:35 Bryce Taylor comes alive in the final game and hits a 3 to put the Ducks up big, 45-24.
15:45 Joevan has another dirty crossover and he trudges his way to the basket for the ugliest lay-up of all time, but it still goes in.
14:15 Tajuan's the shit, nah, nah, he's sewerage. Either way another 3-ball puts the Ducks up 52-30.
11:08 Aaron Brooks buries a 3 from the corner to double the Trojans score 64-32. Unforgivable.
The Ducks band plays the theme of "Ducktales." Much respect.
The Ducks sub in everybody on their bench but the trainers. Who the hell would have thought Ray Schaefer would have played in the Pac-10 Championship game against USC.
Bryce Taylor finishes with 32 on 11-11 from the field, including 7-7 from beyond the arc.
Maarty Leunen's entire family (pictured below) is crying tears of joy. All is right in the world.
Ducks win 81-57. Time for the hoes.
Tajuan Porter Moment of the game sponsored by Nic Wise: The man won Pac-10 Tourney MVP. As a freshman. What's more gangsta than that?

Sneaker Watch: Adrian Stelly rocked his black/white Air Jordan XVs, which I found out he got from OSU way back in the day for like $25 according to his boy. Champ Oguchi was rocking something ridiculous with yellow laces, no clue what they were.

The only game that matters Vol. Show me my opponent

OK, so this is a pic from the NCAA tourney, but the XVIIs needed their love

Wow. I just realized I am posting these notes from a game that happened two weeks ago tomorrow. Sorry blogosphere, it won't happen again, I swear.

Anyways here are the game notes from Oregon versus Cal in the semi-finals of the Pac-10 Tourny.

• 17:50 Tajuan is flier than a pelican, he wets his first three 6-2, Ducks.
• 16:50 Tajuan is sicker than the third floor on hospitals and he pulls up from deep on a fast break! wet.
• 13:31 TP3 is colder than the motherfuckin' north pole and he burries another trey. In the words of Knocturnal (who may be hanging out with Paul McPherson some where) Super ugly 18-9, Ducks.
• 12:40 Tajuan proves he's human misses a trey.
• Cal's band plays Kansas' "Carry on my wayward son." Incredible.
• 4:49 Joevan "Stay Fresh" Catron crosses over some big white dude, who wasn't half as fresh as him, forcing the man to fall on his ass. He then gets fouled and hits two from the line.
• 1:47 42-21 After Aaron Brooks hits a tough lay-up. The wanna-be $hamrock in front of me yells "That's my boy." No fake $ham, he's not.
• :04 Aaron Brooks drives left throws up an off-balance double-pump jumper. Net. 44-23, Ducks going into the half.
• Holy shit. The Oregon band just played Phil Collins' "Easy lover." Easily one of the top-5 songs of all time.
• 14:13 AB hits TP3 at the top of the arc. Dinero. He gets dough boy. 49-35, Ducks.
• I always assumed that Zona's dog-ho cheerleaders were representative of the whole Pac-10. What hot chick is going to want to wake up at 6 a.m. every morning to practice. However, after seeing all the other Pac-10 cheerleaders I realized Arizona is the only school with beat cheerleaders. What is this?
• Cal's band plays Journey's "Small town girl"
• 2:20 Tajuan is mad nuts. How am I gonna add up all these 3s. He hits back-to-back triples. 74-58, Ducks.
• Final: 81-63

Tajuan Porter Moment of the Game sponsored by Nic Wise:
Chomp. Chomp. Show me my opponent. Way to take a page of out of Weezy's book Tajuan.

The only game that matters Vol. Enter the 12th chamber

Was it hard rooting against the school I attend? The school I have cheered for over the past two years? No, not at all, not when I can barely recognize them in lame navy blue jerseys with horrible white piping. When the opposing team has Aaron Brooks and Tajuan Porter it makes it that much easier.

