But seriously, they don't always get the recognition that they deserve. They may be the best Oregon sports team that no one's heard of. If you need a break from the apoplexy-inducing style of the men's basketball team, look no further to get your fix.

You all know about Paul Ball and its basics, so I needn't explain them, but once you see it implemented you will enjoy it. Watching a team defend the whole court is far more entertaining than watching, say, the men's team defend none of the court, as they've done most of the season. Oregon has racked up steals and five-second violations in the backcourt as teams become stymied with how to counteract the press. True, the Ducks are at a size disadvantage in the half-court, which leads to trouble, but Oregon gives itself a chance to succeed with every trap and every full-court or cross-court pass. Funny as it may seem to say, the defense helps to generate the offense.

And oh, the offense. Currently, the Ducks lead the nation in points per game, hovering around 85. Five different women average double-figure scoring totals, with Taylor Lilley leading the pack. Lilley is still liable to fire from anywhere and everywhere -- in the Ducks' win against Arizona State she had a couple NBA-range three-pointers that got the Ducks and the crowd in the game -- but she's a much more complete player, handling and passing the ball well. Micaela Cocks is Ironwoman; her endurance level is off the charts at this level and she is willing to mix it up inside for the tough layups. Nia Jackson is the point guard, or the engine that makes the team go; she's one of the Pac-10's assist leaders and is a bolt of lightning in the full-court, attacking the basket if she finds even the slightest seam.

The guards obviously power the offense, but that should not discredit the efforts of Amanda Johnson, who leads the team in rebounding (around nine a game) and can shoot it from anywhere, Victoria Kenyon (three-point shooting), Nicole Canepa (physical inside play), Jasmin Holliday (slashing to the basket) and others. Against Arizona on Thursday, Oregon had six girls in double figures. It's been a team effort, as it has all season.

Now, the Ducks do have a legitimate shot to play in the postseason for the first time since 2003. However, a lot must happen for that to come true. 20 wins is a must, as is a 9-9 (or better) Pac-10 record. The Ducks must also have a strong showing in the conference tournament at the end of the season to be considered for the postseason. Oregon has gone as far as it has through its style of play; run-and-gun just doesn't sit well with some teams, even ones that the Ducks cannot match up with physically. Obviously, with a 16-8 record this season, the system is not infallible, but the Ducks believe in themselves and they're willing to push themselves hard (see the Arizona State game).

This week, the women play at Stanford and at Cal, almost a guaranteed sweep in most years. However, the Ducks believe in themselves coming off a sweep of the Arizona schools and played both these teams close at McArthur Court. Should you find the men's games unwatchable or unlistenable, don't completely discount Oregon basketball for the rest of the night. The action in the Bay Area should be intense, and could have major ramifications if the Ducks can pull off an upset.

http://media.www.dailyemerald.com/media/storage/paper859/news/2009/03/04/News/Emerald.News.Staff.Strikes-3658778.shtml

Strange situation...it involves the hiring of a new publisher to help the Emerald (which is running in the red) and potential conflicts of interest. Here's a response from the guy the board of directors originally named publisher:

http://www.dailyemerald.com/media/storage/paper859/news/2009/03/04/News/Steven.A.Smith-3659330.shtml

The Daily Emerald doesn't do much of a service to this blog, as the Register-Guard and Oregonian command most of the attention, but they occasionally break some news.

I'm curious to hear some opinions on this.

39-36 Oregon at halftime. Baylor's the No. 7 team in the nation, but the mother of a player died last night so their minds and hearts are in other places. If memory serves, this would be the biggest win in school history if the Ducks could actually pull it off.

The difference in this game simply comes down to hot shooting. Oregon has made several turnovers but the Ducks are shooting 56% from the field as a team. Micaela Cocks has 10 points and is perfect from three-point range.

The post by CV3000 over at Building the Damn was a very thought-provoking one: Who would you rather have from Oregon State's team on the Ducks? Now, I'd respond there, but in protest to the slow decay of the quality and respectability of BtD, I'm posting it here for debate instead. (Where have you gone, Jake?)

The offense will have three WRs, one RB and one TE, comparable to what both teams will likely use throughout the game.

