Oregon

Oregon Announces 2008-09 Schedule

Press Release — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:51:28 -0700

NOVEMBER

OPPONENT LOCATION TV TIME

2 Sunday NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN (EX) McArthur Court TBA
9 Sunday SOUTHERN OREGON (EX) McArthur Court TBA
14 Friday NORTHERN COLORADO McArthur Court TBA
17 Monday OAKLAND McArthur Court TBA
21 Friday at UC Irvine Irvine, Calif. TBA
24 Monday & Maui Invitational Lahaina, Hawaii TBA
25 Tuesday & Maui Invitational Lahaina, Hawaii TBA
26 Wednesday & Maui Invitational Lahaina, Hawaii TBA

DECEMBER
3 Wednesday at Utah Salt Lake City, Utah TBA
7 Sunday KANSAS STATE McArthur Court TBA
13 Saturday % SAN DIEGO Rose Garden TBA
17 Wednesday SAINT MARY’S McArthur Court TBA
20 Saturday PORTLAND McArthur Court TBA
29 Monday LONG BEACH STATE McArthur Court TBA

JANUARY
2 Friday # USC McArthur Court TBA
4 Sunday # UCLA McArthur Court TBA
8 Thursday # at Arizona Tucson, Ariz. TBA
10 Saturday # at Arizona State Tempe, Ariz. TBA
15 Thursday # WASHINGTON McArthur Court TBA
17 Saturday # WASHINGTON STATE McArthur Court TBA
22 Thursday # at Stanford Stanford, Calif. TBA
24 Saturday # at California Berkeley, Calif. TBA
31 Saturday # at Oregon State Corvallis, Ore. TBA

FEBRUARY
5 Thursday # ARIZONA STATE McArthur Court TBA
7 Saturday # ARIZONA McArthur Court TBA
12 Thursday # at Washington State Pullman, Wash. TBA
14 Saturday # at Washington Seattle, Wash. TBA
19 Thursday # CALIFORNIA McArthur Court TBA
21 Saturday # STANFORD McArthur Court TBA
28 Saturday # OREGON STATE McArthur Court TBA

MARCH
5 Thursday # at UCLA Los Angeles, Calif. TBA
7 Saturday # at USC Los Angeles, Calif. TBA
11-14 Wed.-Sat. + Pac-10 Tournament Los Angeles, Calif. FSN/CBS TBA
19-22 Thurs.-Sun. NCAA 1st & 2nd Rounds TBA CBS TBA
26-29 Thurs.-Sun. NCAA Regionals TBA CBS TBA
4/4-6 Sat.-Mon. NCAA Final Four Detroit, Mich. CBS TBA

Malik Hairston: NBA Draft Profile

Jeff Fox — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 07:46:12 -0700

Rudy Mbemba

College: Oregon

Class: Senior

Position: SG/SF

Height: 6’6”

Weight: 220lbs

Accolades: Honorable Mention All-Pac-10 (08), NCAA All-Midwest Regional Team (07), Honorable Mention All-Pac-10 (06), Pac-10 All-Freshman Team (05), McDonald’s All-American – high school (04), First Team Parade All-American – high school (04).

Scouting Report: A high school phenom who disappointed in college.

Strengths: Strong build. Good wingspan. Great three-point shooter – shot around 43% from deep his junior and senior years. Good rebounder for a guard. Good leaper. Shoots for a great percentage for a guard – 52.5 % this past season. Proven scorer in college – over 1600 points for his career. Very experienced – played four years of big minutes in the Pac-10.

Weaknesses: Needs to improve his ball-handling for the pros. Has to improve his assist to turnover ratio – almost had as many turnovers as assists in his collegiate career. Was thought of as an underachiever in college. Isn’t extraordinary in any aspect of the game.

Projected 2008 Draft Range: Mid second round pick to undrafted.

Consensus: Despite having a real solid collegiate career, Hairston never lived up to the huge hype surrounding him coming out of high school. He will have to reverse that and overachieve to be really successful in the NBA.