• The Cats must have only ordered 11 new warm-ups because David Bagga, who is still in the midst of a sophomore slump after his phenomenal freshman year, is rocking a red warm-up while the rest of the team wears navy blue.
• 17:32 Tajuan Porter has four boards already. (cough) Freshman of the year. (cough)
• 15:27 Lute finally realizes that Staf is worthless and gives Nic Wise some burn.
• 15:07 Ernie Kent fights fire with freshness and puts Joevan “Stay Fresh” Catron.
• 12:30 Aaron Brooks (6’0’’) stuffs Ivan Radenovic’ (6’10’’). At this point Radenovic’ should just walk off the court and blow his brains out. Instead he grabs the ball back and misses a lay-up.
• 10:58 An Aaron Brooks 3 makes it 16-9, Ducks.
• 9:40 Brooks wets another 3 then blocks Jawann McClellen. The man fills a stat line quick.
• 8:08 Chase tries to justify his freshman of the year award and strokes a 3 from dead on. 21-16, Ducks.
• 5:29 Jordan Hill brings the Cats within three, 24-21, after an and-1.
• 3:36 Malik Hairston hits a 3 to put the Ducks up 10, 31-21.
• 2:47 I guess I can't officially call him Chase "no-‘D’" Buinger because he blocks Bryce Taylor. Halftime: 34-23, Ducks.
• 18:15 Staf hits a lay-up for his ONLY two of the game. Way to make the most of your second to last basketball game on U.S. soil Staf.
• 13:20 Radenovic’ proves the Stanford game was definitely a fluke and waits until the second half is halfway over to get a bucket. The rest of the second half was Tajuan Porter hitting 3s from anywhere he wanted on the court, while Arizona played half-hearted (except for Jordan Hill).
• Final 69-50, Ducks.

Nic Wise Moment of the Game: As Nic jogged up and down the court playing at three-quarter speed, you could read the thought bubble above his head. “Damn, why the fuck did I commit to this school as a high school freshman?” Let’s be real, Jerryd Bayless is going to come to Tucson next year try to be the next freshman phenom, set a few school records, try to carry the team on his back, destroy all team chemistry, and the Cats will be lucky to be as ‘good’ as they were this year.

Sneaker Watch: Once again Oregon was constrained by their white uniforms…Mustafa Shakur, who brought out black/white Penny IVs in the 2006 Pac-10 Tourney, wore his usual black/red Zoom LeBron IV…Radenovic ’ and Fendi rocked navy blue Air Force 25. Malik Hairston dark green Air Force 25. The random old UCLA fan in front of me wore Gil Zeros with Dockers. Gangster.


One day in the near future I will try to actually break down why I chose to root for the Ducks over the Cats. It's going to take some deep thinking, on a psycho-analysis level, but it will get done. I should also credit goducks.com with the word 'Tajuan-derful,' I wish I could think that hard and be that creative.

Also props to Daniel Dillon for getting suspended for the ever-ambigious "violation of team rules."

The rest of the Pac-10 Tourney recap of Oregon's glorious run will come in due time.

It's a Tajuan-derful life

...Unless you're the Cats.
The Pac-10 Tourney review...In due time.


Go Ducks.

Lute's shakey season continues

Believe it or not, the above picture is not Lute Olson's attempt to draw a straight line. It's actually a mock Richter Scale of the earthquake that shook the Haas Pavilion tonight. Early reports indicate the quake was in no way related to Weezy F. Baby.

UA edged-out a win against the DeVon Hardin-less Cal Bears, which means that if the Cats can pick up a win at Standford on Saturday Lute can keep his 19-year streak of 20 wins and his 22-year streak of 11 Pac-10 wins alive.

No game notes, but here's all you really need:

Nic Wise Moment of the Game: All these DNPs are killing the NWMOTG, so we're gonna have to throw it back to a time when he was just a young Houston hard head all about the scrilla. Today we salute the Nic Wise who rocked the black/red XIs while the rest of the team rocked white team-edition kicks. Seriously though Lute, give Nic some burn he can't be any worse than Staf from behind the arc. (Click the picture below to enlarge)

Sneaker Watch: Mustafa Shakur all-black Zoom LeBron IV...Marcus Williams, Patrick Christopher and Jerome Randle white/grey Air Jordan XX2 (I'm thinking about investing in an HD-TV just to see if players are using the interchangeable double stack zoom air or the encapsulated air cushioning system).