QB: Jeremiah Masoli (maybe the worst of the 3, but the hottest hand going in)

RB: Jeremiah Johnson

WR: Sammie Stroughter

WR: James Rodgers

WR: Jeff Maehl

TE: Ed Dickson

OT: Fenuki Tupou

OG: Mark Lewis

C: Max Unger

OG: Tavita Thompson (yes, I'm stretching it, but work with me)

OT: Andy Levitre

DE: Nick Reed

DT: Ra'Shon Harris

DT: Stephen Paea

DE: Victor Butler (if it weren't realistic, Norris, Butler and Reed would all play the line)

OLB: Jerome Boyd

ILB: Keaton Kristick

OLB: Casey Matthews (another stretch of position, I know)

CB: Jairus Byrd

S: T.J. Ward

S: Patrick Chung

CB: Walter Thurmond III

P: Josh Syria

K: Morgan Flint

PR: Stroughter

KR: James Rodgers

Agree? Disagree? All I know for sure, is that this team would be in the nation's top 3 if it came together.

As if the season couldn't get any worse...Davis had somewhat of a breakthrough game against Stanford, but apparently he tore his anterior cruciate ligament at some point during the game. John Hunt (The O) and Rob Moseley (The RG) are on the case.

As far as Drew's development, this is a pretty crushing blow. He was used sparingly as a true freshman and didn't seem to get any more looks his way in the spring. This season, he hasn't done much, but it's not by accident that he earned his first career start against the Cardinal.

Ideally, he's fully ready for the fall, but this certainly deflates whatever morale we had coming out of that game.

The Oregon coaching staff let the Ducks down today.

Don't bother to say anything about the players. We get it. Thomas looked very good for his first collegiate action. Chris Harper still can't throw a ball very well and it's entirely possible his shoulder is still affecting him. Masoli got absolutely rocked on that one hit but was doing OK. The rest of the team turned in a decent overall performance, especially the offensive line, who won the trench battle all game.

I have absolute disdain for everything Chip Kelly, Mike Bellotti and Nick Aliotti did. They took the Ducks out of this game. Oregon kept themselves in this in spite of the coaches' decisions. I might do a second-part of this fanpost for the offensive coaching, but I'll start with the obvious: how bad Nick Aliotti sucks. So here are my grievances against him:

POOR RECOGNITION. Aliotti may be one of the worst defensive coordinators of a BCS team. Boise State was running an offensive clinic out there and was playing within themselves. They executed everything with precision. They ran the ball to set up the pass, even though the Ducks were stout on run defense all day. They protected really well against the pass rush. They spread the field according to Offensive Coaching 101 in the passing game: backs in the flats, TEs down the middle, WRs split wide. Occasionally, they'd mix their routes up and they were all ran well. Boise State is a well-coached team. We knew this going in. Aliotti had no idea what he was in for, as far as I could tell.

STUBBORN REFUSAL TO BREAK FROM THE ZONE. That was THE reason why nearly all of BSU's big plays happened. Vinny Perretta would never have scored his 73-yard touchdown if Aliotti hadn't left Matthews (or was it Paysinger?) out on an island to be burned. Tight ends were constantly left uncovered in the zone because it seemed like we didn't know what to do if they came into the zone. That's just bad preparation, and I lay that blame squarely at Aliotti's feet.

REFUSAL TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS. Oregon never got a pass rush going all game. Kellen Moore had plenty of time to throw and he made the most of it. The screen passes were all well executed with seemingly little resistance. Aliotti constantly sent three or four men to get to Moore, stupidly thinking that the Ducks' size and occasional talent advantage would factor in on every play. It didn't. Not once. The few times Aliotti rushed six men, he was only moderately successful because a) he never mixed his blitz packages and b) Boise State is disciplined when it comes to blocking. Aliotti never picked up on this.

KEEPING RECEIVERS IN FRONT OF DEFENSIVE BACKS. This is a stupid strategy and it always fails on third downs. Momentum on some drives was zapped because the Ducks couldn't make that third-and-long stop.

REFUSAL TO GET PHYSICAL. This goes back in part to the zone, but it seems at times like our defensive line is a little afraid of pushing coming to shove. Our linebackers are quick but notoriously poor tacklers (except for Casey Matthews). Our defensive backs don't do bump-and-run coverage; rarely, if ever, does Aliotti give opposing WRs any less than a 10-yard cushion on an obvious passing down.

Aliotti will never step down as long as he has those photos of Mike and Phil Knight engaging in some Holocaust-themed orgy, but the sooner someone offers him an HC job with more pay the better. I'm sick and tired of watching Oregon defenders get burned game after game.

So says her blog.

Or, for those too lazy to click, she has Oregon at No. 9 in the country.