Stats: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=22482

CHN's Six-Star Ranking System

= Superstar/All-NBA Potential

= Potential NBA All-Star

= Consistent NBA Starter

= 6th Man/Fringe Starter

= Career Reserve

= Fringe NBA Player/12th Man

0 stars = Life in the Minor Leagues

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Straight-Forward Tourney Commentary: Overrated Teams

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:24:32 -0700

This column is not the place for in-depth team information (which you can find here), or in-depth game previews (which you can find here).. this here is all about straight-forward, honest, to-the-point, useful NCAA Tournament commentary:

Overrated Teams

Vanderbilt (4)

Why? 7-7 away from home is rather pathetic for a 4 seed, especially considering their best non-home win was on a neutral floor against 71st ranked Utah State. Luckily for the Commodores, Siena shouldn't be an issue in the first round.. but they might not make it past the Round of 32.

Davidson (10)

Why? Everybody loves to love Davidson and Stephen Curry. But they didn't even win a single Top 100 game all year. The only other tournament team with a similar mark of futility is 15th seeded Belmont. If Davidson was also a 15 seed, I'd say they were dangerous and capable of surprising someone, but they're overseeded as a 10. No doubt they'll give Gonzaga a serious run in Round One, but too many people will fall in love with the Wildcats.

Kansas (1)

Why? The Jayhawks only decent non-conference win was against USC early in the year. In fact, you could argue that their only other decent win all year was in the Big 12 Title game against Texas. The Jayhawks looked good on Sunday, but I don't think they're built to make a deep tourney run. Mainly for two reasons: A) I don't trust Bill Self's coaching ability compared to the other big-timers like Howland, Coach K, and Calipari. B) They lack a true go-to star, which will hurt them down the stretch.

Arizona (10)

Why? This bothers me because I've always tended to like the Wildcats.. but really this team is a fraud. In the last month, they have one win over a top 250 ranked team. Considering Oregon State is basically a D2 team, you could say Zona finished 2-8 against D1 teams. Jerryd Bayless is no doubt a stud talent, but Chase Budinger seems unwilling to become a big-time player, and its not fair for Bayless to have to do everything for them to win. If you think Beasley plays a big role for Kansas State, then Bayless take it to another level. He's often a one-man team.

Oregon (9)

Why? I'm not suggesting Oregon doesn't deserve to be a tourney team, but a 9 seed was oddly high. None of the numbers suggest the Ducks will do damage beyond the opening round. 6-10 away from home is weak.. 5-5 to finish the season is weak.. and just 4 wins in 13 tries against Top 50 teams is weaker. There's no doubt Oregon can beat Mississippi St in the opening round, but the #9 seed wasn't fair to begin with.

Kentucky (11)

Why? Is the March version of Kentucky really that much better than the December version that lost to Garder Webb, Houston, UAB, and San Diego? Sure the Wildcats have improved somewhat in recent months, but the gaudy 12-4 SEC record is mostly due to the overrated nature of the entire conference. There was no greater proof of the league's mediocrity than Georgia's run through the SEC tournament. The Wildcats 4-8 record away from home is one of the worst amongst Top 100 RPI teams. In fact the only one's with a worse record are Oklahoma St, Nebraska, and Wake Forest.. ie, NIT teams. Kentucky is basically a glorified NIT team.

- My Underrated Teams will be up soon.

Today's Poll: What is the Biggest Bracket Surprise?

Shawn Siegel — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:22:20 -0700

2008 NCAA Tournament Capsule: Oregon

Joel Welser — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 21:52:42 -0700

Oregon Ducks

Pac-10 (18-13, 9-9)

Seed: #9

South Region

RPI: 58

Big Wins: 11/29 at Kansas State (80-77), 1/5 at Arizona (84-74), 1/13 Stanford (71-66)

Bad Losses: 12/15 at Nebraska (79-88), 12/22 vs Oakland (62-68), 1/17 at Washington (70-78)

Last NCAA Appearance: 2007, Elite Eight loss to Florida

Coach: Ernie Kent (6-5 in 5 NCAA appearances)

Probable Starters:

Tajuan Porter, Sophomore, Guard, 13.8 ppg, 2.4 apg

Bryce Taylor, Senior, Guard, 13.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg

Malik Hairston, Senior, Guard, 16.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg

Joevan Catron, Sophomoire, Forward, 9.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg

Marty Leunen, Senior, Forward, 15.2 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 2.8 apg

Key Roleplayers:

Kamyron Brown, Freshman, Guard, 4.4 ppg, 3.2 apg

LeKendric Longmire, Freshman, Guard, 3.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg

Chuchill Odia, Junior, Guard, 1.8 ppg, 1.4 rpg

Why They Can Surprise:

Oregon certainly does not lack in perimeter weapons. Malik Hairston is dangerous from anywhere on the floor and can approach the 30 point plateau on any given day. However, Hairston also disappears at times and has about a half dozen games in which he failed to score double-digits. Even when Hairston fails to score, it does not mean the Ducks are in trouble. Hairston will do more than score and there are plenty of other options who would be more than happy to take some of Hairston’s points.