UA alum in attendance: ABC's Tom Tolbert, which provoked the following conversation:
My roommate: Is that Fred Durst?
Me: No, but it's one of the few humans in the world on his level of douchiness.

Randomness: Best take on the entire Lute Olson situation...OK, this is the most random art ever...This just sucks...K-Mart has had my respect since he told the Nuggets announcer to introduce him with his JuCo and not Cincy after Cincy dropped Bobby Huggins, dude's a pimp.

Tales from the crib Vol. Fuck the Devils

Jumping straight into it...

• 18:28 Marcus Williams wets a 3, 7-nil, Cats.
• 17:32 Everyone's favorite Serbian misses 2 free throws.
• 16:47 Marcus gets another 3 to put the Cats up 10-2.
• 16:06 Radenovic' redeem himself and hits a pair from the line.
• 14:13 On a break-away Marcus spins to the basket. 14-7, Cat. Marucs has 8 of Zona's 14 points.
• Besides budget issues there is no excuse for ASU to not have their names on the back of their jerseys. This is not a storied basketball program. Right now, four out of the five guys on the court for ASU have lame golden undershirts. Lame.
• If anyone can find me a picture of any college player from the 90's when frayed shooting sleeves were cool, I will send you a 'Where's P-Mac' prize package.
• 12:00 Arizona has eight turnovers in the first eight minutes
• I try to check how many boards Chase Budinger has and this game is hardly acknowledged by CBS and not on ESPN's scoreboard page. Then I realize the Cats are no longer in the top-25. Dammit.
• 10:13 First miss of the night for the Cat as Jawann throws up an air ball from 15 feet.
• 8:36 A Budinger 3 puts the Cats back up 10, 22-12.
• 4:40 Serge Angounou hits another 3, the announcers say he takes the lead for the Devils. No Gary, the Cats are still up 24-20.
• 2:11 No. 11 hits a 3 for ASU. Tie game 28-28.
• 1:31 ASU takes the lead 31-30 and holds it until halftime. I could get into this being the whole reason why I don't love college ball like the NBA, but I don't feel like looking up enough stats to enforce everything.
• Halftime: I couldn't find actual stats to back this up, but I'd assume it looked something like offensive boards: UA: 3 ASU: 92
• 17:50 Nic Wise forgets that he is Nic Wise and clap for Chase after he gets an open dunk
• Much respect to Staf for pulling the most 'g' move you can pull in a basketball game* and switching kicks at halftime.
• * not including anything Nic Wise has ever done
• 16:10 Christian Polk throws up a deep three and catches the bottom of the backboard. Beautiful
• Jeff Pendergraph is a sophomore forward on a very, very weak ASU squad, yet Radenovic' is doing his best to make him look like one of the premier big men in the nation.
• 5:40 Radenovic misses a point-blank put back that could have increased the Cats lead from a pathetic three points, 49-46.
• 4:55 Chase drills a three from the top of the arc, 52-46, Cats.
• 4:10 Serge Angounou hits a 3 as the shot clock sounds to bring the Devils within 3, 49-52.
• 3:39 Marcus Williams lobs the ball to Chase, who goes to the 10th floor (c) Tom Leander, to complete the inbound alley-oop.
• Cats faithful love giving themselves false-hope for the current season by bringing up all the turmoil of the 1997 championship season, such as the 97 squad losing 4 of their last 7 games. This is along the same kind of bullshit lines as coaches telling high-school freshman, "I'm sorry we have to cut you, but did you know Michael Jordan got cut from his freshman high-school basketball team?" That's great and all, but 99.99999999999999999% of freshmen are not Jordan and the 2006 and 2007 Cats are not the 97 Cats.
• 1:36 An ASU three makes it a 1-pt game, 58-57.
• :40 Radenovic who is somehow 88% from the FT line misses the front end of an 1 and 1.
• 2.2 Derek Glasser gets fouled by Marcus on a 3-point attempt as the Devils are down 4, he makes the first two and accidentally makes the third. Nothing can go right for the Devils this season.
• 1.2 Chase goes to the line, hits a pair, that's the ballgame.
• Final 61-58

