The Wildcats are traveling to Eugene and Corvallis this weekend for the first time since the Pac became a twelver. In advance of this inaugural appearance inside Matthew Knight, the guys over at Addicted to Quack invited me onto their Podcast and didn’t ask me to ramble but I did all over this Wildcat team, the matchup with the Ducks, and even got me to speak about the Tempe school.
And watch Thursday’s game with your eyes because it’s lining up to be a good one. While it seems the Cats may have lost some steam heading into this bout, I think the fact they stumbled through last weekend makes this game even more intriguing. There’s that common argument, maybe the most frustrating one in the world, that an undefeated team should lose a game here or there. You know, to keep their edge or whatever. If that’s indeed the case, what Arizona managed to do last weekend was lose without adding a loss to the record. No wonder they’re ranked as one of the most efficient teams in the nation!
The Duck’s could’ve added to the intrigue-meter by not losing at UTEP in an assortment of overtimes but hey, Chip Kelly’s coming back, so things aren’t at all bad in Eugene.
Interestingly, there isn’t much here by way of storylines between these two schools. Or at least not of a late. Dana Altman appears to be a polite man and Matt Court – as I learned on the ATQ podcast – has yet to meet it’s full potential as a home court advantage. The Ducks’ old home was vicious. It’s been awhile since these two squared off as two formidable opponents.
For this one I’ve also stumbled across my inner stat geek which just adds to game anticipation (I see you @jgisland). Did you know that Arizona allows just 23% of the shots taken against them to be attempted “at the rim?” That’s fifteenth best in the nation at protecting the bucket from easy stuff like layups and dunks. Conversely, DYK that Oregon takes 40% of their shots from that very space Arizona does such a good job of keeping people away from?
Holy contrast Batman, we’ve got opposing styles!
Each of these squads is dedicated to their system, a tribute to the coaches and the number of transfers from their respective programs early in their tenures. Each has taken heat on that subject but that tends to be the reality of today’s college sport. And maybe they’ve missed on some recruits, which is a byproduct of rushed evaluations and the need for bodies during a regime change.
But that’s too far down the recruiting rabbit hole that I generally don’t venture down. Except the two times I went to see Chase Budinger and last year when I watched Aaron Gordon.
Anyhow, we’re prepped to have a good one. Some Cats and Ducks runnin’ around atop some trees.
Note: Stats from this article were courtesy of this ridiculously comprehensive site: http://www.hoop-math.com/index.html