The diminutive Tajuan Porter is not shooting anywhere close to what he was last year from behind the arc, but the sophomore is still a very dangerous outside shooter. At 5-6, Porter can sneak into the paint and score some points, but he will spend most of his time jacking up three’s, for better or for worse. Bryce Taylor is a lot like Hairston, but slightly less effective. He can hit the three-ball, grab some boards, get to the basket and put up tons of points in a hurry.

Why They Can Disappoint:

While the team has five players who can take over a game, the Ducks lack a true floor leader like they had last year with Aaron Brooks. In Brooks’ absence an already average defense has gotten worse and Oregon will not win any battle of intangibles. On paper, the Ducks still rarely commit turnovers and share the ball very well, but Brooks’ absence is felt in a multitude of other ways. When Brooks was around, Oregon was a great rebounding team despite playing four guards much of the time. Now they have a bigger, more traditional, lineup, but the rebounding numbers are down. It does not have to make sense, but this is a team that pulled together for a magnificent year last season and fell apart to reach mediocrity this season much of this season.

Who To Watch:

And that mediocrity has happened despite Maarty Leunen. The 6-9 senior has had a magnificent year, averaging 15.2 points and 9.2 rebounds. He hits nearly two three-pointers per game and knocks them down at almost 51 percent. Not everyday does a 6-9 forward who has over nine rebounds per game, hit over 50 percent from beyond the arc. Leunen even passes very well from inside and out. Oregon has the ability and talent to beat anybody on any given day. Yet, they can pretty much lose to anybody just as easily, especially away from the friendly confines of McArthur Court.

By the Numbers:

Scoring Offense: 76.8 (39^th in nation, 2^nd in conference)

Scoring Defense: 72.4 (254, 9)

Field-Goal Percentage: 48.5 (13, 1)

Field-Goal Defense: 44.3 (208, 6)

Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 8.7 (26, 1)

Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 40.1 (11, 1)

Free-Throw Percentage: 68.9 (167, 7)

Rebound Margin: 1.9 (115, 5)

Assists Per Game: 14.9 (76, 4)

Turnovers Per Game: 12.6 (43, 4)

Joel’s Bracket Says: Second Round loss to Memphis

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In or Out: CHN Bubble Predictions

CHN — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:20:17 -0700

Much to Joe Lunardi's chagrin.. everyone thinks they're a bracketologist this time of year. So we asked 7 CHN writers which bubble teams will end up in the field or out.

	JB	RC	JF	RJ	SS	JT	JW
Arizona St	Out	In	In	In	Out	Out	In
Dayton	Out	In	Out	Out	In	Out	Out
Illinois St	Out	Out	In	In	Out	In	In
Ohio St	In	Out	In	In	In	In	In
Oregon	Out	In	Out	Out	In	In	Out
Syracuse	In	In	Out	Out	Out	Out	Out
UAB	Out	Out	In	Out	Out	In	Out
Villanova	Out	Out	Out	In	In	Out	Out

Our Consensus:

Arizona State - In
Dayton - Out
Illinois State - In
Ohio State - In
Oregon - Out
Syracuse - Out
UAB - Out
Villanova - Out

Our Guarantees:

Jason Brubaker's Guarantee: I'll 100% guarantee Syracuse will make the Tournament this year, for two reasons. They've shown they have the talent to beat good teams (Georgetown, marquette), and there's no way the committee wants to listen to another off-season of pleading from Jim Boeheim to expand the field to 128 teams.

Rob Carpentier's Guarantee: The Pac-10 will get 7 teams in because Oregon will beat Washington State, ASU will beat USC and Arizona will win two.

Jeff Fox's Guarantee: Dayton will not make the NCAA tournament - 7th place in the A-10 doesn't cut it, plus they peaked too early - the tournament committee likes teams that get hot late.

Raphielle Johnson's Guarantee: I guarantee that Oregon will be left out of the tournament due to early losses to Nebraska and Oakland. (and that Boeheim will rant about the system when he's once again sent to the NIT)

Shawn Siegels's Guarantee: Its a moral certainty that UAB will not make it.. they haven't won a Top 50 game all year and won't do so in the CUSA tournament.