Nic Wise Moment of the Game: Late in the second half, Chase hits a big three for the Cats, stretching UA's lead back up to over 4. Again no emotion out of Nic. He just sits there, mean muggin' the court. One can only assume it involves Nic thinking knowing he is better than Chase. All I know is that this off-season, Lute and Nic better sit down over a cup of lean and hash things out to a Screw Tape or else Jerryd Bayless better be Jesus fucking Shuttlesworth.
-Anthony Tarnowski contributed to this NWMOTG


Sneaker Watch: Staf 1st half black/red Zoom LeBron IV...Staf 2nd half Air Max Penny I...Nobody else had anything new

Más: I was right last time Aaron Brooks was rocking Jordan B'Loyals...Solid take on this game done in a more professional manner...Did I ever mention I love Oregon...R.I.P. Shaun Livingston.

En media res

I really didn't plan doing shit with this blog until I could figure out how to get a g'd up banner for the top of the page. But I couldn't sit back and watch Aaron Brooks kill at will and not give the man his respect. Right as I awoke from my Saturday night nap, I wake up to AB cutting through three Huskies then throw in a lay-up over his shoulder, chasing that feat of greatness with a deep three and then I seeTajuan Porter clank a three from about 54 feet. Classic 2007 Oregon basketball. Props to the newest member of the Blazers, ex-duck Freddy Jones being at the game, even more props to the white/green XV's in the pic above.

• 11:06 Adrian Oliver jinxes the return of 'Where's P-Mac' with a three to put the Huskies up, 65-64.
• ???? FSN goes clockless and Joevan 'Stay Fresh' Catron goes unconscious, ripping the ball on the defensive end before weaving through defenders and going behind his back before giving the rock up.
• Tajuan Porter draws the defender way behind the arc, misses the shot but gets the foul. He hits all 3 FT attempts, 69-65 Ducks.
• Father of the year award goes to the man who dressed his son in a black Joey Heisman Ducks jersey and introduced the boy at a young age to The Pit. Best parenting ever.
• 8:40 AB gets two at the line to put the ducks up six, 71-65.
• 7:20 Tajuan in transition pulls up for a long 3. No dice.
• 7:01 Tajuan follows the miss with a behind-the-back pass on the break to Malik Hairston.
• 5:19 Ducks go up nine, 80-71, after Tajuan connects on a corner three-ball.
• FSN flashes a stat that Tajuan is just two 3-Pt FGs away from the Jason Kapono record of 82, I fully expect Tajuan to break that in the next 30 seconds.
• 4:37 Quincy Pondexter hits crazy lay up while being fouled by Brooks. I'm still real pissed that Quincy is not Cappie's brother, being the big Cappie Pondexter fan that I claim to be. It's noted that Quincy has between 100-150 sneakers, if his chest didn't read 'Washington,' I would respect this man greatly.
• They flash the ASU highlight of the fans rushing the court after winning their first game in what was an 0-15 Pac-10 season. I can't even make a joke there, ASU rushed the court for their first Pac-10 win in FUCKING February.
• The ducks coast to a victory leading by seven for the final four minutes of the game. 93-85.
• Line of the night: Aaron Brooks 30 on 10-14 shooting, 6 boards, 5 dimes, 4 steals and only 2 turnovers.
• Tajuan only had six 3-pt attempts?

Nic Wise moment of the Game: I can't even imagine what Nic Wise does on the weekends but it's probably not even acceptable to be published on the Internet.

Sneaker Watch: If the ever was any criticism about Oregon basketball it would have to be their weak kick game with their white jerseys. Generic team edition shoes, you can do better than that. Although I'm pretty sure Aaron Brooks was rocking some white/green Jordan B'Loyals.

Question of the night: My friend Andy calling to ask if you take Brooks or Durant with the No. 1 pick in the draft. No brainer, Brooks.

Thanks for nothing

Today was Senior Day which is basically like when an award show honors Two-and-a-half Men, why the fuck should we honor something that's at best mediocre and usually just sucks. Staf, I won't miss you and Ivan, I'm going to try to make one of those cool Men-in-Black memory eraser devices in an attempt to forget I ever had to watch you. Jerryd Bayless can't put on a Cats uniform soon enough for me. Here are the notes from the final home game of the 2007 season. For the record: the USC notes didn't happen because Antione Cason forced me stop the blogging presses. I apologize.