Granted, it seemed like the entire country wasn't really that impressive outside of USC and BYU (who I feel is underrated by Yanity in this instance), but this kind of optimism...well, I don't know. It feels weird. This isn't John Hunt (he's the only Oregon media member allowed to vote in the AP Poll). I have respect for Molly and her P-I work is very well done, but I would appreciate a full explanation on all teams.

(Granted, she does eff up in a major way by putting LSU ahead of Oklahoma when Bob Stoopid's boys have been steamrolling fools. And I don't like how she's filled in the rest of the poll. But this has a lot of positives at the top, outside of LSU, for all its negatives.)

I guess the question I want to ask is...what does this say about Oregon, national perception, on-field performance, etc.?

This comes per Duck Sports News, and explains what we already figured. Unusually responsible of him if it's all true.

http://www.ducksportsnews.com/blog/2008/08/ducks-tupuo-self-reports-accepting-agent-improper-benefits/

Tupou self-reported his actions to the athletics department’s Executive Assistant Athletics Director for Compliance Bill Clever Wednesday of last week, and turned the monetary benefit over to the department’s compliance office. Clever immediately notified the Pacific-10 Conference and the NCAA, who in turn notified the NFL Players Association, the labor union which oversees professional sports agents and financial advisors. The NFLPA does not permit its members to induce current student-athletes with cash or gift benefits.

Tupou reportedly met with Tim Norling of the Phoenix, Ariz., firm of LMM Sports Management at a local Eugene restaurant in July. Norling paid for the $10 meal and at the conclusion of the meeting handed Tupou five $20 bills in their parting handshake.

The NFLPA lists Ethan Lock, Eric Metz and Vance Malinovic as the top certified associates of the LMM Sports Management firm.

Tupou alleges that he tried to return the cash benefit to Norling several times but was refused. According to NCAA bylaws, it is permissible for student-athletes to meet with agents. However it is impermissible to accept any benefits or enter into any formal agreement until a student-athlete’s eligibility has expired.

The day after he self-reported the meeting, Tupou requested permission to address his teammates and admit his infraction. Late Friday afternoon, the NCAA handed down a one-game suspension and also ordered Tupou to donate the improper inducement and the cost of the $10 meal to charity.

I was lucky enough last night to sit high up at Autzen to watch the UO-UW game. And there was no disappointing. The offense was up to its usual tricks, but the defense was and should be the story of the game.

I don't think I've ever seen a better display of open-field tackling from an Oregon football team. Walter Thurmond, Jairus Byrd and T.J. Ward were wrapping up everybody. Spencer Paysinger had a couple chances at Jake Locker that he couldn't capitalize on, but he finished with 12 tackles, a sack and 2.5 TFL...a remarkable performance stepping in for the departed Kevin Garrett.

Nick Reed was playing with so much vitriol that he was killing offensive linemen before the snap was exchanged (a hilarious play). Will Tukuafu had that one-armed sack of Locker that seemed superhuman and had a pretty good night overall. Pressure on Locker was consistent if not overwhelming, and he got hit quite a bit after releasing the football (most notably by Paysinger).

They only forced one turnover on a fumble, but they only allowed 2.2 yards per run and 4.2 yards per pass. (By comparison, Oregon was at 5.8 and 8.6, respectively.) The defensive performance was consistent, the pressure persistent and the tackling precise. I'm a huge critic of Aliotti normally, but he and his charges deserve the credit. For God's sake, no Husky play went longer than 20 yards! After cringing when a defensive miscue led to an 83-yard TD pass from Locker last year, this was a very welcome change of pace. I can only hope we'll see this effort against Utah State and Boise State.

My only real complaint was that John Bacon was his usual ineffective self. Once the coaching staff figures out that Casey Matthews is miles beyond Bacon with a very high ceiling, this problem will be easily rectified.

One more interesting point of debate: Don't know if anyone caught Schroeder's blog, but he had some words for the student section:

http://rgweb-c.registerguard.com/blogs/index.php/georges/comments/pit_crew_comes_to_autzen/

As a student, I know Schroeder is right but it's hard to control 5,000 screaming (and often drunk or high) people. The "Fuck the Huskies" chant is used mostly because it's about the only one people can really work together on. The Autzen student section is not the Pit Crew, where one creative chant can emanate throughout the student body.

Where the Pit Crew is concerned, the students just have to up the ante. (That may happen this year, as the product on the court will be questionable at best.) But any creativity brought to the student section cannot and does not translate to Autzen. The best comment was the one about Duck fans taking the next step: acting like we've been there before. Problem is, we still haven't.

I love the underdog mentality and I think Oregon fans are wise to hold onto it...that is where we've come from. But we do have a ways to go.