Jon Teitel's Guarantee: I'm 100% certain that the loser of the Big East Tournament 1st round game between Villanova and Syracuse will not make it, as no conference is getting 9 teams into the NCAA Tournament this year.

Joel Welser's Guarantee: Jim Boeheim will be mad, but losses to Cincinnati and South Florida have doomed the Orange.

Bracketology: Reader Mailbag

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:00:34 -0700

Bubble time is not only a fun time, but its a testy time.. after all, everybody wants their favorite team to make the Big Dance. Thus the amount of emails I gets grew substantially since this year's Daily Bracketology started. In honor of some of the better, and more repeated emails, here are some reader questions and responses (edited slightly to fit into an article)..

-- Question From Grant (Oregon fan):

Hey Shawn, I appreciate your brackets, but as a pac-ten fan I noticed something inconsistent Sunday.

1. First off, Arizona has no business being in over Oregon or ASU. Both teams finished ahead of Arizona, playing the EXACT same conference schedule, and both teams swept Arizona. While Arizona has a great SOS and RPI, neither Oregon nor Arizona State have atrocious SOS. The ONLY way you can justify putting Arizona in is RPI.
2. So, if you like to only look at RPI, that's fine. However, Oregon and ASU finished the same in conference, split their h2h, and Oregon has a better RPI.

You see now how this doesn't work. Either you go with RPI or you don't.

My response:

First off, the purpose of bracketology is to project what the committee would/will do.. and not to repeat what I think is right. Personally, I think all three of the teams mentioned are overrated and shouldn't be in the field (each is boosted by being in a name conference.. while none did anything terribly impressive in non-conference play). Second of all, though your comments make perfect logical sense.. I wouldn't give the committee too much credit for being rational. You may have noticed.. they tend to make poor decisions. Missouri State had a 21 RPI a couple years back and didn't make it.. yet Zona with a 29 RPI is almost a lock to make it simply because they're in the Pac-10 and not the MVC. Part of doing a bracketology column is taking into account the committee's biases and faulty reasoning.

In terms of ASU vs Oregon, I think the committee will basically focus on the RPI's of each team's good wins. Both have two wins over Arizona and one over Stanford. But they'll like Xavier (9 RPI) better than KSU (45), and then ASU has an extra Top 50 win against a team the committee will probably like a lot (USC). That is the slightest of differences.. and ultimately these team's resume are highly similar. If one gets in an

-- Question From Thomas (Dayton fan):

Shawn, can you tell me why you and so many other pundits have the likes of Virginian Tech, Maryland and Florida in over Dayton.

(Thomas then went into a lengthy and well reasoned statistical analysis of why Dayton is better.)

My response:

(First off, note that VT, Maryland, and Florida are no longer in the field ahead of Dayton.. as this question was from a few days ago. But Flyer fans have been the most consistent emailers, so I wanted to generally respond to the woes of the Dayton fan.)

The issue with Dayton is this.. they're in the A10 and not the Pac-10. That's really what it comes down to. As I noted in the above response.. part of doing bracketology is taking the committee's bias into account.. and historically they've favored the BCS conference. I think the upsets of this week of Gonzaga in the WCC and South Alabama in the Sun Belt will be damning to Dayton. The committee is willing to give mid-major leagues a 2nd bid here and there.. but with the WCC possibly getting three bids, the Sun Belt possibly getting two, and the A10 getting two.. you can imagine committee members who will simply be blown away, flabbergasted if you will, by the possibility that these spots are being taken away from BCS leagues.

Even worse.. Dayton's big wins can be explained away. The committee can reason that Louisville wasn't at full strength then.. and thus that win isn't so great. For the Pitt game, they'll say that Mike Cook had just gotten hurt, Fields missed half the game, and how it was a trap game for the Panthers..

Ultimately though, I agree with Flyer fans that Dayton should in fact make the field.

-- Question From Scott (Butler fan):

I enjoy and follow your daily Bracketology and am a big fan of the site. My question is your dropping Butler from a four seed to a six.

My response:

(Since this email, I've moved Butler up to a low 5 seed, but the point is the same.) Three little words: RPI. There are no doubt arguments Butler should get as high as a 3 seed. For example, Butler is currently the 12th ranked team in country.. going by the AP voters then, Butler should really get the last 3 seed. Going by wins.. Butler has 28, which is 3rd overall in the country, behind only UNC and Memphis. Thus Butler should get a 1 seed. Further, this is not Drake or Saint Mary's, ie programs with losing histories, but a storied program that has consistently been good and consistently beaten top opponents.