• 18:35 UCLA jump ahead 6-0 in a contest where both teams are wearing their away jerseys. Lute can't take it and calls a timeout to confirm Radenovic' is a real human and not just a hologram that players can drive through and rebound over.
• Whoever creates the "Zona Screw," the Zona Zoo's flier consisting of analysis and chants for the game, needs to note how I just wrote "their away jerseys." I don't know how you can make it to college and still write, "Arizona looks to swing momentum back to there side on senior day." Come on now.
• 16:48 Radenovic' misses his first lay-up of the game. I underestimated ol' Ivan, I would have taken the under on him missing a lay-up in the first three minutes of the game.
• 12:10 Darren Collison buries his second straight 3-pointer to put the Bruins up 23-11.
• Wilbur who came out in the game with some retarded, cheap UA shorts found his authentic joints and is now proudly cheering on Zona. He's also sporting a new #7 for the second game in a row.
• 10:08 Shakur is not disgracing himself on Senior Day. He wets two 3-pointers in a row to bring the Cats within six, 17-23.
• 8:46 Jordan Hill, who needs a gangsta nickname badly, has an emphatic two-handed dunk to make it 23 all.
• 6:38 Darren Collison finds Lorenzo Mata for an alley-oop to put UCLA back up seven, 30-23.
• Richard Jefferson, Luke Walton and Channing Frye make what I assume to be a little detour to see the Cats play before heading up to Vegas to take part in all the debauchery that is NBA All-Star Weekend. If I were in their shoes, well one, I'd be pissed because Luke wears L.A. Gears, but I'd bring a suitcase full of one million dollars, straight cash homey. Then I would just see how much fun I could have blowing it all in one night. That'd probably make for a sick blog post.
• 5:33 Staf drives to the paint and does...well what Staf does every fucking time. This time Darren Collison is called for the foul, but the point of the story is that Staf re-injures his right ankle, which has been bothering him for two weeks now.
• Enter Nic Wise, who checks into the game sans his cape headband.
• The dude behind me is proudly holding a sign that reads, "Tim Hardaway for President." I have no clue why he made this sign, granted it's funny as hell, but germane to absolutely nothing at the game. I would rather have Tim Hardaway as president, not because of the war in Iraq, knocking down the towers, or anything else college kids/Jadakiss loves to hate Bush for, but simply because Hardaway's "killer cross-over" was that sick.
  
• 2:48 After doing nothing and looking like a complete G while doing it, Nic is taken out of the game for Daniel Dillon.
• 1:42 I have no idea why, but Jawann does not check into the game until this point. What the hell is going on Lute.
• Marcus Williams gets an open lay-up as the buzzer sounds.
  
• Somehow the Cats are only down one at the half, 35-34.
• The greatest halftime event of all time happens when my friend Craig wins a Zona'd-out Vespa. I looked every where on the Internet and couldn't find a picture of it. Picture candy-apple red paint with huge UA logos all over it. And it's a fucking Vespa! I'll get some pictures and post them soon enough.
  
• Things to officially note about Craig:
  
• 1. He is a loyal bears fan.
• 2. He has been to almost every Cats game and has not removed one game-day wristband from his arm. Ever.
• 3. He skipped our 4:30 English class on Thursday to get in line for the 8:30 USC game.
• Feel free to make your own lame caption, that would have still not been funny a few years ago, about this picture of Staf getting his Justin Timberlake on.
• As I walk around the McKale Center in my Steve Kerr Chicago Bulls jersey a man selling Eegees icees tells me that he has the same jersey and jokes that I stole his. I actually saw the three-toothed man laying in a campus park while wearing the jersey. I assumed he was a g'd-up bum, although the line between bum and Eegees vendor is very, very gray.
• 15:16 Josh Shipp sneaks back door and finishes a sick alley-oop from Arron Afflalo. 47-40, UCLA.
• 13:15 I have no real evidence to back this up but I'm pretty sure Marcus Williams never makes his free-throw attempt on and-1s. It's weird that the leading scorer and a man who is deadly from the elbow cannot hit a free throw. The Cats are within four, 46-50.
• 7:03 Darren Collison sinks a 3 with a second on the shot clock. 60-50, UCLA.
• 5:43 With the Cats down 12 Chase hits a three and gets fouled in the act. He hits the free throw, 56-64, UCLA.
• 3:35 Michael Roll hits another 3 for UCLA as the shot clock expires. Lute goes insane as the Bruins continue to pull away, 61-74.
• I hope somebody from Staf's family got a picture of Staf in his final game at McKale as he stood at the line with 2:15 on the clock. It be as godly as Mike's 6.6-second picture, but if I'm from Philly and playing in my last home game, that's a pretty cool pic.
• The Cats lose 81-66 and drop to 17-9, 8-7 on the season.
  