The RPI of 18 and SOS of 130-something will simply be too much for the positive arguments to overcome. The unfortunate thing for Butler is that they didn't actually schedule lightly.. but a lot of the big teams they scheduled won't make the tournament. Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Southern Illinois, Texas Tech, Florida State, Bradley.. those are either BCS teams or teams that many thought had a great shot to make the NCAA Tournament. Butler beat them all.. and though one of them might get in.. but it would have helped if 2 or 3 of those teams ended up being tourney-worthy. Then of course, there was the dud against Drake.. the only legitimate Top 25 team Butler faced this season. The loss at home looks bad.. and since it was so late, there wasn't enough time to make up for it.

Ultimately, I think Butler will get a low 5 seed or the top 6 seed.. and I think it will be a rare occasion where the committee is right. Despite the great record and respect from voters, I don't think the overall resume warrants a Top 16 seed.

(And if Butler happens to lose tonight, then look out..)

Daily Poll: Will The Pac-10 Get Seven Bids?

Shawn Siegel — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 10:49:44 -0700

Cheerleader of the Day: Oregon

Shawn Siegel — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 10:15:48 -0800

Cheerleader of the Day

Thanks to our friends over at Icon Sports Media, we now have access to thousands of great college basketball photos to use on the site. Each day, along with our Picture of the Day, we'll be featuring a Cheerleader of the Day. We'll be mixing up the schools & cheerleader so check back daily!

Oregon

- Check out past Cheerleaders of the Day!

- Also check out the Picture of the Day!

Seven Day Stretch: The Week in College Hoops

Rob Carpentier — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 08:53:27 -0800

Okay, this may now become a curse…I have written this column two times now and each time I’ve written about a savior (team), that team, or teams, seems to flop the following week. This past week’s victims are the teams from New Jersey, specifically Seton Hall and Rutgers who were both 0-fer for the week in the Big East. It was an especially bad week for the Hall as the Pirates had won a nice stretch of games to put themselves in position for an NCAA Tournament bid and are now, at best, back on the bubble. Hey, at least Princeton won both of their Ivy League games this past week. Well, here we go this week…

Seven Day Savior (Team): Drake Bulldogs

I’ve finally given in to the groundswell that is Drake. Much of the college basketball landscape has fallen in love with Coach Keno Davis and his Bulldogs as they have become the mid-major darling of the college hoops world. This week they definitely deserve the accolades. Drake went 2-0 this past week, winning both on the road in the tough Missouri Valley Conference. The Valley may be “down” this season, but it is still one of the premier second-tier conferences in the country. To win on the road is an accomplishment in this league. The topper, though, was that Drake beat a tough Indiana State team to begin the week and then essentially clinched the conference by coming back from 16 points down in the second half to defeat second place Illinois State. At this point Drake is now positioning itself for a 3-seed in the Big Dance.

Seven Day Savior (Player): K.J. Garland, UNC-Asheville

The senior guard scored 26 points in a huge win over Big South Conference rival, Winthrop. The game between Asheville and Winthrop was a battle for first place in the Big South. The game was all the more important for Asheville because it was a home game, (the return game is at Winthrop on March 1). Many have heard of Winthrop because of their 7’7” post player, Kenny George. George, who would be a handful in any conference, is dominant in the Big South, but he sat out the Winthrop game with an injury. KJ Garland stepped up in a huge way, hitting all 4 of his shots from behind the arc while going 9-11 overall from the floor. He was also 4-6 on his free throw attempts. It was a huge game for the Bulldogs and Garland, and the senior came up big.

Game of the Week (The one you DON’T know about): NC State at Maryland

I typically like to pick an important mid-major game each week, but there really aren’t any match-ups in the smaller conferences that scream “big game”. Instead I turn to the ACC and a game between two teams that are bunched in the middle of the pack trying to emerge as a solid third or fourth candidate for NCAA Tournament out of the ACC. Maryland started the year poorly, losing to American, Ohio and VCU. They have come on strong as of late, as evidenced by their win at North Carolina and woulda, coulda, shoulda game against Duke. North Carolina State looked dreadful in their loss to the tar heels and collapsed in the second half at Duke. In the last week they have taken a step in the right direction with wins over Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, both of whom are bunched together in the mess that is the middle of the ACC standings. NC State has the better RPI but they probably need this game more. They can’t seem to win on the road and that loss to the Tar heels was honestly bad enough to keep the Wolfpack out of the NCAAs unless they can get a couple of decent road wins.