• The seniors are honored post game. My friend and I are the only ones booing Radenovic' who finished the game with a stellar 4 points and 3 boards, the final two boards coming in the last 1:30 of the game.
  
• I will give it up to Staf for having a solid game, 17 points, 6 dimes, 4 boards, and only 2 turnovers.
  
• Props to Darren Collison who dropped 17 and had a career-high 15 dimes to go with it.

Nic Wise Moment of the Game: When Chase Budinger hit a huge 3-pointer and was fouled in front of his own bench, everyone hopped off the bench to pick him up and give him a few high-fives. Everyone except Nic Wise. Why the fuck would Nic get off the bench to congratulate him, Nic could have done that himself. Easily. In fact, I'm sure Nic could have done it much better and probably got at least 5 points out of it.

Sneaker Watch: Mustafa Shakur finished his McKale Center career in the black/red Zoom LeBron IV...Ivan Radenovic' failed miserably in some white/red Air Force 25s...JawannMcClellen white/red Air Force 90...Daniel Dillon black/red Air Force 90...Jordan Hill black/Carolina blue Jordan Melo 5.5...Josh Shipp and Russell Westbrook white/royal blue Adidas Gil Zero Mid...Luc Richard Mbah a Moute royal blue Adidas Pro Model S...Marcus Williams wore some the same all-black Nikes that I may never be able to figure out.

On a random note, why the hell is Britney Spears rocking a Fila hoody?

Cats, snakes, chickens, ducks, elderly people and twerkers I presents to you...Round II

The rematch. No. 13 Oregon hosting No. 24 Arizona in a Coaches vs. Cancer game where both coaches are sporting the Larry David look and wearing sneakers with dress pants. I've decided that before I die I need to sit amongst the Pit Crew in the McArthur Court, it's like the Zona Zoo, except much bigger and with energy. Also random props to Gonzaga's Josh Heytvelt and Theo Davis for being pulled over with marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms. Some notes from the afternoon.

• 17.10 Jordan Hill gets his first block of the game, Chase is starting a cold missing all three of his first 3-ball attempts.
• 15.28 Tajuan "I've never seen a 3 I didn't like" Porter already has two misses from NBA plus five feet 3-point land. It's 9-4, Cats, after a 7-0 UA run.

• 14:25 Marcus Williams does not miss from the elbow. Ever. 11-4 Cats.
• 12:35 Maarty Leunen hits a 3 to put the Ducks up 14-13.
• 11:48 Tajuan buries a stupid-long 3-pointer, 17-15 Ducks. Lute doesn't even wait for the media time out and calls one himself.
• Joey Harrington, Ahmad Rashad aka Bobby Moore and God himself, Phil Knight are all sitting courtside supporting their team.
• 5:20 A Bryce Taylor dunk makes it 25-23, Ducks.
• 4:40 Tajuan jacks up his 237th 3-pointer of the game from about 40 feet out and draws straight air. Bryce Taylor follows up the disaster with a dunk with the foul.28-23 Ducks.
• 4:00 Mitch Platt goes up for a fastbreak lay-up and gets swatted by Shakur. For as much shit as I give Staf, nobody in the Pac-10 can fuck with his transition defense.
• 3:21 Radenovic misses a lay-up and The Pit chants "USA USA USA." I've never been more impressed with a college, I log online and begin to fill out transfer papers.
• :50 Bryce Taylor hits a 3 from dead center to put the Ducks up 10 36-26.
• 2.7 Jordan Hill launches an inbound pass a full 94 feet to nobody. Ducks ball underneath their own hoop.
• 2.7 Aaron Brookes finds Bryce Taylor for an easy lay-up 38-28, Ducks at the half.
• 3-pt FG UA 1-7 ORE 5-12
• Chase leads the Cats with 13 on 6-10 shooting.
• Bryce Taylor has 14, shooting 6-9.
• Maarty Leunen has 10 connecting on 2-3 of his 3's. Also worth noting is that he is not foreign, despite being a big white guy who can hit a 3. One of the brilliant ABC announcers keeps alluding to his European upbringing despite the fact that he was born in Washington, according to Oregon's athletics web site.
• 17.55 After threes from Chase and Marcus the Cats trail by 2, 38-40.
  