Seven Days Under the Radar: Purdue Boilermakers

It is unusual to call the co-leaders of the Big Ten a team that is “under the radar,” but in all honesty, outside of Indiana, who’s really talking about the Purdue Boilermakers? They sit atop the Big ten with a conference mark of 9-1, (tied with Wisconsin), and have already beaten the Badgers. Their lone conference loss was a three point nail biter at Michigan State. They’ve already won three of four conference road games, which is good considering that 5 of their last 8 are on the road. To top it off, Coach Matt Painter is relying on two freshmen, E’Twaun Moore and Robbie Hummel, to not only be key contributors, but to lead the team. The Boilers will no longer be under the radar if they can win this Saturday when they travel to Madison to play the return engagement against Wisconsin.

Seven Days on the Hot Seat: Ernie Kent, Oregon

Tow weeks ago, Oregon State fired Coach Jay John. Last week, I wrote that fellow Pac-10 coach Ben Braun of California was feeling the heat. Now I return to the Pac-10 once again to find another coach whose bottom might be getting a bit warm. A bit of history here; Kent was in serious trouble of losing his job just two seasons ago. His team had tanked in the second half of that season and his kids were holding player-only meetings that were called to discuss whether the players should go to the athletic director and ask him to fire Kent. There was some serious dissention in Eugene. Kent held onto his job and thanks to Aaron Brooks and an athletic supporting cast, Oregon had a successful year last season. This season, players like Malik Hairston, Bryce Taylor and Maarty Leunen were supposed to make Oregon a legitimate contender for the Pac-10 Conference crown. Instead, Oregon sits in a tie for 7^th place in the conference and still has to travel to Los Angeles and the Bay Area. Oregon is in real danger of missing out on the NCAAs. It only gets worse for Kent. He graduates three starters and has no significant replacements on the horizon. Barring an unforeseen recruiting coupe by Kent, Oregon will be one of the two worst teams in the Pac-10 next season. The Oregon athletic department may not wait that long to hand Kent his walking papers.

News of the Week: Bobby Knight’s Retirement

This was an obvious choice. Knight’s stepping down from the head job at Texas Tech has had many pundits commenting on the General’s career, both positively and negatively. I, for one, could care less that Knight decided it was time for a rest and time for his son to take over. Knight had become a shell of himself at Texas Tech. For the life of me, I can’t see why Knight took the job in the first place. His chase for both the all-time wins record and 900 wins were mere afterthoughts to a career that had seen Knight win three national titles and an Olympic gold medal, when the medal actually meant something. There was no question that the man could teach the game as well as anyone, but his ability to change, even slightly, how he dealt with players was what many remember about him. He won with players that made little name for themselves at the next level, Isaiah Thomas aside, but he didn’t win any popularity contests. More importantly, he wasn’t as respected as many would have you think. Knight ran a “military” program wherever he was coaching. That meant that he ruled by fear and intimidation. The world of Bob Knight was and always will be black and white. That means it was always either his way or the highway. That’s what Knight will be remembered for by me.

Seven Days of Head Scratching: Knight’s “Retirement”, Part Deux

I may catch some serious flak for this, but how many of you think Knight would have left when he did if his Texas Tech team had a record of 17-4 instead of its current 12-9? I, for one, do not think Knight would have stepped down until the end of the season. The Red Raiders could be looking at a losing record this season, what, with Texas, Kansas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Kansas State and Baylor still left on the schedule. My feeling is that Knight knew this, too. However, even if I am wrong, and I very well could be, the real head scratcher here is wondering why Knight would leave his son Pat in such an unenviable position. Pat Knight has no head coaching experience and his only assistant coaching experience comes from being on his father’s staff. Knight is a great teacher, but there at least a hint of nepotism there. Now Texas Tech has a head coach with no head coaching experience, taking over a team mid-season from a coach who is revered by many in the basketball community. There is a chance that Pat Knight’s players may not listen to him because he’s not Bobby Knight. Look, this probably is overplaying the situation, but why would Knight put his son in a position where any of these questions could even be reasonably asked?