• 15.03 Oregon gets up 9, 47-38, after a Leuen 3 and shitty Cats turnovers. Staf gets angry and does what he does best. He drives right side throws up a bullshit shot and eventually draws a foul. He hits one of his two attempts after being bombarded with chants of "Urkel."
• 14.09 Chamberlain Oguchi misses an open lay-up, grabs his own board and steps out of bounds. Well done Champ, well done. 47-42, Ducks.
  
• The Pit begins chants of "Chase is ugly."
  
• 12.15 Joevan Catron should stick to slanging customized Nikes and Tims. Catron turns it over, then has Chase rebound a Jawaan miss over him and put the ball back. Catron gets out-rebounded on the block by Radenovic! and then fouled the ol' Serbian. At the end of it all it's 51-52, Ducks.
• It's noted that Malik Hairston only considered Nike schools when picking colleges. I cry tears of pride for the man I've never met in my life.
  
• 8.22 Tajuan pulls up from 20 to hit a 3-pointer on 2 on none fastbreak. Ruthless. 64-55, Ducks.
  
• 4.44 Jawann gets his first 3 of the game, 64-66, Ducks.
  
• 3.52 Chase hits a jumper to tie it at 66 all.
  
• 3.15 A Marcus Williams hook give the Cats their first lead in a very long time 68-66.
  
• 2.23 Aaron Brookes continues his off-week with an airball. Chase grabs the rebound, throws a gorgeous outlet to Marcus Williams who gets a tough bucket and a foul. He misses the and-1 but steals the ball back to find Chase for a 3 to make it a five point posession.
  
• 1.39 Malik Hairston responds with a three, 69-73, Cats.
  
• 1.00 With a minute left Tajuan jacks up and misses another retardedly long 3 completely out of the sync of any offense. I love it.
  
• :59 Aaron Brookes is now rocking a band-aid on his face á la Nelly. He connects on a purr of free throws to pull the Ducks to within two, 73-71.
• 22.2 Tajuan buries a 3 from the corner to put the Ducks on top 74-73.
  
• Ernie Kent is down for the count after being bull-dozed by a ref. He gets back up because he is as much a soldier as he is an unloyal husband.
• Enter the takeover of the 'Where's P-Mac' anti-heroes.
  
• 6.0 Ivan motherfucking Radenovic actually hits a tough shot to put the Cats up 75-74.
• 2.9 Staf takes a charge on Aaron Brookes to get the ball back to the Cats.
  
• Chase hits both attempts on a one and one.
  
• The ball is inbounded to Tajuan who turns it over before he can jack up a shot. Game over. Cats win 77-74.
  

Nic Wise Moment of the Game: I'm going to have to rely on my mind reading skills for today's NWMOTG. Today's moment is when Nic walked off the court and thought to himself, "Why the fuck am I even going to my classes," after not logging a minute in the second straight game. Nic you gotta do what you gotta do. Even if that means you have to start boycotting classes again to send a message to the team.

Sneaker Watch: The coaches wasted their opportunity and wore running shoes. Come on Coach Kent, you have a great shoe-customizer on your bench, don't let all that potential go to waste....Marcus Williams black/silver Air Jordan Retro V (below)...Nothing else too exciting, at least from what I could tell from my 20'' television.